Dear Nesta,
I could scarcely believe anethuh week gone by an’ I sittin’ down to write yuh agen. How you, girlchile? I hope de good Lord lookin’ after you healf-wise, wealf-wise an’ wuhevuh else yuh want to be “wise” in.
I down hey glad enuff to see when de mornin’ brek, ’cause de way t’ings gine nowadays yuh could be hey today an’ gone tonight – it en tomorrow no longer.
But I had a question to ax yuh evuh long-time sence. I know yuh now been livin’ up in Engleant fuh donkey years, but yuh never did tell muh ef yuh legal or not, ’cause I know nuff immigrants still lookin’ over duh shoulder whenevuh duh hear footsteps dat soun’ too close fuh comfort.
I en know how any yooman could live so, faif.
I en see de country dat I wanta live in so bad dat I got to be hoppin’ evuh time I believe a policeman starin’ in my direction. But diff’rent strokes fuh diff’rent folks.
I din hear yuh went de “marriage route” by danglin’ few poun’s at some hard-up man, so I suppose yuh went ’bout t’ings in a hones’ way, doin’ it legal, an’ now callin’ yuhself “English”.
I had yuh in t’oughts when I open de paper las’ week to read ’bout de swearin’-in ceremony fuh over 100 non-nationals from diff’rent parts o’ de globe dat could now call duhselves Bajans.
As I never hear ’bout a ceremony like dah befo’ – Citizen Induction Ceremony – I had to check wid Philomena ’cause I know she get she citizenship papers years ago – an’ proud ’bout it, too – so she should know.
She was wonderin’ wuh dis affair cos’ an’ confirm she never went t’rough neffin so. She jes’ had to contack de relevant ministry, fill in de appropriate papers, submit dem wid de right amounk o’ money, an’ after a while she citizenship get approve. No PM nor Guvnor-General present, no hand-shakin’, no cameras flashin’, neffin.
She din too pleased ’cause she too love publicity an’ ef she was lucky enuff to shake de PM han’ an’ get she picture tek, Lord mek peace, she woulda “milk” dah opportunity fuh all it worf. After all, she don’ know how far dah woulda help she in risin’ up de ladder.
I ax she ef she fuhget dis is a mos’ impo’tant year. Apart from de Mayan calendar predickin’ mankine disappearance from de scene in December, we Bajans got de “E-year” to deal wid an’ we en know who gine disappear, reappear or jes’ appear.
So I advise she not to fret ’bout dis ceremony but to keep she ears to de groun’ as ethuh publicity events should turn up, an’ she might be able to benefit from one o’ dem.
Yuh gine hear all sorts o’ stories durin’ dis “E-year”. A’ready, I hear we had a drop in food prices in supermarkets an’ aldoh I been huntin’ high an’ low evuh sence fuh de evidence, I en had no success.
Mebbee I shoppin’ at de wrong place but my weekly bill en no proof o’ dis happenin’. As far as I concern, not one t’ing I eat gone down. So I need somebody to point muh in de right direction o’ dese price cuts an’ I would be happy to fine muhself at de partic’lar supermarket.
I hope it en too far from my home, doh, ’cause dah would mean anethuh expense – usin’ up mo’ gas. An’ wid dat price fuhevuh risin’, well . . . Lord, how we gine win, neh?
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
