AncilI went back to the market where I had lost my father and had met Megan and Rajiv. The marketplace didn’t look too different from when I last saw it but the fruit and vegetables were rotten beyond recognition, scattered all over the floor. The emptiness was ominous and the buzzing flies engulfing the decomposing fruits were the only company I had. The streets were littered with garbage and cars were haphazardly parked throughout which brought back all the memories of the day the Midnight Robber attacked Arima. The memory along with the smell of rotten fruit almost discouraged me from continuing my trek but my curiosity kept me moving forward. I saw the dumpster where I had met Megan and Rajiv and I just had to look inside with the strange hope that Megan and Rajiv would have been there, but they weren’t. I still climbed into the dumpster and sat on the black garbage bags with my head down. There was a rancid smell coming out of the garbage bags but it wasn’t that bad. I had smelt worse before. I made myself comfortable among the bags and I remained there for a while, trying to decide what my next move would be. There was the option of going back to the Red House to see whether or not the government officials were still there, plotting against the Midnight Robber. Perhaps hoping to not only restore the country’s balance but also to avenge the death of Prime Minister Winston Jack who was shot and killed by the Midnight Robber in cold blood for the entire cabinet to see. There was also the option of going back to San Fernando to examine the carnage some more but the benefits of both options were greatly overshadowed by the immense risk associated with them especially since I was alone. The country had gone to hell and there I was, sitting in a smelly old dumpster feeling useless and sorry for myself. I had no goal, no sense of purpose and no sure path. All in all, there was nothing that I could possibly do and that thought along with the horrid stench of the dumpster was driving me insane.
“Don’t kill us!” I said, recalling what Megan had said back when I first met her in the dumpster. I also raised the pitch of my voice in an attempt to impersonate her. “We didn’t do nothing wrong!”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you,” I said, impersonating myself, but I deepened my voice a little to sound a bit more macho. “Right now I’m here trying to survive myself.”
“Is it safe to come out?” I said, in an attempt to impersonate Rajiv, making my voice squeaky and feminine.
“Well for……” I abruptly stopped talking. I heard movements outside. There was some distant chatter but I couldn’t make out what was being said until they got closer to the dumpster.
“Remember this here dumpster?” I heard a male voice say.
“Yes,” a female voice answered abruptly.
“This is where we happened upon that piece of shit.”
“His name is Jed,” the female voice answered as though insulted by the comment.
I froze when I heard my name and lowered myself in the dumpster even more.
“As I proclaimed…..Piece of shit!!! Horse excrement!” The male voice spat. I recognized the voice as Rajiv’s and what he said was offensive but I was too confused to even take offense. I recognized the other voice as Megan’s and I was about to get out of the dumpster to show myself but then Rajiv said, “That traitor feel he could happen into my life and abscond with my girl. If I ever see him again I would lacerate his testicles from his loins and use it as nourishment for the corbeaux them.”
I instantly changed my mind.
“He’s come across great fortune to have gotten away from me back in Tobago,” Rajiv continued. “He’s not going to have the same fortune next time around,” Rajiv said. He spoke like a 15th century poet with a hint of Trinidadian dialect. It sounded quite weird to me.
“Rajiv you know that my father said he wants him alive,” Megan started
“I don’t care what your father has proclaimed to me. This is personal!” Rajiv shouted.
“Allyuh talking so much, allyuh find him yet?” Another voice said, which seemed to be coming out of a radio.
“We searched all over the city and we haven’t seen him,” Megan answered.
“Allyuh is a waste of time yes. Just come back to the ship before we miss the ceremony,” the radio voice said. “I sure one of the Midnight Robber’s minions will deal with him nice and proper.”
“Roger,” Megan said, sounding as if she was actually pleased with the order.
“I know he’s somewhere around here quarters. His scent stains the air,” Rajiv said.
