From British Honduras to Belize: one family’s drama – a novel written by the late Chrystel Lynwood Hyde Straughan
Chapter 19
We pick up the story from where Jerome and my younger brothers were in the heyday of their soccer football life, eating, sleeping and living for the game.
One incident had disturbed the serenity of Jerome’s relationship with his parents, however, and this had resulted from the friendship of one of Mr. Reg’s attachments since returning to his bachelor quarters. He had become the target of a young Mestizo woman, Mercedes Olivera, the only daughter among four sons of well-to-do parents prominent in social circles in the most northerly district and the republic across the border.
Restless, pampered and venturesome, this young woman had decided to extend her horizon to the capital, her curiosity having been aroused by the well-to-do, elite gentleman of means whom she considered as lacking female companionship on whom to spend his excess income.
Unconventional and asocial, she had gained shelter in Mr. Reg’s bachelor quarters, with the intention of ousting Justin in due course and spreading her wings over the whole establishment.
Unaware, during the planning stage, of Jerome’s regular presence at the house on weekends and, hence, more contenders to deal with, she had made the mistake of underestimating the opposition. Her intention had been to sweep into Mr. Reg’s life, lure him with her feminine charms, provide him with a child to cement her place in his affections and rid herself of all competition for his attention and wealth. She knew he had a wife from whom he was estranged, but whom she discounted as a serious deterrent to her plans, her main focus being on how to access his wealth.
Her white skin colour and prominence in a society influenced by it, especially in conjunction with financial independence, gave her the confidence to pursue her objectives, and she had lost little time in producing a daughter, whose presence in the household soon caused displacement and upheaval by encroaching on the freedom of expression of the young males in pursuit of their sporting interests.
After several weekends of Jerome’s presence in the house, she began to complain of the boys’ rowdy behaviour as they came and went with their obsessive football activity, unaware of how greatly Mr. Reg enjoyed having his sons together under his roof, enlivening his household with their exuberance.
On his own Justin was controlled by his grandmother, who tended to be over-respectful of Mr. Reg’s female visitors. This was not the case with Jerome, however, who behaved with the same freedom to which he was used as when at our home.
One day Miss Olivera had noisily protested the boys’ disturbing presence to Miss Olivia, in English and Spanish, sprinkled with expressions of “Dios mio’s” and similar exclamations. She, poor lady, had made an effort to curtail their high spirits, but, with her charges at the height of their boisterous boyhood, it had been beyond her ability to cope, especially in the circumstance of new entities in the household. What with the noise and commotion from the boys, the baby and the mother, it was no surprise that poor Miss Olivia snapped and, reaching for the easiest way out, had grabbed hold of her grandson one day, pulled him into the bedroom, taken her hairbrush and with its back given him a few whacks on the shoulder, instructing him to stay there until further notice.
When Mr. Reg had come home, therefore, he had found a subdued and glum younger son, a nervous and upset housekeeper, a noisy and complaining mother with a fussy baby daughter, and his eldest child nowhere in sight.
By the time all reports had been made, judgement passed and calm restored, Jerome had been called into his father’s study where, according to him, he had been convinced by him that in fairness to Justin he should submit to similar punishment, and Jerome had received two cuts with his belt. Further, they had agreed on the suspension of all football discussion and argument on the premises until the baby was older and more hardy.
As I mentioned before, Jerome spent alternate weekends at Mr. Reg’s house and our home; but when he had come to us two weekends in a row the explanation he gave to Mama was shared by her with Matron in the course of conversation. By this time the services of the full-time helper had been dispensed with, and having only a part-time helper, Matron had kept a closer watch on his movements.
One evening as mother and son had sat down to supper she had asked how he had not updated her about the incident at his father’s home, to which he had answered that he had not wanted to upset her and, besides, he could handle it himself. She had expressed doubt that someone his age, no matter how mature, could handle such a situation on his own. When he persisted in silence she had asked how he had felt about the punishment, to which he had replied that he thought it fair. Displeased both at what had occurred and his evasion of her questions, she had pressed him for his opinion whether anyone should be treated in this way. Still getting no answer from Jerome, Matron had asked him to tell his father that she would be grateful if he would come to see her about an important matter.
