Jamaicarunnings Serial- "the Girl from the Lane"

The Girl from the Lane – Installment #8

Delceita had walked the three hundred or so metres from her home at 33 Lane to the bus stop near the intersection at Waltham Park and Hagley Park Roads. She normally rode the bus from there to Half-Way-Tree then walked to the pharmacy at the Mall Plaza where she worked. The journey from home to work normally would be covered in less than half an hour. The owner of the pharmacy was a stickler for time. Each clerk in the pharmacy had specific chores before they opened to the public and it was very important that these be completed in time for their opening at 7.30 am.
As she crossed the street to await the bus to Half-Way-Tree she wondered at the pile-up of traffic going south on Hagley Park Road. Even the pedestrian traffic going north to Half-Way Tree seemed unusually heavy. She crossed the street to await the northbound bus that would take her to work. Most of these buses would have been coming from Portmore. The smaller buses that plied the Half-Way-Tree to Three Miles route were operated by small-time operators whose indiscipline on the roads were legendary. Delceita preferred the Portmore buses as their larger sizes gave her greater comfort even on her short commute.
The shrill wail of a police siren preceded the blue and red flashing lights as the patrol car sped in form a distance. Hagley Park Road by now was jam-packed with traffic but seemed to re-form itself as motorists and pedestrians yielded passage for the police car as it made its way through the thick morning traffic. In addition to the two policemen in the front of the vehicle, there were passengers in the back seat. Delcieta figured there must be some type of emergency somewhere. The traffic was becoming increasingly heavier and there seemed to be no buses whatsoever coming in from Portmore. Strangely enough her thoughts shifted to Sheila.

It would have been incorrect to suggest that Delceita did not love her first daughter Sheila. This did not prevent her from being disappointed when she became aware of her being pregnant at 16 years of age. Phanso was equally livid at the discovery and would have nothing to do with a pregnant daughter living with them under the same roof and as a result, Sharon’s pregnancy put a strain on the relationship between them both. The arrival of their granddaughter though brought a bitter-sweet joy into their lives. Delceita
loved Latoya as if the child was hers. She loathed Tony, firstly for impregnating Sheila, and secondly for shattering her dream of Sheila becoming a worthwhile human being and helping them later in life to move from 33 Lane. As far as Delceita was concerned, it was as a result of this “good for nothing boy” that her daughter was destined to now follow squarely in her own footsteps. Despite Sheila’s not living in the same house with them, the second pregnancy was even more devastating. Delceita swore her away as her child and severed contact with them.

By now news had filtered from the Causeway to Hagley Park about the horrific accident. Traffic was backed up for miles around, and most people had resorted to any other means of transportation to get to their various destinations. Delceita reluctantly boarded a “robot” Volkswagon van that sped her into Half-Way-Tree and to work. Still she could not release her thoughts from Sheila.
When she arrived at the pharmacy they were already opened to the public. One of her
co-workers had already handled her morning chores. Two other ladies including the cashier was absent, no doubt caught up in the traffic confusion coming out of Portmore. The pharmacy owner Mr. Anderson was running the cash register. She apologized for being late and immediately fell in with her work. For years she had done house-work to support her children and subsidise Phanso’s weekly allotment to the household. Before her last domestic employer had migrated to the United States of America with their grown children, she had gotten a letter from them to take to the owner of the pharmacy. She reported to work there the following Monday morning. Three years later she had grasped enough about the operations of the business to become a useful counter clerk. All this time she kept tabs on Sheila. She had smiled with great pride when she heard about Sheila’s job with this big company, but did not hide her disaffection about the direction other aspects of Sheila’s life had been taking.

She remembered that Sunday afternoon that Sheila had turned up at her house in 33 Lane with these two gorgeous children for a long overdue visit. It was Delceita’s 43rd birthday. Sheila had brought her a birthday present. It was the first time she was receiving anything from any of her children. The best present though was seeing those two children. After that Sunday and despite the challenges of not having one, they kept in touch by phone. Sheila on occasion would call her from work. On weekends, Delceita would wait in line at the call box at the corner of Espeut Avenue and Waltham Park Road to call her daughter on Miss Brown’s phone next door.

The thoughts of Sheila would not go away. At 10.00am, all of the pharmacy’s staff were in place. She requested permission from Mr. Anderson to call her daughter at work. That was when she received the news.

There was more than the usual hive of activity at the Children’s Hospital when Delceita arrived there an hour after receiving the news. On a normal day the hospital would be teeming with activity as it was the only facility on the island that specialized in offering in children’s medical care. Out patient areas normally overflowed with parents (mainly) mothers cuddling their ailing children and patiently waiting their turn to see a doctor. The Causeway accident only elevated the activities as people converged on the facility. More than a dozen children had been brought to the hospital as result of the accident. From what Delceita had gathered, two had been pronounced dead. Her anxiety subsided as soon as she saw Sheila with Latoya and Newton. They had already seen a doctor, thanks to the efforts of the police. Both children were diagnosed as slightly traumatized but were fine physically.

Mother and daughter bonded, reminded by the fragility of life and the unpredictability of time. Delceita would keep the children for the rest of the day so that she could attend to her Final Exams at the Institute.
“Just do your best my child” Delceita reminded her as they parted that evening.
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