In Pursuit of Running Water

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

Jim Gallegos remembered reading this scripted excerpt in a travel magazine and was convinced he stood in the very spot where the writer had observed this scene.

A mid morning sun highlighted the lace of potato vines adorning the lower south side while at the mountain's base Jim and Betty Gallegos were listening to Cosmos the taxi-driver as he narrated the Tourist board's history of the Mountain. He stood facing them and ignored the intermittent clicking sound interposing his speech,

"During the wars in the eighteenth century between the British and French for possession of the island, a team of engineers from the King's regiment were on the mountain to build a fort and gun emplacement. You know they had these big canons and they had to install it on the mountain and in those days without cranes you can imagine how difficult that was, but don't forget they had slave labor. However one of the engineers was an en-to-mol-lo-gist, which is a person who studies insects. He was that in real life and so he discovered some types of butterflies on the mountain that you could not find anywhere else in the world. We alone have that kind and so that is how the island got its name Butterfly Island after this discovery."

"Now on, on," Cosmos turned around and pointed towards the mountain "on the other side of the mountain facing the sea, it is very steep and rocky, the soldiers said there were wild goats, but I hear da was goats belonging to runaway slaves."

His tone and diction suddenly turned fretful, "Dem soldiers was slaughtering goats wid rifles to prevent survival of dose slaves dat runaway so dey could not get de milk and meat and dey had even let go snakes to chase dem out of de bush so on de udder side have poisonous snakes, fer-de-lance." Cosmos was repudiating the official history as the two visitors listened attentively.

"It was for this reason they named the mountain, Goat Mountain." His official tone returned briefly to announce this headline but he soon reverted "but never mind dat, de people calling it by the local name, but only sometimes, dat is because de church de officials and dem feel it is bad for the image of the island."

"This mountain has a lot of history," Cosmos teased in a lower keyed voice.

"It is now called Goat Mountain, but if you hear the local name don't let it give you a bad impression of the island."

"So what is the local name?" asked Jim.

"It won't mean anything if I tell you, but the trouble is IF and a big IF I have to tell you what it really means to the locals"

"Do you always make fun of your passengers?" The disdain in Jim's voice was evident.

"Is the word offensive, why, is it taboo" added Betty Gallegos.

"I don't know taboo but you can say it offend a lot of people" Cosmos backed up his statement, "you know some people already get fined by magistrate for this word, but it is better if somebody of class tell you what it means."

"You have to have class to inform visitors of the local name of the mountain" scoffed Jim.

"Do you know I was explaining the local name to some visitors and they got annoyed with me and told me I had no morals and that they were going to report me to the Tourist officials." Cosmos defended his reason for being guarded, "one has to be careful in this place and I have kept my nose clean."

Cosmos intent on curtailing further discourse abruptly turned and pointed to a diminutive figure of a man on the mountain a few hundred meters above them. Cosmos cautioned the two visitors,

"You see dat fella up dere how he looking small, small, small, his name is Edison John, he is one huge guy you hear, if you see dat man muscles!" He did not elaborate further but considered his observation enlightening.

On weekdays, Edison John shoulders his hoe like a soldier and leaves his four-legged hut at first light to work in his garden. Every Saturday with a bulging sack of swollen roots expertly balanced on his head, he negotiates the steep slope of the mountain to the valley markets below.

Cosmos was hustling the visitors into the taxi for this was the last stop of the tour and his mind shifted to a next fare perhaps awaiting him at the hotel.

"Do you know if he owns the land?" Jim Gallegos inquired when seated in the taxi.

Cosmos understood it as prying but felt he had the appropriate response,

"From the time I know myself Edison is the only one I ever see on the land."

Jim followed with a related question,

"Do people have to pay taxes on their land?"

"I have a piece of land and I never pay any tax on it."

"You are very lucky, aren't you?" applauded Betty Gallegos.

Lucky! Cosmos mused on the word and concluded luck to him is an American visa or green card.

"What price per square foot would you say your land is worth?" Jim Gallegos inquired abruptly.

Cosmos winced and felt his entire body evading the question.

