Red Jacket

by Mordecai, Pamela;

  The woman who leads them wears a red sari spotted with drops of something, wine or oil or blood. Each person in the line holds onto the sari, which stretches longer and longer as more women join, walking up a path covered with petals of red, purple, yellow, and orange. The leader is someone she knows, but the wind blows sheets of sand across the line of singers so she can’t see who it is.

  At the edge of the desert in Mabuli, dunes flare and subside, one minute lit by a ferocious sun, the next dragged down into the swell of dark night sands. A small boy is in a boat, oars in his hands, silver pinpricks of sweat on his face. They get larger as he ploughs through the brown drifts. Two men push the boat from behind, white haired, white bearded. One is black, and one is white. They melt into each other, and change, and change again. A tall black man lifts the child from the boat and hoists him over his shoulder. He has been weeping. Tears leak from under his long lashes into the tiny indentations that pattern his cheeks before they spill again, myriad eyes. The child wraps his arms round the man’s neck. The door of her room opens and, as they come in, she sees them both, clearly.

  “Jimmy? Jeremiah? Don’t cry!” She opens her arms. “Come to your Mama!”

  The boy, a bird, a kite, lands on her bed in half a second, trailing his limbs about her.

  “Kidoki!”

  She folds her arms around her son, but he isn’t there. She looks up, but the weeping man with the scarred cheeks is gone. Never mind, she thinks as she closes her eyes, she will see them soon. When she does, maybe she’ll get back into the ring with Papa God. It was Gramps way, after all, hassling with the Almighty Father. Perhaps it might work for her too.

  Acknowledgements

  First of all, I am grateful to the taxpayers of Ontario, who, through the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, allowed me to eat and have a home while I wrote this book. My considerable thanks too, to Margaret Hart for her commitment to placing this novel, long after I had moved on to other projects.

  It is not possible to say what I owe to my husband, Martin Mordecai, who readily and without complaint reviewed the book in its many versions; to our son, Daniel Mordecai who offered helpful comments, and to our daughter Rachel Mordecai who more than once lent it her keen critical eye. The book is much improved by your interventions, and I count myself very blessed in you.

  My thanks must also go to our once-upon-a-time online writing group, especially Nalo Hopkinson, who instigated it, and including Hiromi Goto, Larissa Lai, Martin Mordecai, Jennifer Stevenson, and David Findlay. The group provided an impetus to get the writing out, and it introduced us to fine writers and fine people. In that regard, my thanks go especially to Jennifer Stevenson without whose generous support, comments, readings and re-readings, the book would not have come to completion. That it exists is very much her doing. Special thanks also to James Fitzgerald Ford, who allowed me to credit my heroine with an academic paper that put forward principles cribbed from an article of his, and who gave me the benefit of his experience in more than one of the locations in the book. For saving me from embarrassment, I thank Barbara Shepherd, who set me right on the Thirty Day Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and Dr. Michael Hawkes who gave me the benefit of his experience as a physician and as one who knows the region.

  For their various contributions, by reading part or all of the book, by supplying, in some cases, encouragement, and in others, practical help, I am indebted to Edward Baugh, Ian Bolton, Marlene Bourdon-King, Kamau Brathwaite, Andrea Conroy-Cresser, Carol Duncan, Molly Tobin Espey, Esther Figueroa, Shivaun Hearne, Keith Lowe, Stephanie McKenzie, Stephanie Martin, Rethabile Masilo, Marie-José Nzengou-Tayo, Timothy Reiss, Elaine Savory, Derek Walcott, M. G. Vasanji, Betty Wilson, and Priscilla Zamora. I crave the indulgence of anyone I may have forgotten, for many people helped with this book over a long time.

  Finally, to Diane Young at TAP Books, who saw the virtues of the book, took it on board, and shepherded it to completion, and to the ever-helpful staff at Dundurn Press, my sincerest thanks!

  Glossary

  Ar = Arabic;

  DT = Dread Talk;

  ECE = Eastern Caribbean English;

  G = Ga;

  It = Italian;

  JC = Jamaican Creole;

  JE = Jamaican English;

  MT = Mabuli Talk ;

  TC = Trinidad Creole;

  Tk = Turkish

  abeng (JC)

  = bull’s horn used by Maroons as a signaling device or as a musical instrument

  backra massa (JC)

  = originally used of a white person, especially one who owned or exercised authority on a plantation; now a person, white or not, in a position of authority; metonymically, those who wield power; oppressive authority

  bakin gumbi

  = Acacia macrostachya, shrub common in the southern Sahel used for live hedges, fence posts, fuel. Its seeds can be boiled and eaten and its young leaves can be boiled to treat gastrointestinal disorders and also as an antidote to snake-bite.

  bangarang (JC)

