Page 140 of Heart Of A Goon II

“Zoya, stop fucking with me.” I laughed.

She giggled. “You have to admit this is sus.”

“Not to me.”

A couple bumps in the road and minutes later, we pulled up to the front of two concrete pillars. They had seen better days and had chips and scrapes in them. They had been here for years. I never knew this place without these pillars standing tall.

“Hold on,” I advised her, because the road up to my grandparents’ house wasn’t paved, and was hard, which is why I rented this Jeep.

Before we pulled through, I hopped out and pushed the metal gate secured with a chain back before getting back into the jeep. I shifted the gear and slowly pulled through the gates and up the unpaved dirt road.

We by passed thick trees with lush banana leaves, and a few breadfruit trees that were so thick you couldn’t see what was behind it. The hills rolled into more, the higher we drove up. Below, you saw the specs of the yellow, blue or green, which were homes. I drove past the mango tree that I used to climb with my cousins.

“I used to climb that tree as a child.”

She raised her brow, reminding me of her damn brother. “Knowing that I’m allergic… how rude.”

“Baby?”

“Yeah?”

“You not fucking allergic to mangos!”

She snorted. “I forgot that I told you my truth... keep it on the low, Goo. Don’t be telling people.”

The Jeep continued to climb the mixed dirt and gravel. This shit seemed like it went on forever. Chickens were scattered in front of the Jeep, with one being the baddest out of the crew. I assumed that was the rooster with the way he had his wings flexed.

“Let the chicken cross the road,” Boobie cracked herself up with her corny ass joke, as we continued.

The house came into view, and my heart started to beat faster. A single-story concrete home with shutters, and windows that never closed. It used to be painted blue, but after years of the sun and rain, it was now the palest blue I had ever saw. The zinc roof stretched over, providing enough shade for my grandmother’s wooden chair. She used to sit out here and watch me play for hours.

Her plants were all in different mismatched pots, some even in a coffee tin. Anything she could recycle, she would. The water tank could be seen in the back. Whenever it rained, they collected the water there. If they ran out, there was a water pump on the land. This home was old as dirt, and it was my grandparents’ pride and joy. They always did something new to it.

Smoke rose from the back of the house, carrying my favorite scent of wood fire and something cooking. Grandma was forever cooking something, even with it just being the two of them. I never told her that I was coming but knew I would have a homecooked meal.

I pulled behind that Buick truck that had seen better days but was still running like when it first rolled off the show room. The fenced pasture was beside us with goats just ready to be curried.

The chicken had finally made it up the rest of the hill and surrounded the Jeep. I killed the engine and sat there enjoying the silence. The silence of nature consumed the both of us. We didn’t have to hear horns blare, people yelling, or the hustle of the city. I stared at the house, as I held my baby’s hand.

“Your grandparents own the house and over here.”

I smiled. “Nah. All of this is theirs.”

She looked outside of the jeep at all the land I was pointing at. The trees, hills, pasture, and the house. There was land that I couldn’t point to because it disappeared beyond where I could see.

“All of this?”

I couldn’t help but to be proud of my grandparents and what they owned. What would be left to our family when they passed on. There had been a few developers that tried to buy the land to make a retreat resort up in the mountains. No matter how much money was tossed their way, they never sold it.

When it came time for us to take ownership, I would continue to do the same thing. No amount of money would be worth selling the memories of this place. It would be like selling a piece of me.

“Wraithe land.”

Before she could reply, the screen door opened and my grandmother looked like she had seen a ghost. “Bwoy!” she hollered.

Maxine was behind her and looked even more shocked. “Wah yuh a do yah so? Yuh nuh tell mi she yuh a come!”

I climbed out the jeep and walked over towards her, as she hugged me tightly around the waist. It seemed like every time I saw her; she got smaller and smaller.