To Catch a Rat

Phoenix Leguan was a village of about 300 people at most. This was a sleepy village of mostly farming people on small patches of land. People here were self-sufficient in most ways; they ate off the land. The middle class people usually are those who owned a cow or two and sold milk to the others for a living. The lifestyle was laid back and everyone was friendly to each other most of the times. People took care of each other and was ready to lend a helping hand in times of need but there was something sinister that goes on in this village as well.

The hypocrisy was palpable. There is the outward appearance of an upright god-fearing community but a closer look told a different story.

George, a tall stately and highly respectable man was the village king pin. He managed to accumulate a tidy sum of money. He built a large house on a big lot for his wife and four children - two boys and two girls. He owned about a dozen heads of cattle and bought and sold produce for a living. He was too proud to farm. Instead he was the middle man. The villagers who dealt with George did not have a high opinion of him. His business practice was a little shady and while people would whisper and curse him behind his back they never confronted him fearing that he would no longer buy their plantain and eddoes.

Although he was relatively wealthy, George's hygiene was not the best. No one had ever seen him bathe in the river, a pastime of most people on the Island. His nails were always filled with dirt although he was not even a farmer. His toe nails were fungus ridden. His wife was a faithful and dedicated woman. Unlike most women in the village she was a traditional homemaker. She cooked, cleaned and took care of the hearth and home while George brought home the bacon. He did a great job of it.

As a symbol of his wealth he had a cart and owned a couple donkeys used for pulling the cart. He used the cart to carry the produce that he bought from the local farmers which he then sold to wholesalers in LaBagatelle about three miles from Phoenix. George was not a man who engaged in small talks in the village, he would wave hello but kept about his business and if anyone would listen to his advice he would tell them not to tell people their business. He would say "don't put you name in black people's mouth because they can't keep secret".

His best friend was James, the village blacksmith who worked for himself making shovels, spades, rakes and other implements for local farmers all across the Island. James was also a barber. His barber shop was under neath his house. It was also a place where men came to play games such as cards, draughts or domino. George loved to play draughts and only few could beat him. His cunning was clearly demonstrated in his mastery of the game. He usually took a considerable time to make one move and only those with great patience and who loved a challenge would dare to face off with him over a draughts Board.

James came from a large family of 14, six boys and 8 girls. All but one were happily married. Paula the eldest of the girls was married to a bi racial man of East Indian and African cultural heritages. He was a quiet, hard working man. Her parents loved him a lot because he was respectful and caring and was not like the regular men in the village. He did not play games and he was not around very much. He worked in the gold field and returned home once every three or four months. Paula had lived for a while in Bartica, the closest town to the interior. But after their three children got into their tweens Paula and children returned to Leguan so the children could have a better education while Monty, her husband, remained in the bush.

Paula was a tall, slim, woman in her early 40's who appeared fragile looking. She could not work hard in the farm like most of the average woman, but she had a good head for business. She opened a small cake shop underneath her house.

Because Phoenix was prone to flooding, most of the houses were built on tall concrete stilts and many people used the space beneath these houses to put hammocks, chicken coops or some such useful activity.

Paula engaged the services of George to transport her supplies from the steamer stelling in Labagatelle. At first this business relationship was rocky as Paula complained about how George was scampish and trying to take advantage of her because she was a woman but that he underestimated her. The two of them used to have big brawling fights in the public and many used to sympathize with her as they lambaste him behind his back, George was indeed a big fish in a small pond. He was also a money lender much like the pay day loan lenders who exploit the poor by exacting exorbitant interest rates. Paula had to put up with George shenanigans if she wanted to continue with her business. The other person with a donkey cart in the village was Bum, a short 4' 11 55 year old single East Indian man with a huge pot belly. He looked like a woman expecting twins. He was as unreliable as the tropical rain. He was not good for business. On the other hand George was punctual and professional and good for business.

As time passed villagers noticed that Paula and George had a more cordial relationship. He spent a lot of time at the shop and Paula started to defend his behaviour and eyebrows started to raise.

Rumours started flying that Paula and George were having an affair. At first Paula hotly denied any such suggestion. George brushed the matter aside confirming what he always said that the people in Phoenix did not have much to do and spent their time in idle Gossip minding their neighbours' business.

One morning Paula's brother James could not sleep. He had another attack of stoppage of water. He got out of bed around 4:00 a.m. to pick some sour sop leaves to make tea that would help him pass water. While groping in the dark, he heard footsteps a few hundred yards from him, James made his way towards the sound. Judging from the footsteps the person was walking quickly, James peered through the leaves of the tree and recognized the figure as his friend George, walking from the direction of Paula's house. James was awash with disappointment, so disappointed he was that he felt an urgent need to pee and he was able to go and did not need the sour sop leaves anymore. He felt his heart beat speeding up a bit as he thought of his brother in law working in the bush and sending money home for his sister and their children and wondered how could she do that to him. His disappointment turned into anger. He was eager for daylight to come when he could confront his sister with her infidelity. He hoped that she would deny and that he would be wrong, then he would apologize. James wondered how she could have a relationship with a man like George? He was not her type and even though he had money, he was just a despicable person, as the entire village knew.

As soon as the sun peeped over the horizon, James got out of bed and headed for Paula,s house. He knew she was an early riser. There she was in the front yard pulling weed. "Where are you going so early James? Like you can't sleep," Paula said as he approached her.

"I had a difficult night and was up about 4:00 o'clock this morning" James hinted

"What's wrong?"
"Stomach ache," he lied deliberately. He did not want to discuss his stoppage of water with his sister. "When you're up early to see a lot of things."

"What kind of things?"

"Like men who do not sleep in their own beds or roam the road all night." He looked into his sister's face intently. "Paula, I've to ask you, where did George come from at 4 O'Clock in the morning?"

"How should I know?"

"Because he came from your house. It's true isn't it? You are cheating on your husband"

"What are you talking about?"
"Ï hope you know what you are doing? You have a good husband who is busting his ass in the bush for you and the children and you are here mucking around with this village idiot?"
"Who the hell are you to talk to me, how many women did you have with your wife? Did I tell you anything? When you straighten up your life you can come and help me with mine but till then don't come with your holier than thou attitude to me." Paula was mad and defensive.

"Whatever is done in the secrecy of darkness must come to light one day," James warned his sister and left with an awful certainty that his sister was cheating on his brother in law.

As the days went by in the little village, the rumours became louder and louder and it became common knowledge. Many people had sighted George slipping out of Paula's home early in the morning and heading to his home about a mile away. The proof of the pudding came one morning when George's wife laid wait her husband and hid behind some trees in front of Paula's home. Her brother Frederick stood in the shadows muttering under his breath at the stupidity of his sister to follow her husband in this way. When George snuck out of the yard, Rita yelled as loud as she could, startling George and sent all the neighbours running out to see what happened.

Shamefacedly George tried to hit his wife Rita but her brother stepped out of the shadows as well as the village men came to her defense. You can't hit her, you are wrong and barefaced too," Frederick said.
"This is how you catch a rat, you have to set a trap" Rita said "This is going to shut you up."

The men threatened to beat him up if he hit Rita. George knew that they meant every word. Some of the village men were ignorant and a few were Rita's cousin. Defeated George bowed his head in shame and walked home. As for Paula the family decided that she had to leave the Island and join her husband in the bush. In time life was restored to normal. But as it always happens in Phoenix Leguan, that was only for a time before the next scandal takes hold of the community.