  = echoic word meaning (and representing the sound of dragging) assorted paraphernalia

  bissap

  = Hibiscus sabdariffa, annual or perennial species of hibiscus used for a variety of purposes in cooking as well as for making a variety of drinks. Other uses include a number of medicinal ones: as a diuretic, a gentle laxative, and a treatment for cardiac disease, nerve diseases, and cancer

  bissape

  = red drink made from calyxes of the sorrel/bissap plant

  bourgou grass

  = grass native to Africa

  boyeki

  = African percussion instrument; güiro in Latin America; reco-reco in Brazil; scrapers in the Caribbean

  braps (JC)

  = echoic word that represents the sound of a sudden fall, collapse, or development

  brought-upcy (JE)

  = quality of having been well raised

  bruck (JC)

  = break

  m’bubu

  = flowing wide-sleeved robe; kaftan

  capo (It)

  = chief of a branch of the mafia

  capo di tutti capi (It)

  = chief of all chiefs (literally); the term designates the head of the most powerful Mafia family

  Cetacea

  = scientific order that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises

  cho (JC)

  = exclamation of annoyance, impatience, irritation, disgust

  cocoa tea (JE)

  = chocolate (drink)

  coolie

  = an East Indian person, according to the Dictionary of Caribbean English, used derogatively. However, like “nigger,” it is also extensively used, especially self-referentially, without pejorative connotations.

  cotta (JC)

  = coil of cloth used to cushion a basket resting on the head

  crosses (cross) (JE)

  = difficulty, hardship, burden

  djembe

  = African percussion drum

  don (JC)

  = a crime boss, originally and still especially in the Mafia; crime boss engaged in the ganja trade

  dungle (JC)

  = garbage dump, dung hill, rubbish heap

  duppy (JC)

  = ghost

  escoveitched (JC)

  = from the Spanish “escabeche” meaning pickled, a method of cooking (mostly fish) with vinegar, peppercorns, onions and scotch bonnet or chili peppers; perhaps also related to ceviche, a Peruvian seafood dish

  facety (facey) (JC)

  = brazen, forward, impudent

  favour (JC)

  = resemble, look like

  gallery forest

  = forests that form along the corridors of rivers or wetlands and extend into other otherwise sparsely treed areas

  giaour (Tk)

  = modern Turkish word for infidel, unbeliever; an offensive ethnic slur used by Muslims in Turkey, the Balkans to describe all (especially nearby Christians) who are not Muslim

  gizza
da (JC)

  = Jamaican or Portuguese pastry made of grated coconut baked in a pastry shell. It is also called “pinch-me-round” in English from the rippled edge of the pastry and guizada in Portuguese.

  Gourounsi

  = ethnic groups inhabiting north Ghana and southern Burkina Faso

  grater cake (JC)

  = a Jamaican sweetmeat made of grated coconut cooked in a paste of dark or white sugar

  homo ludens

  = Latin for games-playing man

  imam

  = Islamic scholar, community leader, worship leader

  Ital (JC)

  = derived from English vital, with the v removed so the initial I can affirm oneness with the essential i-force of nature; (Rastafarian) food, which is salt free and largely vegetarian

  jacket (JC)

  = outside child, born of intercourse between a married parent and some person other than his/her spouse, but accepted as part of the household

  Jah (JC)

  = Rastafarian name for God

  Jonkonnu (JC)

  = Christmas festival of African and European origin, in which masqueraders in traditional costumes (e.g., the Devil, Wild Indian, Belly Woman, Actor Boy, Pitchy-Patchy) parade in the streets dancing to fife and drum music, collecting money for their prowess in dance and mime

  jook (JC)

  = to stick, poke, pierce

  juju (Fr)

  = originally used for traditional religions in West Africa; now used for the supposed magical power of those religions or for objects used in witchcraft

  karst

  = landscape formed from dissolution of limestone, characterized by conical hills, sinkholes, underground rivers, and cave systems

  kas-kas (JC)

  = echoic word meaning quarrel, contention

  Kel Tamasheq

  = (recent self-designation of the Tuareg) speakers of Tamasheq, the Turareg language

  kikumvi

  = tom-tom; used in the musical accompaniment to the Missa Luba

  kiloli (MT)

  = garment, worn by men and women

  kinkeliba

  = Combretum micranthum, shrub species native to Western Africa. Known as kinkelib in Senegal and Gambia, it is used to brew a

  traditional bush tea (nicknamed “Lipton Tea” due to its popularity) used for weight loss, as a diuretic, an antibiotic, to improve digestion, and to relieve minor pain.

  kiss-teeth (JC)

  = contemptuous or dismissive sound made by sucking air through closed teeth

  korchi

  = loud factory whistle used to indicate start and end of the workday

  kotch (JC)

