Jamaican dons see themselves as leaders, protectors, and nearly God-like figures. They see themselves as bigger than even the Prime Minister; with the resources they have, they are not afraid of anyone. In The Making of a Jamaican Don, author Clifton Cameron tells the story of these Jamaican dons-their history, and the role they play in the governing of the Caribbean country.

This story is told through the eyes of Spanner and Trinity, two youths from rural Jamaica who leave their homes in Kitson Town and travel to Kingston for a better life. But here, their lives change in ways they could not have imagined. They find themselves embroiled in politics and the world of donship, eventually spending time in Jamaica’s notorious General Penitentiary Prison.

A true account of tragedy and death, The Making of a Jamaican Don highlights the links between dons, guns, drugs, police, politicians, public officials, and corruption.

The Making of a Jamaican Don

Spanner's Views on Dons, Corrupt Politicians, and Public OfficialsBy Clifton Cameron

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Clifton Cameron
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-7046-5

Chapter One

Preface

Most of the names of the characters in this book are entirely fictional as are some of the events described. However, most aspects within the book are taken from personal experiences in Jamaica. Spanner tells his story from personal experience he had on the street of Kingston and during his time campaigning with various political candidates on both side of the political fences. Lots of feathers will be ruffled but it's time the truth be told, no matter what it cost, Jamaica deserve better. It's time to say no to don culture and corrupt public officials.

My name is Clifton Cameron, a Jamaican but now residing in the United Kingdom. I was born and grew up in Saint Catherine, in a little district called Old Road near Kitson Town. As a child I attended the Guanaboa Vale All Age School. During my school days I was a good child who always attended school, and I was good at athletics and my schoolwork. My interest in writing started while attending school in Guanaboa Vale and learning about Shakespearian poetry. That's where I got my vibes from to write my first book of inspirational poetry called (Voice from the Wilderness). The Making of a Jamaican Don' is my second book and it's a true story about two young men, Spanner and Trinity from rural Jamaica, who went to Kingston to make a better life for themselves and ended up in the criminal underworld. Sylvan is Spanner and Errol is Trinity two of the characters that played out in this book.

I too was raised by my grandmother from the age of five months after I was given to her by my mother. My granny was the most loving old lady and everyone loved her. During my years living with my granny, I grew up in a big extended family with uncles, aunties and lots of cousins. I wasn't short of anything while growing up; the property was very fruitful with all type of fruits and there was always food to eat. On my grandmother property she has lots of coffee and I would always help her to pick the fruits ever week for sale to the trucks that come to collect the coffee.

As a boy growing up I always liked storytelling, and while in the UK, I found out that I had a talent, and there, and then I decided to write poetry, short stories and other kind writing. Having a focus in life helps me to challenge my energy into writing. I didn't get the chance to graduate from school, but grew up fast and I learn everything on the street.

The book is base on a true story on real life situation with Trinity and Spanner who went off to Kingston searching for a better life. They both have different goals but ended up in a life of crime. They both went to prison in Jamaica, America and the United Kingdom. After leaving prison they both embarked on fulfilling their dreams of becoming rich.

Just to inform everyone who might be wondering who Spanner was: Spanner is Sylvan the little boy with the dog and the bottle torch, the same little boy who follows his grandmother with her load to meet the bus. Spanner was the same little boy who helps his grandmother picked the fruits and he was also in the bus the morning while the bus was being loaded.

Errol is Trinity, one of the nine guys on the bus who went to Kingston to look for work. (Bunty Killer is a famous Jamaican reggae DJ, also known on the dancehall scene as the war Lord.) When you read about bird, it's what people called a prison sentence. Example: Zekes is now serving a long sentence in prison.

Spanner involvement in IT

It was by chance Spanner was sent to an IT company one day as a hit man to collect JA$500,000 that was owed to his friend. On entering the office and seeing the type of work that was going on in the building, Spanner got interested. He asked to see the boss and was taken to an office where the boss was sitting around his desk. The clerk returned to her desk and closes the door behind her. Spanner told the boss what he was there for and the boss told him that he didn't had any money but he would make sure the money was ready by Friday. Spanner lifts up his shirt and showed the boss the handle of his pistol and told him that he was told to kill him if he didn't get the money.

The boss pleads for his life and offer Spanner the fifty US dollar he had in his wallet. He told Spanner to take the money as a gift, and that the coming Friday he would get the money. The two men chatted for a while about computers and the boss offer to give Spanner a tour of the building to the many different departments. Spanner didn't like the programming section where they build website and write programs, but when the boss took him to the Hardware department where they build, repair, and upgraded computers and cabling, he was delighted. He fell in love with the computers, so he asked if one day he could return to learn the trade and to his surprise he was offered the opportunity. Spanner was a very considerate person and he like the boss after getting to know him so there was no way he was going to hurt a person who genuinely wants to help him.

