It was a cool, crisp morning in Accompong Town and I dressed unusually warm instead of my usual shorts and t-shirt as I decided the night before to make a pre-Christmas trip down to visit my old and dear friends The Lees at Apple Valley Park in Maggotty. We have been close friends since my first visit to this part of St. Elizabeth some 24 years ago.
This was Saturday and the taxis start running before dawn taking residents mainly to Santa Cruz to shop for gifts and food supplies that would be needed with family and friends coming over to visit during the Holidays. I walked down to Troy and Winsome’s shop where I could sit and wait for a taxi to pass through town. After a half hour wait or so, John (a regular driver) came past with a full load of passengers to drop off at an area of Accompong Town called Gipson and would be returning soon hopefully with room for me before descending to Maggotty.
A short time later, John returned and asked a young lady sitting in the shotgun seat to move to the rear to give the “big man” some room. As she exited, I gave her $100 to cover her fare for giving up the prized seat. She reluctantly accepted the money and wished me a “Merry Christmas” with a big smile. Before leaving the town, we had eight people in the car with John and I up front and six passengers across the rear seat in the Toyota wagon. A full load by anyone but a Jamaican driver’s opinion.
John had a wad of small Jamaican bills in one hand for change and often a constantly ringing cell phone in the other while navigating the twisting and narrow road down the mountain. When we reached the gate to the community that remains open during present times, three elderly gentlemen flagged us down to load two crocus bags of sorrel and yellow yams to deliver to the market in Santa Cruz but that wasn’t all. Up the side of the hill came a man dragging a reluctant ram goat. To my surprise they tied the goats legs together; secured his mouth to keep him quiet and placed a piece of crocus bag over his head before loading him into the back of John’s car for the journey to Harmony Hall for a Nine Night’s celebration the next evening. Another man handed me a bundle of scallions which John directed me to place on the dashboard and a lada bag of yellow yams to put under my legs.
What I have discovered is that a ram goat has an especially pungent smell. Some say it is from urinating on themselves but I think there must be a scent gland from which they excrete a smell to attract she goats. In either case, the smell quickly permeated the car surprisingly to no complaints from the rear seat passengers. A ram goat MUST be used to make Mannish Water as that smell is preferred to that of a she goat by discerning palates.
Every few seconds the cell phone would ring and John would answer with an “eh?”. It seems that John and another regular driver “Juici” worked together in a fairly efficient fashion to make the most out of every trip to and from Maggotty. After listening to the caller for a few seconds, John would say “mi full” followed by some Patois I can’t translate before hanging up and dialing Juici to direct him to pick up that person if he was able for a share of the $100 fare. Now, this may seem minor but it costs a driver a little less than $500 (one gallon of petrol) to make a round trip to Maggotty and back so every dollar is important.
When we reached White Hall, John took the road to Bethsalem to drop off a farmer and we picked up a young lady and her baby pickney making seven passengers across the back seat before turning around and heading back to the main road at White Hall. By this time, I was doing my “dog with his head out the window” impersonation to absorb as much fresh air as possible along with the temporary resolve not to ever eat Mannish Water again. Now we had a full load in John’s opinion.
After stopping just before Harmony Hall to drop off the scallions and the lada bag of yellow yams to a young girl, she thrust a $500 bill to John past my nose with an order for something he should buy for her in Santa Cruz. Taxi drivers are personal shoppers too. If someone needs to buy something and can’t make the trip to town, the taxi driver buys the item with a small fee added. Off we went again to Harmony Hall to drop off my friend; the ram goat who I was not at all sad to see us part company and I could see cheer returning to the back seat passengers as well.
A few miles later we were finally in Maggotty and John dropped me off at Apple Valley Park. After paying the fare and before leaving the car, John told me to call him for a returning trip when I was ready to go home. The trip cost me about $2.70 US for the approximate 10 mile journey but the experience was priceless.
Peace and Guidance
very nice
