by Luke Brown
Essie was happy about the change in her family’s lifestyle. She was proud of their new home and the neighborhood in which it was located. However, she still had problems sleeping at night and had doubled her alcohol intake. Her smoking habit, which she had once tried to quit, was now worse. Essie had become a fighter in her own battle to survive. She knew that she had to keep on fighting, because her children needed her now more than ever.
In an attempt to steal her away from her job so that she could work for them instead, a real estate company handling another private cottage in the same area of Ironshore had made her an offer more than a year earlier. They had offered her a much higher salary because they had heard of her excellent cooking skills. Essie didn’t accept it then because of her loyalty to her current boss. She thought that with the fringe benefits, her job was worth more in the long run than what the other realty company was offering. But when they had called a few weeks earlier and raised the offer even higher than before, she decided to accept. At this point it was easy for Essie to leave her current job.
Essie was serious about life now, and she wasn’t going to take any second-best job. She knew that she was a first-class chef, and she wasn’t going to settle for less. She had a family to feed and clothe, so she reasonably drove a hard bargain.
Essie worked very hard while her children developed their own individual identities. Now that the family was securely settled in their own home, Karl separated voluntarily from his father, Timothy Brown, and moved to Glenworth. Now fourteen years old, he had been fed up for some time with the country lifestyle he had led while living with his father. Karl completed his secondary education at Glenworth All-Age School and went on to a trade school to study the science of welding.
At twenty-one years old, Gena, the miracle baby, was now the mother of three boys: Don, Andre, and Breath. Don was the oldest, and prior to this time, he had been living mostly with his father’s family. Breath was the youngest of them all, and he was very clingy when it came to his grandmother Essie. Andre fell in the middle; he was the quietest of the boys.
Gena got her big break when she obtained a visa to go to Nassau, in the Bahamas. The day she was leaving, she trustingly left her kids with Essie. She cried and vowed that she was going to make it soon and then pave the way for her family to follow.
Gena quickly obtained a job in the Bahamas and started sending food and clothes for the family every major holiday. Within two years, to everyone’s surprise, Gena called to let them know that she had made it safely to the United States. It was not an easy journey. She had stowed away on a large cruise ship, had been repeatedly abused by multiple crew members, and had almost gotten thrown overboard into the open sea.
Through it all, she persevered and lived to tell the story, though for a long time, she didn’t tell her family about the gruesome parts of her journey. She only told them about the good news concerning her successful arrival in the United States.
For many years, Gena struggled to survive in New York City, but she still found a way to continue her regular support of the family on major holidays. She had a special closet that she reserved just for her family. After she had successfully filled and sent off a minimum of two barrels—with one of them containing food and the other containing clothes, shoes, and other things—she would immediately start on the preparation for the next major holiday.
The first thing she did was replace the two barrels she had just sent to Jamaica with two empty ones and set them aside in her reserved closet. Each time she went to the supermarket or did some type of shopping, she searched for good two-for-one deals or any other incredible sales. She bought these items with certain family members in mind, and when she got home, she would meticulously put a name on each piece of clothing or pair of shoes.
She also sometimes made little notes concerning an item, such as For Bunny’s birthday, and pinned them to the item before storing it away. She put food items directly into the food barrel.
She continued this process until both barrels were full or until it was the next holiday and it was time to call the international freight carrier. The carrier picked up the barrels from Gena and delivered them directly to her family in Glenworth.
Holidays for Essie’s family meant that barrels were on the way from the United States. There was always excitement in the air, and they all held their breath in anticipation. They never knew what was going to be in the barrel for them. But one thing was for sure: there would definitely be something in the barrel for everyone. Gena never forgot anyone.
Once the barrels arrived, the holiday officially began. There was usually an anxious crowd of family members surrounding the barrels, like children at Christmas who had gotten their nicely wrapped gifts and couldn’t wait to rip into them to see what Santa had brought. It was the barrel of clothes and other things that magnetically drew the crowd, more so than the food barrel. Once the cover had been removed, everyone would freely rush to see what was in that barrel for him or her.
The male members of the family logically went for the pants and shirts or anything male-related, and the females, likewise, dove into the barrel to pull out female-related stuff. They then checked to see what names were attached to the items. If a name wasn’t the name of the person who was holding the item, then he or she would shout out the name of the person for whom it was intended, and that person would dash forward to joyously collect the item.
Sometimes the barrel ceremony was a lot more organized. A designated distributor would be responsible for opening the barrel, taking out the various items one by one, and calling out the names on each item. But it was hard to find a good distributor, because there was so much excitement in the air that once the designated distributor started the orderly distribution of items and ran into his or her own name, he or she usually stopped to admire or try on the new item. As might be expected, no one was willing to wait around for such time-wasting activities. It therefore led right back to the rowdy pandemonium of everyone diving in and scooping up items. It was like Christmas morning all over again on each holiday, and Gena was like the Santa Claus of the family.
