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Because of the inordinate length of their conversation, however, we propose to reproduce it in three or four parts, beginning today.
Voice 1: Wha goin on?
Voice 2: I deh.
Voice 1: I just settle a matter with Glenn Lall wheh the Magistrate sue he fuh libel.
Voice 2: Which Magistrate?
Voice 1: Holder-Allen.
Voice 2: Dey settle it?
Voice 1: Uh huh!
Voice 2: Fuh how much?
Voice 1: Just about a hundred thou.
Voice 2: (laugh) …(cough)… I thought y’all would’a seh a hundred million.
Voice 1: Nah.
Voice 2: Oh you settle it?
Voice 1: Uh huh. But he told me, am, how some police call him and tell him to publish how I had some problem de night deh. I had some gun story de night.
Voice 2: (pause) He tell you some police call he and tell he publish duh?
Voice 1: Eh-heh.
Voice 2: Well leh he publish nah.
Voice 1: But he seh he ain’t tek dem on…so I suppose he come to court and see me doin de matter.
Voice 2: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. He pull he self together.
Voice 1: But who police could a do dah, boy?
Voice 2: Boy, he paying a lot of people, and a lot ah people know dat he tekking stories from
anyway, right, and am dey usually get into dis lawlessness.
Voice 1: But wha angle could he take, boy? I turn up deh.
Voice 2: Banna, is anything dem people tekkin and write, police get a five, six thousand dollar and dey feel nice.
Voice 1: (laugh) Cause if he de publish dah now, he de force me now fuh respond. You understand wha ah mean?
Voice 2: Uh-hmm.
Voice 1: Anyway, me ain’t gat time with dah. You get chance fuh deal with dah matter?
Voice 2: Which one?
Voice 1: Dat same thing about…
Voice 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we am, we talk about it, we…
Voice 1: Dese public thing?
Voice 2: Uh-hmm. We talk about it and am, we gon refine our position about it. But cricket World Cup, you ain’t gat nothing you can go in with. You can’t go in with yuh gun period.
Voice 1: (muffled) Licensed or unlicensed?
Voice 2: Licensed or unlicensed, you can’t carry any firearm in there.
Voice 1: We gat am…one of our studies at de thing was cricket World Cup, you know.
Voice 2: Okay.
Voice 1: De threats and stuff like duh.
Voice 2: Uh hmm.
Voice 1: Uh hmm (pause) I get it, our group…(muffled)
Voice 2: Who?
Voice 1: Our group had made a good presentation.
Voice 2: Okay.
Voice 1: De different threats and thing you gah look for and general objective and strategy fuh
deal with dem. Yeah. Anyway, I see you busy. Number One seh he had to call you or something.
Voice 2: Whey he deh?
Voice 1: Me ain’t know if he geh you. I tell he…
Voice 2: He come back?
Voice 1: Yeah, I told him yuh might, yuh sey you might need to talk to he.
Voice 2: Uh hmm, if I did know that I woulda set up something tonight; I ain’t know he come back.
Voice 1: Yeah, he say he wanted to talk to you to see wah…(muffled)
Voice 2: He run away when all this gun play teking place?
Voice 1: (Laugh) he…(muffled)…(laugh)
Voice 2: Yuh laugh eh?
Voice 1: (Laugh)
Voice 2: (Muffled)… watch the move good, but yuh all ain’t mek no statement about them eight people wa dead you know.
Voice 1: I did saying the same thing.
Voice 2: Yuh all aint mek no statement.
Voice 1: I did saying the same thing, they aint mek no statement deh.
Voice 1: but, am…
Voice 2: Yuh all playing dangerous games.
Voice 1: No, I don’t check pun da PR thing, but ah gon gaffa find out from them in the morning.
Voice 2: You all shoulda been the fus people fuh run in deh. That is a Black people community.
Voice 1: Well, boy…
Voice 2: And them criminals gone and slaughter them people in deh.
Voice 1: Well, I suppose when deh need them men nobody ain’t running out (pause) you know how it go…and…
Voice 2: Yuh all should a been fuh de fust set a people…
Voice 1: And yuh ain’t get the facts about wha going on.
Voice 2: People screaming…(muffled)…yuh aint want facts, is you people dead.
Voice 1: I mean, is you help me out when you seh is Ashmin them.
Voice 2: Eh?
Voice 1: You help, well, you give…
Voice 2: Banna, banna, I …
Voice 1: You give me information.
Voice 2: I… Eh-eh! (Cough) I deliberately…
Voice 1: I know…
Voice 2: I… I deliberately turn the thing away…
Voice 1: I know…
Voice 2: …from it…(muffled)
Voice 1: I know.
Voice 2: But now I can’t do duh, because the facts coming out.
Voice 1: Uh-hmm!
Voice 2: So… But on in the interim, in the initial stages I…(muffled) made a firm decision that me ain’t saying nothing bout them people; I turning them away.
Voice 1: Uh-hmm! I realise duh!
Voice 2: Is just dem f*****g putagee… And f*****g people want kill me because I seh I satisfy with the response; and I still satisfy with it. MMC…
Voice 1: Deh ain’t want pay nobody; they ain’t want…
Voice 2: MMC?
Voice 1: They aint want…(muffled)
Voice 2: But hear this, man! MMC security, as I understand it, the… (muffled)…button go off deh quarter past ten, right? The police reach deh in less… in under half an hour, right?
Voice 1: Uh-hmm.
Voice 2: The police decide that… The officer seh, Hey, yuh all hold down; we going deh as one group; you don’t rush into nothing… before, before, people get slaughter and all sort ah thing. But like duh is what these people want; they want…(muffled)…they want police run into the midst of gun fire.
Voice 1: MMC men guh though… and, ain’t get slaughter.
Voice 2: Well, dey bin deh.
Voice 1: Oh! They didn’t respond?
Voice 2: No, they didn’t respond; they been fuh air.
Voice 1: Oh s**t boy! That thing was rough though, boy! That was a rough day! Skites! I mean, you shooting a passing minibus and all them thing…
Voice 2: I gun deal … I waiting fuh Norman McLean and Jerry Gouveia them seh deh coming fuh tell me s***t …
Voice 1: (laugh) I hear… I hear… I hear dey release some ah… some am… something in the paper coming out tomorrow.
To be continued…
