Headin' back home....finally

[Accompong]

When my feet last touched Jamaica, it was 8 months ago but it might have well been in the last century. I actually enjoyed coming back to Florida but it didn’t take too long for the patina to rub off and expose the raw emotions that bubbled over from living nearly 70 days in Accompong Town. Every day since has been a mental smack down trying to fit back into the life here I have cobbled together over the past 15 years and all the time having the full knowledge that here is no longer the place I call home.

I actually began packing nearly 3 months ago when I decided on the dates of my next trip of 4 months and purchased my ticket. I sorted through my possessions and either gave away or discarded anything that wouldn’t fit in a couple of totes of storage while assembling the rest inside of two suitcases or on a pallet I would ship before my next arrival in Montego Bay. I knew that I could send 27 cubic feet (3’ X 3’ X 3’) inside of an old refrigerator box on a pallet that cost me an extra $40 making a total of $200.00 US. For almost two months I stacked and restacked those items like a Jenga wood block game until nearly every square inch was occupied. I managed to get that pallet off just before Isaac flooded our area. It is finally becoming reality to me as next week I will finally be back home in Jamaica. Now the real countdown can begin.

Peace and Guidance

[Jenn]

Enjoy and safe travels~

[Sweetness]

I am thrilled for you and thanks for sharing your journey. Busted out a laugh picturing the JENGA moves. Wishing you peace and joy always at home in Jamaica sweet Jamaica. Your best friend and a whole town awaits your arrival!

[captaind]

One Love my Brother.....

[Accompong]

((ring…ring….ring) (caller ID… its Marshall calling!))

“Marshall, mi bredda … whaa gwan?”

Hey Bill. What time should I be at the airport?

“Plane doesn’t land until 12:05 so 12:30 – 1:00 is cris”

I will be there about 11:30 okay?

((laughing)) “Marshall, mi fren. The plane will still be in the air and you don’t need to be early, okay?”

I don’t want to miss you. I will be early!

“Okay. Mi bredda”

The conversation goes back and forth for a couple of minutes until his credit cuts out. I slowly put down the phone and looked aimlessly out the window of my little office. My emotions are ping-ponging around in my heart and in my head. I miss Jamaica. I miss Accompong Town and I miss… no, LOVE Marshall. I am trying to wrap my mind around that feeling. In my life I have only truly “loved” two people; my first wife (the second was more like “lust” lol.) and the second is my faithful friend, Marshall whom I love like my blood brother.

We met in Accompong Town a little more than 24 years ago under some unusual circumstances. I brazenly entered Accompong Town without permission from the Colonel and that, in those days, was not something easily tolerated. When Marshall took my arm and escorted me to the Colonel’s office, I was suddenly terrified and exhilarated at the same time. Colonel Martin Luther Wright questioned and interviewed me in front of a gathered group of the town’s residents peering through the open windows and door. Apparently satisfied with my answers and stated intentions, he turned to Marshall and told him I was allowed to “come and go from Accompong Town whenever I chose … I could stay as long as I wanted” and finally, “I was his responsibility”. An order he took very seriously.

For those next 24 years, I have traveled the length and breadth of Jamaica with Marshall as my guide and (if needed) protector. His presence was not as a bodyguard but as an intervener who could easily steer his way through possible problems like an Indy car driver avoids an accident. We traveled through Trenchtown, Tivoli Gardens, Old Hope Road, Morant Bay everywhere and anywhere we wanted to go with an easiness that belied my “plexion” and “affaren” difference.

((knock on the window)) I am suddenly brought back to “bizzaro reality” where I function as a front desk clerk. I mechanically explain the rules and take the IDs and money before giving them a receipt and a key to go to their appointed room.

Leaning back in my chair, I put on my headset and select “Peter Tosh Live” at maximum volume. I close my eyes and imagine myself on my verandah at my house in Accompong Town knowing that all dreams can become reality.

