Jimmy's New Life

Jimmy’s New Life

By

Earl Thompson

Jimmy’s New Life

Earl Thompson

Copyright 2011 Earl Thompson

Smashwords Edition

Chapter 1

When the letter came, it was the happiest day of Jimmy's life. This was something he had been waiting for ever since his mother had started her sponsorship of him. She was in Canada. Up until two years ago, he had known only what his grandmother had told him about her and they weren't any- thing good. He was told that she had abandoned him at the age of 6 months, and since then she had not gotten in touch with anyone to find out whether he was dead or alive. Then two years ago she had started writing to him. His Grandmother was surprised; she did not know what had gotten into her daughter. Then it had stopped as abruptly as it had begun.

Then, she had sent him a few things that he had so badly needed, like clothes, shoes, socks and brief, she had sent a few dollars too, and just when he was getting used to being pampered with good things, things had suddenly changed. For another year after that, if she were alive or dead, no one in that district knew.

He could read and write well and he had written letters upon letters to the address she had sent them when she had started writing, but no answer was received. And then six months ago, she started writing again, this time she was talking sponsorship; Jimmy would be going to Canada.

Prior to receiving the documents, he had had to talk to his mother on one occasion about sending some money to do his medical, but the conversation he had had with her had then ended on a sour note, and he wasn't too sure whether or not she would be sending it.

When he went home that night, his grandmother gave him his dinner but seeing the sad look on his face she had asked what was wrong. He was sitting in what was the bedroom as well the dining room of a one-room house. He told her.

I don't have a good feeling about this you know, son, his grandmother had said to him.

But, grandma, once and for all I'll be out of this bondage and when I'm there, I will take care of you, I promise.

Jimmy, you are not the one I am worried about you know, it's your mother. I don't know what she is up to, plus she knows we can't afford anything in this country, private doctor is another thing which is so expensive and now she wants you to pay for it."

Grandma, I don't know if she wants me to pay for it, but she didn't say whether she was sending the money or not.

So you said she was angry with you, why? his grandmother had asked, suddenly changing the subject.

She was saying that if I am going to call her again, not to call her collect, because it cost too much, he had said.

But how else does she expect you to call her? You haven't got any phone for yourself.

I guess I just have to figure another way of getting in touch with her.

The flame of the Kerosene lamp on the table flickered wickedly as the door was opened and the wind was blowing in. It was like this almost every night in that District and other areas of Jamaica; the time was very hot and people would sometimes sleep with their doors opened in order for the wind to blow in to keep the place cool.

Jimmy was hearing lots more about Canada; from the moment he had told some of his friends that he might be going there, he had gotten more and more information on the country; he was told that it was sometimes as cold as the inside of a deep freeze, and sometimes hotter than Jamaica.

He did not believe any of those rumors; he didn't think it was possible for anywhere to be as cold as the inside of a deep freeze, and he didn't believe it was possible for anywhere to be hotter than Jamaica.

For him, life had been pretty hard; he was brought up by his grandparents. His grandfather had died when he was only six years old, ever since then it was just his grandmother who was left to bear the brunt of his upbringing. She was a kind woman and had helped him through a lot of hard times.

Prior to the time his mother had started to write to him, he had not known the feeling of a good pair of shoes; he used to get along by wearing what people had thrown out.

At school too, he was the clown of the class; it was not by choice but because of being poor and destitute. The cruel kids would use his misfortune to tease him; they would talk about his clothes in the class in his very presence, and they would tell cruel jokes about him and his parents. They would talk about him not being wanted by his mother, hence he was left to live with his grandparents.

Lots of other kids in school lived with their grandparents, but his condition was worse than all put together. Some of the kids who lived with their grandparents, their parents had on most occasions, only left them so they could go to Kingston to make a better living. Most of them were back to celebrate the children's birthday or were there for Christmas, and those kids would have toys, lots of them to play with.

Each holiday he was left with nothing but the old clothes he had picked up from his neighbors, therefore he was good at sewing, because he needed to sew those things well in order to wear them.