"I am not selling," he advised and fearing the next question would be equally intrusive he added, "I am keeping the land to pass on to my children so I never study about price."

A taxi-license was granted to Cosmos Richards after an uncertified training course prepared him to conduct informed tours of the island and promote the island as a land with friendly people. Cosmos was willing to meet those objectives but Jim Gallegos's questions reminded him of his community's dislike for anyone who meddles in other people's business. Such persons usually have an unsavory personality and are viewed as indiscreet. His mother had warned her six children to show respect and don't get involved in things that don't concern them.

"How do I go about purchasing land on the island?" While on the way back to the hotel Jim popped the question.

Cosmos made a sudden U-turn and was heading in the opposite direction.

"Why are we turning back?" demanded the startled Jim.

"Oh I thought you wanted to know about land for sale. Just down the road, a Mr. Joshua has an office and he told me anytime anybody is interested in land to contact him."

"But why didn't you ask me if I wish to see him"

"Okay do you want to see him?"

"No not right now, he can make an appointment to meet with me at the hotel."

Another u-turn and they were back on the way to the hotel.

"Have no fear, we will be back to invest on the island, we love it here" Betty assured soothingly.

Cosmos became convinced that Betty Gallegos acted as a moderating influence after an invitation that surprised him.

"Why don't you and your wife join us for drinks tonight after dinner?"

He chuckled and took one hand off the wheel to scratch his chin; he needed time to think, but the questions were cascading smoothly out of the lady visitor:

"Do you have a baby sitter or are your children old enough to remain unattended. If you want to suggest another time, but you can come alone if you wish."

Cosmos was trying to fashion an answer but an appropriate reply was difficult to construct. He was searching for an excuse but not exclusion; maybe she wanted to find out if he was married. In his opinion, questions by women involve answers that entail a further set of questions until they open a window into your heart and mind. He was dismissing any thoughts that she saw something appealing about him when he seized on the initiative so everything will happen on his terms.

"Let me tell you," he began, "every Saturday, me and my friends have a session at Bottom Hill disco bar. You can join us if you wish. I can pick you up at about 7 o'clock tomorrow evening if dat is okay.

"What do you think honey? It would be nice to sample the local night life" Betty's tone was encouraging.

"Well," Jim began apprehensively, "perhaps we can find out the mystery local name of the mountain," and added teasingly. "Will your lady be accompanying you?"

"She doesn't like to go out at nights" Cosmos offered as an excuse.

Jim and Betty Gallegos exited the taxi in front of the hotel without confirmation of a rendezvous.

Betty Gallegos, on entering the hotel lobby, noticed that the concierge desk was staffed by an affable and mature lady with whom she had a pleasant chat earlier that day. She needed a pretext to speak to the concierge without Jim and so went straight to the washroom promising to join him in the room later. Betty was soon in animated conversation with the concierge on the topic of local names of tourism heritage sites.

Chapter Two

At this time every Friday, Edison has a weekly body scrub in preparation for market day. Wearing only a loincloth he summons his companion Marianna to assist while standing in a large tub below the steps to the hut. The floor of the hut is propped above steep sloping ground, so Marianna standing on the top step pours a basin of water over his lathered body. Later she scoops the soapy water left in the tub and waters the lettuce and parsley growing in trays supported above ground on slender sticks. The fresh water supply is collected off the hut's zinc roof and is channeled with bamboo guttering into two wrinkled steel drums for storage.

A refreshed Edison looks up to the sky and hollers, a primal shout of fulfillment or perhaps a mating call from an imperious champion proclaiming the week's harvest completed and sufficient to meet his family's needs. In his yard a rooster crows and extends a wing in a courtship dance and a curious lizard on a nearby branch expands its throat while nodding its approval. Tall trees around the compound flutter in a light breeze and are home to several nesting birds whistling melodic tunes.

The serenity of the late afternoon embraces Edison in communal affection. He sets out to ambush this emotion like a fugitive that has to be cornered at this very moment to permit him some pleasure with his companion Marianna.

"Marianna, you have no time for me these days eh," grumbled Edison, his muscular frame filling the doorway.

