Rasta Love | |||
by Norman Samuda Smith | |||
A brief guide to Patois (West Indian Broken English)
found in the following story.
Now dis story is base in de mid nineteen seventies when
unemployment start to rule and redundancy was deh bout like water.
Aroun dat time, nuff black yout here in England, was influence by
the Rasta musical uprising in Jamaica, and they was inspired to
follow the teaching and glory of RASTAFARI!
Now dis lead to a moral conflict between the generations, which
turn mother gainst daughter and father gainst son. Most of the
older generation did associate RASTA wid the unlawfulness and
violence of the Jamaican shanty towns, which all dem life, had
been a big feature of the big cities in their tropical homeland.
To dem, RASTA did represent the ghetto mentality yu nu, and it
seem to mek a mockery of the hopes and ambitions dat bring dem to
dis country in de first place;- in other words, they never want no
natty head bwoy or gyal in dem family.
So see it deh...dis is how de mid seventies did stay fe black
people.
While de parents go to church to praise the lord, the yout dem go
to the dance-halls to hear the sound-systems play the musical
bible of RASTAFARI continually....
The MC's, the ones who present de music, would also sing and chant
dem own lyrics inna style and fashion, touching down their
thoughts,
topics and opinions which concern and inspire de yout of dat
period -
which when it come down to de nitty-gritty, isn't all dat
different then and now.....So sekkle steady....warm and
easy....coz dis yah one call RASTA LOVE seen ?!
Errol always saw her every week, rockin in her regular place, near
to the light, at de yout club dances deh pon a Friday night,
featuring NYAH YARDY SOUND - as usual, she stood wid her two
older sistas, dancin, smokin, laughin and jokin - and in Errol's
eyes, outclassin dem in every way.
She did know quite a few bredrins, and she never find it hard to
have a chat wid any of dem; and as a result, one of de bredrins
decide seh, he want to go out wid her. It so happen dat one day
at de Job Preparation Unit, Errol hear one of de bredrins seh to
another...
"At de end of de night yu nu roots...de gyal gwan like seh
she nu want to give I nuttn...!"
Him seh it arrogantly as if it was due to him...
"So what did happen den...?" ask one of the roots.
"Chu...! She chicken out wid some cheap double talk man!"
the bredrin replied, bathing in certainty.
The truth was dat Lorraine had successfully simmered down dat
bredrins lusting over her, coz she did know, deep down, he was
meaning to tek advantage of her friendly nature; and for dat
reason she was branded a "COCK TEASER".
"I don't care what they call me, I know I ain't dat...!"
she yelled at her two sistas, who both inform her, individually,
about..
"DE RUMOR DAT A SPREAD!"
"Nuttn never go so...!" she express clearly to dem yu nu....
is funny how half a story can be conceived, then believed...
Lorraine steared clear of man since dat incident. She lock
herself away to do her 'o' level homework, her domestic duties, to
watch T.V at leisure, only settin herself free for her school
netball team. She did dis everyday, in every week fe about three
months; til de temptation of ravin entice her back to de yout club
dances....and there Errol see her again - same finesse -
rockin continually - not allowin the rumors of the past restrict
her realism.
Likkle did de sistren know how special she did grow to be in de
eyes of Errol. He was a sound man, the head of the NYAH YARDY
POSSE. He was the MC of all sound system MC'S, toastin de lyrics
dat tasted like honey to any party crowd....
"GU DEH!" was the deafenin response from de yout club crowd as they punch the air in delight, drownin his voice wid chants of....
