Island Songs Read Online Free PDF Page B

love me nuh more?”
    David laughed and picked up his sister, twirling her about. He put her back down and for a short second, Hortense was dizzy. “Hortense. Yuh ah big woman now. Yuh don’t need me to walk yuh ah school nuh more.”
    “Me know me ah big woman but since yuh stop walk me ah school, Jenny jus’ run gone an’ lef’ me wid de older girl dem. Me cyan’t keep up wid her long foot an’ mon stride!”
    “Dat don’t mean Jenny nah love yuh, Hortense,” said David. “She jus’ getting ah liccle older an’ she waan her own space.”
    “Yuh t’ink Papa waan him own space from me, David? Him don’t love me. Him don’t really talk to me. Mebbe me should call yuh papa, David.”
    Taking Hortense’s words in jest, David chuckled, knowing that when the time came to leave home, he would sorely miss Hortense’s unique charm. He glanced at Jenny kissing her father goodbye and whispered to himself, “Dat girl chile don’t need nuhbody else apart from her papa. De mon who tek ah fancy to Jenny when she come ah age will affe mek Papa feel very sweet!”
    Hortense and Jenny set off and by the time Jenny had reached the bottom of the hill, Hortense was already fifty yards behind her. “See if me don’t tell David yuh run gone an’ lef’ me!” yelled Hortense. “When me sight yuh ah school see me don’t lick yuh wid me shoe corner!” Jenny ignored her sister. Now far ahead of her, she slowed down to a walk, enjoying her own company.
    At the side of the house was the wooden cart off which the Rodney family used to sell their groceries. It had been patched up many times and had been through many sets of wheels; the village wheel-smith, Mr Price, was Jenny’s godfather. David smirked as herecalled his father promising the family a donkey two years ago. David sucked on the cool, amber-coloured flesh of a mango before setting off to work, pulling his brown cloth cap over his head. He tossed the mango skin to the dogs and paid no attention as they fought over the scraps. As he pushed the cart of limes, grapes, oranges, water-melons, jackfruits and coconuts downhill, he considered visiting Levi after his shift. Levi was a man he had befriended in the hills one afternoon four months ago. David smiled to himself as he recalled his first encounter.
    After a morning’s toil on his father’s plot of land, instead of taking a high-noon nap beneath a palm tree as was usually his custom, David decided to set off for a stroll. He headed uphill to where the stubborn mists had settled; they couldn’t be shifted by the scorching sun and no breeze was forthcoming. David’s father always looked up in fascination at this lofty terrain but was too superstitious to investigate this area himself. David discovered that jackfruit, sweet-sop, hard chocolate, breadfruit and ackee grew freely here. He climbed a tall jackfruit tree that afforded him a generous view of the lush green valley below, the ugly dwellings of Claremont blemishing the beauty of the scenery. The horizon shimmered in the heat and David wondered what lay beyond the swerving hills. Using a machete that hung from his belt, David cut down a jackfruit that was more than a foot long and seven inches wide. As he descended back to earth he saw a most remarkable sight.
    A man, or at least something that resembled a man, was standing at the base of the tree. His hair, if it could be described as such, seemed to David like thick clumps of blackened wool that stood erect on the head as if this being had just set eyes on Old Screwface himself. His beard was of a similar appearance, like that of an old fat-bellied goat, only blacker. He was holding the jackfruit David had just cut down and through the matted hair, David could see his white teeth; he wasn’t sure if this something was snarling or smiling. He was bare-backed and bare-footed, dressed only in a soiled pair of blue cotton pants that were roughly cut just above the knee.
    Cautiously, David leapt down, not sure