by Luke Brown
Karl spent the rest of his teenage years with his family in the city. He joined the Glenworth SDA Church, where he fortuitously discovered a new talent he didn’t know he had: he was an excellent singer. Together with two friends, Rodney and Paul, he started a male singing trio. They became so popular that they visited churches to perform at various concerts.
Karl eventually met his wife, Marva, at the church. They got married and built a comfortable three-bedroom house in a newly developed district of Rose Hall called The Little Spot. They had two wonderful girls, Samantha and Sue Helen. Samantha grew up to be a teacher like her mother, and like her uncle Leonard, Sue Helen wanted to attend medical school to become a doctor.
Although he was a great person and a wonderful Christian, Karl showed open resentment to Mrs. Essie Brown for leaving him behind in the country with his father. His resentment grew stronger and stronger with time. However, he did not deny that her house in Glenworth was a refuge for him, as it allowed him to escape the country lifestyle at an early age so he could redeem himself as a valuable member of the bigcity society.
The house in Glenworth allowed Leonard to dream big dreams and aspire to greatness, but next to Lela, he actually spent the least amount of time there. Leonard was one of the first ones Gena had brought to the United States. He left Essie’s house at the age of sixteen to live with Gena in New York City. Many decades later, although it was almost ten years after the death of his mother, he was able to fulfill his delayed promise to pen a book about her and about her house in Glenworth.
Essie’s house in Glenworth was a serious motivating factor in Bunny’s life. The greatest benefit of the house started taking root when the rest of his family emigrated to the United States, leaving only him and his wife and two kids in Jamaica.
It’s true that Bunny had a thriving leather business in Jamaica, but there’s another story behind why he chose to remain in Jamaica. In Gena’s gutsy glory days, when she was determined to make good on her promise to her mother to pave the way for all her family members to relocate to the United States, she came up with a big, ambitious plan.
After the smooth success of Denise and Myrtle making it past US immigration at the airport a few years earlier, Gena felt overly confident. She was as confident as Usain Bolt when he started his premature celebration of his world-record-breaking win in the 100-meter race at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She therefore devised a big plan to get three people in at the same time: Bunny, Lela, and Faith. Faith was the twelve-year-old daughter of her friend Fay. Fay had heard about Gena’s big plan and wanted Gena to do her a favor by delivering Faith to her aunt in Brooklyn.
Gena had no fear, and she was ready for action. She was determined to make good on her promise by whatever means necessary. Bunny’s passport contained his correct picture, but it had the name and information of someone else who was a citizen of the United States. Gena’s plan was now in full swing. She went to Jamaica as she usually did, and she instructed Bunny, Lela, and Faith on what they needed to do. She drilled the new information into them so that their new names would become second nature.
When Gena thought that they were ready, she scheduled their make-believe return flight to New York City. The flight went off without a hitch. It was about eight in the evening, and they were now nervously approaching the United States immigration officers. Gena securely held Faith’s hand as if she were her daughter, while Bunny and Lela trailed right behind them.
Gena stepped up to the stern, angry-looking older black officer and handed him the documents for both her and Faith. She sensed that something wasn’t right. Based on the atmosphere and the questions that the officer was asking, she realized that immigration expected three people who were not supposed to be on the flight. However, the officers wrongly expected the three people all to be together.
While the immigration officer calmly processed her paperwork, she watched with regret as a young Hispanic-looking male officer pulled Bunny and Lela aside for extra questioning. Gena knew then that someone must have informed the US embassy about them. It had to have been someone who knew about her plan, and very few people did.
It turned out that she was right. Karl, who had followed them to the airport, had left the family for a quick few minutes. But in those few minutes, he was able to notify the Jamaican embassy, which in turn notified the US embassy. Karl did so because he viewed this as a similar situation to the time his family had left him in the country with his father while the rest of them were living a modern city lifestyle. The family was conveniently heading off to live the American dream while he was being left behind to suffer in Jamaica. He didn’t care if his sisters and brother got caught and sent to jail. His grudge ran deep and was unyielding.