"You don't see I am doing something? You can't wait?" Her response spoke to his implied lust and explained further, "I have to get the children supper ready, just now they will be home from school," she pleaded from the open air kitchen that is to one side of the main hut.

The kitchen arrangement is larger than the main hut and the working area occupies a level space identifiable by its compact and clean-swept earthen floor. The mango, breadfruit and tamarind trees rooted in the barren kitchen floor still bear fruit in season. Their stems are bruised and calloused by the wooden planks wedged between the trees for use as shelves. On Goat Mountain eighty percent of the daylight hours are sun-filled and a significant amount of domestic activity is performed in the outdoor shaded area.

Edison shows no reprieve for Marianna's bustle around the kitchen,

"If when the children come home and you still too busy, I sending them to make message in the village."

The children are Ezekiel and Jacob, nine and eight years respectively. Marianna's two sons are from a previous relationship which ended with the alcoholic related death of the children's father in a community known as Deux-Gleau where two tributaries run parallel to the sea.

Marianna left the community after constant harassment by relatives and a concubine of the deceased because they accused her of poisoning him over a jealous rivalry.

Medical personnel did their utmost to explain the pathology of the diagnosis after the doctor informed the family that death was due to alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol is consumed extensively and excessively in the community and no one is on record as dying from alcohol poisoning, not statistically. It therefore was concluded that death occurred because poison was added to the alcohol. This notion was endorsed by consumers of alcohol in the village to dispel the likelihood they could suffer the same fate.

So despite clarification by medical personnel and the absence of any investigation and prosecution by the judiciary, the stigma of a jezebel in the person of Marianna was difficult to erase.

The safe homecoming of her two sons after a three mile walk from school became a daily prayer and transported her away from the precincts of unpleasant memories. She felt exalted every evening when her sons, on returning from school, appeared from out of the undergrowth. She also prayed to God to inform Edison of her gratitude for taking her to the mountain top. Marianna acknowledges she is unable to communicate her feelings, adequately. However, she believes Edison has developed a liking for her sons. Perhaps in his reclusive mind he regards them as part of an undocumented trading of favors.

In a mix of love and obligation, she took a pan off the coal-pot fire and extracted the burning embers from among unlit coals. Marianna climbed the seven steps to the hut slowly and with each step she paused noticeably, talking to herself with silent hand gesticulations. On the top step before entering the hut, she looked back over the valley and narrowed her view to the clump of bushes where she expects her sons will soon appear.

"Maariaannaa!" howled Edison unexpectedly. Marianna's body shuddered, rigid and erect.

"Look me! Look me!" She was breathing loudly and hurried inside.

The hut is basically one room with the sleeping areas defined by a bed and a double bunk allocated behind cloth and wicker screens. The rest of the room merges into a multi-use space for pantry and sitting-room.

"You bound to shout my name like that" chided Marianna, her hands on hips and with jutting elbows expanding her regained composure.

"You know I waiting on you and you standing on the steps wasting time, what you think, Bowzie and Koshie will get lost?"

"I tell you already, don't call my children by doze names; dere names is Ezekiel and Jacob. I search all in the bible for doze names."

Both boys have very bowed legs and Jacob's curvature in the right knee is more apparent than the left.

"But the names not lying on them Marianna, to me dat not saying anything wrong with them, it just giving you a picture of how they are. Ezekiel can mean something you don't know anything about."

"Every, everything in God's book is good." She pointed a judgmental finger at Edison. "You see you; you need Christ in your life."

Edison snatched her outstretched hand and pulled her onto the bed mumbling "Is you I want in my life now."

Chapter Three

At the mountain's base, an unevenly painted sign reads 'Welcome to the Bottom of the Hill Disco.' It is staked next to a structure that appears to replicate the random landscape on which it is built. The building sprouts above ground, inclines to the east then straightens vertically to accommodate the cavities fitted with doors and windows. The paint on the building is bleached colorless by the sun. This structure has in the main an after-dark function. At night colored bulbs shine unsteadily among the leaves of neighboring trees designed to engender frivolity and mask any daylight recollection.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from In Pursuit of Running Waterby Cornell Charles Copyright © 2009 by Cornell Charles. Excerpted by permission.
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