Granny was never one to be out and about town, past sundown. However, if there was an event at her church, you can bet your banana fritters that she would be there. No matter how late the services lasted Granny always pevailed and stayed until the very end.
She would often tell her grandaughters, myself included, that, "A young lady should not be on the street late at night without a chaperone."

Granny's thoughts were, that a young woman would suffer from "overexposure" if she aimlessly gallavanted the streets beyond a certain hour. This was a rule that Granny strongly enforced, although, when it came to her church activities, there weren't any boundaries. Granny would be fearless.

I remember one night in particular, Granny attended church services that ran extremely late. She departed from church with a few of her church sisters. As they continued their journey to their respective homes, Granny was left alone to travel by herself. She was busy singing and praising God as she strolled towards her house. A man on a bicycle yelled at her and then ran over her leg. He darted off into the darkness leaving Granny with a sore leg and a limp. She continued home, but by the time she arrived, her leg was as swollen as a jack fruit. The whole family was in an uproar about what had happened. Granny was always advised by family members not to stay at the church until night fall. Because of her age, they felt that people would try to take advantage of her. Granny would not hear of such nonsense. She was adamant about continuing her visits to church and that was that. The negative experience made her more determined to conquer the rebels and hooligans that were trying to prevent her from serving the Lord.

After she nursed her injury with kerosene oil to reduce the swelling, and a few doses of phensic. She decided to pursue a program of Self Defense. Granny felt that God helps those who help themselves, and she was going to protect herself from the evil forces of the world. Granny enlisted herself into Karate and Judo classes, she bought a huge parasol and a very loud whistle. She became an ardent student of Karate and Judo and I became her coach. After a few lessons and great effort, her senseis made her an honorary senior citizen black belt. Granny felt confident to tackle the world. Part of my duties as coach, was to help her practice, boost her ego, and rent kung-fu movies. These movies really got Granny "fired-up". I saw my first Bruce Lee movie with Granny, it was "Enter The Dragon". If you were a person who had no interest in the martial arts, this movie was a natural motivator. I ran around the house challenging the dog with my karate chops, while Granny practiced her mind, body, soul connection with the cement blocks. We spent several hours watching karate movies and documentaries, until Granny felt self assured. Her constant companion became her extra large parasol. She travelled with it morning, noon and night. Just in case she had to "clobber" someone who got out of hand. Granny decided that no one was going to come between her and God. She would say, "If these disdainful ragamuffins think that they are going to make me miss my place with God. They are sadly mistaken! You mek dem come. Dem mother gwey feel dem pain."
All I knew at this time, was never to irritate Granny. Between her God Squad, and her new found acrobatics, she was a force to be reckoned with. Woe would come unto to the person or persons who maliciously inflicted pain on her or her family.

Granny was taking names, numbers and doling out punishment when necessary. Believe me, no one wanted to experience her wrath. A few months passed, and Granny decided to venture out to an Evangelical Fair. It was being hosted by her church. She was so captivated by the experience that time eluded her. The affair was held in a tent on the church site, Granny did not realize that dusk had fallen so quickly. By the time she looked on her watch and went outside for some fresh air, she noticed that most of the attendees were leaving.
You know how some people close down the nightclubs?
Well, my Granny was usually the last person to leave the church. There were never enough hours in the day to say Alleluiah or Amen. Some of the church goers asked Granny if she wanted company going home, but it meant leaving her task incomplete and that did not sit well with her at all. She was determined to finish her church duties and then go home. Once her work was done, she started her journey. As Granny proceeded on the road towards her house, a vagrant approached her in a threatening manner. Granny said, "I rebuke you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!" Nothing happened, the man didn't budge. Granny was hoping that her christian like words would have the same effect on the vagrant, that Mose's words had on the Red Sea. Granny continued on with her spiritual banishing. The man kept taunting her, and then he tried to take her Bible. Trust me when I tell you that, "Nobody messes with Granny's Bible". To her, it was the most prized possesion next to her kin. Suffice it to say, that my Granny underwent an instant metamorphosis. She changed from sweet and delicate Granny to Kung-Fu Dynamo. Granny assumed her stance, blew her whistle and went into action as a one woman demolition team. Several minutes later a few people responded to the whistle and commotion. They had come to the rescue of my grandmother. The people looked around and saw Granny straightening up herself. They were amazed that Granny had helped herself well.
She said to them, "Lord Jesus forgive me, but the bible says, "Thou shall not provoke" and this man was pushing the envelope!"

Everyone from miles away wanted to know if Granny was alright. She would calmly reply, "I'm o.k. but I think the gentleman could use a dose of respect, and a band-aid for his ego." She then extended her arm to help him up.
The man flinched, "Do please! Mi won't bodder you again. Mi learn mi lesson. Mam, a neva mean to hurt or upset you."

Granny put her hands on his, and told him she would pray for him. The vagrant got up swiftly and ran off into the darkness of the night. Since that night, my Granny became the most revered senior citizen in the town. No one ever thought to prey on her again. It was also the beginning of her Senior Citizen's Brigade. Instead of people terrorizing them, they were fighting back!
Granny would often ask me what I thought of her new found vigor and strength. My answer to her was, "Granny there are only a few super heroes in my life, You and The Avengers." After my comment, there was never any reason for Granny to ever question her skills again.