by Alain Patron
“You’re like my uncle’s bodyguard,” Junior suggests. Stevenson winks and says nothing else.
Beating Emmanuel and Broderick to the house by ten minutes, Junior forgoes any rest and encourages everyone to come ziplining with him, which they all agree to. On their way to Dragon’s Breath Zipline, the world’s longest zipline, Junior posts an obscene amount of content to his newly created Instagram account, including videos of him with his head out the sunroof drinking Barbancourt. Junior’s irregular actions give Emmanuel cause for concern, but Stevenson tells him, “Se premye jou li, kite l ale sovaj (It’s his first day, let him go wild.)”
As Broderick & Junior simultaneously put their gear on for the zipline, Emmanuel wonders if Broderick is a bad influence on his nephew. Going down a zipline seems to foreshadow Junior’s downward spiral, and Emmanuel will have none of it on his watch.
Hop the Twig
“I feel like the whole world want me to pray for ‘em, but who the fuck praying’ for me?”
– Kendrick Lamar
Experience is the only teacher because whether you’re ready to learn or not, there’s always a lesson.
Two days have passed since Junior’s arrival in Haiti, and all he’s done is sit on the beach all day and party all night. Sleeping until noon and having no desire to do anything productive is abnormal behavior for the usually disciplined Junior. Emmanuel is beginning to understand Ricardo’s hatred towards Broderick. Previously, he thought Ricardo’s vendetta against Broderick was birthed out of jealousy and the fact that Ricardo dislikes everyone. Now, as he’s experiencing how Broderick’s continues to manipulate Junior’s ambition, he recognizes how detrimental Broderick’s influence is on Junior.
Emmanuel and Stevenson are sitting at the kitchen table in the rented house looking rather impatient. It’s around 7 AM, which begs the question: what or who are they waiting for? Stevenson makes coffee while Emmanuel continuously, if not nervously, taps his fingers on the table.
“Mwen pa get tan pou sa! (I don’t have time for this!)” says Emmanuel before racing marching towards the room Junior is sleeping in. When he barges into Junior’s room, Emmanuel finds him sleeping while fully dressed from the night before with an unfinished six-pack of Prestige beer on the nightstand. Noticeably frustrated, Emmanuel grabs Junior by the ankle and shakes him until he wakes up.
“Stop! What are you doing?”
“Leve! Ann ale! (Get up! Let’s go!)”
Emmanuel snatches Junior by the collar and forcibly drags him into the back of his SUV. Stevenson, following Emmanuel’s orders, packs Junior’s luggage and tosses everything into the trunk.
“Netwaye chanm li! Siye tout bagay anndan an! (Clean his room! Wipe everything down!)” barks Emmanuel to Stevenson, who complies, but not before brushing his hair and drinking one of the beers from Junior’s nightstand.
“What’s all the commotion?” asks Broderick who, walks outside just in time to see Emmanuel pull off with Junior. “Where are they going?” he asks Stevenson, who ignores Broderick and walks back into the house. Broderick follows him but goes directly into Junior’s room where he finds everything as it was when they first arrived in Haiti. Taking a seat at the edge of the bed, Broderick sends a flurry of text messages to Junior. He continues to search the house for something, but to no avail, and keeps texting Junior looking for answers.
Unfortunately for Broderick, Junior’s phone was confiscated by Emmanuel when Stevenson was packing Junior’s belongings. Emmanuel is driving with no regard for the terrain or laws because he hopes it keeps Junior from nodding off. There’s been no talking or music played during their road trip, just an occasional glance in the rearview from Emmanuel to Junior.
“I need to use the bathroom,” says Junior.
“Shit on yourself,” replies his uncle.
Junior laughs and begs his uncle to pull the truck over. Emmanuel continues driving in silence for another mile before pulling over.
