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Re: Summer Story
Chapter IX
They alighted from the jeep. The children raced on ahead and Michelle glanced disinterestedly about her. She still did not know where they were or why they were there. Nicey walked in the wake of the kids and Audley came around the jeep to stand next to Michelle.
“Look. Mi affi go check mi fren inside. Mi no tink wi a stay too long. If yuh waa, wi go pon a sight-seeing ting when wi dun.”
Michelle pondered for a moment. It’s what one should do when they are on holidays, but she was tired of being pressed in the backseat by the children, lovely though they were. She was tired of feeling Nicey’s glare on her, everytime she so much as shifted. She was tired of the ridiculous speed at which Audley felt compelled to drive – how was one to site-see when he obviously had an aversion to slowing down, never mind stopping?
Michelle smiled wanly and replied, “I’d rather go back to the house, if that’s ok. I still haven’t really unpacked my stuff and I am a little bit…”
“Tyad? Yeah, yuh nuh look too fresh. But mi no tink Mama a go like it if mi nat even tek yuh go show yuh some place an ting.”
“I don’t think Aunt Myrtle would care too much about my tourist perspective, one way or the other,” Michelle said dryly.
“Why yuh say dat?”
“Oh c’mon. You’ve seen the way she is with me. For whatever reason, she’s got a total hate-on for me. I don’t really care,” Michelle shrugged. “I just don’t want to pretend that it’s different from the way it is.”
Audley shrugged his shoulders and turned to watch his family approach the house. The door was opened and they entered.
“Actually,” Michelle said. “Do you mind if I stay in the jeep? I don’t..”
“Of course mi mind! Yuh cyaa come a people yawd an bout yuh a tan outside eena cyar! Come awn.”
Inside, they were greeted by a couple who were Audley’s age. The children were out of sight and Nicey wore her customary smirk.
“Wha gwan?” Audley asked of no one in particular while he made himself comfortable on the sofa.
“Nutn,” his friend said while looking interestedly at Michelle. She smiled back and his smile widened. “Audley a gwan like im no ha no mannas,” he said. “My name is Joseph. But everybady call mi Joe.” He took her hand and said, “Dis is mi wife Lynne.”
“Hi,” Michelle said, smiling. “I guess everyone calls you Lynne?”
Lynne did not smile back and Michelle knew why Nicey smirked. She sighed.
“Tek a seat man, tek a seat,” Joe invited. “Lynne, how bout yuh get some drinks for wi guests? Dem mus be parched out. What oonuus ood like?”
“Lawd Gad!” Lynne snapped. “Mine yuh twis up yuh dyam tongue! Mi ha carrot juice whe mi did mek fi go wid dinna layta an mi have wata. Oonuu waa wata or oonuu waa wata?”
“Water,” Michelle said weakly to Lynne’s retreating back.
“So how yuh like Jamaker so fer?” Joe asked Michelle warmly. She bit her cheek.
“It’s great, thanks. I haven’t seen much of it yet…”
“Wha, dem no tek yuh roun yet? Well, if yuh want I can tek yuh whe eva yuh wan go. I know all de places and tings. Personalize service is wot I hoffer. Stop when eva yuh wont. Go when eva yuh wont.”
“But a when since yuh tun travel agency?” Audley derided. “Yuh have time fi all dat?”
“I will mek de time man! How wi a go have such a beautiful guest come a wi country an wi jus lef har fi siddung eena oonuu big ol lopsided house? Dat soun right to yuh?”
“Massa shet yuh mout! Wi deh yah fi discuss business. Nicey, how bout yuh tek Michelle roun so to Lynne? Oonuu can find sitn fi do.”
Michelle followed Nicey to the back yard, where Lynne was sitting on a lounge chair smoking and sipping from a bottle.
“Cola Champagne eena de fridge,” she said without looking up. Michelle hung around the back door while Nicey went back. Michelle was surprised when a cold opened bottle was thrust into her hands. She drank thirstily.
Nicey sat in lounge chair across from Lynne and both women ignored Michelle who still stood. She sat on the plastic garden chair and prepared her self for a long ignored visit.
