Chapter 9

                       Arly's pov

  Since Tiony was okay with eating some of the leftover dinner from the evening before, I warmed it up for both of us. Thankfully, Mummy was playing her gospel music lower than usual. I would prefer to go back and curl up in bed with Tiony, but I had my weed grung to attend to and my laundry to get done. My back door was knocked, and I looked through the window, seeing Mummy and opening it. "Good morning." I greeted her pleasantly, trying to keep her from glimpsing Tiony at the sink, washing up the things we just used.

"Morning." She responded, handed me the covered tray in her hands, and walked past me into the kitchen.

  Shit! Dah 'oman yah! I say in my head and go in behind her. "Hello, good morning." Mummy greeted Tiony, who had turned looking at her with furrowed brows over her bright pair of eyes.

  "Good morning." Tiony greeted her in turn, and I set the tray down on the counter and introduced them.

  "Mummy, this is my girlfriend, Tiony. Tiony, this is my mother, Ms. Beverly."

"Girlfriend? I could've sworn you told me you wanted a wife and mother for your son." Mummy says with an accusing look at me.

  Tiony straightened, and before she misunderstood my mother's words, I quickly told Mummy. "Suh mi nuh affi start at girlfriend first, and see if Tiony think I'm worthwhile enough to stay with mi. We only met recently. "

  "Oh, okay. It's nice to meet you, Tiony." She says to me and then to Tiony.

"A pleasure, Ma'am." Tiony responds calmly.

  I waited until my mom had gone, then covered my face with embarrassment. "A nuff 'oman Mama get introduced to ino." Tiony sayss poking me in my left rib cage, and I spluttered out laughing.

  "Which nuff 'oman?" I asked her, turning to her and playfully spanking her ass.

  I heard Arlem calling. "Uncle André." And we both look out over to my sister's house where André stood waiting on him to come down the verandah steps.

  André brought him over, and I told Tiony that I would soon be back and carry him with us to my weed farm. Daddy joined us in the afternoon, bringing juice and water, and we talked about weed, the sales, profits, and how many more fields I intended to plant back while we cut and hung the weed inside the weed house to dry. I cleaned the cooking area, and inside the tool shed where my old single bed was. It was very useful if I wanted to take a rest whenever I'm over here working alone. The fan and small boom box was also for comfort, and I brought them over here when Arlem was younger, and Kimeka used to come and stay with me while I worked.

  It was evening when we were finished, and I carried Arlem on my back eating apples as he was hungry. I was hungry too, and I hoped Tiony had maths up something, as this is one of the reasons I needed a real woman in my life. Coming home to a home cooked meal, a comfortable home, understanding, and caring woman is what my heart truly desires. No pots were on the stove when I entered through the back door with Arlem, and I felt a little bit disappointed. I washed his hands at the sink and warmed up my breakfast from Mummy, which was covered up on the kitchen counter.

  Tiony was lounging on the couch in the living room, reading something on her phone. "Chantelle says Natty is sending dinner for us, so I didn't bother to look after anything." She tells me, and I wonder if she is feeling my thoughts and responds.

"Okay."

  I bathed Arlem and put him to play on his tablet in the living room, but he kept peeping over it at Tiony. We smiled at each other seeing him, and I went to bathed feeling a bit contented. "General?" All-purpose called at the living room side window.

"Come a di back door, killy- killy." I told him and went to meet him there.

"Natty, sey fi tell yuh him dey round a Mattic." He says, handing over a bag that was held carefully.

  I took the bag responding. "A'right, respect."

  "Likkle paw patrol, yuh nah come gi mi props fi yuh idiot side wey dash weh di football game?" Jevaughn came out from my parent's house and asked All-purpose who began to laugh.

  André came out on the verandah upon hearing them and began to tout Jevaughn as they accosted All-purpose about his favorite football side that had lost the match the day before. "Dem a guh come back stronger next time and di two a uno affi guh lock uno mouth." He tells them and held unto the wall to climb up.

The bag of food almost fell from my hand as a piece of board hit both his hands, and he lost his balance and fell on his back on the ground. I placed the bag on the counter and hasted out to him while Jevaughn and André climbed up onto the wall to see who had hit him. "Yow wha dat?!" André asked, and I heard Rizzla answer.

"Di fuck yuh a ask mi a wha dat?! Come offa di bloodclaate wall and stop look ova mi pussyclaate yard mon! Uno think mi fucking yard a walk through?"

