Sardy nights in Chimborazo was always a fun time. The men gathered around Husband’s Rum Shop to tell stories and drink alcoholic drinks. Husband’s shop was a painted faded brown building and was built like a Chattel House with an extension to the front of the structure where customers could shelter from the rain or sit at makeshift tables to play dominoes. The shop had three entrances to the front, a distinctive feature of shops back in the day to allow easy entrance and exits. The outside walls of the shop were littered with several posters promoting Banks Beer and Mount Gay Rum. Some other posters also advertised Milo and Tide and other prominent products.
Like most shops in the village, Husband’s rum shop had a familiar scent. Customers could smell the saltfish, salt pork snouts and tails, salt mackerel, and cooked food such as fishcakes and bakes well before entering the shop. Husband’s Rum Shop, like most rum shops in Barbados, had its unique clientele. Regulars, they were called. These regulars were about seven or eight men who gathered every Sardy night to drink rum, retell some old folk stories, and play dominoes. As the men drank, they also became more animated with their dominoes and stories became funnier and more interesting.
Blam! One player slammed his dominoes on the table, turned to the player on his right, and taunted him by saying, “You khan touch dah!” The player whose turn it was simply looked at the dominoes in his hand and said, “I pass”. That meant that the player had no dominoes in his hand that he could add to the board. The game continued in rotation as players slammed their dominoes for effect. Once all the dominoes were either expended or the game was blocked, that is, the game could not be completed with all dominoes on the board, the game ended and a person or a team chalked a win by drawing a line on the board.
Chimborazo was a vibrant village with lots of interesting characters and no shortage of folk stories that were repeated and embellished at each gathering. Though the men in Chimborazo drank heavily and hung out until late hours on Saturday nights, the village was still quite conservative. Girls were not allowed to be around the rum shops where most of the action was. However, the young boys were allowed to hang around and pitch marbles or just watch the men playing dominoes, listening, and digesting the stories, while waiting expectantly for the occasional fishcake cutters.
The young boys couldn’t join the adult conversations, but they listened attentively as stories begat stories. The young boys laughed as they watched the stories grow and became more colorful each time they were repeated. A favorite treat for the boys was the arrival of Uncle Stan. Uncle Stan didn’t drink or play dominoes, but he loved to tell the Bajan Hotsauce stories to the children. This evening was no exception. Just like a fine Rolex that keeps perfect time, Uncle Stan arrived at eight o’clock. The children got excited and started petitioning Uncle Stan to tell them a story. Uncle Stan, as usual, pretended not to have a story, while he waited for the children to press him for a story. “C’mon Uncle Stan, tell we a Hotsauce Story. You does tell de best stories. C’mon Uncle Stan’. Uncle Stan with a show of reluctance agreed to tell a story.
Uncle Stan gathered the boys together on the opposite end of the store away from the loud slamming of the dominoes and the occasional cuss words. “Well boys, tonight’s story is called, Wait, Wuh Bucky Khan Bat!” The kid’s eyes lit up as they giggled in anticipation of the story.
“Let me see who here knows how to play bat and ball?” Uncle Stan asked the group. All the little hands shot up while they all responded, “Me! Me!, Me!” “That’s good.” Uncle Stan said. “I know you will enjoy this story then”. The children settled down and became quiet in anticipation of the story.
Uncle Stan began the story. When we was boys growing up in de village, we loved to play bat n ball in the streets in front of Ms Granville old house. This was the flattest and straightest piece of road in Chimborazo. We would use an old Coca-Cola box for the stumps, a used tennis ball, and a dried coconut leaf bark to carve a bat. We also got some chalk from Todd’s Hill to draw the creases. We used to have such a good time. All the boys played and there was never any violence or fights. As the day and game went on, each boy took a turn either batting or bowling until everyone was out.
One day, we was having a really good game. The boys were competitive as they made fun of each other. But the game seemed like all the others. Some boys would bat long, some boys could bowl fast, and others were good fielders. It was Bucky’s turn to bat. Bucky was a little slow and couldn’t bat well. But the boys allowed him to play. Bucky came up to bat, I ready now. Posah was the bowler. Posah was not a nice person and decided to trick Bucky.
The night before the game, Posah got an old cricket ball and tore off the outside leather leaving the cork core. He replaced the leather with a hundred rubber bands he stretched around the cork core. The rubber bands made the ball heavier and caused it to bounce higher. Posah delivered the first ball, which was the wind ball. The ball collided with Bucky’s bat and the other boys shouted, Run! Run! Run! Bucky!. He was so pleased with himself; he got a run. On the next delivery, Posah sneakily changed the wind ball with the ball with the rubber bands and delivered a bouncer at Bucky’s head. Bucky ducked away from the ball, but his bat came up and connected with the ball.
The ball flew off the bat and went straight thru the glass of the front door of Ms Granville’s house, bounced around in the house until it came to rest in the antique China cabinet. The boys could hear glass breaking throughout the house as the ball bounced around. By the time Bucky opened his eyes, every boy was gone. Bucky was left standing to defend himself when MS Granville’s son Shorty came out to investigate. Bucky started crying and apologizing. Uh sorry, uh sorry.
Shorty was a mean man. He grabbed the bat from Bucky and started shouting at Bucky. You idgit, you brek me muddah glass and all she good China in she cabinet! Without hesitation, Shorty swung the bat and hit Bucky twice across he back. Bucky fall down pun de groun balling. Shorty pick he up by de collar and dragged Bucky home to he stepfather’s house.
Bucky and his stepdad were not always happy with each other. Before Bucky could get a word out Shorty told Mr. Carrington his side of the story. Mr. Carrington took the bat from Shorty and planted two more lashes on Bucky. Mr. Carrington started scolding Bucky. “I does constant tell he to stay outta de streets and stay way from bad cumpny, but he too hard ears. Hard ears does mek for a soft backside. I gine mek he work round here til he earn enough money to fix the window. I dohn know if we khan replace the China doh. It sounds expensive”.
Shorty told Mr. Carrington, he could replace the glass in the door. The China was handed down from his grandmother and couldn’t be replaced. Mr. Carrington said, “I real sorry doh, but we will do what we can to make it up.” Then Mr. Carrington asked Shorty if he was hungry. Shorty said he smelled the food cooking but didn’t want to make he face shame by begging.
No problem Shorty, Mr. Carrington said. Come inside and eat wid we. We having steamed breadfruit with pickled saltfish, and cucumber. I will have the Mistress put some for ya. Shorty sat down to eat and after two bites, he turned to Mr. Carrington and said, something missing from dis meal. Surprised, Mr. Carrington asked, wha missing? Shorty smiled and said, “pass de hotsauce.”
Story by Stan Brooks