by Luke Brown
He led her to his bedroom, where she climbed into bed. He took his clothes off and hopped into bed with her. They started exchanging sensuous kisses, and Leonard proceeded to kiss her all over her body.
He charmed Essie and successfully won her over. They had a brief relationship, but when Essie realized he was an out-of-control alcoholic, she broke it off before it got too far. At least, that was what she thought.
In reality, she ended the despicable relationship just a little too late. She missed her period the following month and was pregnant by the alcoholic lawyer. Essie was not at all happy with this news, but she would never abort a healthy child. Moreover, because of how difficult it was for her to have her first child, she had promised herself that she would never abort any of her pregnancies. When the baby was born one day after Christmas, December 26, 1957, she named her Myrtle Williams.
Now Essie had five children to feed and care for. With a big assist from her cousin Miriam, who helped with Lela, she started working in two different places. She would work in the mornings at the Chatham Hotel Resort and at night at Verne Hill Resort. She skillfully juggled these two jobs so she could maintain a roof over her kids’ heads and give them good food to eat.
On weekends she would do the regular grocery shopping. She had a very tight budget, so she went to the local food market because the food was known to be fresher and less expensive. One day she went to buy yams from a vendor there, and a strange thing happened.
After she chose the yams and some mangoes, the man weighed the food, put it in a bag, and gave it to her. “Here, this is from me to you, my pretty lady.”
“Thank you, sir, but what is the cost?”
“Nothing, my pretty lady,” the kind vendor replied, as if giving things away was not a big deal to him.
“Thank you. God bless you, sir.”
She thought that it was a little strange because no one gave anything away for free, but she just smiled and walked away. The next day, while she was home relaxing and reminiscing on the kind deed that had come her way, it dawned on her that she remembered the face of the vendor. She recognized his eyes and his smile, but she could not for the life of her remember where they had met before. It bothered her all week, so much so that she couldn’t wait to go back to the local market on the following weekend to meet this person again and to find out how she knew him.
Saturday morning bright and early, Essie hurried to the market, more to satisfy her curiosity than to purchase groceries. She rushed to the same spot where the kind gentleman had been, but he wasn’t there. Baffled, she circled the area several times as she shopped, but couldn’t find him. She checked with the nearby vendors, but no one recognized her description. After a whole day of inquiry, she gave up and went home, vowing to return every week until she found out who the kind man was.
Three weekends later, Essie found the vendor whose identity had escaped her. Not knowing what to say, she went up to him and ordered the same things she’d ordered on the previous occasion: yellow yams and a few mangoes.
After weighing the produce, the vendor put it in a bag and gave it to her. “Here, my pretty lady. This is from me to you.”
“Thank you, sir, but I want to know why you’re giving me this food for free.”
“You remind me of a good friend I once had. She was special to me, so giving you this gift is like giving it to her.”
“What was her name?”
“Essie Streete.” He tossed the name out casually, although it meant the world to him. He didn’t expect much reaction. What could it mean to this woman, anyway?
All of a sudden, it came to Essie. Tim! Her whole body quivered, and she let out a shrill scream, causing a stir in the market. It all came together: the eyes, the familiar smile. He was her old friend from childhood. She was fourteen again, living back in the countryside of Cascade and barely speaking to anyone in her jealous and abusive family. Tim was her only friend. He would walk her home from school in the evenings and listen to her talk about her unfair treatment by her adopted family.
Tim was sixteen at the time, very black-skinned and rather handsome. He felt privileged to be Essie’s friend. He knew he wasn’t the brightest child in school and planned on quitting, but Essie convinced him to stay in school. He only agreed because it meant he got to walk her home each day. They became good friends, which helped her cope with being an unwelcome member of her household.
One day during those teenage years, Tim saw her standing at the public pipe in Cascade waiting in line to get her bucket filled with water. He greeted his friend with a warm, happy-to-see-you hug. “Hey Essie, you’re out very early this morning, I see.”
“Oh yeah,” Essie said. “I have to fill the three water drums at home, so I thought I’d get an early start.” Her cheerful tone showed she was happy to see her friend. It was always wonderful to meet him on the road.
“That small bucket will take forever, Essie. I could take a slow boat to China and back, and you would still be here filling dem drums.”
“You can say that again. I’ll never finish today. I couldn’t find a big bucket, so I just took the first one without a leak in it.”
“Essie, I have an idea. Let me run home to fetch a larger bucket so I can help you fill up faster.”
“Would you? Thank you, Tim. You’re the best.”
Tim ran home, eager to help Essie. He considered it a pleasure and couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do. He returned shortly with a large bucket in hand.
It was always a joy being around Essie. Aunt Rose wouldn’t let him come into their yard, so he would sometimes wait outside the gate, just hoping to get a glimpse of Essie. He didn’t try to go in because he believed in the saying, “Never test the water with both feet.” He was content to meet Essie on her errands somewhere along the streets or at the shops.
