Re: A Day of Roses

[Lacy]

‘Lacy! It’s stuck!’ Rose cried , now alarmed. But Lacy, still laughing at the comical sight of Rose propped up against the window like a rag doll, only replied, ‘Cho Rose, a lie yuh tell mi nuh.’

But when she looked up at Rose’s stricken face, she knew it was indeed the truth and quickly gained her side.

Lacy slowly turned the window louvers to try and free her hand, but with Rose’s sharp cry, she stopped and then saw the deep red welts that were beginning to form.. from her wrist all the way to the tips of her fingers.

‘Rose dear, wah mek yuh do soh eeh?’ Lacy sighed in exasperation, pausing to figure out what to do next. ‘Just lift me up ok…. I think I can get it out.’ Rose countered, ignoring Lacy’s glib jab.

Putting her hands under Rose’s arms, Lacy lifted up… and Rose popped her hand out of the window and quickly began rubbing her sore fingers.

‘Mek mi look pon dem soh.’ Lacy took up Rose’s hand and inspected her injuries. **kiss teet** ‘Look lek mi wi haffi go fi di doctor.’ Rose rolled her eyes at Lacy’s assessment of the situation… but begrudgingly agreed. ‘Get dressed Rose, mi ago hail one taxi seen.’

A few minutes later, Rose met Lacy on the verandah where she and Mr. Pipps, the taxi driver, were waiting. Their conversation ended abruptly as Rose approached the car.

‘How yuh feel, Rose?’ Lacy asked, glancing back at Mr. Pipps with a look that said, hush now. ‘My hand is getting bigger and I’m having a hard time moving my fingers.’ Rose replied sullenly.

Mr. Pipps moved away from the car and came to stop in front of Rose. ‘Mi a look?’ he asked and Rose held out her hand for his inspection. He carefully examined her injury, turning the hand over, then back again, before looking over at Lacy.

‘Yuh gi im di white?’ he asked and Lacy shook her head, no. ‘Yuh have guana plant?’ he persisted, and again Lacy shook her head, no.

‘Mek wi ago fi mi yaad.’ and with that… as if his word were final, Mr. Pipps went around the car and hopped into the driver’s seat, kissing his teeth, as Lacy and Rose paused and looked at each other in confusion.

‘Whatta gwaan? Yuh ooman tink mi nuh know wah mi a seh?’ Mr Pipps fired back through the window. And with one last glance at each other, Lacy and Rose climbed into the back seat of his car.

[Lacy]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Mr. Pipp’s yard was only across town and within a few minutes, the car pulled thru his gate and into the carport.

‘Momma’ Mr. Pipps called out from the verandah, ‘bring di whites and sum guana seen? Wi have one gyal here wid some hurt.’

Mrs Pipps must have already been in the kitchen, cuz they heard a cupboard door slam and the quick footsteps of yard slippers pon di wooden floor before the front door opened and Mrs. Pipps walked out.. the requested items in her hands.

After dashing a good quantity of white rum on Rose’s hand, Mrs. Pipps proceeded to grind a measure of guana plant in her hand until it made a paste, then smoothed it over the swollen welts, coloring Rose’s entire hand, green.

Rose looked at the concoction and made a face of disgust at her green dyed hand, before bringing it up to her nose, for a quick smell. ‘Not too bad’ she thought ‘it’ll work.’

‘Thank you very much, I appreciate all you have done.’ Rose replied, taking Mrs. Pipps hand into her one good hand and giving it a shake.

The doctoring over, Mrs. Pipps invited them for tea and Rose and Lacy pulled up chairs from the yard to the cooling shade of her verandah.

Mrs. Pipps brought out 2 cups of vanilla lasco and handed them over to her guests, before setting down herself.

Rose took a few sips off of her tea and looked out past the Pipps’ gate just as an old man came strolling down the middle of the road… his donkey in tow. The man stopped at the gate, hailed up Mr and Mrs Pipps, then tied his donkey to a wilting tree branch before gaining the verandah.

Rose looked a little closer at the man, she figured to be around 60 years of age. And from the look of his worn and dirty panama hat down, his torn trousers, roughly cut off at mid-calf, down to his rubber boots… and the very long machette he held in one hand, she guessed he had to be a farmer.

