Brixton Bwoy Read online

  By now everyone was laughing, and Tee joined in, but after only three shots of rum he was feeling drunk, so he stepped outside to get some fresh air. Sitting outside, he discreetly made a small joint, and was soon feeling better. When he returned to the bar, he saw that his father was unsteady on his feet so he held him up and told the barman to wrap up a bottle of white rum and a bottle of brandy, and give another bottle of rum for the house, and then he led his father away to the mules. Pops was drunk, but still able to laugh and joke all the way home.

  That night Tee sat on brother Gamper’s grave and as he thought of him he cried his eyes and heart out. Mama came out and said, ‘Son, it’s good to cry but no worry yourself, because if only Gamper had remembered to say Lord forgive him his sins and have mercy on his soul then you will see him again in paradise one day, as long as you remember to ask forgiveness when your time comes.’ Then he gave her the brandy and rum, and she put them away for Pops for a rainy day.

  Two days later, the rain did indeed come. When he was alone for a moment Tee rolled himself a spliff and took a few hard drags, still feeling it was disrespectful to smoke ganja in front of his mother and father. Then his father suddenly appeared. ‘Ah, wha dat you did ah smoke ganja?’ he said.

  ‘No, er, it is English cigarettes,’ said Tee.

  ‘Den give me a draw, no?’

  All Tee could do was give it to him and stay close to watch that it didn’t have any bad effect. Pops took a few draws and then gave it back to Tee who carried on smoking the joint. After a while Pops said, ‘Me would love ah drink, ah white rum now, you see, man.’

  ‘Me soon come, Pops,’ he said. ‘Don’t move.’

  Tee went and asked Mama for the bottle of rum she’d put away. She gave him two glasses and a jug of water, and plucked the rum from her room. Tee sat down with Pops, and they started drinking and talking and joking for a long time. The night was dark and the noise of the crickets and frogs sang in his ears. He looked up at the sky and the stars seemed so close he felt he could almost reach up and touch them. A shooting star sped like lightning across the sky, a beautiful sight that lingered for ever in his memory.

  One morning Tee went up to Spanish Town to find Carl. Everywhere he went looking for him, he seemed to have just left. Another taxi driver said he could ride along with him, as he was bound to run into Carl in the end. They drove about for a couple of hours until the taxi man suddenly tooted and waved at a car passing them in the other direction. ‘Dat look like Carl,’ he said, screeching to a halt. Tee jumped out. The other car stopped a little way down the road and its driver got out. He and Tee started walking towards each other and as they drew closer it felt as if he was walking into a mirror.

  ‘Wha happen, me bredda?’ he said.

  ‘Blood claat, Pupatee!’ Carl cried, looking him over. ‘Den how you look like me so much.’

  ‘Den you ah no me brother man,’ he said, and they both stood there, smiling at each other, trying to digest the fact that at long last they were together again.

  ‘Blood claat, me bredda,’ Carl said again, throwing his arms around Tee and embracing him. When they pulled apart, Carl said excitedly, ‘Pupatee, me have a girl. Come, she have a twin sister, pretty, no rass, me know she ah go love you. Come, man.’

  They drove in Carl’s car. The streets in Spanish Town, with all their houses and flats, were very modern, but there were still trees everywhere. Eventually they reached a beautiful block of flats. Carl drove through a pair of big metal gates and parked the car. They walked up to the door of a flat and Carl pressed the bell, and then hid around the corner, telling him to stay put. Suddenly the door opened and a big, beautiful woman stood there. ‘Hi, darling,’ she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him and putting her tongue in his mouth. He was loving it all, but then Carl slipped out from around the corner and said, ‘Yes, me catch you!’

  The woman jumped back in surprise and embarrassment, but Carl burst out laughing and soon the woman and Tee joined in. ‘Pupatee,’ said Carl as they walked into the flat, ‘dis ah me galfriend, Betsy, and dis’ – he turned his head as another woman stood up – ‘is her twin sister Ruth.’

  Ruth smiled at Tee, showing her white teeth.

  ‘I did ah drive down the road when Pupatee link me up,’ Carl said to the women. ‘Him just reach from England. Me have to do some more pick-up, is it all right if him stay here with you until me finish work?’