Peace and Guidance

[Sweetness]

accompong......thank you is not enough to say. Your honest words of love inspire me. Simple life with respectful caring people sounds blissful. thank you for sharing thoughts about Marshall - I secretly hoped you would speak of him when I mentioned him in my post above. I have so enjoyed your stories and deep love of that special place. Your journey is already blessed but I add mine. With deep love - Walk Good towards your dreams. [if you are moved to do so I would love to hear from you along the way about "life"]

[Juli]

Real love comes in many forms, some never know.
You have been blessed, Accompong.

[garysteph1018]

The purple words are lovely.... Much respect!

[Accompong]

During many of my trips to Jamaica in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I stayed at Apple Valley Park in Maggotty http://applevalleypark.com/home.php . I had wanted to go up to Accompong Town for a couple of nights but the room where I stayed a few years back was not available. It seems a family member from England had taken up a longer residence than my new friends had anticipated. One day during the beginning of my second week at the park, Marshall had come down to visit and said he had a place for me to stay if I still wanted to spend a few nights there. I jumped at the chance. I hurriedly packed my bags and Marshall helped me haul them to the transport area at the front of Shakespeare’s in downtown Maggotty. When we got to town, Marshall had a youth take my bags over to where I would be staying and we walked over to a shop owned by his uncle Jubie (like Ruby with a J). We sat around the shop drinking some rum and warm beer until well past dark.

The alcohol and a lack of sleep from a little party the night before while we were playing music at the park, was taking its toll and I told Marshall that I would like to lie down and rest. He walked with me across the trails up and down the hills in the town past the Kindah Tree and finally ended up at a strange house perched on the side of a hill. Upon reaching the porch,
Marshall reached through a cracked open window and opened the door from the inside as most houses there don’t lock their doors anyways. He showed me where the outhouse was and the standpipe should I need to use them and then offered me a nice, soft bed in the main bedroom. I thanked him for his help and generosity, stripped down to a pair of shorts as it was quite hot and before long, I was fast asleep.

Somewhere in the middle of my sweet dreams, I heard some people outside the front of the house. More activity ensued and soon I heard some work, like sawing and hammering, taking place but I was still tired and decided to just roll over and try to ignore it for awhile. I keep drifting in and out of sleep and the noises outside my window were increasing. I smelled some cooked food and reasoned that Marshall must be fixing us something to eat. Boy, I was getting hungry. I lay in bed for a while longer and then got up, opened the bedroom door to the porch and gave out a big yawn and stretched my weary body against the door frame. The noise suddenly stopped and to my horror, a couple of dozen people were seated around the front lawn and porch! Just about that time, I realized that I was nearly naked having on only a pair of shorts.

I started to go back into the bedroom to dress when a Maroon who look like he just came out of the bush, charged the porch with a flailing machete in his hand screaming something about “Duppy” and a lot of other words I could not understand. Marshall sprung into action and grabbed the man’s arm and said something like, “That is no duppy! That is Bill, my friend”. For a brief moment I was terrified that I was going to die so I jumped back inside the room and leaned against the now closed door. Marshall came around from the living room entrance to the bedroom and told me that the reason he had a place for me to stay is that he just got the house from his aunt’s passing and that I had been sleeping in her bed. The commotion outside was a “Nine Nights” and the guy with the machete thought I was the soul of his aunt still walking around the house. I wanted to be angry with Marshall for this incident but I could see he was deeply apologetic and a little shook up at the scene himself.

I sat down for a bit and composed myself before putting on some nicer clothes and joining in the rituals. I had always heard about Redemption Songs since my seeing Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1978 and now I was singing them! The people welcomed me warmly and the guy with the machete put it down and warily shook my hand. Over the next 20 years of visiting to Accompong Town, I can’t count the number of times that this incident would come up in a conversation. We all had a good laugh over something that could have ended quite badly.

Peace and Guidance

[JitterBug]

hey bill, looking forward to seeing you this trip.