Spanner was an enforcer and an illegal debt collector but after meeting the owner of the IT Company, his priority changed. He was no more interested in that kind of work so he didn't go back to the office as a debt collector but as a trainee PC technician. Soon Spanner would be traveling with the other workers all over Jamaica working in Banks, Schools, Government Ministries and other businesses, building computer laboratory and fixing computers. Spanner was by now enjoying building PCs, laying cables and doing up computer lab. It wasn't long before he would be hooked on the internet. He loved the internet so much, that the boss called him 'browser'. By now Spanner was very close to the boss and he would go to the office every morning at 7.am and he would browse the internet until 8.30am when it was time to do the boss work.

Spanner reflecting on his earlier days in crime

Spanner should and could have represented Jamaica in athletics but somewhere along the way he got side tracked and started to get into trouble after his loving grandfather died. Fighting was a regular thing after the death of his grand dad and it would get him into trouble with the police. His grandmother was left alone to take care of him. Maybe he was missing his grandfather and that was what caused Spanner to get off the rail. The Guanaboa Vale police station was a few metres from his school and every time the cops came to the school to arrest Spanner, he would get away. He always had friends looking out for him and they would inform him when the cops were coming to catch him. The police at Guanaboa Vale are like shepherd who take cares of the cows on Adrian property.

While growing up Spanner had lots of laying fowls that were given to him by his godmother's friend (Miss B, who lives at Pedro District) as a birthday present, he was good with animals. He started with one chicken and it quickly provided him with dozens of chickens. He also had a goat by the name of Betty that was given to him by his grandfather, the goat always produced three kids from every pregnancy, until one day it strayed onto a wicked man's land and she was poisoned. Spanner cried for weeks, and vowed that when he became a man he would seek revenge for the death of his goat. He was only seven years old at the time and from there on he started to get into trouble.

Spanner eventually got his revenge on the man by taking his new Honda motor cycle and running away to Kingston with it where he stayed with some people he had made friends with for little over a year. Those people that Spanner stopped with were hardened criminals; they scrapped the bike and sold the parts. Spanner was only given a pair of pants and a few dollars out of the money that they received from the bike parts that were sold. One of the guys who robbed Spanner was called 'Duppy' he was an ugly man, with a huge head and scars all over his face. He looked like someone who had fought many battles on the streets of Kingston. Spanner wasn't going to tolerate his bike being taken away from him without doing something about it. Spanner was fourteen years at the time that incident happened in 1977.

One night while the main culprit who took his bike was asleep, he was shot in his heart with a nail gun and his house burned down with his body still in it. Spanner returned to Kitson Town to live, where he resided until 1980. It was in 1981 Spanner returned to Kingston to live in Water House with his brother. During that time, Spanner made a name for himself and moved up in the criminal underworld. He was feared in Marvaley, Drewsland, Samakan, Buckers, Binns Road, Cuba, Wailers, Sea View Garden, Olympic Garden and Riverton City. All those area are located in Kingston 11, excluding Marvaley, Drewsland and Samakan. It was while living in Water House aka Fire House that Spanner was charged for murder and was sent to GP. In 1990, he was released on parole and the rest was history.

Historical facts on Jamaican Dons and Wanted men

Tree Fingered Jack

In the 18th century, there was a rebellious slave named Jack Mansong; his friends called him 'Three Fingered Jack' and he was a real warrior. He fled the plantation -where he had been forced to live-for the mountains, where he became a menace to the white slave masters. Of course, we all know that the slave masters were British and Scottish and that's how the majority of Jamaicans got their names from. Three, Fingered Jack was so skilful at evading capture that the British slave masters branded him an outcast and a bandit, and they placed a £300 bounty on his head. Mansong made one unsuccessful attempt at killing one of the slave traders which caused an island wide manhunt for him. After many months of evading the manhunt, he was captured, jailed and sentenced to death.

Three, Fingered Jack was full of surprises; so on the night before his execution he escaped. That wasn't enough though, so he kidnapped one of the slave masters's and held him captive in the Saint Thomas hills in one of his many hide out where there were many caves. The slave traders were fuming and questioning how could that happened especially when they were all armed with guns. Despite being organised, they couldn't capture Jack, so they sought the help of another slave to capture and kill him. This slave, who got the contract to kill his fellow slave, was a Maroon. It's a well known fact that the Jamaican maroons were informers because they worked with the white slave masters against their own fellow slaves.