******
The ride back was uneventful. Audley was true to his word and took her sight seeing. He stopped to show her places of interest, houses and more houses. She did not have her camera with her and mentioned this. Nicey snorted and the children whined. They were bored. If he could find the time, would he take her to see some places she’d heard about? She’d like to see the Ochi Rios – just so she could compare it to Niagara Falls. She’d like to go to Devon House, ice cream? She wanted to go to Negril she wanted to visit the market in Kingston. All that couldn’t happen in a day, Audley remarked drily. And he was a busy man. But he would see what he could do. When the fidgeting of the Ryan and Sheldon, coupled with the increase of kiss teeth from Nicey became too much, they returned home. All the while though, Michelle was determined to get to the bottom of why her grandmother was never given an inheritance. She’d tried just asking about it, Audley had balked and she figured that the others would swat aside her questions labeling them the utterance of a greedy foreigner.
When they returned, they found the house empty. The children ran off to play, Audley said there was a knocking coming from the jeep and that he had to check it out. Nicey, with an announcement to no one in particular, went off to prepare dinner. Michelle was at a loose end. She decided to investigate the house.
Chapter X
Michelle started from the front of the house and avoided the ‘parlour’ as she’d found Aunt Myrtle liked to call it. Audley had told her earlier that that was one room that the children were not allowed to enter and that no one else really used it except his mother. Michelle was ok with that. The energy of the room was simply too strange. So she wandered from room to room starting with the room that led off from the parlour. The rooms were exciting and strange indeed. No too bore the same imprint, unless the imprint was of someone quite eccentric. She found that the house appealed to her sense of morbidity. So many rooms were dark and dressed as though from a bygone era. Michelle felt that she could easily get lost in the fantasy of it all.
There were many rooms, and as Lloyd had called it, they combined to make the house quite ‘lopsided’. The narrow hallway that at first had seemed to run down the center of the house, was in fact, off to the right somewhat, with most of the rooms leading off the left of the hallway.
The rooms to the right, were mostly bedrooms and Michelle counted at least six. Aunt Myrtle’s was easily identifiable. The huge mahogany four poster bed draped in chiffon could not possibly belong to anyone else. Michelle quickly pulled the door closed, in fear of being caught.
She found what was the children’s room. They were inside playing on their x-box and invited her in. She declined but promised that she’d meet their challenge soon.
Two rooms down she found another bedroom and peering inside, she deduced, from the many pictures on the wall, that that bedroom was Audley and Nicey’s.
A little way down and across the hall was a door. She opened it and found that it was just a small space that led to another room. Reaching for the handle she was stopped short when a harsh voice said, “A whe yuh tink yuh a do? A whe yuh come yah fi do? Faas?”
Michelle jumped in fright, and while she struggled to steady her breathing, Nicey continued arms akimbo. “So. A dat Petal sen yuh come ya fi do? Fi faas? Fi look eena whe nuh concern yuh?”
“No,” Michelle gasped above her slow settling heartbeat. “I was just exploring the house…”
“Exploring? Exploring wha? A wha, yuh related to Christopher Columbus? Eeh? Or a yuh a de Queen a Spain? Yuh a tip toe roun de place-”
“I was not-” Michelle’s indignation was brushed over.
“-a opn door an a go chroo people tings! A whe yuh tek?”
“I’m no thief!” Michelle’s heartbeat was now picking up speed for another reason.
“So you say! But time wi tell, doan?”
“Oh for [censored]’s sake!” Michelle cried, throwing her arms up in the air.
“An nobadda come roun yah wid yuh dutty mout! Eeh eh, a galang like yuh couldn mash ants, but seet deh! Mi did know eno. Eeh eh, one look an mi couldan tell say yuh was no good like yuh mumma.” Nicey looked her up and down, insolently and then deliberately closed the door that had led from the hallway to the small empty space.
“Mi a watch you, jus memba dat,” Nicey said, staring hard at Michelle before stalking back to the kitchen.
Michelle ground her teeth and returned to her room. She swung the door hard but its bounce robbed her.
She flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Of all the rooms in the house, all the rooms she’d been able to see, including the children’s room, the dining room, the storage room, this room was the most pitiable. Why was she stuck in the worse room in the house? Was it like Nicey said, they thought she’d been sent to dig into their affairs? What affairs were there anyway? Would it be worth the dig?