Junior is sluggish and almost delirious when he gets out of the vehicle. His condition is due to the mix of alcohol in his system, a lack of sleep, and the sunlight. Emmanuel doesn’t budge as he sees his nephew struggling to find a tree to urinate on. When he’s done, Junior staggers towards the driver’s side door, which enrages Emmanuel, who takes a bottle of water from the cupholder and exits the truck. Fed up with his nephew, Emmanuel begins to pour water on Junior’s head. He then takes a fistful of his shirt and pushes him with such might that Junior’s back hits the tree causing him to cackle in his uncle’s face.
“You find this funny? Look at you!”
“You’re standing in my piss.”
“Alright, that is funny and disgusting, but that’s not the point!”
“What is the point? Why are you so mad at me? Where are you taking me?”
“Would you act like this if your parents were here? Would your grandparents be proud of you right now?” asks Emmanuel as he digs his boots into the dirt.
Junior begins dry-heaving and motions for water, which Emmanuel proceeds to dump on his head before helping him back towards the truck and handing him another bottle to drink from.
“Isn’t the whole point of a vacation to do whatever you want?” asks Junior.
“That’s the problem. You can do whatever you want, and you choose to embarrass yourself like this. I’m taking you to Port-au-Prince. You need to see and feel where you come from. You know how many people aren’t as fortunate as you?”
“I know people have it worse than me, but when do I ever consider myself? I do everything that’s asked of me, and it’s still not enough for everyone!” says Junior as he leans on the truck before struggling back into the SUV. Emmanuel gets in shortly after and sits in silence for a few minutes.
“You know why everyone expects so much from you? It’s because you have all of us in you. You’re the best of us,” says Emmanuel before starting the ignition and continuing the six-hour excursion from Labadee to Port-au-Prince. “I’m not going to tell your parents about this.”
As they make their way past Cap-Haitien, they find themselves driving on mountain ranges that are simply breathtaking. The views from the plateaus have Junior’s pupils dilated. The air crisp, refreshing, and replenishing his body. Still, there’s silence from Emmanuel until he must pull over to put gas in the truck. Because of the Haitian government’s shady dealings, with…everyone, oil has been as scarce as employment in Haiti, which would explain why Emmanuel has two 14-gallon portable gas fuel tanks in the trunk.
“Come pump the gas!” demands Emmanuel to Junior as he is looking for a spot to relieve himself.
“Did you grab my phone?” asks Junior.
“Everything I said and everything you see right now, but you’re asking about your phone?”
“I’m a grown man, why are you treating me like I’m a teenager?”
“You behave like a fucking child, you get treated like one,” answers Emmanuel as he passes Junior his phone.
“I don’t have any service up here,” says Junior while he shakes his phone as if it’ll revive the reception.
Now sitting in the front passenger seat of the truck, Junior is becoming more attentive and inquisitive as the hours & miles accumulate. Emmanuel explains Route Nationale 1 is the more scenic ride, whereas Route Nationale 3 is the faster trip. The further he gets away from Broderick, the more Junior resembles the man his uncle knows & loves--a fact he acknowledges.
“You haven’t been yourself lately, especially with that punk kid Broderick around. I’m glad to know my nephew is still in there.”
“I don’t understand why you guys have to talk down on my friend. You don’t see me talking bad about Stevenson. And look how easy it is to do that!”
“Your friend, huh?” asks Emmanuel as he opens the middle console. “Move your arm.” He hands Junior a cell phone.
“What’s this?”
Emmanuel doesn’t say anything and keeps driving. Perplexed, Junior scrolls thru the phone. There is no cal
l log. No text messages. However, when Junior opens the photos app, he sees plenty of videos. Junior is mortified; the videos are of his drunken escapades since arriving in Haiti.
Emmanuel taps his nephew on his shoulder and says, “Your friend.”
Leave Your Mark
“Where your backbone? Where your code at?”
– Nipsey Hussle
Disappointment occurs when expectation turns into entitlement.
The wool of Broderick has officially been removed from Junior’s eyes. With his fingers interlocked and hands folded in front of his mouth, Junior is seething--as evidenced by his nostrils flaring similar to the Chicago Bulls mascot. He hasn’t blinked in miles. No doubt, he sees red. Emmanuel can feel his nephew’s energy permeating in the car, like the magnetic tension force.
