Whittle

It's amazing how bad news can draw a crowd. It is broad daylight but the crowd is still here.

"A wonder what happen now?" Maas Manto inquires as he is passing on his way to his farm.

"Dan-Dan is losing his mind," someone says.

"Yuh want mi fi tell yuh who losing him mind!" Maas Dan-Dan shouts. "Unnu teck unnu self from mi gate for unnu adding insult to injury!"

Maas Dan-Dan's gate is wide open. This is odd, because ever since Jimmy cut off one of its feet, Maas Dan-Dan keeps the dog in the yard. The gate is always closed, and a big sign is posted that reads KNOCK BAD DOG. No one dares enter the yard or even go near the gate. Montie is as fierce as a wolf, ready to tear up anyone who even ventures near the gate. The nice stringy mangoes that fall to the ground and rot under the tree testify to the fear Montie invokes in children and adults alike.

I look in the yard and see Montie laying in a pool of blood, his head crushed, and a big bloody rock close by. Someone used the rock to crush the dog's head.

Maas Dan-Dan is fit to be tied, the way he is angry.

"If I ever catch the coward who kill mi dog is hell and powder house!" he repeats over and over.

If anyone knows who the culprit is, no one is talking. I don't blame them. I wouldn't talk either. I don't like that old dog. He is always barking at people and acting like he would scale the fence and bite them. Moreover, I can't forget how he pulled my nice white dress off the line and tore it up, and Maas Dan-Dan refused to replace it, saying it could be any other dog and we must stop picking on his dog.

Strong excitement

The excitement is drawing more people to the scene, and among them is Maas Jimmy. Maas Dan-Dan hates Jimmy. He has never forgiven him for cutting off the dog's foot. Maas Jimmy approaches and the two men glare at each other.

"Yu get yu wish. Montie dead now. Smaddy scale the fence and crush mi dog head. Mi innocent dog!" Maas Dan-Dan says to Maas Jimmy.

"Innocent mi foot!" Jimmy shouts angrily. "That dog is worse than the devil from hell. Nobody can stan' him."

"Nobody business fi scale the fence and come in mi yard and kill Montie," Maas Dan-Dan says.

"Mi never scale no fence. Mi climb on the wall and drop the rock on him head," said the old fool-fool Jimmy.

A heavy sigh comes from the crowd. How could Jimmy be so stupid as to let Dan-Dan trap him into confessing his crime? Why Jimmy has to be so fool-fool?

Well, the people have to hold on to Dan-Dan and Jimmy or there would surly be another death right at the gate.

Maas Dan-Dan reports the crime and Jimmy gets arrested, but everybody puts money together and bail him out.

I don't get to go to the trial, since children can't go inside the courthouse. Papa and Mama go and so I get the full account.

"Jimmy get away. Mi so glad. Jimmy didn't even have a lawyer to defend him, yet him get away scot-free," Mama says.

Mama relates how Dan-Dan told the judge how Jimmy went out of his way to kill his dog, pointing out that it was not the first attempt. He told the judge how Jimmy cut off the dog's foot about a year ago.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" the Judge asked Jimmy.

"I'm not guilty. I was doing Maas Dan-Dan a favour, Your Honour."

"Doing me a favour?" asked Dan-Dan incredulously. "Your Honour, yuh don't see that this is a mad maniac?"

"Hush up before I charge you for contempt of court!" shouted the judge. "You had your turn to speak. Let the defendant continue."

"Yes Your Honour, I did Maas Dan-Dan a favour," said Jimmy. "The sign said Knock bad dog, so I knocked the dog and, unfortunately, he died."

"That's what the sign read?" the judge asked Maas Dan-Dan.

"Yes, Your Honour."

Maas Dan-Dan held up the sign. "See I carry it for evidence. I gave people full warning not to enter my yard or provoke my dog."

The judge examined the sign, scratched his head and hesitated a bit before speaking.

"The defendant is not guilty. You are free to go," the judge said.

"This is injustice!" protested Maas Dan-Dan.

The judge glared at him. "The defendant did as you requested. Your dog died because of a comma," he told Maas Dan-Dan.

"The dog was hale and hearty!" protested Maas Dan-Dan. "He was in no coma. He was hit with a rock by this man."

"Order in this court! You omitted a quotation mark called a comma. The comma should be written after the word Knock. Hence, the sign should have read KNOCK, BAD DOG. But your sign sir, said, Knock bad dog, and that's exactly what the defendant did. The defendant is not guilty."

"But, Your Honour!"

"Case adjourned!"

According to Maas Dan-Dan, jackass sey the worl nuh level, but him should realise that what goes around comes around.