  = take a temporary seat, mostly in a place not intended for sitting

  kouri

  = dry water course

  kwashiorkor (G)

  = acute form of childhood malnutrition

  kyondo

  = a type of slit (log) drum common in the Congo, especially the southern part; used in the Missa Luba

  lectio divina

  = divine reading

  lick (JC)

  = knock, hit

  macca (JC)

  = prickles, thorns

  marabout (Ar)

  = Muslim religious scholar, scholar of the Koran, teacher, and leader in West Africa

  Maroons

  = slaves who freed themselves by running away or guerilla-style warfare and established self-sustaining communities in isolated places in the mountains or forests

  mas (EC)

  = see play mas

  mbuni (MT)

  = species of rodent

  millet

  = small seeded, ancient grass yielding grain of many variations, for human and animal consumption

  mouth-a-massy (JC)

  = talkative, given to gossip

  néré trees

  = Parkia biglobosa, perennial deciduous tree with a height ranging from seven to twenty metres and impressive red spherical blossoms

  njamra (MT)

  = large dark-shelled river prawns

  nose nought (JC)

  = mucus out of the nose, possibly a corruption of “nose snott”

  nyam (JC)

  = eat

  Obeah (JC)

  = African derived belief system and practice, similar to Voodoo and Santería, that uses supernatural forces to achieve or defend against evil intentions; any evil spell cast by a practitioner of the art

  Old Higue

  = creature in Guyanese folklore, an old witch by day, a blood-sucking vampire at night. Able to shed her skin, she travels in a ball of fire and feasts on the blood of infants.

  Oti (MT)

  = umbrella association of religious leaders of all belief systems, imams, shamans, priests, and marabouts

  own-way (JC)

  = self-willed, stubborn

  palampam (JC)

  = echoic word meaning noise and confusion

  pasero (JC)

  = friend, possibly from Spanish pasajero (fellow passenger)

  pawpaw (JC)

  = papaya

  picong (ECE)

  = from Spanish picón, which means mocking; originally, a verbal contest between two Calypsonians in which wit determines the winner; teasing or sarcastic repartee; friendly teasing and heckling

  pikni (JC)

  = child

  pimento dram (JE)

  = pimento liqueur; herbal liqueur with a rum base that tastes of allspice

  placée woman

  = woman of colour (African, Native American, or mixed-race) in eighteenth-century Louisiana, who became a sort of common-law wife in a recognized extralegal system in which white French and Spanish and, in time, Creole men entered into the equivalent of common-law marriages. Placée women were not legally recognized as wives, but were supported by their partners and had families for them.

  play mas (ECE)

  = take part in the masquerade, the procession of dance, music, and costumed bands that celebrates Carnival in some cities (e.g., Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Port of Spain) on the days prior to Ash Wednesday when Lent begins

  praedial larceny

  = theft of growing crops

  pyah-pyah (JC)

  = insignificant, worthless

  rass cloth (JC)

  = (employed only as an obscene expletive) a used sanitary napkin

  Rasta (DT)

  = short form of Rastafari or Rastafarian

  redibo (JC)

  = (red Ibo) person of colour with red skin, red hair, grey eyes, and often freckles

  saga boy (TC)

  = a man who likes to dress well and chase women, a fop, a playboy

  sajda

  = Muslim prostration, the bent-over, head-to-the-earth posture for prayer

  sand puppy

  = burrowing rodent, similar to the East African naked mole rat Heterocephalus glaber, which is also known as the sand puppy or desert mole rat

  sappi (MT)

  = beer made from bissap

  scotch bonnet

  = Capiscum chinense also known inter alia as Scotty Bons and Bonney pepper. Named for its resemblance to a Tam O’Shanter hat, it is a variety of chili pepper found mainly in the Caribbean islands, as well as in Guyana.

  shaman

  = spiritual leader; medium between physical and spiritual worlds

  sistren (DT)

  = sisters (in Dread Talk, the language of Rastafari)

  The Skinny (MT)

  = slang for AIDS

  sorghum

  = genus of several species of grass, one of which is a grain

  steups (JC)

  = see kiss-teeth

  suck-teeth (JC)

  = see kiss-teeth

  sulcata

  = Geochelone sulcata, the African spurred tortoise, which inhabits the southern edge of the Sahara desert

  susu (JC)

  = gossip, rumour

  susuing (JC)

  = whispering gossip, spreading rumour quietly

  Tuareg
>
  = a Berber people, with a traditionally nomadic pastoral lifestyle

  xalam

  = name for a stringed musical instrument from West Africa

  yabba (JC)

  = earthenware bowl, glazed on the inside, used for cooking and baking preparation

  Copyright © Pamela Mordecai, 2015

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of TAP Books Ltd. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

  All characters in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.