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Voice 1: Uh-hmm!
Voice 2: Yeah! And if you know how I hear about this thing… Duh is why I am emphatic bout them men; you can’t blame them too much, right?
Voice 1: Uh-umm!
Voice 2: The Minister call me; I didn’t record the time. The minister say, ‘Hear, look!’ Somebody call her to say, ‘Look; they hearing gunfire in Eccles; if I get a report.’ I say, ‘Minister, I ain’t get nothing yet, but when I finish talking to you, I will check it out…’
Voice 1: Ummm!
Voice 2: I call Brickdam; Brickdam say, ‘Yes! We just get something, and we tell this officer; and the officer gone. The officer gone to the scene.’ The officer stop at Ruimveldt; the officer summon all them other patrols wha been; duh is he manpower he get to…(muffle)… thing the scene.
Voice 1: Umm!
Voice 2: That is a big story!
Voice 1: Uh-hmm!
Voice 2: I call TSU. When I call TSU, TSU men now joining the vehicle to go out, because one set a people hear de thing on the radio and call them, and tell them. So, I want know wuh these F*****g people want! Like they want fifteen police guh and dead…(muffled)!
Voice 1: The reality ah de thing is them police banna ain’t going no way, whether you send them or not.
Voice 2: But hear, banna! Hear, hear, hear, banna! I’m saying that was not the case; I check on duh. Normally, when them men hesitate to respond to anything, I would know; the word does come up the line: ‘Look! Dem men didn’t want go to da scene last night… Right?’ The word does come up.
Voice 1: Uh-hmm.
Voice 2: I specifically check on da after Adam Harris start talking stupidness at the press
conference.
Voice 1: Um-hmm.
Voice 2: I check on that. The man at Ruimveldt seh he men… nobody fuh he, because he had to
caution them about running to the scene. TSU: Same thing. So me ain’t… me ain’t know wha is this big, big thing dey talking bout…
Voice 1: You badda with dem banna, bai?
Voice 2: No! The PNC getting suck into the same s**t, too!
Voice 1: Meaning wa?
Voice 2: Talking about… (muffled)… police response and all kind ah shit.
Voice 1: Today?
Voice 2: Da ah hear at parliament today.
Voice 1: Who read da? Who spoke about da? I had to leave to go to a meeting, so…
Voice 2: Eh?
Voice 1: Me ain’t hear da. But who spoke to parliament sehing da?
Voice 2: (muffled)
Voice 1: Don’t worry with da; we gon deal with da. The point I am making to you is: Is the same thing deh come out from Laurie Lewis. You understand wah ah saying?
Voice 2: Mmmm!
Voice 1: But I find that you go out deh, and you… and you give (muffled) how the thing went.
But I don’t! I don’t think anybody in this country expect unpaid policemen who are ill-equip to go to them thing, you know. Y’all could say wha y’all like! This general population ain’t expect da. You know, putagee banna want… deh could put some ah them in deh; in ah sort ah special squad, and they will go and respond to them. Because from what… the account I read in the papers, wa went on deh, that skites look like was spirits.
Voice 2: Like wha!!
Voice 1: Was spirits been out deh; nah human beings.
Voice 2: (Laughs)
Voice 1: Eh! No! If they want, let them get a putagee squad to go out pun these scenes, you know. That thing deh was freaky, banna! The only thing that left out from deh is that them banna wasn’t eating people; that them ain’t eat some of them victims. Was real s***t. I don’t know. Me ain’t know that you could be everywhere; you could do everything.
Voice 2: Well they…
Voice 1: What kinda response they wanted, boy!
Voice 2: Well, I gon ask Norman them that! And leh them tell me! You see, when they had this
robbery in New Market Street, I check the thing, and I see police had lil fault; me ain’t seh nothing. I went quick and I try fuh sew up the ends. Well that s***t that they trying to get on with, me ain’t got no time wid them.
Voice 1: But you know, there’s a trend happening now; people not sure who did what. Nobody ain’t coming an announce they do nothing, you know. So you ain’t really know wah goin’
on, you know? Like with Waddell. Nobody ain’t announce and claim it. You understan wha ah saying?
Voice 2: But why shoot up the gas station? That is wha I want know!
Voice 1: Well, that’s a… I mean, you give a reasonable account; that it might be something to do wid oil; that he either skin up he rival or something, you know? But as I said, I don’t know; the whole thing just look crazy. But in terms of the PNC giving a statement, I think that the PNC probably want information, so as to make an informed statement. So I don’t know who go in parliament and talking on the issue already. I trying fuh get what was there to talk about. We were discussing CARICOM. I left deh at 4 o’clock.
Voice 2: Uh-huh. Nah! I hear from the PPP side that some people at parliament, they ain’t
specifically seh who…
Voice 1: Oh! Not like at the session?
Voice 2: Nah! Not in Parliament!
Voice 1: Oh! Like them who walking about in the corridors! Okay. So you just gotta hold…I think you did well at the press conference deh; you hold a light, you know. You gotta hook up.
Voice 2: Yeah, yeah! I gon hook up.
Voice 1: You got to hook up and… ahm… get a focus on what’s going on.
Voice 2: Uh-huh.
Voice 1: You know…
Voice 2: But hear! I think that alyuh should run in that place, you know; y’all should run in da place.