Quashie was the name of the traitor slave who tracked down Mansong and shot him dead. Perhaps he got his £300 just like Judas got his thirty pieces of silver for selling out Christ (I wonder if he hung himself like Judas did?). It was over 200 years ago since 'Three Fingered Jack's' death, he was the first wanted man in Jamaica since records began. Since his death, over two centuries ago, hundreds if not thousands of criminals have been on Jamaica's most wanted lists. Jack was the victim of the cruel system of slavery, but modern Jamaican dons and wanted men are the product of corrupt politicians and the injustices of Jamaica justice system. The Jamaican police are judges, jury and executioners, this breeds contempt and resentment, and hence the revenge culture continues in a destructive path.

Claudie Massop and Bucky Marshal

As the political tribalism grew, so did the role of the area leader. Claudius 'Claudie' Massop was a (JLP) don and Aston 'Bucky' Marshall was a (PNP) don who all came to national prominence in the 1970s. They played a major role in peace initiatives such as the One Love Peace Concert in April 1978. It was during that period of national unrest, the modern day don really started taking shape.

"These dons were under the patronage of the politicians, and they began to travel to the United States where they started to made their own contacts," "The drug trade wasn't that hard to get into so it open up their eyes to the world and they started getting independent of their parties while getting rich in their drugs activities."

By the 1980s and 1990s, the don's transcended into drugs running and smuggling of guns. Many got involved in the entertainment business as producers or show promoters; others got security and construction contracts from politicians and building contractors, allegedly through their ties with Government. Dons benefit from the extortion racket, raking in millions of dollars from the 'protection' of businessmen in some of Jamaica's thriving commercial districts.

Don ship no longer existed only in urban areas; it's now in St. James, Spanish Town, Clarendon and Westmoreland and in all other parishes in a lesser extent. All dons operate off the same ethos that is used in Kingston and it's usually linked to the drugs trade and corrupt politicians. Over the years, many dons including Massop, Marshall, Starkey, Feathermop, died violently.

Dennis Barth aka Copper

Of all the modern day wanted men, Copper was the most dangerous. 'Dennis Copper Barth' was a legend who was the leader of the East Kingston based 'Hot Stepper' gang. He and his group of outlaws were experts at robbing banks and he was a cold-blooded killer who was a master at his game. Police used to shiver and wet their pants when they heard Coppers name mentioned in any robbery. The police can testify to that, because he really put them in their place, ironically most bad men today are trying to walk in Coppers footsteps. They saw Copper as a don who wasn't afraid of anyone and didn't play with the police. In the 1970s, Trinity and Spanner regarded Copper and the rest of his 'bad boys' with him as role model. They used to watch the news and pray that Copper didn't get caught or killed by the police.

When Copper died in that shoot out over by Caymanas Park Race Track, all dons and admirers were sad. The police on their own couldn't capture Copper, so they got an informer to grass on him so that they could murder him. Why didn't they take him in alive? Maybe the informer was a maroon too? Copper was killed in 1978 and it was no surprise on who collected that JA $5,000 bounty on his head. (Some of Jamaica's most senior cops would admitted that Copper wasn't afraid to take on the police at anytime with impunity). He was captured in Tivoli Gardens by a police patrol, which was led by a famous cop, and was able to escape custody two times. Mr Hewitt and Adams can testify to that.

Derrick Adair aka Shabba

The most dangerous don or vile criminal and political enforcer to have ever come out of Jamaica and the politically turbulent decade of the 1970s was Derrick Adair, aka known in the criminal underworld as 'Shabba'.

Shabba was a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) enforcer and don who were born in the community of Fletcher's Land in downtown Kingston. Although there was no official tally, criminal operatives of that era blamed Shabba for the murders of at least 20 police officers and soldiers. He was a don with a vengeance. Because of his skills as a robber it earned him the respect of former most wanted fugitive Dennis 'Copper' Barth and the two soon became partners in crime.

Sandokan and his revenge on the police

Next on the most wanted list and public enemy number one was Wayne 'Sandokan' Smith from Water House, where Spanner grew up, and knew him. He wasn't as bad as Trinity or Spanner, but after Spanner went to prison and Trinity went to America, Sandokan broke out in the badness world and the rest was history. Sandokan was involved in the planning and execution of a famous attack on the Olympic Garden police station. Spanner was at the General Penitentiary at the time when the attack took place. Rumours had it that the cops disrespected Sandokan's girlfriend by beating her until she saw her period. No man would tolerate a thing like that, even if the person who did it was the Prime Minister of Jamaica or the President of America! He would have to get fixed up, and that was exactly what Sandokan did. Someone had to die for the disrespect and pain the cops caused him and his girl, so Sandokan and his gang paid the police a visit one night.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Making of a Jamaican Donby Clifton Cameron Copyright © 2010 by Clifton Cameron. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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