‘You are growing up into a beautiful young lady,’ he said, leering at her. Suzie cringed and glared at him. She hated coming to the shop and having the old man serve her. She preferred the lady. Ms. Lydia was her name. She was a nice, friendly lady, always smiling whenever she came by, asking questions about school and how Pa and Ma were faring. She was scarcely at the shop on mornings. If she recalled correctly, the few times that Ms. Lydia had served her at the shop were in the afternoons after school. It looked like Mr. Bringo handled the morning shifts.
Suzie continued her perusal of Bringo. Pa mentioned that he was a retired school teacher. He used to teach a few years back in the village and was quite good at it. Suzie did not know why the people of the community called him old man because he was not really old. He had a full head of grey hair, but from what Pa said he was only a few years older than him. People said he inherited it from his father. Suzie th
It had taken a few hours for things to settle down. By the time the two police men arrived, the whole community was up. Word had spread like wildfire, bringing men, women, and even children, out of bed. Dawn was slowly breaking. The orange hue of the sun slowly crept into the early morning gloom. Most of them wanted to see with their own eyes the culprits, and follow firsthand the story of the crime committed. Sean glanced at the crowd. A few of the women were in their nightgowns and head ties assembled in small groups whispering. The men were pushing their way through the temporary barricad
Where was Richard, surely ten minutes had passed? ‘Now, now Peter. There is no need for that. Why don’t you and Fautina tell me what you want? We can reach a compromise; no-one has to be hurt.’Chuckling, Fautina went across to the far corner of the room where Lydia kept the wine, and poured generously into a wineglass.‘Hmm, sister, this is really good wine. Father must have spent a fortune on it.’
Patting his pants pocket, Sean felt around for a small pen light. At the end of the instrument was a tiny knife. Both men had to bend low to avoid the trees which were overhanging at the entrance. Sean waited until they both were inside the trapdoor, then put on the flashlight on dim. They found themselves in a dusty, smelly room. Something scurried across their path, making Richard utter an expletive.‘Be quiet. We don’t want to alert them.’‘I am trying my best. What is this roo
He ran all the way. There was no one out this early morning. It was around two or three o’clock if his judgment was correct. He did not pause to check on his surroundings. The earlier he got to Richard’s, the better. He hoped that the boy was alright. How did this slip him? He should have known. Reaching Richard’s doorstep, he pounded loudly on the front door. He waited. When he did not get a response, he went to one of the windows, trying to pry it open and shouted, ‘Richard, Jerald! Can you hear me?’Suddenly the door opened with Richard standing in his pajamas. &lsqu
When she did not respond he turned to face her.‘I will be going alone, Sean.’ ‘What? I am not allowing you to go out to God-knows-where, searching all alone. I will accompany you, and that is final.’‘No it is not. The children need a parent and both of us cannot leave, not this time.’ Sean to
‘Well it seems to me that you really did not have a choice. If you had stayed back your life might have been at stake and you would not have seen either of your babies. Who knows what this Pablo character is capable of, huh?’ Sean declared.‘Yes, I agree, but it broke my heart to leave my aunt and in particular under such circumstances. What would happen now to her the boys? Would they be safe? So many questions flooded into my mind at once. I felt overwhelmed and thought about staying, but then I remembered the baby by my side and that hardened my resolve. ‘