‘Mi and Jack carry 5 trip ah wata fi bush, Pipps.’ The man glanced at Lacy and Rose, giving them a smile through his 3 teeth, before turning back to Mr Pipps. ‘Good good, Bracks’ Mr Pipps nodded at this statement. ‘Mek Momma gi yuh sum food nuh.’

Mrs Pipps was up and out of her chair and into the house before Mr Pipps even looked over at her and shortly came back outside with a plate full of rice and vegetables… along with a ½ loaf of bread and a jug of water.

Bracks nodded his head in thanks and carried his dinner over to where he had tied his donkey to the tree… casually folded his legs underneath himself and sat down, digging into the plate of food with one hand, as he feed his donkey, Jack, the loaf of bread from the other.

Lacy tipped up her cup and drained the last of her tea, before glancing over at Rose with a raised eyebrow. ‘Wah time, gyal?’ she asked. Rose turned over her arm, giving Lacy a view of her watch.

‘Cho!’ Lacy exclaimed. ‘Mi wi late fi tru. Tanks again Mrs. Pipps.’ and looking over at Mr. Pipps replied, ‘Mek yuh carry wi bak a yaad and den Negril eeh, Pipps?’

Mrs. Pipps handed over the rest of the white rum and guana to Lacy, before cautioning Rose to repeat this process at least 2 more times today. If it didn’t bring down the swelling by tomorrow, we were to come see her again.

.. and with a wave goodbye to Bracks and Jack, they loaded back into Mr Pipps car, headed back to Lacy’s yard.

[Lacy]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

By the time they arrived back at Lacy’s yard, the sun was blazing into the house and Rose longed for the cooling breezes of the seaside and the beach. So she hurried and collected her beach things and impatiently waited for Lacy on the verandah.

‘Lacy! What’s taking you so long?’ she hollered thru the window into the house. ‘Mi a come Rose… hole tight seen.’ came the reply. But after a few more moments, Rose tossed her bag into the taxi and opened the front door, intent upon dragging Lacy out, if she had too…..

… but Lacy was already on her way out, her arms loaded up with bags, she was just finishing stuffing something into one of them when Rose opened the door…

… and collided with her. Dashing all the bags onto the floor, their contents rolling out and scattering everywhere, Lacy dropped down pon her baxside, one surprised look pon her face.

‘Rose gyal,’ Lacy laughed, picking herself up off the floor, ‘mi ago gi yuh some bumpers fi tideh. Or mek yuh tan far way fram mi seen? Hehehe’

Rose, laughing as well, helped Lacy pickup her bags and load them into the car. Still giggling at her clumsiness, Rose did not notice, exactly what Lacy had in those bags…..

Finally on the road, Mr Pipps sped around one corner after the other along the narrow country roads. Making Rose grab hold of the front passenger’s headrest for balance, occasionally taking in a deep breathe of anticipation as they came upon other cars and passed within inches, barely slowing down.

Lacy, use to such ragamuffin rides, smiled at Mr Pipps thru the rearview mirror at Rose’s anxiety, but refrained from making any comment.

Once they reached the main road, Rose relaxed her grip and the look on her face. ‘After all’, she said to herself, ‘today IS my birthday…. I don’t need anything else to happen to me today.’

[Rose]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

[Lacy]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Road construction slowed their progress, only one lane was open from Orange Bay to Half Moon Bay, and without air conditioning, the car quickly heated up.

Rose rolled down her window and stuck her head out, but the humidity was hovering around 80 degrees and even the likkle breeze did nothing to cool her off. ‘Please God, just get me to the beach!’ she silently prayed.

But delays seemed to be the theme of the day, because as they turned the corner just before Long Bay Park, the traffic had stopped again…… a roadblock.

Mr. Pipps glanced in the rearview mirror and caught Lacy’s eye. ‘Yuh carrying gyal?’ he questioned. ‘Just one likkle scliff, Pipps.’ Lacy replied, ‘mi tuck it inna mi baggies, everyting cris.’

Lacy had been thru this ‘dance’ before. Often mistaken for a tourist, Babylon was usually not eager to search her person, so when they rolled up to the roadblock and were waved to the side, she gave it no thought.

