Jordane is awfully quiet beside us, his silence adding to the weight of the moment. Mrs. Jacobs is standing beside Nickoi with a cute baby boy in her hand, it’s my first time seeing her baby.
But wait… wasn’t it twins? I swallow the thought and focus.
“Uh-uh like program him,” I say, hesitant and fearful. I’m not trying to snitch on my mother. I just think she’s making a really stupid move, and I want him to talk to her, reason with her, before this gets worse. I overheard her on the phone with a man that’s clearly not safe.
Sup’m nuh right.
“So why you a tell we this right now?” His question hits hard and fast, cutting straight to my conscience. My heart picks up momentum as if it’s racing against time.
I look over at Jordane, silently pleading for support. “Because I love him,” I confess, my voice cracking. “And I-I don’t want them to hurt him. I don’t want to live with the guilt ofsaying ‘if only I knew.’ So I’m letting you know… since you’re the Don.”
He breathes deeply, clearly in thought. The atmosphere tightens around us as if the room itself is holding its breath.
“Call yuh mother,” he instructs suddenly, and I scramble to obey. My fingers fumble with the phone as I put the call on speaker, silently praying she doesn’t say anything reckless.Please nuh say nothing rude, please nuh say nothing rude,I chant in my head like a prayer.
As soon as she answers, she proves me wrong.
“YUH FIND EH DUTTY BWOY YET JANIA?!” she screams through the speaker, her voice loud and raw, echoing in the silent room. Nickoi raises a brow but stays silent.
I’m trembling now.
Jordane’s eyes are glued to the TV, but I can tell he’s listening. His face is tight, jaw clenched, he looks upset… and worried.
“Mommy, calm down nuh… and yeah, mi find Jordane and he’s willing to help me,” I say quickly, hoping the news will ease her tone. But instead, she goes off again, louder this time.
“MI MIGHT NUH BOTHER SEND EH MAN DEM PAN HIM BECAUSE HIM WILLING FI HELP BUT HIM MAKE EH GYAL LICK YUH!” she yells, voice shrill and violent. I swear, she doesn’t know how to talk like a normal person. No filter, no self-control, just straight chaos.
Adrenaline floods my system when Nickoi takes the phone from me mid-rant. My mother doesn’t stop. Her voice continues, full of noise and disrespect, spilling through the speaker. I freeze, heart pounding. What have I just done?
“Mommy,” I try to stop her, but she continues.
“IT CUT ME ENUH! A NOW DEM A GO SEE A MAD WOMAN WEH NUH FRIGHTEN FI NOB—”
As soon as he starts talking, to my surprise, my mother lowers her voice.
“Hello, goodnight,” he says, calm but commanding. I slide my hand behind me. God, I hope this goes well. I hope she hears the seriousness in his voice. I really hope she doesn’t disrespect him.
“G-goodnight… a the big bredda this?” she stutters. Seems like she hear it.
“Yes you hear bout me? Hm. You a talk to Prezi mon, Jordane big bredda and if I were you mi take deh program thing outta mi head cause mi nuh ramp when it come to my family especially mi likkle bredda and sister weh mi look at like a mi youth dem…yaw hear me?” he asks.
“…yes… sir,” my mother says. That catches me off guard. This man deadly.
“So hear wah gwaan,” he continues. “Mi know from experience that whenwe deh pon we bed about to drop asleep, a deh so we think freely. So whenyuh about fi sleep, mi want yuh fi meds how far yuh think mi would go if yuh mek anything happen to mi bredda. And know this, I’m in a good mood today, ‘cause normally, from yuh violate mi family… yuh dead. But because a yuh daughter, and because mi calm tonight, mi decide fi be lenient. But mi want yuh fi really consider wah mi say. Goodnight,” his voice is low.
Calm.
But deadly.
The kind of calm that makes your blood chill.
This is Mrs. Jacobs’ husband?
That sweet, quiet woman married to him?
When he hangs up, he just walks off, no fuss, no noise, leaving us frozen.Even Jordane looks stunned.
I love my mother. But I think she needed that. She needed to understand the danger she’s putting all of us in, ‘cause she’s notthinking straight. I think I did the right thing telling him. Or… saying it loud enough for him to hear. At first I didn’t want him to know. But now that he handled it, mi kinda glad him did hear.
