Dear Nesta,
Week befo’ las’, dis islan’ get turn upside down! A fire tek place in a store downtown an’ claim de lives o’ six young women, not one o’dem yet t’irty! Actually, it start out as a robbery! Two vagabons, as nusual wantin’ to tek up wuh don’ belong to dem, enter a store wif de intention, I woulda t’ought, o’ jes’ robbin’ it an’ gettin’ out wif de stolen goods. But no, dah wasn’ enuff! Befo’ mekkin’ duh getaway, duh decide to set de place ’pon fire as a partin’ shot, perhaps tryin’ to get rid o’ any evidence. Mebbe it was a petrol bomb, but wuh I know, is dat de place went up in flames, quick-so!
De sad part is, dat dis store, not de onlies’ one, had only one escape route – de front door – an’ I onderstan’ ’nuff ethuh places only got de one entrance. I hear we soon get a Buildin’ Code but it en law yet. Mebbe dis tragedy would now mek de aut’orities get movin’ to put it in place so somet’ing-so won’ happen agen! T’ree young women was inside shoppin’ an’ de ethuh t’ree dat also died, was employees. My deepes’ sympat’y go out to all de famblies an’ frien’s o’ dem six young people, duh life cut short by de actions o’ dese criminals! It gine tek a long time befo’ dem famblies even begin to start gettin’ over dis turrble tragedy! Don’ t’ink Life don’ share out some hard knocks at times!
I hear crime figures droppin’, but when somet’ing like dis happen, it mek yuh start to tek anethuh look at wuh gine on! A nex’ robbery tek place some while back in de same way! Rob firs’, den burn befo’ gettin’ ’way! Dis is a new type o’ crime creepin’ in. I believe it might only be a li’l group, but we got to move quick an’ stamp it out hard befo’ it “ketch fire” all ovuh de islan’! An’ Bajans musn’ believe it is only outsiders involve in dis type o’ crime, could be anybody!
People enuff callin’ fuh hangin’ to come back an’ lemmuh tell yuh Ness, yuh could counk me in dah crowd, an’ I en got no apologies to mek! All well an’ good fuh Amnesty an’ dem “do-gooders” to say how barbaric it is, an’ en got no place in de Twenty-firs’ Centry. Easy to talk when de problem en at you. I sure a lot o’ dem would change duh tune ef a fambly member get rape an’ kill in de mos’ cruel fashion (or, like dese young women, get burn up) ’cause some o’ dese “house invaders” don’ only come in to rob, but turn ’roun’, rape yuh, an’ en’ up by killin’ yuh. An’ you gine tell me dat people like dem mus’ only go up to Dodds an’ cool out? As far as I concern, an’ I en de onlies’ body, anybody like dat should feel de full weight o’ de law.
Sometimes people commit murder in de heat o’ de moment wifout really meanin’ to do it! Dat is a diff’rent matter an’ I could onderstan’ dem gine to Dodds, but not ethuhs dat deliberately set out to rob, rape an’ kill whoevuh duh fine ’pon de premises.
I don’ t’ink hangin’ abolish in dis islan’, it jes’ en get use for some time, so we could bring it back – at leas’ ’pon dis occasion! Ef de “yoomanitarians” feel it too cruel, de cat could always come back. When dese two get to Dodds, gi’e duh some good hot lashes evuh six monfs durin’ all de years duh stayin’ up dey! It might even be worse dan de gallows, ’cause dah is jes’ one swing an’ yuh gone!
Of course, Ness, you an’ me bofe know wuh woulda happen to dese two ef duh was livin’ in de Eas’!
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
