“Obeah Wedding “ As customary, most of the baking was done on Thursday. The icing of the cake was set for Friday and the wedding was fixed for Saturday. Most of the guests had arrived from overseas. Over fifteen persons had flown in from Trinidad and Barbados for the wedding. They flocked the little board house. Some of them camped in the unfinished wall house that the bride had started building. To Anselma, this was going to be the time of her life. For months she and her friend Clydette had been planning this scheme. She had found out that her boyfriend was about to be enlisted in the British Navy. She was not sure if the relationship would continue after he gets to England. In an effort to trap the poor lad, she visited an Obeah man who planted a child in her belly. Overwhelmed at this disclosure, Alston decided to bite the bullet Alston was Miss Carmen’s only son. His father died while he was still a little child. It was while operating a tractor at Mount St Andrew, that the machine brakes failed. The heavy equipment fell over a bank and killed the driver. Carmen was never remarried. Instead she remained a widow for the balance of her life. She devoted all her attention to Alston. He attended the best school in the country and now upon his completion, he was about to be enlisted into the British Navy. To Carmen, Alston was the apple of her eye. The perfect example of a good son. Upon hearing of his intended wedding, her dreams were shattered. She must do everything within her power to stop this event. Anselma worked as an assistant in the school’s Tuck Shop. She actually met Alston one day when he came to borrow a needle. His pants bottom was severely torn by a sharp object in the passenger van that he rode to school that morning. The town boys heckled him. They laughed and jeered at the large hole that was in the center of his pants. Some of them even took sticks which they porked at him. The poor boy became nervous and ashamed. He hid the hole with his book bag. He refused to enter the classroom. Instead he sought refuge in a small corner next to the School’s Tuck shop. Seeing a girl his age, he went forward and asked to borrow a needle. Upon noticing how nervous and awkward the poor boy was Anselma volunteered to sew the pants for him. This little act of kindness resulted in the commencement of a relationship much to the dislike of his mother. To be quite frank, Miss Carmen felt that Anslema was not good enough for her son. Meanwhile , Anselma and Clydette were well into executing their plan. They had visited Flotilla the village Obeah man. He had requested that she packed her belonging and come to spend three days and three nights at the Praise House. He claimed to have detected an evil spirit within her and that was causing Alston’s mother to dislike her. To cast out this spirit, Flotilla will have to mix a portion for her to drink on the first day. Then on the third day he would sap her front. Sapping the front was one on of the most painful procedures that a Witch doctor could perform on his client. It entails boiling mixture of codjoe root, ball head bush and bull de mash. This liquid was supposed to be splashed upon the anterior section of the lower abdomen and particularly the areas of the pelvic. The liquid must be applied as warm as the client can tolerate it. I had seen Flotilla performing that procedure to one of my aunts who was barren. I distinctly remembered the loud groaning sounds that she made as I secretly peeped through the keyhole. They were however reduced to cries of ecstasy as he quickly administered the rubbing material that he had in a little vial. The treatment did in fact worked for within nine months my aunt brought forth a bouncing baby boy. That being so, Clydette had been busy indoctrinating Alston with a million and one reasons as to why he should turn down the offer and remained in St Vincent. After all, his girlfriend was carrying his baby. It may very well be his only child. Why should he leave at this crucial time? Joining the British Navy was a high risk job. No one wants to die leaving a baby. To Carmen it was the opposite. Alston was still a child. A lamb that was led to be slaughtered. The poor fellow had not even lost his mother’s features. Anselma was not her type. Her very name reminded Carmen of a worthless girl the Mighty Sparrow had sang a calypso about. Going to England was the answer. It was the only way to avert the wedding. Meanwhile, the long awaited Saturday had arrived. Alston had already taken up his position in the church. His friend Desmond was the best man. They sat in close company as they awaited the arrival of the bride. Although not very pleased, Alston’s mother sat in one of the reserved seats. Then came the moment they had all been waiting for. The bridal party arrived and the groom proceeded to walk down the aisle. He had not gone very far when a giant boar pig suddenly walked into the church. It savagely ate all the flowers that were stewed in the hall way. As if to make matters worse, it went directly to the bride and proceeded to roll on the floor. The officiating minister became so enraged that he gave the animal an extremely hard blow with the broomstick. It caught the animal in the area between its eyes and nose. In response, the animal defecated and disappeared. Within a few minutes all this commotion was over and the wedding continued as planned. The guests were led to believe that one of Demus’ pigs had broken its pen and had simple gone on a rampage. It was not until they arrived at the reception venue that they noticed a gentleman neatly dressed in a milked white suit. As if to compliment his attire, he had a white felt hat that was drawn low. It was as if he was hiding a portion of his face. It was not until he stood up to make a toast that we discovered it was Flotilla. The wound was there. It was in the same area where the broomstick had caught the pig. Once more, Flotilla had made his presence felt.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 23:44:31 +0000
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