A custom for us every Saturday was for all the kids from the family—three girls and five boys, eight to nine years old—to get together and go to Uncle Robert’s place.
We’d get up real early in the morning and walk to his palapa, which was on his property way up in the hills here on Roatan.
We’d swim in the brook, play hide-and-seek, and collect wild-growing fruits like mangoes and guavas. We’d also help him with his gardening and chores around the yard. We always had fun.
This particular Saturday evening, when Uncle Robert decided it was time for us to return to our homes, he unloosed Jennie—the sweetest-natured donkey that ever was—and brought her around to the front of the palapa.
He then proceeded to put all eight of us kids on her back, starting from her ears down to her backside. Each one of us had two buckets of guavas, one in each hand.
After we were all loaded on Jennie’s back, there was approximately six inches of space left at her rear end.
Then Uncle Robert said to us,
“We’re all going home. Uncle Robert’s going to get on the back of Jennie too.”
My uncle was carrying two 100-pound sacks—one with bananas and the other filled with yucca.
When Uncle Robert jumped on the rear end of Jennie, she put her head right down between her two front feet—and kicked her rear feet high in the air!
All eight of us kids and sixteen buckets full of guavas went flying!
Yes, eight kids and sixteen buckets went flying, and guavas rained down on everybody.
Uncle Robert landed on the ground right along with his bananas and yucca—and he sat there staring off for a while, looking confused and betrayed.
Luckily, we all landed in the soft grass, and nobody got hurt.
Jennie wouldn’t let anyone ride her that day, so we all suffered through the three-hour walk home.
Andall Jackson is the owner of Puerto Cortes Expresso, a fully stocked hardware store in Brick Bay, Roatan.
Andall Jackson is the owner of Puerto Cortes Expresso, a fully stocked hardware store in Brick Bay, Roatan.