The drums held water for both household and personal use. Because Essie’s house had no plumbing, all water needs were satisfied through the drums. On a rainy day or during the wet season, there was less need to get water from the public pipes. The drums, set up in strategic locations outside of the house, collected rainwater through gutters, which were mostly made from bamboo trees and lined the top of the house on all four sides. The residents of Cascade never complained that there was too much rain. Rainwater meant more than a blessing to them; it meant survival.
Another time back in Cascade, Tim saw Essie on her way to the river to wash some of her family’s dirty clothes. “Essie, where are you going?” he shouted.
“To the river,” Essie shouted back.
Tim was on the other side of the road playing a game of dominoes with his friends. “Which one?’
“Rocky Point River.”
“To do what?”
“Tim, stop bothering me. You can see the basket of dirty clothes on my head. If you want to come, just come.”
That was all Tim needed to hear. He ran across the street to join Essie. “All the way to Rocky Point River? That’s very far, but I’ll come anyway.”
“You know you want to come, so don’t pretend.”
“That’s a lot of clothes, Essie. That basket is really big.” Tim nodded at the overloaded brown plastic basket, so full of dirty clothes that a variety of items hung over the side.
A well-wrapped piece of clothing provided a buffer between Essie’s head and the basket. Essie skillfully leaned the packed container to one side. She looked like a typical country girl. This only made Tim admire her even more.
“Yeah, it is,” Essie said. “Are you going to help me with it?”
“No! Are you crazy, Essie?”
“Why not? You’re not my friend anymore?”
“Yes, but my friends will laugh at me.”
“Laugh? Why?” Essie pretended ignorance, although she knew very well that he was right. Boys can be so brutal to each other when it comes to those types of manly myths. She figured she’d tease him a bit.
“They’ll laugh because I’m carrying women’s
clothes on my head,” Tim said.
“So what’s wrong with that?”
“You don’t know what they say about that kind of thing? It mek yu dung grow,” Tim said in a mix of Jamaican patois dialect. “You done know that already, mon. I don’t need to have my height retarded because I carry female clothes on my head.”
“That’s ridiculous, Tim. I’ve never heard of that before. You’re just a male chauvinist piglet who follows silly ideas.”
In the end, Tim did help Essie with her load. He helped her all the way to the river. While at the river, he sat on a rock close by while Essie washed her clothes. They talked and made fun of each other until it was soon time to go.
On their way back from the river, Tim again helped Essie with her load, but this time they stopped to rest more often. The wet clothes, much heavier now, slowed them considerably, as did the uphill journey. On one of their many rest stops, they decided to pick some mangoes off a nearby tree. Tim climbed the tree and threw the ripe, delicious fruit to Essie. When they had collected enough, they sat under the tree and enjoyed their treats. Refreshed, they continued on their journey home.
Essie enjoyed their time together, and Tim was delighted to have spent the day with the prettiest girl in the whole town. Tim’s friendship back when they were kids was a breath of fresh air to Essie, but she still dreamed of a bigger and better place than the little village of Cascade.
Although Essie had left the countryside of Cascade behind, she always carried a soft spot in her heart for Tim. She’d missed her friend dearly, and sometimes wondered how he was doing. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect to see him in Montego Bay so many years later and, of all places, at the local food market.
She emerged from her flashback and shouted to the kind vendor, “I’m Essie Streete! And your name is Tim, right?”
“Timothy Brown,” he said, nodding several times as he gazed into her eyes.
“You’re Tim? My best friend, my Tim from back in Cascade?” Essie grinned, her face radiating joy.
“Essie? My sweet Essie? My Lord, I can’t believe my eyes.”
“Tim, what’s happened to you? You look so old, I wouldn’t recognize you at all,” she said frankly.
They embraced, holding each other in a long and joyful hug. Thrilled to see each other and know they were both alive and well, they shed sweet tears, oblivious to those around them. They didn’t care that people stared at them as they renewed their childhood friendship. For them, a miracle had occurred.
They stepped aside, as they had a lot to talk about. A number of years had passed between them, and they now had a lot to catch up on. As luck would have it, they both had kids, but they were free and single at the time. It was like it was meant to be. They didn’t waste any more time hiding their true feelings, but confessed everything to each other. They initiated an intimate relationship that very same day.
Essie brought Tim home to meet her kids, and he spent the night at her place. It was one of the most sensuous and erotic nights of their lives. After Essie prepared a very special dinner for Tim, they spent the rest of the evening locked away in their room.
Essie knew she had a beautiful body. She stripped off her clothes, remaining in the nude for the rest of the night.
Tim stripped down to his boxer shorts and admired his newfound love from head to toe. She looked great to him. He loved a woman with long, sexy legs, and he wholeheartedly loved Essie’s legs. He loved her wide, shapely hips and her small waist, her navel, and her big sexy boobs. He loved the coy smile on her face, especially when she got naughty.
