BOY, I COULDA see this happening. It is only a matter of time before somebody decide tuh retaliate and do all sorts o’ foolishness. And the thing is, it ain’t only happening in the United States, ya know. It happening all ovah the world. People taking matters in tuh duh own hands and doing as duh like.
This is two weeks now dat I write ’bout the things dat going on up in the United States and last week before this newspaper could get out good, I think it was last week Sunday, I turn on my TV and the breaking news pon CNN was dat another set o’ policemen get shoot up in the States. The thing is, it look like the man who did it ain’t even from anywhere ’bout there. This second shooting and killing of police officers happen in Baton Rouge and the body who did the killing is a 29-year-old year old black male. It is just too depressing.
I could only imagine how the police in the states feel every day and night going out tuh work and not knowing what tuh expect. If yet another crazy person gine be around the next corner just waiting tuh do something stupid. It got the police in the United States pon duh toes and working out all kinds o’ strategies tuh both stay alive and still do duh job effectively. It got the police in a real hard place.
Evah single channel ya turn tuh was carrying the same story and repeating it ovah and ovah again. But as I said before, the same thing happening ’bout here; not wid the police, even though duh got a lot o’ idiots who decide dat dem hate the police and when ya mention police, dem does play dem cussing and talking ’bout how dem ain’t want nutten tuh do wid nuh police; how dem would like tuh see all o’ duh dead.
But let something happen tuh dem, and the first place duh gine bong tuh is the police. Duh want the police when it suits dem. Because duh want tuh do as duh like, when duh like and tuh who duh like. Duh want tuh be a law on tuh demselves.
So wha’duh doing is shooting up one another evah chance duh get and look who the big boys getting tuh do it – a lot o’ foolish li’l boys who ain’t lost duh mothers features yet but who want tuh be in the do, who want tuh look big. Next thing ya know is dem homies retaliating. You shoot one o’ my boys, I gine wait till I catch you offside and tek you out. Dat is the foolishness dat going on ’bout here.
A lot o’ these kind o’ people so, especially the young boys who decide tuh choose a life of crime, does get on pon the Internet and watch all kinds o’ foolishness dat going on ’bout the world and wid the lot o’ herb duh smoking dat messing up duh brain, does decide dat dem would like tuh do it ’bout here, but duh lie! This ain’t the states. dem forget how small Barbados is and somebody gine see or hear something. and then again, evahbody is family tuh somebody ’bout here. Dat is why the police picking dem up suh quick nowadays.
I really and truly pray dat the lot o’ shooting and killing would soon come tuh an end. People ain’t got nuh kind o’ regard fuh human life at all. It is as if people just get cold and heartless. and ya see dah gun? I gine say it again and again: I hope the people who helping tuh bring these guns in tuh Barbados could sleep good at night, dem and duh children. I hope duh see wha’ the all mighty, all-powerful gun doing tuh the United States today.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.