“Ricardo has a plan,” says Emmanuel.
An unnerving laugh breaks Junior’s silence, “The only plan Ricardo’s going to have is to finally whip his (Broderick’s) ass.”
“You have to act like you don’t know anything,” says Emmanuel. “Tande (Listen), Broderick can’t know you know, ou konprann (you understand)?”
Junior’s attention is elsewhere. As they make it further inland, Junior’s eyes well up because he sees the devastation Hurricane Matthew has left behind. Tattered buildings adorned with landfills instead of lawns. People aimlessly wandering the streets. Their surroundings change from desolation to a warm countryside landscape, which confuses Junior because he doesn’t understand how the settings of Haiti can alternate in mere minutes.
Emmanuel says nothing as he stops the truck while they watch children pluck corn and cassava from an open field. Junior gets out of the car and stares in amazement. Four kids, no older than eleven-years-old, are farming and having the time of their life doing so. Junior is especially taken aback by the display of leadership from one of the young boys, and that’s probably because he's the spitting image of an adolescent Junior.
“Ou sanble mwen lè mwen to yon timoun (You look how I did when I was a kid),” says Junior to his youth doppelgänger.
“Non ou se Francois? (Your name is Francois?)”
“No.”
“Bon! Mwen pa vle sanble moun lèd lè mwen vin pi gran. (Good! I don’t want to be ugly when I get older.)”
The kids all get a kick out of their Francois’ sarcasm, which messes with Junior’s head because it’s been a long time since he’s genuinely laughed. Emmanuel gets out of the truck, and the kids all run to hug him. Junior squints to see a resemblance between Manny Fresh and the children because he’s long suspected his uncle of having a secret family in Haiti.
“Vin kontre kouzen ou! (Come meet your cousins!)” yells an enthusiastic Emmanuel.
“These are your kids?”
“Ou san respè. Ou panse mwen gen timoun? Se timoun Stevenson (You have no respect. You think I have children? These are Stevenson’s kids.)”
The boys all introduce themselves to Junior. Aside from Francois, there’s Frantz, Samuel, and Peterson, which made no sense because Peterson means son of Peter, but it’s also on-brand for Stevenson to disregard rules. Francois has had all the pleasantries he could handle and passes Junior a pair of gloves.
“Pote sa a nan machin nan! (Bring this to the car!)” he shouts at Junior.
With each trip to and from his uncle’s truck, everything going on in Junior’s life becomes that much more insignificant.
“Èske ou fini? (Are you finished?)” asks Emmanuel of Junior, but he defers and lets Francois answer, “Ann ale! (Let’s go!)”
The four brothers jump into Emmanuel’s truck while Junior stares at Emmanuel in disbelief, “You left us to work while you went to do what?” Emmanuel walks over to the passenger side of his truck to grab Junior by the shoulder and look him in the eyes, “I was on the phone with your father. Papa Woody is really sick.”
Junior dismisses the idea of anything serious being wrong with his grandfather because he views him as a larger-than-life. He gets into the passenger seat and stares out the window in silence while the young brothers sing “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. The impact of Hip-Hop is never lost in translation.
They arrive at Stevenson’s house where they’re received with shouting from Stevenson’s wife, and the boys’ mother, Farah, “Retire soulye ou anndan kay mwen! (Take your shoes off in my house!)” Farah instructs her children to wash up before they sit down to eat. She then locks arms with Emmanuel and walks him into the kitchen while completely ignoring Junior.
“Madam, ou gen ase manje pou mwen ak Junior? (Ma’am, do you have enough food for me & Junior?)” asks Emmanuel.
Farah stops walking to turn around and grab Junior’s face.
“Uh, oh! Se Junior? Ti piti Junior? Ou sanble yon granmoun! Mwen sezi! (Uh, oh! This is Junior? Little bitty Junior? You look like an adult! I’m shocked!)” she says as she sizes him up. Apparently, Haitian people presume you will always look like a child, even if 20 years have passed since the last time you saw them.
