guyana1

by Ann Diamond

Two days before Christmas, and even the little mouse,

the air was full of excitement, with grown children,

playing beneath the stilted house.

Beyond the picket fence that surround the dwelling, sat Nanny Betty. The mid-afternoon sun has cast a vast amount of shade from the mango tree, so there Nanny watch. Nothing in particular. Just the goings on of the opposite house, across the street. A house filled with nothing but "girl consequence," in her words. Every now and again she would launch a doubtful glance towards the upper floor of the house.

From where she sat Nanny could see, at least two streets away from her. Beyond that point, anything that moved, blurred. While squinting, she could hear the distant sounds of cars. Some speeding by, some stopping. Shadowy figures on foot. Unspecified cut off, some to the first street, others to the second. Finally one kept on coming. It's a man? No, it's a boy. Dressed to kill and striding with confidence, she thought. Clutched beneath his right armpit a parcel. For dramatic effects, she lifted her hands against her forehead, shading her eyes.

"Well! As I live and breath...Robert."

Craning her neck towards the house, her eyes pitched upwards, as if to keep what she saw in focus, she yelled, "Mina! Jenny! All of you. Come see. Look...oh Lord! It's Robert!"

An endless stream of small ones, big ones. The audience scramble towards the gate. Outside they saw their favorite cousin, paying reverence to their grandmother. Curry favoring next to her, kissing her withered hands. With his other hand he withdrew what looked like offerings, and place it in her hand. She looked at the money, then at him, and began to bless him through tears. Composing herself, she smile at him. She then took her grandson's head, in both hands, and bestow a kiss: one cheek at a time.

Mina and Jenny watched the give and take, the other suckling had lost interest. Some going to their rightful place, and others, pursuing a stray dog.

With a twinkle in her eyes, and a faint laughter in her voice, Mina asked, "Jenny?"

"Hmm."

"How about another bet...you know...like the one last year?"

"OK. How much this time?"

"Five dollars."

"Done. Now how many days for you?"

"Lets see. Depending on how much he gave her...I'll say about three days."

"Nah. Too long. I say about two days, before she really gets pissed at him."

Dropping a light kiss on Nanny's head, Robert moved towards his cousins. A casual kiss on each girls cheek, he moved between them, and extended his elbows like an animal gathering its offspring. Cousins on both sides, looking up to the revered Chosen One to speak.

"How many days to go, and what am I in for, girls?"

" At least four days and your in for five dollars. I got you for three days. But Mina don't think you will last for two."

Things were unusually quite that night. Through dinner, conversation around the table was polite. Robert went to great extent making sure that grandmother was content, by asking her, if everything was alright.

"Robert?"

"Yes, Nanny?"

"Its always nice seeing you."

"Thank you, Nanny. Its always a pleasure being here with you."

While she awaited dessert Robert excused himself, saying he will help Mina and Jenny in the kitchen. He returned, placing in front of Nanny, coffee and cake. Robert stood back surveying the setting with a critical eye: he saw it was just too close. Moving closer to Nanny, he adjusted the cup and plate to his satisfaction.

"There, there. That looks better now."

Before she could thank him, Mina and Jenny walked in. When he saw the girls he said,

"Here girls. Let me get those for you." Relieving the girls of the cups and plates, and escorted them to their seats. Robert looked around the table, slapped his hands together, rub, then said with a smile,

"Now, see how easy things can be. All it takes, is a little bit of love and help."

Nanny stared at her grandson suspiciously. She watched his strange attention on the cake. His farewell to each piece, as he arranges them in a certain order, for everybody, before he would begin to eat. Stabbing the first piece of cake, his hand mid-air, mouth open...

"Robert?" shouted Nanny.

His eyes wide open, mouth closed with a sudden gulp, he faced his grandmother.

"Why do I feel like I am eating my last supper?" she asked suspiciously.

"You know murdering people, especially old ones, like me, is a sin. And if your motive is money?...Bubby, baby, I have none."

Mina and Jenny exchange looks, waiting for Robert to take the bait.

Sucking in his breath, flicking a sly look at the two girls, he humbled his shoulders while exhaling his breath. His eyes brim with tears, an anguished expression on his face, while shaking his head.

"Nanny, Nanny, Nanny. All these years...even all our disagreements...how could you say such an ungodly thing? You have deeply hurt me. Why? Why?"

Nanny kept on ignoring Robert. While eating, she thought about the money she had hidden under her mattress. There must be a safer way to hide it? Banking it before, and the cross-examination that followed, whenever she needed her own money, was feeble-witted.

"Nanny. Please say something, anything." Robert said in a hurt voice.

Lifting herself from the chair, Robert immediately stood besides her; taking her hands in his and looked at her with pleading eyes. Shaking her head from side to side, patting his cheek harder than was necessary, she mumbled for his ears only,

"Cut the piss. I'm not in the market for it," and she walked away.

Flabbergasted, he turned to his cousins still sitting at the table, pointing to them, then towards the departing figure of their grandmother. In a flat tired voice he was finally able to say,

"Me life is over. She hates me. That's it. She hates me."

The girls begin to laugh, telling him it's not all that bad.

"You know girls, I think nanny wants to run me out of town before Christmas. Last year, it was after."

"Let's be blunt..."Jenny said, "after you left, nanny complained about missing money, then there was, the girls next door, who became pregnant, a month later"

Robert looked at his cousins in surprise and asked, "Which one?"

"You know? The one that gave the dogs a whole chicken laced with sleeping powder; so that she could meet you..."

"Oh that one ...What happened to her?"

"She got married. Hush, hush and all..."

The cousins sat for a while reminiscing, then from her bedroom, Nanny yelled,

"Damn you all, get your backside to bed!"