Jerome said that when his father came to see his mother a few nights later, he had been greeted cordially as usual, then his mother had started the conversation by informing them both that from early childhood until well into her teens she had often received the most cruel whippings from her father for infraction of any of his many rules; and that she had also witnessed him administer to his male students severe lashings with a sash cord he kept solely for that purpose and used at his whim.
She had continued that by this action, all her father had succeeded in doing was belittle, demean and degrade fellow human beings to no real purpose than his own glorification. That a brilliant and gifted teacher like him, with the proven ability to inspire and shape young minds, without need for coercion, had inflicted that kind of humiliation on those helpless and weaker than himself, had aroused in her heart the deepest resentment and shame, making it difficult for her to forgive him, even at this stage of her life. The only good result, she had said, had made her resolve never to use that method of discipline on any child entrusted to her care.
She had turned to Mr. Reg at this point asking whether he had ever received punishment of that nature from his father, to which the reply had been in the negative. Jerome said that he had tried to inject the opinion that his father had not ill-treated him, but Mr. Reg, appreciating that the cause of Matron’s distress had been the act rather than its severity, had interrupted quietly and asked him to leave the room so that he and his mother could discuss the matter in private.
From snippets of conversation between Matron and my mother, I had been able to get an idea of what had transpired between her and Mr. Reg when they were alone. Matron had made the case that Jerome, being her child, she wanted only the best for him, as well as for his brother, Justin, Mr. Reg’s child; that treatment of that kind could only lower their self-esteem, a state from which, as parents, they had the duty to protect them.
Mr. Reg had been shocked by the information about her experience with her father, and had asked why she had kept such a thing from him, her husband, all that time. Her reply had been that she had hoped to put that behind her, not having expected it to surface after her marriage to a man of his breeding.
I was present when Matron told Mama that Mr. Reg had agreed with her recommendation that, until his baby daughter was older, Jerome would keep away from the house to prevent a repeat of the offense, and that Justin would be coming to stay with them for a time.
So it was that for some months after the incident Justin had joined Jerome at Matron’s, who had extended the hours of the helper to look after their needs when she was away from home. On weekends they visited our house together during the daytime where, along with my brothers, they continued their obsession with sporting activities. Mr. Reg came over regularly to be with them and our home became their headquarters for much of the day, as they stayed for meals, leaving only at bedtime.
With Mr. Reg increasingly spending more time with his sons, there was less time at home with his lady and their baby daughter, so another problem had arisen. When complaints about neglect and loss of interest did not bring about the desired improvement in his treatment of her, Mechi Olivera had resorted to dramatic threats of seeking consolation from more appreciative sources. Naturally this had elicited the stern warning from Mr. Reg that she should expect very serious consequences if she ever decided on such a course; and she had backed down, and gone home with the baby for a visit to her family.
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It so happened that during her absence the Invincibles had had a significant victory in the Under-Sixteen Football Competition a few days before Justin turned fifteen; and Mr. Reg had decided to hold a birthday and victory celebration for them at home, on the same Saturday, as luck would have it, that Miss Olivera decided on a surprise return home with the baby.
Used to having her own way, she seemed to expect cancellation of the festivities rather than spend the night at the foremost luxury hotel in the city at Mr. Reg’s suggestion. The result had been a serious disagreement when he, standing his ground, had ordered the celebration to go forward as planned, and she was forced to confine herself to the master bedroom while it went on until midnight; afterwards taking his sons home to Matron’s house and himself spending the night there in a spare bedroom.
The following morning he had sent Jerome to Miss Olivia for a change of clothing; and had bathed, dressed, had breakfast with them, later on attending church together with them. Matron, in the meantime, went out of town on a scheduled visit to the village of one of her ex-patients, a not unusual practice of hers when not on Sunday duty.
