Dear Nesta,
BY now yuh should be back from yuh “mini-vacation” an’ settlin’ down agen to deal wid de humps an’ grumps! Yuh could be sure dem never stop comin’, an’ you really had yuh fair share wid dem recent riots! I see de courts bizzy enuff dealin’ wid all dem wrong-doers, even t’inkin’ ’bout deportin’ some dat don’ belong dey.
People does mek muh laff, faif! Now tell me, why on earf would you get involve in criminal behaviour an’ draw attention to yuhself, knowin’ full well dat ef yuh get ketch, it gine turn out bad fuh you ’cause yuh illegal!
While it might be jail fuh de “home boys”, it is a “ticket to ride” fuh you, right outta de country! Yuh mus’ expeck to get put out de people place! Some now turnin’ ’roun’ sayin’ dem is asylum seekers, so duh fightin’ de deportation order! I say duh shoulda t’ink ’bout dat befo’ gettin’ ketch up in de madness dat went on.
Chile, whenevuh you t’ink yuh got it bad, somebody got it wors’! It look as ef a “killin’ spree” gine on in Trinidad! You could imagine dat over de las’ weeken’, eleven people get kill in jes’ over forty-eight hours! It mek muh blood run cole, jes’ to t’ink ’bout it!
Prime Minister Kamla, now gettin’ down to bizzness an’ talkin’ tough, an’ de Attorney General sen’ out a declaration o’ war! I got a frien’ in Trinidad dat usually call muh from time to time, an’ she been keepin’ muh in de news.
De aut’orities got de place onder curfew an’ ef duh don’ try duh bes’ to get a grip ’pon t’ings at dis stage, God help dah country!
Is true, recent events at home got muh tekkin’ mo’ precautions, ’cause I gettin’ friten enuff at wuh happenin’, but I could never dream o’ dat sorta vi’lence tekkin’ place hey. Say wuh yuh like, we could still boas’ dat we fairly peaceful – an’ hope to stay so, ef we wanta keep de tourisses comin’ – so I sure de aut’orities would never leh t’ings get so far outta han’.
Dis is a touris’ country an’ dem could disappear at de drop o’ a hat, ef reports start comin’ out dat vi’lence ’pon de rise. After all, dey comin’ to relax an’ enjoy san’, sea, an’ wuhevuh else ’pon offer, not to walk ’bout lookin’ over duh shoulder.
Las’ week we police issue pictures o’ several young fellas duh want fuh questionin’, an’ from de descriptions – nearly all o’ dem describe as “considered armed and dangerous” – dem soun’ like bare trouble. I hope de police ketch duh soon an’ leh muh sleep li’l mo’ peaceful at night. In any case, I could never see dis islan’ gettin’ to de state dat Trinidad now fin’in’ itself in!
Philomena in a state! Fuh some time now, she been plannin’ to visit a frien’ in Trinidad. When she firs’ hear ’bout REDjet, it was all smiles an’ joy dat turn to tears an’ rage when de airplane c’n get permission to go in.
Anyhow, sence all dah clear up, she book passage an’ suppose to be goin’ shortly. But wid all dis state o’ emergency an’ curfew laws, she gone in reverse gear agen, swearin’ wuh she would do ef she ketch some o’ dem criminals.
I tell she to tek my foolish advice an’ stop home. Lef’ dem to Kamla!
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