“Tim, come over here, honey. It’s time to sample your gift.” Essie turned toward him and sensuously slapped one side of her naked batti. Essie may have been a shy, naive person in public, but she sure was a big tease in the bedroom.
“What did an old countryman like me do to deserve such a pretty young woman like you, Essie?”
Tim climbed up onto the bed and was about to say something else when Essie stopped him. “Enough talking, Tim. May I … you know?” She looked down at his boxer shorts.
“Sure! Why not? I just took a shower, and I’m as clean as a whistle.”
“I only do this for you, Tim, because I really do love you.”
They could not have been happier with their emotional and joyful reunion. They discovered they lived in two different worlds and both liked where they were living. However, they promised to meet each other halfway. They would compromise and help to carry each other’s relationship baggage, because that’s what good friends do.
Tim remained in the parish of Hanover. He lived in Clear Mount of Jericho, a small town not too far away from Cascade. He had become an independent farmer with lots of land and brought produce to Montego Bay once a month to sell at the local market.
Essie decided not to return to the country, but nevertheless, vowed to maintain an intimate relationship with Tim, even if it had to be a long-distance one.
Over a period of ten years, whenever Tim was in town, he would visit Essie and spend the night or a full weekend in Montego Bay. During that time, Essie bore two sons by Tim. The first, born on August 10, 1959, they called Karl Brown. The second, born four years later on June 12, 1963, they named Leonard Brown.
One night when Leonard was just under two years old, Essie returned home very late from work in a taxicab. The area where she lived had no streetlights, so the headlights of the taxi provided the only light. When the cab was still two blocks away from Essie’s home, there, focused in the lights, was a young boy sitting in the middle of the road. As the headlights approached, he started running to the side of the street to avoid the car.
Essie saw the child and began to scream. “Stop! Stop! That’s my baby! Stop! Oh my God! What the hell is he doing on the road at this time of night?” She jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped and ran to her son. She couldn’t believe her son was out there and wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t come home when she did. Surely her son would’ve been struck by a moving vehicle in the pitch dark.
What had happened? Everyone was asleep, including the babysitter. Moreover, they were not aware that Leonard was able to walk, so they felt sure he was safe in the house.
It was similar to a baby Poltergeist movie. Essie’s baby virtually skipped the creeping phase and went straight into the walking stage of child development. Well actually, he crept around for a few days then suddenly pulled himself up that night after falling out of bed. It was not the first time that little Leonard had fallen out of his bed. He usually sleeps with the grown folks on their regular bed and therefore he would roll around or creep to the edge and fall. The only difference that night was that he fell without making any sound. He did not cry out so no one came to his rescue. They were in deep sleep. Moreover, the area of the floor just below the edge of the bed was lined with soft cushions and pillows to allow him to break his fall. After laying there for a while he held on to one of the bed posts, pulled himself up and staggered away. He somehow found his way through the front door and helped himself to the outside.
Essie immediately quit her night job to make sure that something like that never happened again. Many years later, she still remembered this shocking incident and often said that was when she realized Leonard was special. From that night on, she knew in her heart he was born to be a great person, and she hoped to see it happen.
Karl was in much safer hands. When he was two years old, Tim volunteered to keep his first baby boy with him in the country. This he did to help Essie with some of her load as a single parent. Leonard remained with Essie in Montego Bay, and Tim would readily supply the whole family with free produce whenever he was in town.
Chapter 13
O, my love is like a red, red rose
that’s newly sprung in June:
O, my love is like the melody
that’s sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
so deep in love am I;
&nbs
p; and I will love thee still, my dear,
Till all the seas go dry.
Till all the seas go dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt with the sun;
And I will love thee still my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.
And fare thee well, my only love!
And fare thee well a while!
And I will come again, my love,
Though it were ten thousand miles!
Robert Burns, 1794
The long-distance relationship between Tim and Essie was blessed, wholesome, and free of major stress. Tim was madly in love with her just as he had been as a young teenager, and he would give Essie anything she asked for, if it was within his means.
The only problem was that his means were not much to a city girl. Tim’s wealth was in his country farmland. He had lots of it, over a hundred acres he’d gained through hard labor. Each time he reaped a crop, he would use the profit to purchase more land. In addition to that, the more he farmed, the more land the government would give him as an incentive to increase production.
Though Tim was rich in potential real estate, no one with money would buy the land except to use it for farming. Moreover, a lot of hard work and toil would be required to bring the land up to farmable quality. An average farmer couldn’t afford this land, so with few potential buyers, it had little resale value. Tim never minded that, because he was happy being a country farmer. He had never liked having a boss, and he liked the peace of mind that came with living a simple country life.
The best Tim could do for Essie was to supply her with a great deal of fresh food. He would therefore bring box after box of fresh produce that he harvested every month. This was perfect for Essie, because she had more than seven hungry mouths to feed at any one time. Therefore, food was one less thing Essie and her large family had to worry about. Her small salary could take care of everything else.