Junior excuses himself and asks for the location of the bathroom because he hasn’t showered or so much as brushed his teeth today.
“Padonnen, li posib mwen benyen nan tawalèt ou? (Pardon, is it possible for me to bathe/shower in your bathroom?)” Farah gives him the okay, and he grabs the keys from Emmanuel to get his belongings from the truck. Junior goes to the bathroom and is very diligent about his use of the hot water because he’s a guest and wants to be respectful of his privileges. Processing all the information he’s earned and experiences he’s had in such a short period, Junior breaks down in the shower. The water washing his tears and worst fears away as he tries to regain his composure.
After freshening up, Junior joins everyone in the dining room. Another woman sitting at the table with her back facing him as he walks in. When she turns around, Junior is spellbound by her beauty and introduces himself with a handshake.
“Bonjou, Bonswa… (Good morning, Good evening…)”
She interrupts him, “It’s the afternoon, so you should say, bon aprememidi (good afternoon).”
Farah formally introduces Junior to her daughter Fabiola.
“Ou pa sonje Fabiola? Ou te jwe ansanm lè ou te timoun. (You don’t remember Fabiola? You played together as kids.)”
Fabiola stands up as she and Junior both take steps back to scan each other from head to toe.
“We were supposed to get married,” says Fabiola to Junior as they both laugh.
“We used to drive our big wheels in the living room of your house in Brooklyn,” says Junior.
“You had a red Corvette.”
“And you had a pink Barbie car?”
“That’s right. Wow, my husband remembers!”
They were inseparable as children. Going so far as to hiding when it was time for them to depart each other’s houses because they didn’t want to leave.
As they eat and reminisce, Stevenson walks into the house with Broderick. Franz, Samuel, Peterson, and especially Francois side-eye Broderick, prompting their mother, Farah, to ask, “Kiyès timoun pèdi sa? (Who is this lost child?)”
Remembering his uncle’s instructions to play it cool, Junior introduces Broderick to everyone.
“Se zanmi m. Non li se Broderick. (This is my friend. His name is Broderick.)”
Junior, Emmanuel, Stevenson, and Broderick walk outside. Emmanuel gives a bullshit explanation to Broderick why they left without warning.
“You’re on vacation, and I told everybody to be ready last night, but you guys were drunk. I didn’t want to wake you up, so I woke up my nephew and hit the road.” But he left out why the house was ransacked and why his second phone is missing, but Stevenson already covered that lie.
“Do you know you took his phone?”
“What phone?” asks Junior.
Emmanuel walks to his truck and passes Broderick his phone.
“I’m sorry, I thought this was my nephew’s.”
“Why do you have two phones?” asks Junior.
“Security. I wanted to make sure we were covered from all angles. I read too much crazy shit on the news about the Dominican Republic and wanted to cover our asses out here, just in case,” says Broderick.
“Told you! He’s the smartest person I know,” says Junior with a smile.
Junior’s phone rings and it’s Ricardo.
“It’s like he heard you giving me a compliment and couldn’t take it,” says Broderick, which earns a faint laugh from everyone.
Junior walks towards the house to answer the call.
“I’m sorry, but right now isn’t the time to tell me I told you so. Just tell me the plan!” He then yells Ricardo’s name into his phone repeatedly because Ricardo has yet to say anything.
“Junior, stop yelling,” says Ricardo in a somber tone. “Papa Woody died.”
Junior hangs up the phone and walks straight inside to the bathroom, with tears in his eyes, and runs into Francois, who stops him and gives him a hug.
Low-Hanging Fruit
“Misery won’t touch you gentle. It always leaves its thumbprints on you; sometimes it leaves them for others to see, sometimes for nobody but you to know of.”
– Edwidge Danticat
Reality must be dealt with in real time.
There’s a sadness that has spread through Haiti with the news of Papa Woody’s death because, in Haiti, he’s more important than the president. The passion & respect exhibited by mourners trumped the political climate of the island. So much so that the rebellion in Port Au-Prince has temporarily been put on hold.
