Buggy got a ballyhoo
Braggs Hill is a quaint little village in St.Joseph. It’s quite a mixture of wall houses and chattel houses crammed together. Like most of Barbados countryside, it is quiet at night with no street lights which leaves it under a dark, star-sparkling sky. Buggy a mean-spirited trickster, lived in a wall house around the corner from Mr. Jones in Braggs Hill. Unlike Buggy, Mr. Jones was a peaceful man, kept to himself and did his best to raise his three girls by himself. The girls were some of the prettiest girls in the village, but the prettiest one was also handicapped, unable to communicate.
Mr. Jones, though peaceful, also had a reputation for frequenting the Obeah man. Buggy knew Mr. Jones’ little secret and decided to expose him. Most evenings, the kids and local villagers gathered in the street just across from Mr. Jones house to play dominoes and chat. Buggy waited until a large enough crowd assembled and started taunting Mr. Jones.
“You daughter is de way she is cuz you does go by the Obeah man, and da is why she so.” Buggy thought it was quite funny and so did the villagers.
But Mr. Jones was embarrassed and said to Buggy, “ I gine get something fuh you, you wait en se’ wuh I gine do to you.”
Buggy was not one for waiting on any superstition to get him. He devised a plan to scare Mr. Jones out of the village. Buggy leaked out that he had a ballyhoo and he had a surprise for Mr. Jones. In the middle of the night and without warning, the ballyhoo started pelting bare rocks with most of them landing on Mr. Jones tin roof. Hearing all the commotion the villagers returned to the street to witness the event. Quite a few people were scared of the ballyhoo, but also curious to see and hear what they could learn. Suddenly, a rock fell on the tin roof and all the villagers ran away. Slowly they returned, quietly, expecting more action. The ballyhoo did not disappoint them. More rocks started raining down, once again the villagers ran away in every direction. Then, just as suddenly as they started, the rocks stopped hitting the roof.
Some of the naughty boys enjoyed the excitement so much they hid in a nearby cane ground and started pelting the village with rocks. No one could see where the rocks were coming from, but the event of rocks, people scattering and then returning for more excitement continued for about an hour.
The next morning, Mr. Jones decided to go over to Buggy’ s house to ask him to call off the ballyhoo. Buggy met him at the door drooped over and eyes red from crying. “Come in, Mr. Jones,” he said apologetically, “I sorry! I en’ got no ballyhoo! It was jes’ me trying to scare you. But whilst I was outside causing mischief, muh wife had a asthma attack and died. I real, real sorry Mr. Jones… We jus getting ready to eat breakfast, we got some left over breadfruit and steam flying fish heads. You want some Mr. Jones?” He asked politely.
Mr. Jones replied gently, “yes, man – and pass the hotsauce.
Lesson learned: Take every moment to be kind because you never know who you might need to comfort you in the time of your greatest need.
Story by Stan Brooks; edited by Jeanne