The toen square in Stepney.

So it was only my second time in Stepney, St Ann. It's an out-of-the-way, quiet community, not far from the more popular Nine Miles where Bob Marley was born. In fact, the reggae singer went to school in Stepney. Anyway, I was there for more pressing matters. You see, a feud has broken out between rivalling pepper farmers Maas Willis and the younger, more outspoken Shingles.

It appears Shingles, who only got into farming a year ago, has decided to expand his portfolio by planting a half-acre of yams, pumpkins and an assortment of other fruits and vegetables. A wise move by the looks of it. The trouble, though, is that Maas Willis claims to have had the idea first. Now to be clear, he hasn't actually acted on that idea, but claims he was on the verge of doing so.

"Ah lick mi ah go lick him dung wid a big stone!" the elderly Maas Willis yelled when I met up with him at the community bar recently.

"Imagine, mi teach di youngster 'bout farming. Ah me give him di first pepper seed him ever plant. And now him waan come do di same ting mi ah do just because mi ah try mek a likkle extra money," he said.

Maas Willis looked fragile, with greying hair and dirt embedded underneath his abnormally long fingernails. He was wearing a ripped khaki shirt and black trousers with water boots. By the time I had arrived, he was already halfway through a drink of white rum and water.

"Ah so dem man yah nowadays tan! Dem is some real crab inna barrel!"

I glanced over at the barmaid, who was shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Is alright. Dat bugger ah go meet him Waterloo very soon," Maas Willis yelled, before storming out of the bar and down the road.

Real Claffy

The school in Stepney, St Ann, that Bob Marley once attended.

I looked over at the barmaid and asked her what that was all about.

"Di two ah dem ah real Claffy. None nuh better dan di edda," she said, using a towel to wipe the counter.

The barmaid, who told me her name was Shara, went on to tell me that the feud between the two farmers had been going on for the past three months, with no end in sight.

"Di two ah dem used to work pan di same ground. Maas Willis branch off pan him own and set up a likkle ting fi himself so him call in Shingles fi help him," said Shara.

"Anyway, Shingles work fi him fi a likkle while before di two ah dem ketch up and Maas Willis run him weh," she said.

It appears that not long after the two parted ways, Maas Willis got wind of the news that Shingles had acquired a patch of land and was on the brink of planting yams and pumpkins. Of course, the old man was not pleased, claiming he was the one who first came up with the idea of going into other crops.

"Maas Willis claim seh is him Shingles thief di idea from. Him seh Shingles hear him ah talk bout it and thief him plan," said Shara.

I asked her if she believed him.

"I don't even know, for mi talk to Shingles and him seh ah lie. Mi just feel like seh di two ah dem ah big pappy show," she said.

Whatever the real story is, there appears to be no resolution in sight, so the St Ann community, not burdened by the usual stress and strain of urban life, now waits anxiously for a solution to perhaps the biggest community conflict to hit the area since the start of the year.

robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com