  ‘Of course man, you no have to ask dat, darling.’

  ‘Is dat all right?’ Carl said to Tee.

  ‘All right, but if is money you worrying about you need not cause me have money fe you as well as fe meself, no seet?’

  ‘We will deal with dat later, man, but me have to pick up some people, you know.’

  When Carl was gone, Tee realised that he was tired and dusty from driving around looking for him, so Betsy suggested he have a shower and a rest and it was not long before he was lying down, all fresh and clean, on a big double bed. He felt very peaceful.

  When Tee had rested, he went back into the living-room and sat down with Ruth and Betsy.

  ‘Ah bet you seh dem have some nice woman over deh,’ Ruth said.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘they are nice.’

  ‘How about you, you have a nice woman in England?’

  ‘No,’ he said.

  ‘You too untrue.’

  Betsy left the room and Ruth watched him keenly. Ruth and Tee continued talking about England.

  Eventually, Tee said, ‘Me just come over from England and me don’t know a single woman or girl. Me tink me and you could get like galfriend and bwoy-friend while me here?’

  She smiled at him and her bright eyes looked right into his. Then she said, ‘Me don’t tink so, you know.’

  Tee felt as if he had just jumped out of a plane without a parachute. Usually he had no problem with women. He tried to speak, but he couldn’t get a word out. Ruth stared at him for a moment and then went to join her sister in the other room.

  When Carl came home Tee told him what had happened.

  ‘You tell her seh you love her already?’ Carl asked.

  ‘Yeah, but she seh she not too sure.’

  ‘No worry yourself, man, no gal pickney can’t get way from de breed ah Baccass family.’

  They laughed at this.

  ‘Wha you want fe do?’ Carl said. ‘You want fe go for a drive de four ah we and stop at one wine bar and eat and drink someting?’

  ‘Dat sound good man,’ Tee replied. ‘My treat.’

  ‘So you have no money?’

  Tee still had £1,500 in notes and traveller’s cheques and $800. He gave Carl £400 and another $400 and Carl smiled and put it in his pocket and went to tell the girls. They dressed up in their best and then they all drove down to the wine bar and had a few drinks and something to eat. They talked and laughed, and the more Tee watched Ruth the happier he became. Although she had been introduced to him as Ruth, Betsy and Carl called her Doll, and he began to call her Doll too. By the time they pulled up back at the flats he needed Doll more than words could tell. Doll and Betsy got out of the car and Tee climbed out too. But when Betsy saw Tee, she said, ‘Weh you ah go, Pupatee?’ Tee’s heart felt heavy, but he covered his disappointment by stretching out his arms and saying, ‘Oh, just taking some fresh air.’

  They all said good-night and then the brothers drove back to Carl’s flat, where he brought out a large bottle of rum and they carried on drinking until they were overcome by tiredness.

  Tee spent a few more days in Spanish Town, without any greater success with Doll, and then Carl drove him back to see Mama and Pops. Tee went for walks and hung around the house, keeping his parents company and helping out with whatever they were doing. He saw Rose once, but now his thoughts were all for Doll and he started making up a song for her.

  One day he went fishing with his nephew, Ervin, and while they were by the river Ervin asked, ‘So wha you ah go do with you life when you go back to Englan
d, man?’

  Just at that moment he was turning over the words and tune to the song about Doll in his mind, so he said, ‘I’m going to be a singer.’

  ‘You can sing?’

  ‘Well …’

  ‘Sing one song, let me hear.’

  Tee wasn’t too sure, but Ervin pressed him, so he started singing his song to Doll.

  Well listen, baby Doll

  Girl, I’ve got something to tell you

  I love you, yes I do

  Yes, you’ve stolen my heart …

  ‘It sound wicked man,’ Ervin said when he had finished.

  ‘You want to see de girl de song is about,’ Tee told him. ‘Ah she look wicked.’

  The next day, Ervin came over to the house again and to his horror told Mama that Tee was going to become a singer.

  ‘Him can sing good, you see, Granny.’

  ‘You can sing, Pupatee?’ Mama asked, fixing him with a doubtful look.