Mr. Pipps flipped the visor down and pulled out his registration papers, then digging in his wallet, found his driver license and gave both to the officer who was standing at his window.

The officer casually reviewed his paperwork and then asked them to get out of the vehicle. Rose heard Lacy kiss her teeth and never having been stopped at a roadblock before, started to get alittle nervous.

The climbed out of the hot vehicle… into the even hotter sun. The officer started asking Mr. Pipps the standard questions, but Rose wasn’t listening. Her eyes were glued to Lacy, who glanced down at the gravel under her feet and back at the officer, several times. When the officer left Mr. Pipps and walked over to Lacy, she gave him a smile, that hid her mounting panic.

‘Good afternoon, sir’ Lacy said thru her fixed smile. The officer matter of factly went about asking her the standard questions… Where are you going? What are your carrying? Do you have any weapons and drugs?

The smile never left Lacy’s face as she gave him the information he wanted… Negril, food and beach things, no and no…. but that smile quickly fell, as he asked her to step away from the car.

‘What’s this about?’ she asked impatiently. ‘Routine check’ came the reply. ‘Is this really necessary?’ she shot back, glancing at the line of other cars being waved through the roadblock.

‘You’re Rasta’s wife nuh?’ came the question to her question.

Lacy rolled her eyes and kissed teeth, ‘So what does that have to do with anything? My friend and I are just going to the beach. No, we don’t have anything on us and I would appreciate it, if you would just let us go along. It’s darn hot and my friend is a tourist from the states, she’s not use to this weather… has already been sick once this morning.’

Not wanting to be singled out, Rose cringed as the officer glanced over at her. ‘Then if you would just step away from the car, we will get this over with quickly and you can be on your way.’

Rose came around to the passenger’s side of the car to stand next to Mr. Pipps, who had moved onto the grassy area next to the road. Lacy shuffled her feet toward them, as the officer opened her door to grab the bags piled on the floor.

It was only after Lacy reached her side, that Rose glanced down to the place Lacy had been standing and saw the scliff she had been trying to carefully hide underneath her shoes.

[Rose]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

hehehe..Lacy, you wild thing! You're right on target about the carsickness too.
Now the roadblocks are another story..more than I'd care to count..but I guess as long as those guys don't actually use their guns..

Goin' to the beach..the beach..the beach...

[Susanna]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Rosie, back off nuh, I wanna hear the rest.
(p.s. it yuh birtday? Happy Birtday to yuh)

G'wan Lacy, tell it.

------------------
ja.com = home away from home

[This message has been edited by Susanna (edited 07-31-2001).]

[Lacy]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Lacy heard her sharp intake of breath and turned to Rose, who as still staring at the spliff on the ground. Willing herself to believe, this is not a bad dream, Rose slowly lifted her eyes, filled with rising panic, to stare at Lacy.

But Lacy was like a statue. She hadn't glanced down at the spliff, as Rose had, but stood tall, with arms folded casually over her purse.. perfectly still.

She looked... well, impatient.. as if waiting in line, at the grocery.... masking anything of their likely fate. But when Rose finally focused on her eyes.... they were animated balls, siliently pleading with her to be still.

But Rose couldn't stop herself.. she stared at Lacy's face... and then slowly turned her head, to look back at the spliff, on the ground in front of her.

This drew Mr. Pipps' attention, as he moved forward and casually gripped Rose's arm.. just above the elbow.. and moved her away.. like one would draw a child away, from the road, for a passing car.

Rose stared at Mr. Pipps... hoping he would answer some of the questions, overloading her brain. But he only turned her head, to catch her eyes, with a stern look that mirrored Lacy's.

The officer started in the back seat and made short work out of the bags Lacy and Rose had flung into the back of the car, an hour ago. Spilling some of their contents onto the roadside, in his hurried inspection for drugs and weapons.

Finding nothing in the bags, he bent over and checked between the seats and under the car mats, before moving around the open door, to check the driver's seat. It was at that moment, Lacy carefully stepped forward, intent upon reaching the rear car door.

If he saw her actions, the officer did nothing about them, as Lacy casually ground the spliff under her foot bottom, half buryng it in the gravel.. before slowly bending over to take up the things he had carelessly left on the ground.

