Two of several fruit vendors who make a living in Innswood. One more sale and she'll call it a day. Vinnette Johnson has been here all day in the scorching heat, but claims she isn't tired and vows not to move an inch until the last of her mangos, the ones that are close to spoiling, is sold.
"Dem sweet you see! Is ongle two mi have left, so mi will just gwaan heng on an see wah gwaan," she said, making herself more comfortable on the white pail she was sitting on. The makeshift seat was turned upside down, but you could still make out the 'Berger 303' written on the label. Her nose was covered with sweat and she was wearing a blue skirt that went right down to her ankles.
Vinnette, a thirty-something-year- old woman with strong cheekbones and large breasts, was sitting under one of several mango trees that line the section of the Old Harbour Road in St. Catherine known as Innswood.
It's famous for being a choice spot for police on traffic duty but is also widely regarded as one of the best places in St. Catherine to buy fruits. And I mean almost any fruit. Mangos, apples, oranges, you name it, you can get it there from one of several vendors who have made Innswood their selling point for years. Vinnette is one of the few who have been making a living there for more that two decades.
"From mi was very likkle mi used to come wid mi madda out here come sell wid har. Dem time deh we used to sell chew stick and tamarind ball. Hee Hee! Dem was the days man! We even used to travel as far as town and sell. Nowadays we more stick to di fruits, for you find seh dat is what selling now. As you go on you haffi watch and see what di people dem want. People know dat when dem want fruit dem must come to Innswood because dem get good tings here, so we just haffi work wid dat fi now. Maybe one day di fruit dem stop sell and we haffi move to something else, but when dat happen we deal wid dat," Vinnette said as cars kept whizzing by.
Wide smile
She was smiling widely as she spoke, but kept her eyes on the passing cars all the time, watching for the first sign of a motorist on the prowl for some delectable fruits. In front of Vinnette on a wooden, crudely-crafted table, were several yellow mangos and bags of dark red apples. On the ground beside her were long sticks ofsugar cane and a few pineapples. Vinnette noticed me looking at them.
"Is just di what left dat, man. Di pretty one dem sell already. If you did come dis mawning you woulda see di real pretty mango dem. These ones soon ripe off so mi haffi sell dem today or by tomorrow dem spwile," she said.
Zoom! Another car passed in a hurry.
I asked Vinnette if there were people living in Innswood.
Alright place to live
Some of the old-fashioned homes that characterise Innswood.
"Yes man! A good amount of people live here man. Some house you see across the road, people live in there and down di road you have some more house," she said. "Is a all right place fi live if you nuh mind di noise from di traffic still," said she. Behind Vinnette was a large cane field that seemed to go on for miles. "When dem a burn di cane we haffi move though, for di smoke will sick you. Otherwise we deh here right through di year."
A few barefooted children were running in the yard of one of the houses across the road. The houses were made of wood and seemed like they were from an era long ago. The zinc roofs were overtaken with rust and some of them were built on stilts.
"Di house dem old and boggo boggo but dem stand up strong through all di hurricane dem dat come here. Dem old but dem tan up," Vinnette said.
It was as she said these words that a small white car pulled up in front of her. Vinnette jumped up and ran to the car, turning quickly to me to say her final words: "Mi caan talk to you now, a di last one dis fi di day. Mouth talk caan carry go a shop."
There's a huge cane field in the area so there are always tractors and heavy equipment in Innswood. - Photos by Robert Lalah
Send your feedback to robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com