Gena was ahead of the game. She knew that if anything went wrong, she would have to quickly separate herself from the pack and bail out. That was exactly what she did. As soon as her papers were processed, she did not linger. She calmly walked by Bunny and Lela, who were still being questioned. Gena held her head straight as if she didn’t know them and had no part in other people’s affairs. As the old Jamaican saying goes, it was like “when chicken a pass by dentist office,” meaning, since chickens have no teeth, they have no concern with dentists, and therefore, they hold their heads up high with pride when passing by a dental office because they have no reason to care.
Gena held on tightly to little Faith’s hand and headed straight out through the doors of the airport.
She took a quick glance back just before she disappeared through the main doorway, and disappointment slapped her squarely in the face. She saw that the immigration officer was leading Bunny and Lela away to a special room. She noticed the sad looks on their faces. They were as disappointed as the inarguable favorite to win; the Brazilian team when they got surprisingly knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Brazilian team was knocked out by the Netherlands team in the stage-two round of the sixteen knock-out phase. Gena walked away feeling as sad as Maradona, the famous one-time soccer player and now coach of the Argentinean team. He stood on the sidelines of the same 2010 FIFA quarter finals and watched his team get brutally beat down by Germany, four goals to zero.
Gena knew then that her mission had partly failed. She was, however, still thankful that God had protected her through it all, and she had made it through with her friend’s daughter, Faith. She had gotten one out of three people, so her trip to Jamaica and her efforts were not in vain.
Gena had hoped that her brother Bunny and her sister Lela would make it through, but like the Brazilian team and Maradona, she concluded that it was just not their time. The immigration officers held both Lela and Bunny overnight in jail and returned them to Jamaica on the next flight out early the following morning.
Luckily for Gena, neither Lela nor Bunny gave any incriminating information during their interrogation that would affect her. Gena scheduled a second try at a later date. Bunny refused to make any more attempts, but Lela was willing to try again. This time, Gena was able to get her through the immigration system because she didn’t make anyone else aware of her plan.
People often speak about the heroes of their country. Gena was the true, bold, unsung hero of Essie’s family.
Many years later, that experience still left a bad taste in Bunny’s mouth. Even when Mrs. Essie Brown became a US citizen and filed for all of her kids, Bunny refused to be included in the group. He had developed a stronger love for his homeland, Jamaica. He decided that he would make himself more comfortable in Jamaica, and if he had to travel, he would travel to everywhere but the United States.
Bunny was never the same. He was ready to live and die in his bittersweet, struggling island of Jamaica. However, his brother Dr. Leonard went ahead and added his name against his will to the documents Essie filed so that he could obtain his green card like all his other siblings.
Prior to that time, Bunny had been slowly getting his life together. Being Essie’s youngest child, he felt that he had a lot of time t
o do that. However, when he met Joyce, who later became his wife, she became a strong motivating force in Bunny’s life. He started going to the main library in downtown Montego Bay to do research on leather crafts. He also started developing a strong interest in local politics. One day, he made a call to his brother Leonard in Florida, asking for his insight on his new leather project. “Hey there, brother. How’re you and the family doing this wonderful day that the good Lord has made for us?” Bunny asked.
“I’m doing well, my brother. My wife and my stepson are doing great also. I can’t complain. He gave us life, and as you said, this wonderful day. Thanks for asking. How are things going with you in Jamaica?”
“Well, I met a nice girl named Joyce. She’s really a go-getter, and we’re looking for ways to start our future together. She does buying and selling in the local tourist market, and I’m doing some self-educating in the library. I’m looking at getting into the leather craft business. I noticed that there are lots of crafts in Jamaica, but very few use the raw material of the cows here. I want to start from the basic raw material and build a strong network chain as a foundation of my business.”
