The Promise to Rescue
(A Short Story by Claudia Williams)
Winsome and her mother lived
together. Winsome was eight years old
and was very smart for her age. Her mother was very proud of Winsome, as she
always got high marks in school. They
lived in a very small house. Actually,
the house had only three rooms – the bedroom, the bathroom and the
kitchen. Winsome’s mother used a part of
the kitchen as a small living room. The
settee, hassock and a centre-table made it so.
To get to the kitchen from the living room, you had to part the curtains
she put up to separate one room from the other.
Every night, Winsome’s
mother, Elaine, would check Winsome’s school-work. Then, she would help her with her home-work
if she needed any help. Winsome then made sure that she packed her books in her
bag for the next day. Elaine made sure
that Winsome’s uniform was ready, too.
She could only afford two tunics and two blouses. So, she made certain to wash one set every
night. She hung Winsome’s blue tunic over the shower curtain rod in the
bathroom and put the white blouse behind the fridge. They slept in the same double bed. In the morning, after she had her shower, she
ironed the uniform. While she ironed,
Winsome ate her breakfast. Elaine didn’t
eat breakfast. When Winsome finished
eating, she would climb up on the little stool by the sink and wash her plate
and fork and cup. Afterward, she would
go to the bathroom to bathe and brush her teeth. Her uniform would be ironed and ready for her
by that time. Her mother, would spend
the next fifteen minutes or so hot-curling her hair, then combing Winsome’s
hair. Both of them walked to the
bus-stop together every morning. This
Thursday morning was no exception.
“Good morning, Miss Green!”
Winsome’s high-pitched voice did not catch the old woman by surprise.
“Morning, Winsome darling.
How are you?” Miss Green replied smiling.
She gave Winsome her full attention.
“I’m fine, ma’am!” The little
girl answered with her usual liveliness.
“That’s nice. Morning, Elaine!” Mrs. Green turned her
attention to the adult.
“Morning, Miss Green, you
alright?” Elaine asked.
“Yes man, I’m alright,” she
answered. Miss Green was seated in the
bus shed as she and her neighbours waited for the bus. She was strong for her eighty years. Her voice was haughty and when she walked,
her steps were sure. The entire
neighbourhood knew her.
Elaine had met
her when she came to live in the neighbourhood nine years ago. She had just moved from the country to work
in Kingston. Not long after that, she met Winsome’s
father. And not long after that, she got
pregnant with Winsome. She moved in with
Rupert who had grown up in the neighbourhood. Rupert – that was his name. He agreed that they should not have the baby
out of wedlock. It was not a big
wedding, but it was a nice one. Her
parents drove in from the country and her brother and two sisters came
too. His father and mother were both
living abroad in the US
and neither of them could come out for the wedding. They still had not got their papers right
after twelve years. She was only
seventeen weeks pregnant at the time, so it didn’t show to all that. A few close friends attended, but none of
them knew about her pregnancy. She had
confided only in her sisters and her mother.
Rupert had told his best friend – his best man.
About a year after Winsome
was born, Elaine was at home watching TV one evening. She had just put Winsome in the crib when she heard a knock at the
gate. Her first thought was that the
noise would wake the baby. When she
heard the knocks getting louder, however, her mind started to wonder whether
something was wrong. How could it be? She hadn’t heard any gunshots fired for
weeks now.
“Elaine! Elaine!
Come quick! Elaine!” Marcia, her
neighbour to the left was banging on the zinc structure. By the time Elaine rushed to the door and
opened it, Marcia was already on the top step.
“What happen, Marcia?” Elaine could feel the bottom of her belly sinking
lower and lower as she looked into Marcia's eyes. Her neighbour, who, just a moment ago was
shouting her name, could not find her voice.
She just stared into Elaine’s eyes and kept shaking her head. After a
few seconds, Elaine asked again. “Marcia!”
She was surprised at the level of her own voice that now sounded frantic. The sound brought Marcia back from
space. Tears brimmed her eyes as she
replied, “Elaine? Is Rupert,” she
mustered as her voice cracked on “Rupert”.
Elaine’s belly hit rock bottom.
All of a sudden, she felt
weak. No. Not weak.
Weak meant that there were still some dregs of strength to get you to
the closest chair. She felt numb.
Lifeless. That was it. Her mind formed
the words but she could not utter them.