After the service Mr. Reg had walked home, while Jerome and Justin had stopped to change out of their Sunday clothes before coming to our house to resume their never-ending sports workouts and deliberations.
I should mention that one of the things that Mr. Reg and Daddy had done was extend the boys’ sports facilities by building a spacious room on the ground floor of our house, fitting it with exercise equipment, including barbells, parallel bars, boxing gloves, etc., where friends and classmates often joined them on weekends.
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The overall outcome of Mechi Olivera’s attempts at the reorganization of Mr. Reg’s life to conform with her plans had not only ended in failure, but had brought Matron and him closer, sharing as they now did in the joint-parenting of both his sons. And although Justin eventually returned home after some months, he and Jerome remained close, while Matron’s house became a refuge for him in case of need.
Miss Olivera had had to abandon her dreams and face the reality of her situation, gradually becoming more cooperative with others in the household and shelving her grandiose plans.
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The next year, right after Jerome’s eleventh birthday in March, an urgent summons had come to Matron from her sister that their father wanted to see her and his grandson.
Matron had been puzzled and somewhat agitated at the tone of the message, but Mr. Reg, with my mother’s help, had been able to persuade her to comply with her father’s wish, even offering to accompany them. It had been a shock for me to witness the normally self-reliant Matron gratefully accept Mr. Reg’s offer, a revelation to my teen-aged mind that she was not the fearless, self-sufficient person I previously thought her to be.
They had left hurriedly by the “Heron H” the next weekend, and I had shamelessly eavesdropped on the report she gave my mother on their return.
ooo0ooo
Her first remark had been that, although she had not seen either her parents or the house for sixteen years, she had been struck by how much only her father had changed in that time, while her mother and everything else had seemed the same. He had sat in a mahogany armchair, his feet, in socks and slippers, resting on the carpet, a table at his right with a Bible and other reading material on it, his walking stick leaning against it.
Her mother had sat in a matching chair nearby, her hands occupied crocheting a cream-coloured doily, an alert expression on her face, poised to respond to his every need. Matron said that she knew that her father had only to make a move for her mother to rise from her chair, put away her work and spring to his assistance; and remembered how offended she had been, as a child, witnessing such idolatry.
Mr. Reg, with Matron’s right arm through his, the other hand over Jerome’s shoulder, had come forward and courteously greeted his in-laws with the remark that his wife and son had come in response to Mr. Bertram’s request, and urging them not to get up. He awaited an invitation to be seated before doing so, after guiding Jerome forward to introduce himself.
He had shaken hands with his grandparents, at the same time identifying himself by name and giving his age, then joined his parents on the sofa, sitting next to his father.
I remember Matron’s comment to my mother that Jerome had started to grow away from her and closer to his father, and being consoled by Mama that this was only a phase of boys at that age, quoting her experience with my older brother Rodney and Daddy, and her observation of Uncle Lito and their father.
Matron said she had been grateful for Mr. Reg’s presence, reminding her father of his friend, the senior Mr. St. John, with his gracious and confident manner, putting everyone at ease, herself included, and guiding the conversation.
After a while Millicent had come to escort them to the dining room, where they had sat down to supper, her father having slowly made his way to the head of the table by resting one hand on her sister’s shoulder and the other on his walking stick.
The conversation at table had been very general, except for Mr. Bertram’s remark to Matron that he wanted to speak with her and Jerome in the study after breakfast the next morning.
When the meal was over Mr. Reg had assisted Mr. Bertram upstairs to the master bedroom, followed by his wife, while Matron and Jerome had cleared the table and started to wash the dishes. This was a chore he and my brothers had often been obliged to carry out at our home, and I recall their antics of making sure the kitchen windows were closed so that no passersby could see them doing “girl’s” work. His Aunt Millicent, however, who had stepped out on the veranda briefly, had soon taken over from Jerome and finished the job along with her sister, while he had looked around inspecting the room’s arrangements until Mr. Reg had returned, when they had retired.
(Chapter 19 will continue in the Friday issue of Amandala.)