So it's quite early on a rainy Saturday morning and for Angina Forrest, the 61-year-old proprietor of Angina's One-Stop Cook Shop (spelt shapp on the giant sign above the door), this means it's time to make her way over to the market.

"Ef yuh dilly-dally too lang, by time yuh reach ah pure fluxty plantain yuh deh go find," she said, mostly to herself while walking briskly along Main Street, May Pen, in Clarendon. She told me that the May Pen Market was just down the road, and that I was welcome to accompany her, just as long as I did not get in her way.

"Mi nah go tell yuh no lie. Mi nuh love go market wid nobady, for dem will slow yuh down. Not even mi cast-yeye grandson, for him give too much trouble," she said.

Now the woman was moving with alarming speed and at times I found it a bit of a challenge just keeping up with her. Luckily, the market was already in sight.

Market crowded

I was surprised that there was already a crowd there and this seemed to upset Miss Angina greatly.

"Lawd, teck di case and gimmi di pillow! Why mi never lef outa di yard likkle earlier? Is di blinking young bwoy hold up mi time yuh know," she muttered, all the while walking faster.

"Walk up, young bwoy. Mi nuh hab nuh time fi gallivant!" she yelled at me and took off.

The little woman disappeared into the sea of people without sending a second glance my way. I gave it my best shot, trying to find her, but soon realised it was a lost cause.

I stood for a moment pondering my next move when I was jolted by a sudden, sharp wallop to the left shoulder. I spun around to see a man pushing a giant cart stacked about seven feet high with everything from cellphone cases to disposable gloves. I let out quite a yelp after being hit with the cart, and this caused the man to stop quite suddenly, nearly causing all the goods on the cart to tumble over.

He peered at me from behind the cart.

"Man, yuh nearly meck mi something dem tun over!" he yelled.

With every ounce of patience I could muster in that moment, I pointed out to him that had his merchandise actually taken a fall, it would have been due to him running into me, not the other way around.

The man glared at me with utter disdain and then dispatched himself to the other end of the market, all the while mumbling something about "careless people".

All around me people were moving like flies, hustling, I suppose, to get the best of the produce on sale. It is true that the fruit and vegetable laid out did have a certain glow to them that you don't normally find in the supermarkets or if you were to visit the market in the afternoon. I imagine that was what drew the crowd.

Nuisance to people

As busy as it gets on a Saturday morning, one vendor finds time to get some shut-eye.

Every few seconds, someone else bumped into me and I was beginning to feel like I was being nothing more than a nuisance to the people there on serious business. I decided to step outside and wait around to see if I could catch up with Miss Angina on her way out.

It was about 20 minutes later that I spotted the woman sauntering out with two, well-loaded plastic bags in hand.

"Wait! Young bwoy, yuh still deh yah? By time mi look round mi not even see yuh!" she said.

I asked her how her shopping went.

"Good man, good. Mi nearly haffi lick down one man weh ah try get di last proper hand ah banana, but mi end up get it anyway. Ef mi never move quick, everything woulda done pan mi," she said.

I was about to ask Miss Angina something else, when she waved me off.

"Anyway, mi nuh hab nuh time fi waste. Mi haffi go back ah di shop go cook fi later. One man dung di road dead and tonight ah di set-up, so ah me dem ask fi cook," she said and was off.

"Ef yuh is passing by dat side later, den yuh can pass by, but nuh come while mi cooking, for mi nuh want yuh slow mi down," she said.

robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com