He didn't know whether or not his mother was going to send him the money, as a result he was doing odd jobs to get it some other way. Each evening after school, he would take an old machete he was given by his late grandfather and would go around to different houses offering his service as a lawn cutter. Many people were pleased to give it to him because he was doing it cheaper than other lawn cutters were.

One evening he was in his yard standing and looking at the calluses in the palms of his hands when one of his next door neighbors brought a telegram to him. He took it gladly, tore it opened and read the content. His mother had sent the money for the medical; he was supposed to pick it up the following day at Western Union.

He was happy and ran quickly into the house to show his grandmother. She was there trying to get a nap. She wasn't a well lady and she was getting up in age.

He sat on the chair, which was around the old wooden table and read the message to her. She was pleased. She had seen the way he was working at getting the money and it had bothered her; she had also heard rumors that the other lawn cutters in the area were planning on hurting him, since he was taking away their jobs which was their livelihood.

She had told him what she had heard but he had just dismissed it as rumors because most of the men who were lawn cutters were men who were known to him, and so he had thought that they would not hurt him.

He did his medical the following day after picking up his money and he was told by the doctor that he was okay, but that the information would have to be sent to Trinidad before it would go back to the Embassy. He had anxiously asked how long the process would take, but the doctor had informed him he didn't know. After that, it was what seemed like a never-ending wait for the letter.

He was having more friends now than he had ever had before, what with him going to Canada and all, everyone wanted to be close to him. Even Johnny Lindsay was now kinder to him, and he was one of those who would instigate whatever activities were going on against him. He would never try to fight Jimmy, but he was always walking by and whispering things to people about him.

Jimmy was thirteen but he was tall for his age, tall and lanky; he was a handsome boy and was often told how much he resembled the Morgans who used to live in the area; they had left before he was old enough to know them.

Cruel kids in the school would sometimes teased him by saying he was a long streak of misery, and that he was good for nothing. Those were words that would sometimes dig deep into him and he would sometimes bite his lips and clenched his fists to avoid getting himself into trouble.

Even before his mother had started writing to him, he had known she was in Canada, and he was always telling himself that one day he would be going there. Also he was told that if he were a criminal or if he had gotten himself into any trouble whatsoever, they would not allow him to go there. Those were thoughts and advice he had always kept at the back of his mind; they also assisted him in staying in line and out of trouble.

He had remembered once when a teacher was angry at him and had used words he had thought only cruel and callous kids used, and he had remembered how devastating it was. For a week he did not go to school, even though he had given his grandmother the impression he was going. His grandmother had found out when the principal of the school herself had dropped by to find out why he wasn’t going.

Mrs. Landon, who was his grandmother was stunned, she knew he didn't hate school, because even though he was young, he was very intelligent, and he was the one who was always telling her that he had to have an education so he could one day take care of her.

His grandmother had then called him to find out why and he had told her and the Principal the reason. The latter had promised then that she would take it up with the teacher and would make sure that he didn't make such a remark to another child.

Things were beginning to look up for Jimmy; girls who would never take a second look his way were beginning to smile with him, even to talk with him. He was feeling real good.

One evening after school, his best friend Clive Anderson, who was in some way similar to him, in terms of his clothing, wanted to know how long it would take for Jimmy to sponsor him too.

Jimmy smiled at him; he knew of the frustration he was going through; he stuttered a lot and kids were pretty mean to him too. They would sometimes mock him by pretending as if they stuttered too whenever they see him. Also his mother was a sickly woman, and he had no relatives living in the states or Canada, which meant there was never any chance of him getting out of the situation he was in.

The reason why Jimmy was such a close friend of his was because they had so much in common. He could remember them sitting together fishing in the pond nearby and they would have so much to talk about, so many dreams to fulfill. There were times when they would lie on their backs in the grass and would be looking at the blue skies above, wondering what was behind it. Those two shared so many dreams and even though he was glad that he would be leaving all these miseries of the district behind, he was sad that he wouldn't be able to take Clive with him.

That evening as they talked, Jimmy could see the hurt in Clive's eyes; he was really serious about wanting to know when he would be sponsored.

Clive, I won't forget you, he had said to him. You're my best friend in the whole world.

You're my best friend too, but you're going to leave me, he had said, there were tears in his eyes. As usual he stuttered as he spoke, but Jimmy was careful not to laugh; he understood him very well.