The excitement didn’t end with the distribution of new clothes and shoes. After each person had collected his or her share of goods, it was time to try them on and hope that they were the right fit. Gena had a unique skill for figuring out the changing sizes of each member of her family. It was rare that an item didn’t fit. However, when that did happen, pandemonium broke out again as everyone attempted to trade the items that didn’t fit for ones that did. The scene sometimes resembled the scene in the story of Cinderella where the stepsisters try to force their way-too-big feet into the tiny glass slipper brought by the prince.
After what could be humorously perceived as the opening ceremony and the distribution ceremony, there was the trade show. Everyone tried on their clothes and shoes to see if they fit and to see what they could profitably trade for another item. Sometimes the trade was not only based on fit, but also on likes and dislikes.
Once everyone had obtained the appropriate items, the next step was the display show—probably the best part about the whole barrel activity. Everyone put their items on display by wearing them. The community of Glenworth always knew when the barrel had been received by Essie’s family, because all the family members would be out that day roaming the streets in their brand new apparel, thanking God for Essie’s miracle baby, Gena.
Essie’s children were all grown or growing up and pursuing a variety of interests. At ten years of age, Leonard had vowed to become a doctor one day so he could help the family while healing the world. Everyone in his family laughed at him and called him funny names. They laughed at him because he was the goofy and nerdy kid in the bunch. They called him the Reverence, which was the shortened form of an even longer, more ridiculous nickname: Leonard the Reverence-Ripe-Banana-Junjay. He knew there must be a story behind that name, but he had never quite figured out what it meant or why they called him such a crazy name. He thought it w
as safe to say that it was a form of mockery to indicate that he was just a fool.
Technically, they were right. Considering all the odds that were stacked against him, he was a fool to think that he could make it to the top of the intellectual hierarchy to become a physician, especially coming so far from the bottom of the pile, with no form of support structure. He had no role model or highly educated person in his family or anywhere around him.
However, Leonard didn’t care how impossible it seemed. He didn’t much mind if they laughed at him. He was determined to be a doctor someday. He wanted to make a significant contribution to his society and had decided that contribution should be in the medical arena. Moreover, he wanted to be able to help his struggling family someday, and he wanted to help them in a very big way. He got baptized in the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church at the age of ten. This was shortly after his sister Myrtle had stopped attending that same church.
Myrtle had been attending the SDA church ever since she had been invited by a neighbor, Mr. Mulgrave. She attended church every Sabbath and had almost perfect attendance. She even got baptized one year later. She had to go alone because, at that time, she was the only one in Essie’s family who had chosen to follow a religious pathway. Eventually, Leonard started to attend church with her.
However, Myrtle quit church after she found out that she had rheumatic fever and heart disease. She also quit school and started roaming the town, doing lots of rebellious things: fighting, drinking alcohol, and smoking marijuana. She also got pregnant against her doctor’s advice and gave birth to a premature baby by the name of Dean Myers seven months into her pregnancy.
Junior, at age nineteen, was also smoking marijuana. He was an apprentice to an electrician and later learned the trade and became a popular electrician in his community.
Though heavyset, Betty was the prettiest child of all Essie’s children. After trying her hand at dressmaking, she decided at eighteen years of age to become a beautician. She eventually went on to own her own beauty parlor. She also had one set of twin girls, Kate and Keisha, and later had another pretty little girl named Charlene.
Lela, who was still living with Miriam, was now going to an exclusive SDA private school. She wanted to be a nurse.
Bunny, the handsomest boy in the family, was still young and undecided about what he wanted to be. One thing everyone noticed about him was that he was charming and had a way with words. He was an outstanding speaker and could easily grow up to be a great politician someday.
Chapter 19
Essie had a noteworthy ability. Whenever she went to town to shop, she would invariably spot a young woman who looked as if she needed help or shelter. Essie was skillful in spotting such a person in the midst of a crowded plaza; she could seemingly do so with her eyes closed. While the average person wouldn’t notice anything strange or different about the girl, Essie would. She could discern all the telltale signs. It was as if she had developed an eye for that particular situation. No matter how busy she was, Essie would walk over to the young woman, talk to her, and astutely figure out what was needed. Whenever possible, Essie would provide the answer to the need from her own resources.
Sometimes all the girl needed was taxi fare to get to where she intended to go. Sometimes she was simply lost and needed directions. Often, however, she was a runaway teenager desperately looking for a place to stay.
Even if Essie couldn’t help the girls herself, she wouldn’t leave them until they got what they needed. Many times she brought them home to stay overnight or for a longer period, if necessary, so that they could get to where they had to go or successfully reach the person they needed to reach.
Whenever the young ladies were runaways, Essie took them into her home and had them do light chores for pay. She did this so they would be able to save, get a real job, get an education, or meet a partner so they could move on and live an independent life.
