Later they came across jackfruit, and they found sweet limes and pawpaws, and suddenly Carl said, ‘Look, bully mangoes,’ and Pupatee couldn’t believe what he saw – mangoes as big as his head. Pupatee had never seen them so big, and he could only manage one while Carl had two. This adventure went on all day, and the brothers were so full of fruit when they returned home that evening, they could scarcely eat their supper.
At school the next day, Pupatee used his newly sharpened pencil so much that he blunted it. He decided to sharpen it himself, and stole into the house the following morning to borrow Pops’s razor. Pops was so skilful with his razor that Pupatee had never understood how delicate that sharp blade was, and a big chunk snapped off in his hands. Horrified, Pupatee quickly put the blade back and crept out of the room even more quietly than he had come in. He ran all the way to school, and that day he was so downcast that the teacher asked him if he was ill. It was Friday, and Pupatee knew there would be a beating that weekend. All the next day, nothing happened, but on Sunday, after milking the cows, Pops announced he was going for a shave.
A few moments later, it happened. ‘Who use me razor and broke it up?’ Pupatee’s heart started beating fast – he knew he was in danger now. When Pops came out, he and Carl took off and luckily escaped, with Pops cursing after them. He was so mad it didn’t matter whose fault it was.
‘Oh no,’ Carl said, when they were far enough away for safety. ‘If him catch me, me ah go pretend me ah dead, ca him must kill we wid beating when him catch we.’
‘How you go pretend, Carl?’ Pupatee asked.
‘Just play dead wid froth coming out your mouth, and when the licks reach go’on like you can’t feel it, dat is how.’
They had to come home for dinner. It was fresh fried fish and eels with roast plantain and turned roast breadfruit, Pupatee’s favourite, but although he was starving, he couldn’t eat through worry. And anyway, they were only half-way through eating when Pops returned. He came straight for Pupatee, shouting, ‘Why did you broke me razor, bwoy?’
‘Me never meant it, Pops, do no beat me, Pops,’ Pupatee cried. ‘You ah beg, please no, do no.’
‘Ah going to bust you rass today,’ Pops cried, and he pulled out his belt and began to beat Pupatee.
Pupatee waited for the first three or four licks, and then put Carl’s plan into action. He went limp and began to collect spit in his mouth. After another three lashes, Pops realised something was wrong. He stopped.
‘Pupatee! Pupatee! Pupatee!’ he cried. ‘Kay, come see, him ah dead, Kay!’
‘Me ah come,’ his mother answered.
‘Pupatee!’ Pops was calling again. By now Pupatee had a mouthful of frothy saliva, and he let it bubble through his lips. Pops stared down at him and began to shake him.
‘Lord, Putoo,’ Mama cried. ‘You ah kill me wash-belly pickney!’
‘Me never did start ah beat him hard yet, Kay,’ his father protested while Mama picked him up and took him to his bed, where she rubbed ointment into his sores and aches.
That day, Pupatee was left to sleep, and for several days he was given tip-top treatment while he pretended to recover slowly. Even Pops came in to tell him he was sorry and he would never beat him again as long as he lived.
For weeks after that, Pops kept his word. Everywhere Pupatee went, he heard the neighbours whispering that he was the boy who had almost been beaten to death by his father. And Pops didn’t raise a hand against him. But then, when the incident had almost been forgotten, Pupatee irritated Pops and he swung out at him and caught him on his arm. It was hardly a lashing, certainly not a beating, but handiwork was there again for everyone to see.
‘From me born me never see ah boy pickney soft like gal pickney so,’ Pops protested to Mama. ‘One little slap and his arm swell up so. Dat is it, I will never put me hand pon dat boy ever again.’
‘Lord God have mercy, man, it looks like you broke him arm.’
Pupatee wanted to laugh, but he managed not to. From that day, his father never again laid a hand on him. Pops had a heart as big as this world, though nobody could see it for it was hidden away deep in his chest. Often in the years to come, Pupatee would remember how Pops had reacted to the pain he had caused: horrified by what he had done to the son he loved.
This was how life was. One year, when Pupatee was eight years old, they got news that their son Joe would be coming home for Christmas. Carl and Pupatee had a whole heap of brothers and sisters in England and America, some of whom they had not seen since they were babies, and some they had never seen. Joe was the oldest of them all, the first son, and he had not been home for many years.
The closer it got to Christmas the hotter it became. Most of the mangoes and other fruits were out of season until the next year, so they turned their minds to other food. There were many tasty birds to catch, like the pea dove, the ground dove and the white-winged and barby doves. These birds were easy to pluck and clean and Mama was always pleased when the boys brought them home. She cooked them over a raw fire, either pierced with a stick and rubbed with salt and seasoning, or fried with garlic, onions and peppers.
At the fine news that Joe was coming, Pops killed a couple of chickens. A few days later, he killed a couple of ducks and a big fat pig. Finally, they slaughtered two goats and invited all the neighbours round, saying Christmas had come early that year.
The day before Christmas Eve there was a big cleanup, and all the neighbours went home to get ready for their own family feasts. Joe arrived that night. Carl and Pupatee were very excited to see this brother who was like a stranger, and Mama and Pops were full of happiness at the return of their eldest son. The house seemed almost fit to burst with anticipation. When Joe walked through the door he didn’t let them down. He was not a big man, but he was dressed in slick English clothes, and when he spoke his voice was high and his English perfect. Pupatee had to concentrate to understand him when he talked.
Joe had gone to England many years before. He lived in London with his wife and children, and had a job as a van driver for British Rail. He seemed very old to Pupatee – he was, in fact, old enough to be his father. Carl and Pupatee were very proud to have such a big brother. They stayed up as late as they could listening to the talk until Mama noticed the time and sent them up to bed.
The next morning, the rooster woke the house with a triple cock-a-doodle-doo alarm. Mama and Pops were dressed straight away and headed through the door to get their daily chores done early. Carl and Pupatee were washed and dressed early too. They helped Mama light the log fire and then went to help Pops milk the cows. When they brought the milk back to the kitchen, Mama asked Pops if he was going to kill another goat to celebrate Joe’s arrival.
‘Wha? A little goat?’ Pops replied. ‘Wha you ah talk seh woman, we son come home from faran country and you ah tell me fe kill just one little goat! Oh no, we ah go kill one fat bull fe him. When him ah go back we can kill one little goat, yes, but me would be too shame fe kill just a goat fe him arrival!’
Mama was laughing, and Carl and Pupatee looked at each other in amazement. A fat bull! That meant pure beef for Christmas!
‘Carl, Pupatee.’
‘Yes, Pops.’
‘Go get de youngest, fattest bull and bring him down to de slaughter post.’
‘Yes, Pops.’
Just