Island Songs Read Online Free PDF Page A

but him dry it out good dis time.”
    “Yes, Papa. Me remember. Papa, me gone to me bed now. Goodnight.”
    “Wait up, David. Preacher Mon tell me yuh nah der-ya ah church today. Where yuh der?”
    David took his time in answering. “Jus’ walking, Papa. Yuh know, de Most High mek ah beautiful country around dese parts, Papa. Sometime me jus’ like to tek in de air, walk ah hilltop, y’know. It mek me feel good.”
    Joseph smiled. “Ya mama t’ink yuh find girl to court wid.”
    “Nuh, Papa. Me don’t ready fe dat yet. Me waan me own yard before me t’ink about dem t’ings.”
    David went inside. Joseph nodded. “Ah good bwai dat.”
    An hour and a half later, Joseph awoke Kwarhterleg with a glass of goat’s milk containing two drops of rum.
    “T’ank yuh sa,” Kwarhterleg accepted. “Mon, me getting seriously weary dese days, Joseph. Me bones creaking like dead wood when fatty woman ah sit down ’pon it!”
    Joseph took a sip from his own glass. “Yes, Kwarhterleg, age ah catch up ’pon yuh. Res’ yaself inna de marnin. David will look after de shop.”
    Kwarhterleg downed his drink and Joseph helped him to his feet. He led him to his sleeping quarters in a corner of the kitchen. A pile of empty crocus bags formed Kwarhterleg’s pillow.
    Before Joseph retired he made a cross with the toes of his right foot in the dusty ground immediately outside the front door. He sprinkled his drink on the cross before draining the last of it and could hear the shrill cicadas from the surrounding fields. “Aaaahhh.Yuh t’ink me would ever forget, Screwface?”
    Entering the bedroom, Joseph could just make out in the dark Jenny and Hortense fast asleep coupled together like two spoons, Hortense was snoring into the nape of Jenny’s back. They were sleeping on a mattress full of straw. David was curled around his sisters’ feet. Joseph kissed both his daughters on the forehead, taking his time to tenderly stroke Jenny’s left cheek. Jenny twitched, her subconscious feeling a warmth of familiarity. Joseph studied the contours of her face for thirty seconds as if he was remembering something from long ago.
    He made his way to his own bed where he found Amy in her usual position against the wall. Not making a sound, he undressed to his shorts and vest, folded his clothes and placed them on a wooden chair beside his bed. He ran his fingers over the rippled, flaky black skin upon his left shoulder; a knife wound. He wondered if he would be hated even more because of his striking of Preacher Mon. As he lay down he felt the comfort of Amy’s hand upon his chest.
    Closing his eyes, Joseph saw an indistinct image of his mother form in his mind. It was the end of 1907. She had just reached home from a seven mile round trip to the post office. A letter was gripped tightly in her left hand like a wad of dollar bills. The seven-year-old Joseph, who was feeding guinea fowl at the time, heard his mother’s call and ran to the house with his four sisters, brother and father. His mother looked the happiest she had been for a very long time and she felt the pages of the letter. It was a letter from Joseph’s brother, Naptali. Inside the envelope were two American bank notes.
    ‘Dear Mama,’ she started reading. Everyone was silent.
    Joseph opened his eyes and wondered if his recurring nightmares would ever end. “Madness!”

Chapter Two
    Rising with the first herald of roosters, Amy went outside to view her homestead. The sun was already creeping over the eastern groves and hillsides, creating a reddish-green glow. The air was cool at this time of the day and Amy yawned extravagantly, stretching her arms and filling her lungs with cool Jamaican air. She dressed quickly for she knew that time was against her. She collected two clay water urns and started the one and a half mile trek on foot to the nearest stream, a tributary of the White river. Amy washed her face here, the fresh water energising her body. She then filled the