Yuh Cyaan Ride Donkey?
St. Ann was one of my favorite places to go as a child, when school was out for holidays. My immediate family lived in Kingston (mostly my dad’s family) and we lived in the same yaard (same property). My grandfather, aunt and uncle lived in the house above ours and my mom, dad, brothers and I lived in the house right below them, with an additional section where my other aunt and cousin lived.
It was an ideal set up. There was always someone to watch the children, we all had someone to play with. Well, except for me. I am 5- 6 years younger than my siblings and cousins and even though they allowed me to play with them, I was really a hindrance in most cases.
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That’s where St. Ann comes in. Even though, when I went to St. Ann, I was still the youngest. For some reason, they didn’t mind me hanging around as much. Maybe it was because we had all that land so I didn’t really get in the way. Plus, in St. Ann, there was never a shortage of things to do or adventures to go on. My biggest partner in crime was one of my older cousins, Rohan (Ruhan).
Rohan was probably 5 or 6 years older than me too, like my brothers, but he didn’t act like it. I can honestly say, if it wasn’t for the height and muscles, I would say he was exactly my age. He was playful and always smiling, even when others were mad at some prank or joke he had played.
Early in the morning, my time was devoted to my Papa Jacob, but after I drank scalded milk with papa, my day was open. By the time I made it back to my Auntie Jean’s house from papa’s, Rohan was usually getting ready to head out for the day. He had his own field and animals to tend to and would always look to see if I was in the house and ask if I wanted to go. Going to the fields with Rohan and to see the animals was another of my favorite things to do because I was almost always allowed to help, which mean having an excuse to get dirty.
Aside from Rohan’s crops, he also had goats, chickens, pigs and a donkey. Depending on what we had to do in the fields and with the animals that day, we would take the donkey and load it up with different supplies. The donkey was much older, so he was never loaded down with anything too heavy to carry.
Every day, I begged my cousin to let me ride the “pony”, because it was the closest thing to a horse that I had ever seen.
"Puhhllleeease, juss till wi reach di tree dem deh-so (Please, just until we reach those trees)."
"Yuh, hear mi say di donkey a nuh fi gallavant wid. Walk u foot dem, man (Don't you hear me telling you the donkey is not a toy. Walk on your own feet)."
Over and over again, Rohan would tell me that the donkey was for work, not to carry people, but every day I'd keep asking. I’m not the type to take no for an answer, so finally one day as we were walking to the fields, Rohan gave in and agreed to let me ride on the donkey.
"Juss till we reach di tree dem. And no badda ask mi again afta dis, yuh hear (Just until we reach those tree. Don't ask me anymore after this. Do you hear me?"
It was as if Christmas had arrived early. I was grinning from ear to ear as he gently helped lift me up onto the donkey. He had only agreed because we did not have to take anything to the field today. We were going to be reaping potatoes and only really needed the donkey to carry them back.
I didn’t care a bit why. I was just excited I was finally getting to ride my “pony.” On top of the donkey, I felt like a princess surveying her lands. I could see so much from up here. I could see down to our neighbor’s property, down to the river and down to Papa Jacob’s house. It was amazing! The only thing that was missing was going a little bit faster, so I started pleading with Rohan to make the donkey go faster.
“Please, mek him move faster, Rohan. Please (Please, make him go faster, Rohan).”
Yuh,yuh, yuh, kn, kn, know seh di donkey ole and cyaan tek suh much hackle up (You know that the donkey is old and cannot handle all of that).
But please, juss until wi reach up deh so (Just until we reach that point there).
M, m, mi cyaan wait fi aunty come fi yuh, so yuh cyan guh back a yuh yard (I can’t wait for aunty to come for you, so that you can go home).
Grumbling some more, Rohan tapped the donkey on his flank and told him to move faster. It was the best feeling ever. The wind was blowing by my face faster and I felt like a true princess riding around her castle now.