He walked along the street in a daze, he was hungry, he hadn’t eaten in three days. He looked at Mr John’s shop with longing, he walked up the three steps and banged on the counter, “Serve” he yelled; Mr John came hustling from the back, “you come to pay me my money?” he asked
“No sir I don’t have it, I was just wondering if you can trust me some things until weekend, please sir hungry a kill me”
“how you going to pay me on weekend if you can’t pay me now?”
I get a work up at the construction site” he lied “on weekend they going to pay me and then I will pay you”
“Hear what tell the foreman to come see me if he says you work there, I give you the grocery. What you don’t understand is that I cannot go over the wholesale to Mr Chin and tell him to give me things on credit so if you don’t pay me my business break down.”
“ ok Mr. John I going to tell the foreman to come see you “
“okay son”
He left the shop and walked in the direction of the Construction site where they were building a house. He would ask for a job there, he could dig and carry water or blocks, he would do anything they told him to; he needed the money and he needed food.
He saw two men on the outside of the building mixing cement “ where is the foreman?” he asked them “ him not here today you know young bwoy you have to come early in the morning him passing through tomorrow”
“ you know if him want anybody to work?” the man stopped and wiped sweat off his brow”
“ I don’t have a clue, I see two young person like yourself come today but him turn them back so try you luck , maybe you can carry sand, you strong?”
“ yes sah, I can work man right now I will do anything time hard”
“well as I say come tomorrow, I will put in a word for you cause you look honest but no bother disappoint me.”
“Thank you sah, thank you” he looked with longing at the half loaf of hardough white bread that the man had on a block beside him he wished he could get even a small piece just to get the bitter taste out of his mouth but he was afraid to beg. He turned and walked away, “alright tomorrow” he said in parting “tomorrow” the man replied.
It was still a couple hours before dark, he didn’t know what else to do, and he hoped the foreman would pity him on the morrow and give him the job. He would clean the man shoes or wash his clothes if he asked him to. He couldn’t go home, he couldn’t face them and he had promised he would return with food but he didn’t have it. To go home and to see the disappointment on their faces would break his heart. Before he left he had built a fire outside and boiled some mint, she had drunk it greedily even though it had no sugar. His son had sucked at her breast and had cried because she wasn’t producing enough milk to sustain him, he had wanted to cry himself but he couldn’t give in to despair. He had given her the small orange he had found on the side of the road, it was battered as if it had fallen from someone’s shopping bag and they had just left it there. It wasn’t much to look at and was probably sour but she had taken it with glee and kissed him “thank you” she said “I can keep it for lunch.” His heart had overflowed with love it was then he made the promise “things will get better Kaydian, I am going to find a work today, I won’t come back unless I have food, when I working I can give you and Bob a whole lotta nice things and take us outta poverty. I can buy a two burner stove and a fridge and zinc for the roof, can even buy some ply board and whole heap of food ” she believed in him, she had looked at him with pride shining in her eyes knowing he would come through and make her life better.
It was dark now; he stood at the side of the road and wondered if he could perhaps sleep there until the morning or perhaps maybe the construction site was empty. It was an unfinished house but it had a roof he could sleep under until the foreman came.
No one was there, he jumped the wall and found a cosy corner to lay into, his mother when she was alive had told him once that angels fed you when you slept he hoped that was really the case because he didn’t wish to die of hunger in his sleep.
Angry words woke him “hey what you doing in here?” somebody shouted he threw off the old cement bags he had used to cover himself and got up to explain but the man had already ran outside “ Thief! Thief” the man shouted “thief in Mr Crenshaw house Thief!” the boy ran outside “no please no I am not a thief” but his words were drowned by the angry mob that had gathered at the man’s calling. Suddenly a stone fell upon him, he raised his hands in surrender and tried to back away but the crowd hemmed him in, he tried to speak but they didn’t listen as they continued to throw stones. They pelted him until his hands could no longer raise, he lay on the ground, blood streamed from cuts all over his body and his eyes stared lifelessly into the sky. “All thieves must dead” one person said
“What him thief?” another person asked
“ I don’t know but him look like a thief, look what him have on cut off foot shorts and tear up shirt”
“ a true whole a them is thieves all a them fi dead the Bible say all thieves must die ” they took pictures and videos and uploaded it unto social media labelling him a criminal, it was shared thousands of times with people commenting that it was good that the thief was dead one less person to worry about in Jamaica. It was passed around with glee his death celebrated like it was a joyous wedding; they speculated and made up stories and tarnished his reputation, he died the way he had never lived and the people who killed him and shared his pictures millions of times didn’t even know his name.
John 8:7 : so when they continued asking him. He lifted up himself and said unto them, he that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone.
Written and copyrighted by Aneisha A. Smith
February 2, 2017
