Jamaica

My Granny always possessed a youthful heart despite the fact that the years were creeping up on her. She always enjoyed the company and conversation of children and young adults. They often offered her a fresh perspective on life and living. It was usually through the younger generation that Granny was able to perpetuate her love of music and dancing.

I remember when I was a teenager my Granny and I would often quibble about who would use the portable radio. She often listened to the latest tunes while working in the garden when I was away at school. We usually took turns listening to the songs and I would do my best to translate the meanings of the words to her. Granny loved to travel around the house with the radio so much that I started calling her jammin' Granny.

One evening as I returned home after my extracurricular activities; Granny decided it was a nice evening for us to sit out on the porch and conduct bible study. As we took a break from studying, Granny noticed that there were two teenage boys standing on the side walk. They were having a conversation with their peers and listening to music. The music was foreign to her, yet it had an interesting rhythm. She went over to them and asked, "What kind of music are you listening to?"

One of the boys replied, "Three Doors Down."

Granny looked at him and smiled, "No, I don't mean where you live? Magsie, they don't understand my accent, explain what I mean."

I said, "Granny, that is the name of the band, "Three Doors Down."

The second boy interjected, "Yeah, there are all kinds of bands, Jane's Addiction, Mega Death, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Counting Crows."

Granny looked at me in amazement, "True? They really have bands with such names? Who would want to count crows? Young man you ever see crows? They are usually dead. Would you want to count them?"

"What ever happened to people using their names for bands? For instance, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Byron Lee and The Dragoneers? What a way times have changed though eh?"

The boys started laughing raucously. Granny began to introduce herself to them. She said, "My name is Granny or Sister B, whichever your parents will allow you to call me."

The boys then introduced themselves as "Disco Danny" and "Smoothe Smitthy". After the introduction Gran became even more curious and decided to delve a little closer into their lives. She continued, "Those are really interesting names, were those the names your parents gave you?"

Danny replied, "Nah, We get these names flossin' with our boys."

Granny smiled but still looked a bit puzzled, "Hmm... Flossin', oh, I see, you met them at the Dentist's office?"

I was a bit confused myself, so we both looked at them for an explanation.

Smoothe Smitthy began, "Where you guys been? I mean, hanging out with my friends. The names come from our pals."

Granny nodded as if she was getting the gist of their language. Then she invited them for some aerated water.

"By the way boys, this is my granddaughter Mags."

I felt so uncomfortable; I managed to answer with a feeble hello. I often disliked when Granny would put me on the spot that way.

Danny and Smitthy began to inquire about why we were sitting on the porch. So Granny explained that we were preparing for church the next day. She said, "My Sabbath is tomorrow, would you boys like to come to church with us?"

"Nope. We'll be chillin at home in front of the box."

"Oh, too bad you don't have any heat there, so you have to wait for them to fix it?" Granny responded.

"Huh?” They answered in unison.

"Naw, we meant that we are going to be relaxing and watching television. By the way, where are you guys from?"

Granny told them that we were from Jamaica. She also explained to them her love for Jamaican reggae music and calypso. She told them how fond she had become of listening to American songs and enjoyed learning their youthful slang. Somehow, Granny managed to captivate their attention with her childhood stories and the young gentlemen decided to stay for a while. This experience gave a new meaning to the word alien for me, I remember hoping for the space ship to arrive and beam us up to any planet that would have us.

They drank their soda, and used the time to introduce some new terms to Granny. It was great to see her interrogate someone else for a change. It started to get late and they decided to bid farewell, they announced, "Ms. B thanks for the liquids! We are ghost for now. Your house is really hype and your granddaughter is really fresh, take care."

They were doing fine until they mentioned, me being fresh. In Jamaica, when you say someone is fresh, you actually mean they are rude. Granny sternly said, "Wait a minute there, my granddaughter is not fresh! And what you mean bout ghost? I don't have no duppy in my house. Where did you boys get such nonsense from?"

Danny retorted, "Relax Sister B, we mean that we are leaving and that your granddaughter’s nice to look at. We didn't mean anything disrespectful. We mean that she is irie."

"Oh, well alright then, travel good. Maybe, sometime you can come by God's crib and we can raise the roof?"

There was Granny gesticulating with her hands in the air. A definite Kodak moment.

I looked at her very startled, "Where did you learn that?"

"Forshizzy, it was from da boys." She said rather proud of herself.

I shook my head with a smile, "Well Granny that's the last time I let you hang out with the boyz in da hood. Next thing I know you'll be break dancing."

Granny answered back with a shrug, "You never know? Young people are so full of life and their energy is contagious."

I coyly answered with a wink, "How would I know? I'm an old soul, that's why you and I are two peas in a pod."