WELL, I GINE TELL YA, I don’t know what next some young people gine do tuh try tuh kill demselves.
If it ain’t the lot o’ cigarettes duh smoking, trying tuh impress duh friends when duh go out feteing, it is getting high from smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol and now, the newest craze is tuh ride up and down the public roads pon a motorcycle dat keeping the world o’ noise.
Look, you could talk till the cows come home and go out tuh graze again, some o’ dem just ain’t listening tuh nutten. It is like dem decide dat life is just fuh living and dem gine live it ’pon the edge till duh dead. It is as if somebody promise dem dat if dem dead doing foolishness, dem gine come back again like in the movies tuh tell evahbody how it does feel tuh dead igrant.
Evah single day ya does see dem wheel-ly-ing in the middle o’ the roads. Duh does be doing all kinds o’ stunts in between the vehicles like duh ain’t got nuh kinda common sense nor regards fuh their lives or anybody else’s.
When I see dem flying coming towards me standing up pon the saddle wid the motorcycle front wheel all the way up in the air, all I does be doing is praying dat these stunt idiots doan skid or fly off the road while duh doing duh daredevil acts and kill some innocent body. I does be praying hard dat duh doan skid out, hit my li’l puma and even hurt me in anyway; ’cause from experience I know that it ain’t easy getting any kinda compensation from the insurance companies.
Dem does take ya money year after year but when it comes tuh paying it out, nuh matter how much you brek up and outta commission, dem people does gi’i ya years and years o’ hell tuh get anything from dem. Duh doan like tuh part wid a cent.
But getting back tuh these stuntmen; I doan believe dat all o’ dem got any kind o licence tuh ride ’bout nuh motorcycle, ya know; but duh getting away wid showing off and doing a whole lot o’ foolishness ’pon the roads all the time, endangering people’s lives.
The other day I was by the bottom o’ University Hill, there by the roundabout, going towards Black Bock when I hear this lot o’ noise behind me. Before I could catch myself good, about six o’ dem fly past me wheel-ly-ing. The noise was something else, so I pull over li’l bit so they would pass, boh.
All of a sudden I hear the police siren behind me and you should see men scrambling. Duh front wheels hit the road and all o’ dem take off up Black Rock wid the police out behind dem and the siren blaring.
One o’ dem fall off in the grass there by the old Paradise bus stop but scramble up and tek off ’cross the grass and on tuh Spring Garden. I couldn’t keep up wid dem but the police had dem scrambling.
Spring Garden like it is the place fuh dem tuh do duh daredevil stunts ’pon a Sunday evening. People does come off the beach and stan’ up by the side o’ the road tuh watch dem trying tuh out-do one another. Duh does start from down by the Harbour Road and go all the way up tuh Brighton Corner. Then duh does come back down the road flying, sometimes even ’pon the same side dat duh went up ’pon: all o’ this time motorists pon the road, hear?
And ya hear dah noise? Nuhbody cahn tell me dat dem motorcycles was making dah kinda noise when dem buy dem; they have tuh be doing something tuh dem mufflers, man; the noise is something else.
And wunna see dah wheel-ly-ing all in between the traffic? I ain’t want tuh put my mout ’pon nihbody but if the police doan come down ’pon dem, it is only a matter o’ time dat something major happen ’bout here. You wait and see.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.