  Mummy, Daddy, and Kady-ann came out at the cursing and I helped All-purpose to get up off the ground still crouched over in pain. I could hear Rizzla's mother saying something to him, and he responded to her loudly before starting to curse and throw words. "Umuch time mi tell him mi yard a nuh shortcut! Mi nuh waan nobody walk through mi yard! Mi nuh fuck man and mi nuh deal wid crosses! Di fuck duh dem? Mi and dem a fren? Mi nuh waan nuh man pon di bloodclaate wall neither, a look ova ina man yard like uno think man a waste man like uno!"

"Uno come dung." Mummy tells André and Jevaughn, who was sizing up Rizzla.

  I know it was taking everything in both of them to not stepp off the wall and bruk him up, but di badmind buoy a parr wid Kimeka breddas and cousins wey mix up ina scamming and a parr wid di don from the opposite turf. "Nuh know a wha happen to some man through man nah spoon feed dem. Mussi thinks a suh dis a guh." André says before jumping down off the wall.

  "Guh suck yuh nasty gal! Nuh battybuoy caan threaten me! Caz nuh bloodclaate nwam crotches man wey uno a parr wid nuh badda dan mi! Guh suck yuh wutliss Mumma to! Dutty dranko!" Rizzla cursed.

Tears immediately began to run down Mummy’s face, and she went upon her verandah. "Stop dat, Rizzla!" His mother tells him loudly, but we all know she was only pretending.

"Jevaughn, guh fi mi car key and carry Arlem guh to Mummy." I tell Jevaughn, and he went towards my house.

  André helped me to carefully put All-purpose inside the back of my car as he was in terrible pain, and I was worried that his spine may be damaged from the fall. His fingers trembled on both hands, and I felt so hurt because I saw that he had gotten a hard hit on both of them. The unsuspecting blow has caused him a fright that he couldn't have balanced himself for the fall. Natty has been avoiding every dispute because the polices were already after him for several alleged crimes he wasn't involved him and I know he wasn't going to want to make this just slip.

  I went inside for my wallet and told Tiony. "Mi a carry mi brethren go a hospital, mi soon forward. Eat some a di dinner."

  She nodded, and I left with Jevaughn in the passenger seat. My phone rings about ten minutes after we arrived at the hospital and was waiting for a doctor to look at All-purpose, and I answered André. "About twelve jeep a police just pull up wid warrant fi search. Mi follow Tiony through di back, and Mattic carry her gone over. Natty sey it nah guh suh." He tells me in what I could only describe as rounding everything up quickly to tell me.

  "Don't mek dem search mi house, tell dem mi nuh dey-dey." I tell him.

"Cool." He says and ends the call.

  "Buoy Rizzla, a big waste man ino. Yuh, hear how him a style wi? Just thru a broad day light ino, cause if a did eva night mi lef him fi bleed out pon him Mumma step dem ino." Jevaughn says stewing.

"My Mumma wutlis? Wey use to feed dem? Time and God fi dem ino." I say in a questioning tone, doing everything to keep my anger in check.

  A doctor came, and I explained what happened to All-purpose. Jevaughn and I spent most of the night in the waiting room at the hospital. I wanted All-purpose to be alright because his family didn't really have it, and if he was seriously injured, it could be a great hit to the family. After they finally get him to straighten up a bit, he was admitted with two needles inserted into his back. I took some pictures to show Natty and the others, and I will not be the one to tell his humble mother. All-purpose was a cool youth who worked on farms and parr with us. He was very helpful and benefited mostly from Natty, who always gave him work to do or send him on errands.

  André was sitting out in the dark when we arrived and told us. "The police dem sey dem get call sey wi threaten Ms. Audrey son and di bredda dem and cousin dem come talk up a bag a things afta dem lef."

  At work the next day, Mummy called when personnel from the land agency came to measure the land. I sighed in frustration, knowing they were going to order the wall to be knocked down as we had taken in more land when we had built it five years ago. I had a headache for the rest of the day, and when I went home and saw the wall knocked down, I felt like some people were just born to make problems with other people. As I look over into Rizzla's yard, I know that badmind was a terrible thing to abhor against someone because Rizzla and his family still can't add on another room unto their two bedroom half board and half concrete house so the wall will not be built back by them.

To be continued...