In his room Robert paced back and forth like a chicken, and did not like the way things were going. Nanny is being extremely hard on him this year. I need some female comfort. I wonder if ... Suddenly a knock on the wooden walls between the rooms.

"Robert?"

He went towards the sound of his grandmother's voice, placing his ears close to the wall,

"Yes, Nanny?" in a timid voice.

"Those 'girl consequences' are under lock and key," she responded in a low voice.

"So...Bubby? Go to bed!" She yelled.

Laying back in bed, his hands tucked behind his head, he stared at the ceiling and though, what if I was a change man? Unable to contain his excitement, he grabbed the pillow next to him, burying his face and began to laugh. He could imagine himself standing, facing his grandmother: haircut, dressed in slacks, shirt and tie. Announcing to her that she was now looking at a changed man. He stopped laughing and wondered...will she buy this new change? Shaking the negatives, he told himself...why not?

It was six a.m., when the door of the wooden shanty was open. Robert knocked, rusty hinges screeched, then a voice asked,

"Who is there? What do you want" then a cough.

"It's me, Robert. I need a haircut, Uncle Prime."

Prime, the barber came out, scratching his head, neck thrust forward. The upper part of his skinny body bare, his pants tied with a string to keep it from falling around his ankles. The old man let out a loud, toothless laugh. One hand on his hips, the other jabbing in the air towards Robert.

"Oh, no! You're in trouble. What are you up to, boy?" Prime eyed him with suspicion, waiting.

"Well, if I tell you, Mr. P., you won't believe me," Robert replied touching his shoulder length hair.

"Well? I'm waiting."

Taking on a serious tone, Robert paced around the shack. The floor boards creaked, and the noise became annoying: he stopped. "Look, Mr. P., I've been getting some dreams, for the past month now. In my dream...a woman. Yes, a woman told me I got to change my ways. Otherwise..." He shuddered, then continue, "I will be lost. What I am trying to say is that, I want to do something good, even for this village."

"Yeah, okay. Let do that hair cut now, and let the games begin."

"Thanks Mr. P. I'll make it up to you later."

"No need to son. Your visions will make my day."

His next stop was at the lumberyard. There he purchased wood, slabs of wood, strong enough to sit on. Slinging the wood on his shoulders, he walked a mile towards home. As he turned into the street, towards Nanny's home, he saw Prime standing outside his shack, watching and smiling. "If Nanny is your women ... your dreams are in big trouble."

" Mr. P., a change is going to come and that's what matters."

"Sure Robert ... can't wait for this change to come."

The wood was heavy. He was almost there, in time for everyone to see him, especially Nanny. She was sitting on the steps, leading to the upper floor of the stilted house. Entering the open space below the house, he propped the wood against the steps, climbed a few steps and kissed her.

"Good morning, Nanny. Did you sleep well? " he inquired.

"Robert. What kind of project are you working up, now?" Gesturing with her head, "what's with them boards?"

He looked at her and began to massage one of his shoulders, then his neck, and then, allowing his hands to slip at the back of his head. While smoothing his hair, the old woman began to eye ball him.

"I see Prime did a good job on your head, hmm, I wonder why he is looking at us?"

Robert thought he heard a hint of curiosity in her voice. But then, one never knows, with Nanny.

"Nanny, about the boards?" Gesturing towards the boards, he continue, "I would like to make a few benches, for people to sit on." He waited a moment for a reaction, but there was none. "Tonight. Being Christmas Eve and all. I would like to have a religious service, to celebrate the occasion."

"What? You've become religious? What's the..."

"Nanny, please. I need to do this. Will you help me?"

She sat there for quite sometime, chewing her lower lip, every once in a while she'll make a funny sound in her throat and then finally agreed and said,

"Snacks and refreshments will be served and I will advise the village of this auspicious event."

It was eight p.m., and the bottom of the house was packed with familiar faces, young and old. At the back of the crowd, standing by the walkway was Mr. Prime, bathed and dressed, in his Sunday best, chuckling. Robert faced the crowd, like a skilled politician, and began singing. The crowd joined in. After that, testimonial hour. By the end of the two hours of singing and testimonials, almost, every one was convinced that Robert has changed. The last of the crowd left in the wee hours of the morning. The cakes, cookies and beverages finished, but in one of the plates, laid a sum of money, from bills to change, over two hundred dollars. Nanny took the money and stuffed it in her brassiere, without saying anything.

"Nanny? Some of that..."

"Some of what, Robert?" she asked calmly.

"The money?"

"What money?"

"The truth is...I would like to live here with you...the money was a way of..."

"A way of paying rent?" He did not answer, bending his head in humiliation.

"All you had to do was ask, Robert. This wasn't necessary. But you have given me an idea. You will stay with us. You will continue to give these special services, and also find a job. No...no, I'll do that for you. I'll help manage this money. You will be happy. I am happy, Robert. Everybody is happy. It's that simple."

Robert, with his mouth open, stared at his grandmother in disbelief. He had underestimated her. They were all sitting on the floor, waiting for Robert to give an answer. The old woman got up, patted Robert on the head and said," I am proud that you are a change person," and began to walk away, humming a Christmas tune.

"Nanny?"

"Yes, Bubby?"

"You rock girl."

Dismissing him with a flick of the hand, she left them. Mina and Jenny looked at each other and said, "Our bet was crazy compare to this," and began to laugh. Robert looked at his cousins and said, "Crazy maybe, but you girls owe me five dollars...each...please?"

From their rooms they could hear the echoes of Nanny's happy voice, singing them all to sleep.

"Happy Christmas and My prosperous New Year...

With my Bubby and all that money so near ...

La la la la, a bet will be a crime ...

La la la la, those fives will soon be mine ...

Happy Christmas and My prosperous New Year...."