Seemingly every other month or so, another young lady joined Essie’s family for one reason or another. Essie’s home often appeared to be a rehabilitation center, especially during the runaway teenager season—though there was no real seasonal flow. There could be as few as one per year or as many as six all in the same month. There were no true age restrictions, either. Just as a teenager could need help, a woman at age thirty-nine could need rescue for a few days or more from an abusive husband.
Essie was brilliant at telling when a person truly needed help. If so, she would without a doubt do the best she could to help her.
Among many of those whom Essie took into her home was Pauline Anderson. Pauline was a young runaway girl from the town of May Pen in the parish of Clarendon in Jamaica. Essie first noticed Pauline at a shopping plaza. Pauline had a tattered old shopping bag in her hand with what seemed to be a few groceries in it. Essie noticed her pretentiously walking around as if shopping, like the rest of the crowd. However, Essie saw that the teenager really wasn’t buying anything. Rather than look at grocery items, she mostly stared despondently into people’s faces.
Essie noticed a familiar destitute look in her eyes and realized instantly that she had to be a runaway teen. So she briskly walked up to the young lady and said in a kind voice, “Hello, young lady, what is your name? May I help you with anything today?”
The young lady looked up at Essie with a bewildered look. “No, ma’am, I’m just shopping,” she replied confidently. But for a split second, a sign of irritation crossed her face, as if she were in no mood to deal with any stranger.
“What’s in your bag?” Essie asked.
Not any business of yours, the girl thought, with an annoyed frown upon her face as if she would rather be left alone. Instead, she said, “Just some groceries.”
“Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?” Essie asked one more time.
“Do I look like someone who needs help?” the young lady said, slightly annoyed.
Essie quickly answered, strongly and assertively, “Yes, you do, and this is a very cold, mean place for you to take any chances with your life. Go home to your parents; you’ll be better off.”
Shocked, the young lady stopped and stared into Essie’s eyes. She saw the deep, motherly concern in her face. But she shouted back at Essie, “I’m looking for a nice single man to take me home. Why do you care, anyway?”
“I care because I’ve been there before, and I know that things don’t always work out the way you intend.”
“I just got here from May Pen, and I don’t intend to go back. I want to start a life for myself.”
“I can see that you just got here. Kids are usually very confident in the morning, much more than they are in the evening. What is your name, young lady?”
“My name is Pauline, miss.”
“Well, Pauline, my name is Miss Essie. I must tell you the truth; you don’t need a young man. What you need is a job. I’m not rich. I can hardly take care of my large family at home, but they have a roof over their heads, and it’s all mine. You can join my family and help with the cooking and cleaning when I’m away, and I’ll give you a small salary. When you are good and ready, you can get a decent job and help yourself.”
“Thank you, Miss Essie.”
After shopping together, Essie took Pauline home and introduced her to the family. No one was surprised. They were familiar with Essie bringing new people to join them, so they all welcomed Pauline with open arms, as if she were another sibling who had just been added to their family.
Pauline was amazed to see how friendly and accepting everyone was to her. She noticed that the family didn’t have a lot of fancy things, but the house was very clean, and the family was a happy and peaceful one—except for Myrtle. Every now and then, Myrtle got into a fight at her school.
Pauline was somewhat shy at first, but as time went on, she got more comfortable and started opening up to everyone in a friendly way. In no time, she seemed just like one of Essie’s own children. Eventually, Pauline gave them the full story of her background, sayi
ng that her parents were too strict with her, and she didn’t like the town of May Pen. Being curious, she wanted to know what life was like in a bigger city like Montego Bay.
Essie decided to research Pauline’s background herself and found out that her parents were good and decent people. The problem was that they had pushed Pauline a little too hard to get the best out of her life, and that was what had driven her away. In general, they meant well, and they really loved and missed her. When Essie first contacted Pauline’s parents, they were very happy to know that she was alive and doing well and was in good hands.
They made an appointment to meet Pauline at Essie’s house. When they finally saw her, Pauline’s whole family shed tears of joy to see how happy, neat, and clean she looked that day. They decided that they would respect Pauline’s wishes to remain with Essie’s family in Montego Bay.
One day about a year later, Pauline and Junior—Essie’s oldest son—were at home alone together. Pauline knew that the best way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, as the old proverb said. Now eighteen years old, she offered to prepare a special meal for him. He accepted, so she prepared his favorite meal, spicy fish tea, which is also known as fish soup.
The rich, spicy fish soup did work its magic, because it seemed to stimulate more than Junior’s appetite. As if his eyes had been opened, he suddenly began to see Pauline in a different light. She appeared to him as more than an unofficial adopted sister. He noticed Pauline’s bigger-than-usual breasts and other parts of her body, especially when she sensuously brushed up against him—intentionally—as she passed by. This particular day, he became vulnerable to all of her flirtatious ways.
Pauline was surely aware of Junior’s weakness that day, and she took advantage of it for all it was worth. Seductively dressed in a tank top and sexy red silk underwear, she sat on her bed with her legs wide open and called Junior into her room. He approached her to thank her for the delicious lunch that she had prepared for him.