“That sounds great, bro. I’m proud of you. You’re taking a stand to strengthen your future. I like your idea. It sounds like you’ve got yourself a niche market. But you know, you have to jump on it real fast before it gets cold.”
“No, mon, this idea cannot get cold. I’ve had this fire burning inside of me for a while now, and I’m just trying to see how I can get started. There are some little things that I’m going to need—the proper tools, for instance. I’m taking things step-by-step.”
“Hey, tell you what, bro. I’m going to look around and see what I can find over here in Florida. As soon as I see anything, I’ll give you a buzz.”
“Hey, brother, you read my mind. You saw that I could use the help. Thank you. May the good Lord bless and keep you and your family. Say hello to them for me.”
“I will. Bye for now. Love you, bro.”
“Love you too, brother. Bye.”
Within two weeks, Dr. Leonard located a leather shop called the Tandy Leather Company and purchased a spiffy little starter kit with all the necessary tools needed to do leather crafting. He sent it to Bunny, and that was the start of Bunny’s leather business.
Bunny never looked back. His business got stronger and more profitable each day. They say that if you give a man a fish, he will eat well for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, he will be well nourished because he will have food for a lifetime. The gift that Leonard sent Bunny, even with its small price tag, was worth more than a million dollars in the long run.
Now that he had a strong, growing business in Jamaica, and his wife’s business endeavors were also growing, Bunny wanted to start a family of his own. They had two lovely boys to begin with, and later on, they added a little princess girl and also adopted another charming girl into their family unit.
They were flourishing in Jamaica, living well in Essie’s house in Glenworth. They took full occupancy of the house after the rest of the family emigrated to the United States. They were very proud of their home, so they kept it clean and neat. They also made some major improvements to the house to make it look more presentable. They were truly comfortable, and they benefited directly from Essie’s house in Glenworth.
That benefit started dwindling when Betty decided to return to Jamaica to rebuild her beauty salon business. This was a major disappointment for Bunny and his family, because they never thought that they would have to share Essie’s house with anyone, let alone someone who had emigrated to the United States.
Moreover, Betty was not domestic and didn’t care to make the same effort at keeping up the house as Bunny and his family did. There was a brewing rivalry between the two siblings, which eventually escalated into an outright verbal fight.
It was now time to call in the big chief, Mrs. Essie Brown, living in the United States at this time. After being notified of the rising animosity between the two siblings over issues concerning rights and means for a peaceful coexistence in the Glenworth house, Essie immediately packed her bag and headed to Jamaica to settle the fuss between them. Once Essie got there, the fire only escalated more, since Mrs. Essie Brown, being a strong advocate for female rights and safety, was partial to her daughter. Mrs. Essie Brown believed that Bunny, being a man, should be the one to leave her house if he couldn’t live peacefully with his sister.
Anger can be a brutal force, and Bunny’s anger blazed up in a fury. He was wretchedly angry at his mother, as angry as the typical Cuban American against Fidel Castro’s regime. He was as angry as they were when they were forced to leave their home and emigrate to the Miami shores via unsafe, makeshift boats.
However, Bunny found enough chivalry deep within him to compose himself as he calmly brought his mother outside and pointed to a humongous two-story white house across the street. “Do you see that house, Mother?” he asked. “Take a good look at it. I, Bunny Dun, am going to build myself a house like that. Believe me, I don’t need to live in your house. Mother, listen to me and listen well. You and Betty can go to hell in this house. I don’t care to live here anymore.” Bunny lost some of his composure. His eyes were as red as fire. He was burning with fury, and he couldn’t hold it back any longer.
That very same day, he turned his back on his mother’s house in Glenworth and started moving his things out. For now, he and his wife would go to live with his wife’s mother in a small, worn-out, two-bedroom house.
The conflict with Essie and Betty lit a fire within Bunny that never died. It motivated him to find a spot and build a house exactly like the house across the street from Essie’s house. This was one of the other major benefits that the house in Glenworth offered Bunny.