  ‘A bit.’

  ‘Well, if you want to be a singer go sing then, son. Look pon Milly, she sang one song, ‘My Boy Lollypop’, and son, it mashed up de whole wide world.’

  The next day Carl arrived to collect Tee. Tee was surprised that the week had passed so quickly and delighted that he was returning to Spanish Town, where he could see Doll again. On the way they stopped off in Chapelton to see Joseph and Jeanie, and then hit the road to Spanish Town. A part of Tee still wanted to talk more about Gamper, his dead brother, but every time he mentioned him, people said, ‘Let him rest in peace.’

  When they got to Spanish Town they went straight over to see Betsy and Doll, who was wearing a dress that made her look more dazzling than ever. The others talked and joked, but Tee just sat and stared at Doll, distraught because he loved her and she did not love him. Eventually, they all started to feel hungry so Carl said they should go and eat.

  ‘Where shall we go?’

  ‘Me love fish,’ Doll said.

  ‘Me too,’ Tee agreed.

  ‘Nobody like fish like me,’ Carl added, and to prove the point began telling a story about a time when they had gone diving for fish in a bamboo river. ‘Me seh me dive to de bottom of this river’s deepest hole and me was pushing my hand in holes in de root of de bamboo, feeling if any fish or crayfish or sand fish were sleeping soundly and catch dem by surprise, when me slipped my hand in dis tiny hole and inside me caught a fish. But de fish and my hand couldn’t come back out same time and me tried and tried, not wanting to let go of de fish, and don’t forget me at de bottom of de river underwater, you know, and me run out of breath long time. So in de end, me let go of de fish, but even den my hand is stuck and me start to panic, and me give one hard pull and cut up de whole ah me hand, nearly leave me hand and fingers behind in dat hole!’

  They went out and ate a delicious fish meal, but when supper was over, it was the same story with Tee and Doll. She went to bed in her flat and he went back to Carl’s.

  The next day, though, they were back at the flat. There was no food there, so Tee said he would buy some and cook a meal. Doll had to do something, and Carl had a job to carry out, so Betsy took him over to the market and they bought piles and piles of delicious Jamaican food. When they got back, Doll had finished her tasks and was lying out in the back yard, and he stole a look at her long sexy legs and her lovely hair, and his craving for her grew even stronger.

  Back in the kitchen, he cut up the chicken they had bought and cleaned it and added salt and seasoning, and cut up the steak and seasoned that too. Then he got the frying pans hot and added oil, and started browning the chicken and steak. When they were browned and half cooked, he put them in pots, and added more seasoning, as well as onions, thyme, tomatoes and water, and left them to simmer on a low fire.

  ‘Dat smell good,’ said Carl when he returned. ‘Me could eat a whole cow.’

  ‘You know, Carl,’ said Tee, as he began peeling the yams and bananas and making dumplings, ‘Me love Doll so much, me even make up a song about her.’

  Carl screamed out in laughter but stopped when he saw Doll entering the kitchen behind him.

  ‘Wha him seh?’ she asked.

  ‘Him seh him love you so much that him make up a song about you.’

  ‘Sing it.’ Doll laughed. ‘Let me hear, den.’

  ‘Me have fe peel de pumpkins,’ Tee said, relieved that he had the excuse of the cooking. Doll and Carl left the kitchen, still laughing, while he put the pumpkins on to boil and then started the rice. He tasted the juices of the steak and chicken, and added some hot pepper and sweet pepper and a touch more black pepper. The food really was smelling wonderful and he had time to whip up the ingredients for a Guinness punch just as Joe had taught him years before, and then he put it in the fridge to cool.

  As it was getting dark, Carl said, ‘When dis food is going to finish old man?’

  ‘Yeah,’ added Doll.

  ‘Me ah dead fe hungry,’ Betsy butted in.

  Tee looked up and said, ‘You know something, me too.’

  Tee took special care making up Doll’s plate, with yam and banana and a dumpling and pumpkin and rice, and steak, and a whole chicken breast with lots of juice. Then he put the plate on a tray with a glass of Guinness punch, and took it out and presented it to Doll. Carl did the same for Betsy, and then the two of them got their own plates. When they came back into the sitting-room, Betsy said, You can cook nice, Pupatee.’

