The Adventures of Ludiboy

Cousin Guss comes visiting

      Even after she had left, many of the residents in Red Boar remembered Aunt Bev, Ludiboy's aunt from town. She was a pious, clean, and respectable woman.
For some, it was a wonder how such a decent, humble and (some would go as far to say) righteous woman could possibly be related to such an unambitious, delinquent and cunning man such as Ludiboy. For that reason, some people denied that they were really related. Ms. Gracious also denied the relation, saying things like: 'him is not har nephew', or 'him is 'jacket' !'

     One afternoon, while Ludiboy was venturing up the community road, he came across two men talking. One was Donald, another elder of the community and one that rarely went down the road; and Mass Joe. It seemed that Donald was having a very secretive conversation with Maas Joe. Curiosity got the better of Ludiboy and he decided that he wanted to hear what they were saying, so he quietly ran up into the woodlands and climbed a nearby Mango tree. From there he climbed up a branch, that hung over them, peered down at the men, and tried to listen as carefully as he possibly could. He managed to hear what Donald was saying and he did not like it at all. Donald was telling Maas Joe how he believed that Ludiboy's mother had gotten pregnant for another man and had brought him to his 'father', claiming the child was his. Donald further went on to say how sorry he was that Ludiboy's alleged father had died not knowing the truth concerning Ludiboy's birth. Ludiboy swung himself out of the tree and landing on the road. Both men saw him and stopped speaking.

      "Ludiboy? Is what you doing here?'' Donald asked with a fake smile. 

"You no try fren me up! You is hypocrite and parasite! Me hear all you been saying 'bout me. Listen me. Stop 'faasing-up' yourself 'bout who is jacket or not. Go and ask your mother who your father is, and then you will know if it is me or you who is jacket, parasite!" Ludiboy argued. 

Donald looked ashamed. Ludiboy had shamed him and he felt as though he could cry. Ludiboy retreated down the road, arguing and complaining about how he could not believe people could be such hypocrites and liars. How they went about spreading rumors about people, and their own lives were filled with said rumors! Both Mass Joe and Donald watched as Ludiboy returned the way he had come, arguing and cursing.

      As for the rest of the neighbours and community residents, Ludiboy continued to tell them to stop carrying his name about and spreading rumors about him. He said that those people did not know him very well and did not want to see him get upset, as he and his dog would both terrorise them.

    It was about noon time. The sun was right overhead and the morning had just ended, with the introduction of the daily afternoon heat that had now began to swoop in. Ludiboy was on his varendah, relaxing after just having his morning breakfast, when the sound of a motor-vehicle startled him. He opened his eyes, wondering where the sound was coming from. Back then, motor-vehicles rarely came to the country, mostly because there were 'bad roads', that the vehicles were forced to drive on. A majority of such vehicles normally suffered some damage after experiencing the rocky, terrible roads. For that reason, seeing one was like seeing a man walk on water-- almost impossible. Ludiboy rushed off his varendah and bolted off the steps, through the small gate and onto the road. Ludiboy looked up the road and sure enough, there was a motor-vehicle slowly making its way down the gravel road, with the little community boys following it as they were indeed excited and amused by the machine. Ludiboy's eyes widened as the vehicle drew nearer. For some reason the machine stopped at his gate and this caused further excitement for Ludiboy, who was really fascinated by the machine. The window winded down and the image of a man appeared. He was wearing a dark set of shades and a white shirt with small blue stripes decorated over it. Ludiboy did not know this man and was curious of what he would both say and do.