Voice 1: But you forget that me don’t really check pun them things, you know.
Voice 2: I know, but… ahm… it showing up; it showing up.
Voice 1: Me don’t check pun them. Now, I see another thing deh; I know that is a platoon; a platoon amount to 32…
Voice 2: (Laughing and coughing)
Voice 1: I learn that pun the course; that is a whole platoon gone out deh, plus one, boy! I tell you! I don’t know! I certain if you want a atmosphere of fear to attend the election, it certainly is there, you know?
Voice 2: Well, you know some people don’t understand. You know, once you want to play wid
violence, violence will have to surround you. When they go and kill Shaka Blair, they didn’t expect this s***t woulda happen, right?
Voice 1: Uh-huh.
Voice 2: They run into years and months of s***t. They gone and kill f*****g Waddell now. What the f**k they expect!
Voice 1: Boy, them man head ain’t good! I think they start something they can’t finish, rass! Dah skite deh is rough, boy! Them banna head ain’t good, boy! As I tell you, the best thing that could happen now is they announce that they can’t mek the election deadline.
Voice 2: Fuh wha! Fuh y’all behave bad!
Voice 1: No. If they can’t mek…
Voice 2: Like y’all playing the people hand.
Voice 1: No. If they can’t mek dat, they can’t continue. They gatta get some other arrangement…
Voice 2: They in office; they gotta get a government…
Voice 1: No! No! They life finish at the end of the five years!
Voice 2: So, who is the government?
Voice 1: They can’t; them ain’t got no government. The President is the only man that continue
until the next person elected tek up office.
Voice 2: So, who is the government?
Voice 1: But that’s what I’m saying; you gotta get a arrangement in place. Hoyte coulda extended it because he had two-thirds; they don’t have.
Voice 2: I know dah, I know dah.
Voice 1: So, it might be a blessing in disguise for Guyana… that they gah fuh wuk together and try and see how they can try and carry the country forward.
Voice 2: Well, you know, I tell them suh a morning. I say, ‘I bet the two a them who bruck-up
come back together and start a new show.’
Voice 1: Banna, even if you have an election, you think that is gonna solve the problem? In this… under the old system; same system…
Voice 2: But hear, banna! Hear, hear! Them banna want an extension, right?
Voice 1: Yeah; they want two years.
Voice 2: Right.
Voice 1: But they can’t get no extension like dat, because them ain’t got the power fuh get the
extension. After they expire deh on the 4th, they ain’t get no rule fuh keep dem in power; the
President is the only man. But them ain’t get no parliament, you know. And they got to do some
constitutional manoeuvering. So, you got to look at forms of interim government: Caretaker
government, shared governance… what we been talking about. They got to wuk on it now; they could come together and mek decision fuh the country, you know; cut all this violence and all this shit that going on here. And they also start this dangerous trend wheh they gone and stage that thing deh the other day…
Voice 2: Which one?
Voice 1: That stage thing deh with dah other one… wha you seh was stage.
Voice 2: F*****g stage! Yes!
Voice 1: Now dat thing deh sent shockwaves through this country, you know! Don’t get tie-up!
Voice 2: Uh-hmm! Banna! That is why I come out wid that statement!
Voice 1: Uh-hmm!
Voice 2: Yeah. Because I know how people felt about it, and I seh that I will bust it up because…
Voice 1: That is wholly unacceptable, boy. Even the Mafia don’t touch Family, boy.
Voice 2: Hear; hear wha these people do. Hear; hear what they do. They get Benfield fuh put up he child. Benfield been at this school whole morning wid this child. From ten past ten till almost 12 o’clock. He wife call he fuh some key. School got 10 minutes more to go to recess. He goes away and leave the child. Why not ask the teacher to take the child? Because is only 10 minutes more; is not a whole period left.
Voice 1: I agree; there was no profit fuh the child stay there for another 10 minutes.
Voice 2: Good. He could have gone wid the child. He go way, look after he key, come back 15
minutes after. Some woman come and ask fuh the child by her home name; the home name is Tiffany. The teachers in school ain’t know nothing about who is Tiffany. The teacher saying ‘Me ain’t got no Tiffany,’ till, eventually, the child answer to the name, Tiffany. This child walked out wid this lady without a queh.
Voice 1: Somebody she know?
Voice 2: It look suh. So we start to investigate. Well, you know they gon run mad, and they gun run up and down. They hear the child deh in Alexander Village; they run and search da house. Nothing ain’t deh in deh. They hear the child deh in Agricola. Run search da house; nothing ain’t deh in deh.
Well, is Green they had in a uproar; not me! Then some calls start coming through; when we check up on these calls, banna, one is in Queen Street. Shawn Benfield had control of da place; he used to live deh. While the police in deh, he turn up. The other call that we trace to D’Urban Street, a woman living in a bottom flat.
Voice 1: Uh-hmm.
Voice 2: That woman?
Voice 1: He came to me, eh.
Voice 2: Eh-eh!
Voice 1: Yeah. That was me clerk.
Voice 2: Well, hear nah man! Benfield wife use to visit dah woman.
Voice 1: Uh-hmm!
Voice 2: Benfield wife use to. Isn’t it strange that in a kidnapping, the call did making from places where the mother and father got control of?
Voice 1: Uh-huh.
Voice 2: Eh? That is how kidnapping does guh?
To be continued…