  ‘Yeah, it taste nice, man!’ Doll added.

  ‘All me can seh, me bredda, Tee, it good to taste you cooking.’

  Eventually, when they had all eaten their fill and the plates were cleared away, and they were sharing their second large spliff, Doll turned to Tee and smiled sweetly and said, ‘Pupatee, sing de song fe me now no?’

  There was nothing he could do except sing:

  Well he say, listen baby Doll

  I’ve got something to tell you

  Oh yeah, I love you, yes I do

  Babe, you’ve stolen my heart

  And that’s why in everything

  I promise to be true …

  He put all his heart and soul into the song, and by the time he was finished, Doll was nestled right up against him.

  That night, he put on his best clothes – black slacks, white string vest, a short-sleeved baggy suede jacket and all the gold jewellery he had – and admired himself in the mirror. But when Doll came into the room she stole the show. She was dressed in blue trousers and a white silk blouse, and her skin glowed under the white silk. They went out and ended up at a wine bar, drinking and watching the people dance. Then, suddenly, Doll got up and grabbed his hand and said, ‘Let’s go dance.’ She led him on to the dance floor and they twirled around for hours.

  Back at the girls’ flats, Doll got out of the car and Tee followed her, pretending to stretch and saying he was wanting some fresh air. Betsy and Carl, who were still in the car, said, ‘See you tomorrow,’ and drove off, and Doll led Tee by the hand inside.

  ‘You couldn’t even send one letter to me say you all right. Me tink you did gone back ah England, man,’ Mama scolded.

  ‘No, Mama.’ He laughed.

  ‘You laugh, Pupatee,’ she said. ‘You no remember when you used to be a baby and you go way for hours and me ah call you all over de place. Pupatee! Pupatee!’

  His father had a friend visiting at the time and he turned to this friend and said, ‘One ah de saddest day was when him go England. But him can’t complain, me live fe have ah drink with him and if me live me would ah drink it one more time.’ He turned to Tee. ‘When you go back, son?’

  ‘Couple ah days, Pops.’ Tee felt sad. ‘Me just ah go back ah England fe work some money, buy ah truck and ah van, and come tek all dem fruits go ah market weh get waste all de times.’

  ‘If you could ah ever do dat, son, you would ah be large,’ Pops replied. ‘Dat would be a good ting, son, if me live me would like fe see you do dat. All these cows and bulls going to need sensible man.’

 
They cut grass together and took the animals down to the river and Tee truly believed that he would return from England and tell Pops to put his feet up and relax, as he so deserved, for all his years of hard work.

  The day of his departure arrived. ‘If me live me will see you again if you ever come back, you hear son,’ Pops said. Tee was standing facing him and he put up his hand to shake his father’s, but Pops came towards him. ‘Den give me ah kiss no man,’ he said. They embraced and when Tee turned away he saw two long tears running down Pops’s cheeks. Pops walked away and got on his mule, and headed up the hill. Tee said goodbye to Mama, and she held him and kissed him and cried as well. Then Tee turned and walked away towards the waiting car.

  Joseph and Jeanie and Sakasher and Carl and Doll and Betsy all came to see him off from the airport. This time he knew what was waiting for him at the other end, and he looked forward to getting back to his busy life in London. Jamaica wasn’t his real home any longer. But he was sad to say goodbye to his family now that he had got to know them again, and of all the women he had known and loved he would miss Doll the most. He said his farewells and made his way towards the plane, just as he had done so many years before.

  8

  Drape Up

  It was as cold as a freezer, and for the second time in his life Tee found it hard to adjust to the English winter after the warm sunshine of Jamaica. But he was excited to be back. He spent the first few days visiting his family and his women and finding out what had been going on while he was away. First he went to Girlie and Paulette, and gave them their presents. Next he saw Princess, then Lorna, then Iley, and then Karen, whose belly was getting bigger and bigger. Finally he went to see sister Pearl and the family in Kellett Road. They were eager to hear all about Mama and Pops and everyone in Jamaica, and pleased with the small gifts Mama had sent them.