This was also a strong driving force for Bunny and his wife to resurge back to the top. They were forced to take their game plan to another level. Joyce started traveling abroad, where she would buy clothes and other items at a low cost in places like Miami and return to Jamaica to resell them for a big profit.
Bunny also stepped up his game, as he started working longer hours in his business and making some stronger social and political network connections, which helped his business even more. In a relatively short time, he and his wife found a piece of land on which to build their dream home.
It was a beautiful spot on a hill that overlooked Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport and the beautiful picturesque ocean behind the airport. They started with a modest two-bedroom basic structure. Over the years, they added to it slowly, one room at a time, until it started taking shape. Finally, it became a true duplicate copy of Essie’s neighbor’s house, as Bunny had so confidently promised.
Then Essie won her lawsuit against the Catholic church in New York where she had fallen. Essie sent the ten thousand US dollars of award money in two portions to Bunny for him to use to complete her dream of adding a second level to her house in Glenworth.
For the life of her, she could not imagine the depth of built-up emotions that her little beloved wash belly had and the grudge he held against her. She always thought that she had done the right thing, so it was hard for her to see why her son wouldn’t forgive her for taking sides with her daughter.
Bunny knew in his heart, just like Karl, that he could not forgive his mother, but he was more than happy to take the job and the money to get the job done. Being only human, he did the best he could do with the funds, but Essie’s house was not completed as expected. Bunny reported that the money ran out because most of it was spent on labor. Essie was very disappointed, but she was more than happy to see the new improvements to Bunny’s enormous, elaborate, attractive home on top of the hill on the other side of Glenworth.
Many years passed, and things began to seem normal. Betty was enjoying Essie’s modest and incomplete house, and Bunny and his family were enjoying their gigantic, showy two-story dream home. Betty and Bunny became somewhat cordial and polite to each other.<
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After Essie passed away in New York City and her body was shipped to Jamaica for her second funeral service and her burial, Bunny and his wife were put in charge of the funeral preparation and related activities. They both did an excellent job as far as the preparation of the funeral was concerned. After all, it was Bunny’s mother, and he couldn’t afford to give her anything less than what the Glenworth society expected.
However, bitterness and anger ran deep within Bunny’s veins. That bitterness could be seen at the graveside at Essie’s funeral.
Chapter 31
“If this was the Army, this occasion would be a pin ceremony rather than a regular funeral service.” Dr. Leonard Brown read Mrs. Essie Brown’s eulogy from the pulpit with a fierce, strong, almost angry tone. “This is so because a pin ceremony follows an act of bravery, or comes after someone has completed a lifetime of outstanding achievement, or has performed some brave act of heroism. If this were the Army, we would all be here awarding this fallen soldier with one of life’s highest personal honors.”
Karl and Bunny sat stoically at the front row of the unpretentious district church, joined by other members of the family, all dressed in black.
Dr. Leonard believed that this was categorically the moment to celebrate Essie’s life and to let the world know that his mother was a virtuous woman of substance. He knew that he had failed miserably in his promise to write a book about her before she passed away, so a detailed eulogy was the best he could do for her. He had a lot to say and very little time to do so. The world needed to know about her life, but he would have to settle for this small district church audience.
“Honorable heroine Essie Brown, also known affectionately to her hometown folks as Miss Pretty, was born in Cascade, a small town in Hanover, on March 26, 1922.” Dr. Leonard shuffled his papers in his hands as he scrambled to find the correct page to read. His nerves got the better of him for a moment, but he quickly collected himself and continued reading. “At nine months of age, she was brought to Cascade to live with her new parents, Aunt Rose and Amos. She was schooled in Cascade, but later moved to Montego Bay and went to work for a registered nurse named Sandra Ferguson and her husband, Dr. Roan Ferguson. Forced to leave that situation, she bravely went on her own as a grown teenager.”