....followed by de ear piercing tweets of nuff whistles, then back into easy skankin, and more of Errol's honey sweet lyrics.... "A LOVE ME A DEAL WID!" Errol wailed over de micro-phone, as the disco-mix faded to an end.... There was many attempts on Errol's part to try and create a closer relationship wid Lorraine; but a barrier of doubt was always channel across from her to him, simply coz of what happen to her in de past. Aroun dat time, de yout club had to close down coz of two yout man fightin. In de reasonin dat tek place after de fight, most of de bredrins come to de conclusion, dat de two yout should have sekkle their differences elsewhere; at least for de sake of de other individuals who played pool and table-tennis at de club each week. It wasn't de best of place to be entertain, but at least de young community did have a place to meet and find out wha gwan roun town yu nu. Anyway, the result of de fight was dat one of de youts get cut up badly and just about survive. The other was sent to Borstal* for two years....And so Errol, Lorraine and all de bredrins and sistrens who mek up de yout club crowd, was left to de mercy of de streets. Boredom set in, and it claim its victims as de months drag by.... NYAH YARDY SOUND experience a slump in bookins in de area. Tings just went dead from when de yout club close down coz, yu nu, people never get to see each other. So they try to mek an impact in de popular dance-halls aroun town. They played de same ridim, wid Poopa Errol chantin his original honey sweet lyrics, but due to de lack of speaker-box, they never have de wattage to produce de same quality soun in bigger places. So without the level vibes of de yout club scene, which was de soul food of their inspiration, NYAH YARDY SOUND split up and de bredrins went their separate ways. It was agreed dat one of de bredrins should keep de music set dat they owned between dem, just in case inspiration would come again to dem as a soun. Errol decide him mind fe check a job which him get, and to juggle by sellin de works of art he did draw and paint. He roamed down town Birmingham every Saturday afternoon, eventually to choose a spot where he lay his works. Den those wid de eye fe cultural art would stop, view, then buy an item dat did attract their eyes. He was cleaning up. Redundancy come his way after six months of work. All de money save he spend it off. He no longer have de zest fe continue wid his jugglin. De constructive seeds dat tek root in him mind seem to wither. His old man start to cuss him when him locks start to grow. His mother try her best to understand him, and keep de peace between father and son. Now de yout club reach de end of its ban and was open again soon after Errol looz him job. It was not long before he was a familiar face in its routine. It was aroun dis time Lorraine bounce back inna him life, when one Wednesday, her college netball team happm to have a match gainst de local community centre team. Errol was loafin about in de yout club when he hear de lyrics from a couple of bredrins... "Yo! Dis fit netball team a play outside yu nu. " "Yu lie. " "Nah man, a serious tin Jah know. " So all de bredrins run downstairs and gather roun de netball court to view de dartas in their short netball skirts, and to shout rude remarks whenever a darta flash a firm leg. Errol remain silent, his eyes was riveted on Lorraine, his intention was to check her when de game done. She was surprise wid Errol's change in appearance. Instead of dressin slick like he did when he was wid de soun, he have on him jeans, an old pair of Clarks boots, and an old sweat top; but she was impress by his dread, coz they did mek him look more cultured and compellin yu know what I mean ? Soon after a likkle talk and ting, his cool reasonin wooed her into his grasp. Bwoy, de dates come thick and fast fe de next three weeks. On went Errol's best Cecil Gee tops and tailor-made trouziz, tings him buy before him looz him job, so he would look slick as well as dread to Lorraine. Financially he was a pauper, but he had de generosity of a lover. In dem times, man and woman used to get dem giro cheque weekly, Errol used to get his pon a Thursday and fe three weeks straight it done pon a Sunday. He tek Lorraine to see and hear Denis Emmanuel Brown, Gregory Isaacs(de cool ruler) and Peter Tosh. They checked out de mid-night dances and de latest top sounds like Jah Shaka, Mafia-Tone Hi Fi, Quaker City, Coxsone, and King Alloy, yeh man, nuff a dem soun deh. But even as their love start to tek full bloom, Lorraine modda and farda find out dat Errol was a dread. They start to criticise him, feed up Lorraine mind wid irrelivence and give her unnecessary pressure. They seh tings like... "Dat bwoy deh no good yu nu Lorraine, him have no ambition!" Den another time dem seh... "Before you know it, yu gwine come in yah wid a belly.... Den what yu gwine do when him nu want yu ?!" Lorraine try to defend him... "He's not like dat mom..." But Lorraine modda nu waan know... "Gyal nu bodda gimme no back chat! " And hear how it go a next time nu... "Mom, I done me homework, I'm just goin over to the club right?" "Gyal, find yuself back in yah! Me know seh yu a try sneak out fe gu meet dat deh natty head bwoy! Yu nah gu no weh!" Finally they stop her from goin out completely. It so happm dat on a couple occasion, Errol and Lorraine mek plan to meet pon de corner of her street, but both time, he was left standin alone. But deh pon deh second time, bwoy, de night was dark and de weather was cold as Errol decide seh she nah come. So he just walk and stroll alone, kicking rock stone. He was dress slick and neat as he walk down de street, then he hear de reggae beat. De music sound so fine when he hear de bass line. When him go inside one yard fe look aroun, it was him bredrins NYAH YARDY SOUN, entertainin their biggest crowd fe months...Bwoy Errol just pick up de micro-phone and seh
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