God spoke from inside de ball ah fire

De late P.H. Veira, C.K. Greaves and Fred De Nobriga had ah lot in common, all had to quit primary school early to help out wid de home finances; all were local poor whites, member de nickname “Pauper Johny”. Dey belonged to de mercantile race, de small grocery shops people; C.K was ah Scottish descent, PH and Fred were of Portuguese from Park Hill. By de time dey were thirty years ole dey would ah move up from ah lickle shop and had established dey own businesses on Bay Street in Kingstown.{{more}} P.H. later owned ah flour mill foh C.K’s bakery and Fred had I-scream and de Fru-T soft drinks to wash down CK cakes and bread. And as if by design, their marriages made blood relatives (first and second cousins) out of their offspring. Folklore has it dat one night de Trio was boozing-up, and ah rum argument broke loose as to who had de most money; P.H. de magnate at de time, simply looked at dem wid ah smirk, choops his teeth and walk-way, C.K who had just started business, asked foh time; but Fred who was de least money-wise, bet dem dat he will rise head and shoulders over and above dem all. Ole man Bertie Neehall was de witness, so if ah lie, ah lie after his son, Sip Neehall who got it from his dad and is my witness.

In de year 1966 Fred embarked on building his dream, ah massive business centre in de town. First dey heckled him say it too big he could never finish it, when the third floor went up and no sign ah roof, dey laughed at him say he building over de Babel Tower. But wid money still dey to spend, Fred started another floor; he crazy dey said, de building will sink, it too close to de sea shore, was no way de foundation could sustain dem four storeys. But Fred tricked every body he kept away from using heavy reinforced construction inside and went for timber, de lighter material; and so he completed de first four storey building in de town, de tallest building at de time, and he kept dat fame until de Financial complex came some forty years after. But most importantly foh him was when he went on his top floor he was standing head and shoulder above, looking down on P.H and C.K.

Dat is only ah part ah de story behind De Nobriga Building, ah town monument dat went up in flames last Monday night, leaving ah lot ah people out ah wuk and business, including yours truly who made ah living operating from dat spot foh over twenty years. It was ah bad fire and de police along wid some public-spirited young men fought hard and well to contain de flames. Ah was comforted by de numerous calls from far and near; ah shouldn’t list names but de PM called from Tie-One half way round de world, Arm-in from half way down de road and my near-bar Maureen just ah half ah step away. Fires are not all dat bad, it was from within dat famous ball ah fire dat Moses heard de voice of God signaling de beginning of his eighty-year journey of deliverance. I know God got greater things in store foh me.

AH-DONE-ALL

Right now in SVG ah Revolution in Basketball is taking place, thanks to ah true patriotic Can-ah-won Vincentian name Ah-done-all Foh-all, an NBA star who plays foh de Golden State Warriors. Ah couldn’t resist stopping at Calliaqua on Chose-day to look at scores ah kids happily enjoying ah Basketball Camp funded and conducted by Ah-done-all himself and his noble colleagues from de US. It was no joke thing ah saw, serious training foh dem lickle youths, some looked as young as seven. I overs dat de guys are holding similar camps thru-out SVG, Wow! Seems like SVG is heading foh an explosion in Basketball. During lunch provided by de camp, one kid like he went looking foh ah piece ah foil to cover his food till later. De Chef told him, “ Sorry kid, no Foil, see Ah-done-all-Foil”! Thanks Ah-done-all, if we could win dem young minds now we will save dem foh life. Would some body tell our self-made know-it- all in Guv-ah-mint and on our Cricket Boards that dis is de way to go in West Indies Cricket, Soccer, Netball, Football, Squash, Tennis whatever sport?

ARMAGEDDON FOH KING AH DE BANDS

Ah don’t know how many ah Vibert De Shong’s friends know dat some eight years ago he gave his heart to Christ and was ah regular worshipper wid us at de Salvation Army. He gave some moving testimonies in Church. Before dat he was all WWM, Wine, Women and Mas. An Architect with HLDC and Physical Planning as well as one ah SVG’s most talented Masman, he had ah style dat was unbeatable, nobody was ever able to dethrone him as King. His last appearance was “an oil slick” dat won him King of de Bands. When ah visited him before de Carnival we talked ah lot ah Mas and Carnival. He cherished his portrayal of Moses as one ah his best. But ah found it Eye-run-ache dat he told me dat he was planning to mek one last appearance as King ah de Bands and will present “De Armageddon” from de book ah Revelation. Ah tried getting his concept but Vibert never discloses much of his plans to anyone. He simply said: “ Yuh wait and see”. Ah went home and looked up Revelation 16:18 and it speaks about Armageddon being de site foh de last battle between God and Satan. There will be flashes ah lightning, rumblings, peals ah thunder and ah severe earthquake, den de great city will split into three parts and de cities collapsed. Knowing Vibert’s skills and imagination, Victoria Park would ah split in three on Dimanche Gras night wid his portrayal. He never got to play his Armageddon foh King ah de Bands, but don’t worry he has already registered wid St Peter to be in de real Armegeddon when it happens. May he rest in Peace and wid dat ah gone again.

One Love Bassy.