Why are you crying, Clive? I haven't left as yet, Jimmy had said to him. I'm still waiting for the letter.

How long are you going to be after the letter arrives? he had asked.

I don't know, Clive, I guess it depends on my mother.

I wish my mother was in Canada, he had said rather thoughtfully. Then she wouldn't be sick. I heard they don't have sick people in Canada.

That's what I heard too. If I was sick they wouldn't take me.

They had then sat together on a wall and were looking at a country whose people wouldn't get sick, and was wondering what it would be like to be there. At the end of it, Jimmy had a smile on his face because he knew pretty soon he would be able to tell what it would feel like.

Chapter 2

On the arrival of the letter, he was told he had to get in touch with his mother to let her know. He was also told that he shouldn't call her collect. To go to anyone's home and asked to be allowed to call someone who was in a foreign country straight one would have to have cash right away to pay and even after one was charged an exorbitant amount, when that bill arrives from the Telephone Company, there would still be more to pay.

These were things that were known to Jimmy, but he didn't know what to do; he knew he had to call his mother but how? All the money he had worked cutting lawns for people, he had used up on taking care of his grandmother, and now there was nothing he could do. His grandmother had taken ill at one stage, and all the money he had accumulated and more, were needed to pay the doctor, even now he was still indebted to the kindly doctor who had taken care of his grandmother.

His mother had not send any money in awhile, even the money she had sent to help him to take his medical was just enough. He had had to pay one of his friends some money to accompany him to Kingston and what was left was what he had used to pay the doctor.

He was glad though, that the money was there with which to pay. His friend had told him everything was all right; he was expected to pay for the return trip but his friend had instead paid for both of them and had told him not to worry about it.

Now it was time to pay his fare to Canada; he did not know whether or not his mother was expecting him to pay it; he hadn't heard from her in a long time.

His grandmother was worried, even though the doctor had told her she had had a mild heart attack and she should not worry herself too much, or put any strain on her heart in any other way. She wanted her grandson to go to Canada; for too long she had watched him suffering, and she had suffered along with him too.

She had known the indignity he had felt, because she had felt it along with him too. Every time he walked through that door with a suit of clothes that weren't proper on his back, she had felt the discourtesy she knew he was feeling; she wanted things to be better for him.

But yet there was a sense of apprehension in her, a sense of fearing that he was going to walk into a situation that he was unfamiliar with, and one he might not know how to cope with. She had done her best for him, although she knew that that was not good enough, but she had shared whatever she had with him, and she knew he had a good heart, and she would one day want to see his dream come true.

Jimmy was frustrated; he did not know what to do. He was happy he had gotten the letter, but now came the hard part, the part where he needed to call his mother. But he didn't have any money to call her straight and she had specifically told him not to call her collect. Well, he thought, he had to go back to the drawing board; he had to go back for his machete to see how much he could make cutting lawns and how fast he could make it.

He was told that he had three months in which to leave the country or the visa would become invalid. Could he work his fare within three months?

Very unlikely.

Well maybe he could get enough money so he could use a phone to call her straight. He decided on the latter because it was the most practical thing to do at the moment.

He was unaware that he was making enemies; he was going around cutting lawns quite efficiently but at the same time at a lower cost than most lawn cutters in the area, which meant they were losing out on contracts they use to have, and losing contracts meant losing money.

A few of the main lawn cutters in the area gathered one evening to discuss what was happening and to voice their disapproval.

That Jimmy boy is not working in our favor at all, said one man who was dressed in a suit of clothes, which appeared as if it were washed in banana stain; he was dragging on a tobacco cigar.

What do you think we should do? asked another; he too was dressed in a suit of khaki which appeared as if it should have been thrown out a long time ago; he had a Machete tucked in his waist belt.

There were four of them in the group and they were well known in the area as men who cut lawns and fields mainly for a living. There was old man Tom, old man Livingston, old man Anderson and old man Johnson, all had been cutting lawns and fields for planting agricultural produce for as long as they could remember, and they were not about to let some young boy, who should be doing something else, take over this trade from them.