Chapter IX
They alighted from the jeep. The children raced on ahead and Michelle glanced disinterestedly about her. She still did not know where they were or why they were there. Nicey walked in the wake of the kids and Audley came around the jeep to stand next to Michelle.
“Look. Mi affi go check mi fren inside. Mi no tink wi a stay too long. If yuh waa, wi go pon a sight-seeing ting when wi dun.”
Michelle pondered for a moment. It’s what one should do when they are on holidays, but she was tired of being pressed in the backseat by the children, lovely though they were. She was tired of feeling Nicey’s glare on her, everytime she so much as shifted. She was tired of the ridiculous speed at which Audley felt compelled to drive – how was one to site-see when he obviously had an aversion to slowing down, never mind stopping?
Michelle smiled wanly and replied, “I’d rather go back to the house, if that’s ok. I still haven’t really unpacked my stuff and I am a little bit…”
“Tyad? Yeah, yuh nuh look too fresh. But mi no tink Mama a go like it if mi nat even tek yuh go show yuh some place an ting.”
“I don’t think Aunt Myrtle would care too much about my tourist perspective, one way or the other,” Michelle said dryly.
“Why yuh say dat?”
“Oh c’mon. You’ve seen the way she is with me. For whatever reason, she’s got a total hate-on for me. I don’t really care,” Michelle shrugged. “I just don’t want to pretend that it’s different from the way it is.”
Audley shrugged his shoulders and turned to watch his family approach the house. The door was opened and they entered.
“Actually,” Michelle said. “Do you mind if I stay in the jeep? I don’t..”
“Of course mi mind! Yuh cyaa come a people yawd an bout yuh a tan outside eena cyar! Come awn.”
Inside, they were greeted by a couple who were Audley’s age. The children were out of sight and Nicey wore her customary smirk.
“Wha gwan?” Audley asked of no one in particular while he made himself comfortable on the sofa.
“Nutn,” his friend said while looking interestedly at Michelle. She smiled back and his smile widened. “Audley a gwan like im no ha no mannas,” he said. “My name is Joseph. But everybady call mi Joe.” He took her hand and said, “Dis is mi wife Lynne.”
“Hi,” Michelle said, smiling. “I guess everyone calls you Lynne?”
Lynne did not smile back and Michelle knew why Nicey smirked. She sighed.
“Tek a seat man, tek a seat,” Joe invited. “Lynne, how bout yuh get some drinks for wi guests? Dem mus be parched out. What oonuus ood like?”
“Lawd Gad!” Lynne snapped. “Mine yuh twis up yuh dyam tongue! Mi ha carrot juice whe mi did mek fi go wid dinna layta an mi have wata. Oonuu waa wata or oonuu waa wata?”
“Water,” Michelle said weakly to Lynne’s retreating back.
“So how yuh like Jamaker so fer?” Joe asked Michelle warmly. She bit her cheek.
“It’s great, thanks. I haven’t seen much of it yet…”
“Wha, dem no tek yuh roun yet? Well, if yuh want I can tek yuh whe eva yuh wan go. I know all de places and tings. Personalize service is wot I hoffer. Stop when eva yuh wont. Go when eva yuh wont.”
“But a when since yuh tun travel agency?” Audley derided. “Yuh have time fi all dat?”
“I will mek de time man! How wi a go have such a beautiful guest come a wi country an wi jus lef har fi siddung eena oonuu big ol lopsided house? Dat soun right to yuh?”
“Massa shet yuh mout! Wi deh yah fi discuss business. Nicey, how bout yuh tek Michelle roun so to Lynne? Oonuu can find sitn fi do.”
Michelle followed Nicey to the back yard, where Lynne was sitting on a lounge chair smoking and sipping from a bottle.
“Cola Champagne eena de fridge,” she said without looking up. Michelle hung around the back door while Nicey went back. Michelle was surprised when a cold opened bottle was thrust into her hands. She drank thirstily.
Nicey sat in lounge chair across from Lynne and both women ignored Michelle who still stood. She sat on the plastic garden chair and prepared her self for a long ignored visit.
