ME DEAR mam, a ting happen a foreign de other day me haffi wonder if de people dem rightid. Missis me hear seh dis lilly pickney parents go pick him up a dis far place which part him did go meet wid stranger. But missis, de place did fur. Like fram city Kingston fe go dung a Lucea.
Well, de news seh when dem reach, dem tek one look pon de pickney. Drive weh lef him an go back straight weh dem did a come fram. Park up dem car, an go een to dem bed. Guess wah mek? Because when one a dem ask de pickney a wah dat dem pon him boot, him seh dawg do-do.
Suh, wid dem face set like a de dawg himself tan up in front a dem a try explain seh a lose him lose control. Dem mek de pickney know seh dem nuh hab nuh space fe de boot an dat inna dem car. Massy! Well, turn out dat police get call because de poor pickney neva hab nuh weh fe go. An stranger neva hab nuh hatarity fe tek charge a him.
But missis ma, when me hear de news, me really had was fe wonder a wah woulda did happen to all some a we if parents an teacha did treat some a we like dat when we was a pickney. Fuss ting to begin wid, foot was like de two tablet weh Massa Gad gi Moses wid de 10 Commandments. We neva use to pay it much mine unless it call fa. Like when we draw pon dem fe run crass road when car a come. Fe walk pon grass when de concrete too hot. Fe run race gainst a big head bwoy an him bredda.
Fe walk through shawt cut wid de maka. Or, fe lick de bottom a one foot wid rack stone when de maka jook yu, cause yu neva able de said maka go travel to yu yeyeball an bline yu.
An missis, de whole a wi did know in no uncertain terms seh foot was two sinting fe tek up inna yu two han an run fram beaten when yu madda hear how, after de maka jook yu inna one a de foot. Yu use de said foot, plus de next one, fe go balance an show off pon canal bank. Wid yu two han tretch out like Pupa Jeezas an a boast how yu skill. An den when one a de said foot slide an pitch yu headlong inna de canal.
A de said two foot y'a go depen pon fe lif both yu, an de wet suit, from de canal bottom. Cause there it is now, a yu madda dat. Weh yu wicked fren run go call. Stan up right pon de canal bank. Wid de belt. An de question if, a she yu did a plan fe lef wid de worries fe go fine Madden? But if a dat yu believe, yu shoulda did dead galang. An si if she did a go lef weh she a do. Yu get me?
Suh missis, when we a grow, foot neva response. Wuss when parents decide fe put prison dem inna boot. Yu tink a lilly pickney das parents used to compel an boun fe wear boot? An when dem put dem foot inna it dem couldn't move from weh dem tan up? Yu tink a lilly bit a pickney, weh, when recess come an dem missen, we hear seh dem siddung inna class same place cause dem wear boot tiddeh?
An yu tink a lilly bit a pickney weh hide dem boot under bush all day when dem g'a school, an put dem on when school ova? Or better yet, hab on dem church clothes when dem a come from Sunday school, but a walk wid de boot inna dem han? Hours beat, sometime de boot all lost. Suh wid dem deh kine a pressure, a which pickney did a go spen time fe look weh dem a walk? My dear lady, when de news done, me seh to meself seh dem deh kine a parents weh lef dem pickney a road, woulda like fe deal wid some a fe we pickney a yard, weh, a after night come an everybaddy gone a dem bed.
Das parents haffi swiff tun police under every boot bottom fe fine out a which dawg did beg which pickney, de fava fe step dis way an carry home something fe him.
Dr. Jennifer Keane-Dawes is a communications professor and a talk show host in the University of North Carolina system.