His inspection of the front seats was quicker and shortly the officer turned his attention to their driver, Mr. Pipps. Handing him back his dr license and registration, neither women heard the rest of their conversation because ...

Rose was staring at the spliff again, as if she could see it thru Lacy's shoe. And as Lacy picked up the last piece of searched belongings, she skillfully bent over and took up the spliff in the same hand, then casually slid into the back seat, and closed the door.

The smile on her face, as she looked out the window at Rose, spurned a flood of relief in the other woman. Suffering from the battering heat, the realization finally dawned... they were free... and Rose took flight around the car, and into the backseat, before slamming the door shut behind her.

Mr. Pipps was quick to follow... and as they pulled back onto the road, Lacy opened her hand to reveal the crumpled spliff. Gravel had torn the paper in places, but it was essentually, intact.

Pulling a pack of Rizla from her purse, Lacy peeled the paper off the broken spliff and rolled it up into a new one.

Glancing over at Rose, who was staring anxiously out the back window, waiting for the officer to stop them again... Lacy broke into a wide grin, before flipping the spliff up to her lips and striking a match.....

[This message has been edited by Lacy (edited 08-03-2001).]

[Rose]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Oh No! Lacy, are you a crazy woman!? (that weed's gonna give me a panic attack! You did bring the limes in case didn't you??) Uh oh..

[Lacy]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Everyting cris sista... wi mi bak pon di road nuh???

... and maybe, finally... getting some where near.. I can smell the salt water now... is that the beach???? hehehe

As any rose lover knows... they come with countless thorns... hehehe

[Rose]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Boy oh boy I hope wi reach soon..

[This message has been edited by Rose (edited 08-05-2001).]

[OcheeHeart]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

This is sooo good Lacy...I felt my heart racing!! How relaxed I became when I realized the spliff was still intact!!! hee-hee

hey!!!

You still owe me the rest of my story gyal!!

[slimsexy]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

Jeeeeeezzaaaam piece Lacy.

[Lacy]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

They reached the outskirts of Negril, a few moments later, and Rose let out a long sigh of relief, as they pulled into Lacy’s beach yard.

While unloading the bags from the car, Lacy called over to Pepper, who was busy raking the path to the beach. ‘Come yah mi fren, carry dem tings up di beach deh soh eeh.’

Pepper laid down his rake and did as Lacy bid him. After saying goodbye to Mr. Pipps, the two women, their towels and chairs in tow, followed after Pepper, down the path.

But just as they turned the corner, prior to the beach, Lacy moved sharply to the right, leaving Rose in the path …. of six Jamaicans, each holding large plastic bags and grinning wildly.

Rose stopped short on the path and turned toward Lacy, her mouth starting open, as if to say ‘OH’… but the words were quickly silenced as she slammed her mouth closed again, pulling her arms up over her head, because….

…the bags contained flour… and without skipping a beat, all six where unceremoniously dumped over Rose’s head.

Between coughs and sputters, Rose brushed the floor from her face, smearing the mess into her hair. Small balls of flour formed, from the humidity and sweat, which clung to her hair like a bad braid job.

When her eyes were clear, she looked up, to spy Lacy bent over… laughing…. and Rose had to give in, to her own surprised amusement.

Lacy pulled out a large bottle of water and handed it to Rose, who promptly tipped back her head and let the cool liquid wash away the flour from her face.

The rest of the revealers finally came into focus, as each stepped forward and with a pat on the back, wished Rose a happy birthday, sending clouds of flour billowing into the air.

As each passed, more and more flour was blown into Rose’s nose and mouth, making her sneeze twice, before the ritual was finally over.

Glancing over at Lacy, Rose saw that she had already deposited the beach things and shed her wrap. Standing at the water’s edge, she stood with her hands on her hips, staring back, impatiently at Rose….

‘Come yah, gyal! You were the one, in such a hurry, to get to the beach.’ Lacy called out, then turned to the sea and waded in, up to her knees, before neatly diving, underneath the surface.

[Rose]

Re: Re: A Day of Roses

brushing flour from face and hair
BRAVO LACY! Thank you for that wonderful story!