Lifestyle - A foul affair in Ginger Hall
Published:Tuesday | June 15, 2010 | 12:00 AM
A wave of unconscionable criminal activity, the likes of which have scarcely been seen in this neck of the woods has swept across the sleepy Manchester town called Ginger Hall.
Two donkeys and a goat have gone missing since the start of the year and residents are not amused. Well, technically only one of the donkeys' disappearance has caused great concern, as the other belonged to Maas Fitzroy, who has been known to forget where he tied his animals, especially after an active evening at the local drinking joint. To be fair, the goat that went missing appears to have run for the hills after burrowing it's way out of its pen.
Nevertheless, the disappearance of a single mule has ignited fury among the folks of Ginger Hall and, while I was in the community recently, a few of them explained why.
"Is thief dem thief, Sar!" yelled Lerlene, a 40-something-year-old housewife. She was standing near what I assumed was her home in the community. She had dark skin and a tendency to squint while speaking.
"We hear pon di news how man ah thief hog and goat all 'bout like ah cyar and van. We nah atalarate it dung yah!" she yelled.
Ginger Hall is one of those communities where the residents all know each other, so the disappearance of the donkey which, as Lerlene tells it, belonged to an ageing yam farmer, has puzzled everyone. "We nuh see no stranger 'bout di place. Is we alone here, so we can't understand when dis thief come in come thief di man donkey,"she said. "But, yuh know, God never did ah sleep when dem thief it, so all will soon be revealed."
Donkey heresy
As the woman slowly calmed down, I asked her what others thought of the missing donkey.
"Well, yuh have some who say is run weh di donkey run weh, but is a real old foot so him couldn't did run far. If dat was true, dem woulda find it already," said Lerlene.
"Other people say is dead di donkey dead, but I woulda like fi ask dem people deh how come no john crow nuh deh 'bout. You ever see dead animal without john crow?" she asked. I shrugged and she hissed.
"Never! Some people just nuh want to believe seh is a man move wid di donkey, but is alright. All shall soon be revealed."
Lerlene told me she had some washing to do and so had to go inside. I thanked her for her time and walked away. It was quite a while before I saw anyone else in the community. Sure, there were lots of homes, but they all seemed empty.
The fellow I came across was elderly and was balancing his weight on a stick as he climbed the hill slowly.
I stopped to say hello. The man stopped, sighed and shook his head before looking up. I realised that perhaps he was annoyed about being stopped, as it might have been a while before he could get going again.
"What I can do for yuh?" he asked, dryly. I asked him if he had heard about the missing donkey. He nodded. I asked him what he believed happened to it.
"Well," he said before pausing in silence for what felt like a minute. "I believed at first that is a man thief di donkey. But den I really think about it and say, nobody nuh see any strange face around here. Somebody must woulda see something if it was a thief. So now I puzzled bout dis whole thing," the man said.
I asked him what life was like in Ginger Hall, the donkey incident notwithstanding.
"It alright. Di young girl dem inna di community love dress up inna too much pants though. Dem nuh wear di skirt and dress dem, but other dan dat, di place alright," he said.