For one slice of pudding
Published:Sunday | December 5, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Oxy Moron, Contributor
The yard of which Papa was the man, was the site of many a food feast, for, in Papa's house, there was food. Nights of colic followed number-eleven mango feasts, crab-crunching, ripe banana bingeing and sugarcane chewing. These were communal because our neighbours believed they had the divine right to whatever we had to eat. They always marvelled at the number of fruit trees in Papa's yard
There were guinep, ackee, guava, June plum, breadfruit, coconut, sweetsop, tamarind and banana trees. The fruits we never had, we bought. But, the cornmeal and potato pudding, the coconut drops and the 'blue drawers' were what we lived for. They were particularly sweeter on Sunday evenings, which is perhaps why on one such evening, Miss Bev, a neighbour, 'violated' Mama's 'flushy-top' potato pudding.
Mama was inside pedalling away so that she could finish a school uniform for Monday morning. We would take turns to poke wood into the fire, while she sewed. From time to time, she would go to check the moisture level. When she thought the pudding was just about ready, she went to check for the last time only to see a frightened Miss Bev moving away from the pudding. Miss Bev had a soiled knife in her right hand.
She claimed that she was looking for banana leaves for her blue drawers. That was strange, since Miss Bev's yard was virtually a banana walk. While she explained, she fidgeted and shook her right leg. She was very anxious to go, but each time she attempted to, Mama found a way to stall her. Until, suddenly, Miss Bev cried out, "What a blasted pudding hot!" and hastily removed a big slice of Mama's potato pudding from her housedress' pocket, and tossed it onto a nearby table. By then, I was on my side rolling.
The following day, it was Mama herself who burst the bag of liquid that formed on Miss Bev's leg where the pudding had burnt her, and dressed the area daily. While we, the children, made fun of Miss Bev and regularly dramatised the incident, Mama did not once mention the incident to anyone. She knew Miss Bev had learnt her lesson.