******
The ride back was uneventful. Audley was true to his word and took her sight seeing. He stopped to show her places of interest, houses and more houses. She did not have her camera with her and mentioned this. Nicey snorted and the children whined. They were bored. If he could find the time, would he take her to see some places she’d heard about? She’d like to see the Ochi Rios – just so she could compare it to Niagara Falls. She’d like to go to Devon House, ice cream? She wanted to go to Negril she wanted to visit the market in Kingston. All that couldn’t happen in a day, Audley remarked drily. And he was a busy man. But he would see what he could do. When the fidgeting of the Ryan and Sheldon, coupled with the increase of kiss teeth from Nicey became too much, they returned home. All the while though, Michelle was determined to get to the bottom of why her grandmother was never given an inheritance. She’d tried just asking about it, Audley had balked and she figured that the others would swat aside her questions labeling them the utterance of a greedy foreigner.
When they returned, they found the house empty. The children ran off to play, Audley said there was a knocking coming from the jeep and that he had to check it out. Nicey, with an announcement to no one in particular, went off to prepare dinner. Michelle was at a loose end. She decided to investigate the house.
Chapter X
Michelle started from the front of the house and avoided the ‘parlour’ as she’d found Aunt Myrtle liked to call it. Audley had told her earlier that that was one room that the children were not allowed to enter and that no one else really used it except his mother. Michelle was ok with that. The energy of the room was simply too strange. So she wandered from room to room starting with the room that led off from the parlour. The rooms were exciting and strange indeed. No too bore the same imprint, unless the imprint was of someone quite eccentric. She found that the house appealed to her sense of morbidity. So many rooms were dark and dressed as though from a bygone era. Michelle felt that she could easily get lost in the fantasy of it all.
There were many rooms, and as Lloyd had called it, they combined to make the house quite ‘lopsided’. The narrow hallway that at first had seemed to run down the center of the house, was in fact, off to the right somewhat, with most of the rooms leading off the left of the hallway.
The rooms to the right, were mostly bedrooms and Michelle counted at least six. Aunt Myrtle’s was easily identifiable. The huge mahogany four poster bed draped in chiffon could not possibly belong to anyone else. Michelle quickly pulled the door closed, in fear of being caught.
She found what was the children’s room. They were inside playing on their x-box and invited her in. She declined but promised that she’d meet their challenge soon.
Two rooms down she found another bedroom and peering inside, she deduced, from the many pictures on the wall, that that bedroom was Audley and Nicey’s.
A little way down and across the hall was a door. She opened it and found that it was just a small space that led to another room. Reaching for the handle she was stopped short when a harsh voice said, “A whe yuh tink yuh a do? A whe yuh come yah fi do? Faas?”
Michelle jumped in fright, and while she struggled to steady her breathing, Nicey continued arms akimbo. “So. A dat Petal sen yuh come ya fi do? Fi faas? Fi look eena whe nuh concern yuh?”
“No,” Michelle gasped above her slow settling heartbeat. “I was just exploring the house…”
“Exploring? Exploring wha? A wha, yuh related to Christopher Columbus? Eeh? Or a yuh a de Queen a Spain? Yuh a tip toe roun de place-”
“I was not-” Michelle’s indignation was brushed over.
“-a opn door an a go chroo people tings! A whe yuh tek?”
“I’m no thief!” Michelle’s heartbeat was now picking up speed for another reason.
“So you say! But time wi tell, doan?”
“Oh for [censored]’s sake!” Michelle cried, throwing her arms up in the air.
“An nobadda come roun yah wid yuh dutty mout! Eeh eh, a galang like yuh couldn mash ants, but seet deh! Mi did know eno. Eeh eh, one look an mi couldan tell say yuh was no good like yuh mumma.” Nicey looked her up and down, insolently and then deliberately closed the door that had led from the hallway to the small empty space.
“Mi a watch you, jus memba dat,” Nicey said, staring hard at Michelle before stalking back to the kitchen.
Michelle ground her teeth and returned to her room. She swung the door hard but its bounce robbed her.
She flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Of all the rooms in the house, all the rooms she’d been able to see, including the children’s room, the dining room, the storage room, this room was the most pitiable. Why was she stuck in the worse room in the house? Was it like Nicey said, they thought she’d been sent to dig into their affairs? What affairs were there anyway? Would it be worth the dig?
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