Peepin’ Mek Wunna Laugh
The quiet village was adorned in green lushness, beautiful flowers, quaint houses and friendly folks. At least most of them were friendly and lived peaceably with their neighbours. All except Orville and Wilburke.
These two men lived side by side. They were agricultural men, with broad hands, broad backs and broad determination to succeed. Orville grew beans, cabbage, carrots, beets and lots of bananas and plantains on a modest three acres of land. Wilburke was more into producing chickens and pigs. The animals were great money earners. The only problem was that the animals were allowed to roam free at intervals, and as animals go, their free spirit knew no boundaries. They often strayed on Orville’s land. The budding crops fell victim to the animals’ tireless scratching, rooting and cheerful grazing.
This made Orville mad. The money he put into the crops was wasted when Wilburke’s animals ate all the young plants. He devised several plans to save his fledgling plants.
The chickens were chased, their necks were wrung and later the trespassing pigs were poisoned or shot with the well-oiled old rifle.
The loss of his live-stock left Wilburke bitter. The two men argued and well came near to blows.
“How you cud shoot my boar-hog, you old brute?!!!” Wilburke yelled.
“I tell you already keep ya stinking animals off muh lan’. I warn you and you din hear!!” Orville retorted.
“You mus’ pay me fuh me animals!! T’ree hun’red dollars!” Wiburke’s brown face grew darker.
“Nuttin doing!! You ain’t pay me for loss of my crops dat you animals eat!!”
The men stopped speaking to each other. No “Good morning neighbor!” was hollered across the cart-road that divided them like the Red-Sea. There was no curt nod of the head. This cold-frost behavior lasted months.
One bright day, Orville made plans to go to Bridgetown. He packed his brown brief case under his arm and walked down to the bus-stop. There to his horror stood Wilburke. Wilburke saw him coming. He moved to one side of the rectangular bus-stop and turned a broad back to his rival. Orville puffed out his big chest and held his head high. He walked proudly to the bus-stop like a pharaoh to his throne. He stood on the opposite end of the cement pavement and turned his back.
A loud rumble announced the rapid arrival of the bus. Neither man stretched a hand to stop the on-coming bus, lest the other should benefit. The bus passed them both like an exam, leaving them stranded. It would be a half-mile walk downhill and a half-hour wait to intercept the Chalky Mount Bus to town.
The story is true. Just ask Hermina, she saw it too. She was peeping through her jealousy window; she threw her head back and cackled.
The moral of the story: Treat people with the respect that you wish for yourself. If you don’t, you get hurt too!
Author: Trudi Clarke-Peters
Date: 2016-02-13
Trudi Clarke-Peters is a new contributing editor to Bajan hotsuace. She lives in Barbados and is an English teacher inspiring her students to develop their writing skills. She is an outstanding young person with a passion for education and is a well-respected teacher at her school. We look forward to many more stories from Trudi and her students in Barbados.