Why could she not utter them?
They were simple enough. It was a simple question. She looked beyond Marcia who had taken a seat
on the top step. Her eyes rested on the
small stream of people who were making their way to her side of the street; to
her yard. She had witnessed this type of
procession before. She had even been a
part of some of them. It was the
usual. Somebody was first with the news,
then, as fast as the news travelled, the people from every street and lane
would make their way to the house in question.
Yet, it wasn’t the usual. For the
first time, it was her time. She stared
at the crowd that had congregated outside her gate, spilling over on to the
sidewalk. She stared, but at no one in
particular. Then the words came, out of the blue, into thin air. “What happen
to Rupert?”
“Dem shot him, Elaine. The man dem open fire pon the taxi when it
stop up the road. Dem just let off
somebody and, next thing, pure shot a fire!”
Marcia replied as if programmed.
She hadn’t noticed it, but,
by this time, the yard had slowly filled up with neighbours. Most of them had a similar version. The
police had opened fire after it stopped to let off “Winji”. It was not clear whether Winji had been the
target but, all they knew, two of those in the back of the car had received
gunshot wounds. Rupert’s was the only
one that had been fatal. Even Winji
survived – although with life-threatening injuries. The accounts differed on how many persons
were travelling in the back but, generally, they were pretty clear on who fired
the shots.
Seven years. That was almost as long as it had taken to
get her life back together. If you could
call it a life – or one put back together.
Between her siblings who nagged her to “get the hell out of there!” and
her parents, especially her mother, who broke Elaine’s heart with her pleading,
Elaine’s will-power was tested. Leave,
of course. But to where? It was hardly
an option. The three-room structure
became her property and many of the neighbours were there for her. Nothing ever came of the shooting. After a while, she had stopped going to the
police station for information. About
six months after the funeral, she decided to give it a rest. After all, Winsome needed her. The blessing
was that their daughter was just a baby when it happened. That was also the downside. But, Elaine took it one day at a time. She purposed in her heart that she was going
to do everything she could to make a better life for her daughter.
The bus pulled up and Miss
Green, Winsome, Elaine and two other people got on. It was already packed. The little E-20s didn’t have much room to
begin, but, that never deterred the driver nor conductor. They squeezed in, with Elaine making room on
her lap for Winsome. The child held both
her school bag and her mother’s work bag in her lap. As the music – if you could call it that –
blared over the speakers, most of the passengers cast their looks outside. A couple of the brave ones tried holding
telephone conversations, shouting into the mouth-pieces. The less brave listened in, trying to make
sense of the lewd lyrics, and certain pieces of the two or three cell phone
conversations they could catch.
After stopping to pick up and
let off passengers, the driver finally reached the school. There was a crossing guard at the light. Winsome slid off her mother`s lap and
clutched her school bag.
“Okay, Mommy! ” Winsome said,
as she gave her mother a peck on the cheek.
Her mother hadn’t taught her that.
She had picked it up from one of the shows on Nickelodeon. But, oh how it pleased Elaine! "Bye, Miss Green!" Winsome shouted from
outside the mini-bus, as she waved to the older woman. The child's view was terribly distracted by
the other passengers and the closed door, but, she waved just the same. Elaine craned her neck to watch her as she
approached the crossing guard, along with three other children. The driver of the bus in which she was still
sitting, knew better than to move. Elaine
watched through a little space between a couple heads out the front windshield
as the crossing guard stepped out, held up her sign, then beckoned the children
to come. They were safely across when
she beckoned the driver to go ahead.
"That little one going
to be bright, you see?" Miss Green said to Elaine after they began moving
again.
"She is already very
bright. You should hear her read!"
Elaine beamed.
When Winsome was younger, the
teachers tested her ability to read and write.
They were very impressed with how she did. To their surprise, she read all the words.
Not once did she stumble over any of them.
And, when it came to her writing, she had good penmanship. They did not know that Winsome’s mother used
to teach her at home before she started primary school. That very day, the teachers arranged for
Winsome to skip Grade One. So, at six
years old, Winsome joined the Grade Two class.
The other children were about a year older than her. But, Winsome was not afraid. She had never
been one to show fear. Her mother had
always secretly admired that about her.
(To be continued with Part 2 of 2 on the 28th of May.)
Claudia
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