The following are brief excerpts from the novel Green Island:
The Players~
“Sit dere,” Malcolm said pointing to the log.
Russell had a seat. Darren brushed off a spot for Christina then one for himself. Christina sat, pulling her skirt up around her thighs. They looked around. Dust from the roadway filled the hot air. Smoke from the fire drifted their way. The mid afternoon sun was high over their heads and shone down relentlessly. They exchanged glances.
Roy reappeared with a bundle of newspaper pages. He passed it to Russell and Russell pulled back a page. Inside were several brown marijuana stalks dotted with dry, seedy buds. It looked like scrub weed. If he broke the buds apart and cleaned out the seeds they would have enough smoke for three or four joints.
“Is this the best herb that you have?” Russell asked Roy.
“Dat good herb, mon. Good herb. Killa.” Roy was agitated. “Good Jamaican herb.”
It was rough, but when they smoked it they got high. The stress of traveling melted away. Russell started to enjoy watching the traffic roll by. Above their heads fluffy white clouds floated in a sky blue sky. Christina walked off into the brush to pee. The men all looked across the scrubby lot and watched Christina lift her skirt and squat.
“Dat ya wife, mon?” asked Roy.
“No,” said Darren, pulling back his long blonde hair and pushing his sunglasses up onto his head. “She’s my girlfriend. We live together.”
“Ya pay da rent?”
“Yes.”
“Ya buy da food?”
“Yes.”
“Ya buy her clothes?”
“Yes,” said Darren, looking up. His silver aviator shades sparkled through his long blonde hair.
“Ya married, mon,” said Roy, smiling. “Face it, mon, ya married.”
“Nope,” said Darren.
Christina adjusted her skirt as she walked back toward the fire. When she sat down, she looked at each of them.
“What?” she asked.
Malcolm stirred the fire with a stick. Roy looked away.
“You’ve never seen a woman pee?” she asked with a smile, savoring their discomfort.
Mushrooms ~
The muddy road began to quiver. The sloppy surface shimmered like water running downhill. Russell pulled his feet under the bench so he wouldn’t get splashed. At the bottom of the hill a horse started plodding up the middle of the road. It seemed to Russell that the animal was struggling against a raging current. An older man walked along the thin patch of dry ground bordering the mud. He held a tether and guided the horse up the hill. This all seemed oddly hilarious.
When the man reached his bench, he let go of the rope and sat beside Russell. His posture was very erect and he did not lean back against the bench. Russell smiled and he nodded. The horse stopped and began to nibble at a few stalks of grass growing along the fence.
Russell turned to him and said, “The road is no longer a river. It’s just a road now.”
“Yes I see,” the man said as he stroked his long beard, his voice crackling like dry kindling in a fire.
Reggae Music ~
Suddenly, with a mechanical lurch, the jukebox sprang to life. The mechanism ground noisily and stopped, replaced by the skips and pops of a needle skittering across a 45 record. A drum rolled, and the thumping bass came in. The boys jumped up from their game and began to gyrate.
The jukebox was so loud that kids across the street were dancing. Russell could hear some sing along, sometimes with their own lyrics. Little John got up and retrieved two more stouts. Russell felt bad as he knew that Little John wanted to get to his grandfather’s house, but there was nothing to be done but put another coin in the jukebox and watch the rain come down.
“Ya like General Echo?”
“I haven’t heard him.”
The bartender came around and dropped a coin in the juke box. General Echo began to scat over a tasty rhythm. He was jazzy and smooth.
“What is this song?” Russell asked.
“Arleen,” answered the bartender, the two boys, and Little John in unison.
“I like it,” Russell said, leaning back in the doorway to watch the river flow. The hypnotic voice, the easy rhythm, the ganja, and the drone of the rain pounding on the roof became a symphony that wound through the wet jungle air.
Romance ~
“It is pretty here,” Christina said, pulling some stray strands of hair from her face and looking around. “The higher I get, the more I like it.”
She picked another mushroom off the table and took a bite.
“Well, pretty soon, you’re gonna LOVE it,” said Russell.
“Can’t wait, jungle man. Maybe we’ll crawl through some cow shit today and find our own mushrooms too, right honey?” suggested Christina to Darren. “Russell havin’ all the fun.”
“Maybe we’ll stay in and have some good, healthy private fun,” Darren opted. “Special fun that will be more fun when Russell goes to town and won’t be peeking under the door.”
“Russell, please stay and peek under their door,” said Christina. She leaned over and put her hand on his arm. It felt nice. He tried not to notice.
“It is pretty here,” Christina said, pulling some stray strands of hair from her face and looking around. “The higher I get, the more I like it.”
She picked another mushroom off the table and took a bite.
“Well, pretty soon, you’re gonna LOVE it,” said Russell.
“Can’t wait, jungle man. Maybe we’ll crawl through some cow shit today and find our own mushrooms too, right honey?” suggested Christina to Darren. “Russell havin’ all the fun.”
“Maybe we’ll stay in and have some good, healthy private fun,” Darren opted. “Special fun that will be more fun when Russell goes to town and won’t be peeking under the door.”
“Russell, please stay and peek under their door,” said Christina. She leaned over and put her hand on his arm. It felt nice. He tried not to notice.
Copyright 2015 Scratch Enterprises, LTD