They had no other means of subsistence and they knew that mother Landon's boy had his mother in Canada who could take care of him. They were determined to stop him from getting away with what they thought was injustice; they thought he could do better, but as far as they were concerned, this was their livelihood.

That evening they came to a decision.

Jimmy knew them and thought that they would never resort to violence to reclaim what they thought were rightfully theirs. To him, this was fun; he was young and was able to move around faster than most of the old timers, and this wouldn't be forever, he thought.

He was wrong.

The district he lived in had another rumor going around and it also concerned him. It was said that his grandfather had had an affair with his daughter, and that that was how she had conceived. He didn't know his father; every time he would bring up the subject, his grandmother would tell him not to worry about him; he was told that his father was a good for nothing brat.

Jimmy almost got into a fight with a bigger boy who was going around and telling tales that he was his grandfather's son as well as his grandson. He had confronted him and had told him that it wasn’t so, but when the boy had asked him the reason behind his surname, he just couldn't explain; he had then walked away with his head held down, feeling like a defeated and a frustrated boy.

He couldn't explain why he had his grandfather's surname; why wasn't he given the name of the man who had fathered him?

No matter how good for nothing he was, if he had known something about him then he could disclaim the rumor. He could then be able to associate himself with some other families and then once and for all this disgusting rumor would have to stop.

He knew no other family except his grandmother and his grandfather prior to his death and their relatives. Sometimes he wondered why he was born, right now he would give anything to just get to know his father.

Things were going pretty well for him in terms of getting jobs from people around the neighborhood. He was even being called from his home to do work for those who had their places. He was a fine boy and didn't give a problem when it came to the fee for cutting lawns and his neighbors loved him for that.

The problem was that the four old timers were not getting as much jobs as they would normally get and this was putting a strain on their survival.

They came together one day and paid one of the thugs of the neighborhood to do a job on him; he was not supposed to kill him, but just incapacitate him a little that even after he recover he would think twice about going up against them. He should let him be aware of what he was being beaten for.

He was coming home late one evening after he had gone to a place one of his friend had recommended him to; he was told that the man was from England and that he was willing to pay well a young man who was willing to work at his home; his task was to cut not only the lawn but he was to clean the entire house.

It was monotonous and tiring, and even though he had received a good wage, he was glad when it was over and he could get home to sleep; he loathed being on the road alone at nights.

He was passing a graveyard, which was by the roadside; he especially hated this spot; it was one where tall mango trees overshadowed the road from the moon and any other light, which was not beneath them, and this went on for a good fifty yards. Also he had heard rumors of ghost taking away people who were walking along there by themselves at nights, a thought which caused him to shudder in fear.

Beneath the trees were dark, cold and eerie, and as he walked he hoped he could make it through before anything happened. He started to hasten his steps when suddenly he felt a hand grabbed him in the front of his shirt and he was pulled off the street and into the graveyard.

His heart was at his throat; he had never felt so frightened in all his life. He tried to scream but something was abruptly pushed into his mouth, something which felt like cloth folded together, and then he was bombarded with punches from all angles, while all the time he was being held in the front of his shirt. He was losing consciousness fast and the last thing he heard was someone saying: Leave the old men to their task, don't ever cut another lawn again.

When he awoke, he found himself in the May Pen hospital, how he got there was beyond him. He was badly beaten, but apparently nothing was broken; he had bandages over his face; his hands were feeling as if they were too heavy to be lifted; he felt listless, and when he tried to move, he felt pain all over his body.

When he looked down on himself, he found he was wearing hospital clothing; he tried to sit up but found he was in too much pain; he had bandages around his mid section.

A smiling nurse came into the ward; she was young and attractive, How are we doing this morning? she asked as she checked his temperature.

I'm in pain, he groaned, How did I get here?

You were taken here by a man who said he heard you crying in a graveyard. We'll take care of your pain.

She left and came back minutes later with two pills and a glass of water, she gave the pills to him, he swallowed them and drank down the water she gave him. She took the glass and smiled at him. That will make you feel better.

Thanks. Where are my clothes?

Oh, you didn't arrive in any; you were basically wrapped in a sheet.

Jimmy remembered that he had had some money he had received for work he had done at Mr. Randall's home.