The Big Steal -excerpt from a short story by Austin Mitchell

The Big Steal

a short story by

Austin Mitchell

          Mr. Burton couldn’t believe his eyes. Two hours ago he had left the two goats tied to the guava tree to go and attend to his cows, now all that was tied to the tree was the rope. He wondered if by chance the rope had gotten loose and the goats had wandered off. He began to worry as they were quite a few small farmers like himself around. They planted a variety of crops and he knew the damage the goats could cause. He called over to his nearest neighbor, Garnet Green, but only Velma, his wife, was there. Mr. Burton went to the line and called to her.

            “What’s happening, Mr. Burton? Garnet had to go up to Browns Town this morning,” Velma said. “He told me that you were going down to Falmouth this morning.”

            “I had planned to do that, but right now it’s my goats I am looking for.”

            “Are you sure Mendy hasn’t stolen them? A lot of goats have been stolen from up here these last few months.”

            “Isn’t Mendy in jail?”

            “No, he came out last week. I don’t know who bailed him.”

            “I’m going down to the police station to report it and then I’m going to Mendy’s home to look for my goats,” Mr. Burton said and trudged off.

When Mr. Burton reached the police station he saw Delton, Westin and Miss Monica there. He was soon to learn that he was not the only one who had lost goats.

“Let’s go down to Mendy’s house. I’m sure that he knows something about what happened to your goats,” Corporal Ellis told them.

            All five of them went down to Mendy’s home. Mendy only had a room on the building. When they inquired about him, Miss Dassy, another tenant said that she hadn’t seen him since morning. The policeman went to knock on Mendy’s door.

            “Mendy, Mendy,” he called out. There was no answer, but after a while there was a rustle of bedclothes and a male voice called out.

            “Who is that out there calling me?”

            The Corporal motioned to Miss Monica.

            “It’s me, Monica, Mendy. How come you’re still sleeping at ten o’clock on a Saturday morning?”

            “What do you want, Monica?”       

            “I just want to talk to you. It’s about my brother, Luddy. He told me that you threatened him.”

            “I’ll soon come, Miss Monica. I’m going to put on some clothes and brush my teeth.”

            “How come he’s waking up so late and he doesn’t live with a woman?” Westin asked.

            “Since Reba left him last month it doesn’t seem as if he has found another woman,” Miss Monica remarked.

            “No woman can stay with a man like that and he’s such a big thief,” Delton opined.

            They were there waiting on Mendy to emerge from his room when the Corporal looked at his watch and said.

            “I wonder what’s keeping him? Call him again, Miss Monica.”

            Miss Monica called out to Mendy but there was no answer.

            The Corporal called out to Mendy but like Miss Monica he got no answer.

            Miss Cloris, Mendy’s landlady, was awakened from her mid-morning nap by the shouting. She opened the front door of her house.

            “Who’s that, shouting like that?” she asked.

            “Miss Cloris, I’m sorry about disturbing your sleep, but we are looking for Mendy,” the Corporal apologized to her.

            “I’m sure I heard him in his room. Come in Corporal, you can knock on his room door,” Miss Cloris instructed.

            Mendy’s door was open, but there was no sign of him.

            “But he was talking to us from inside his room,” the Corporal complained.

            “Look under the bed, Corporal,” Mr. Burton advised but there was no sign of Mendy.

            They heard Miss Cloris calling out from another part of the house. It was the kitchen door which was open and through which Mendy had escaped.

            They all ran out into the yard and looked down at the gully and thick bushes through which Mendy must now be making his escape.

            “Corporal, what did Mendy do to make you come here looking for him?” Miss Cloris asked.

            “Mr. Burton here and several of these people said that they’ve lost their goats. I wanted to question him to see if he knows anything about their disappearance.”

            Miss Cloris was a petite woman who had lived all her life in Byfield district. She was sixty years of age and began renting out rooms in her six bedroom house following the death of her husband and the migration of her children to the United States.

            “But I’ve never heard of Mister Mendy being involved in any praedial larceny, Corporal. I mean if people have their goats missing, why come to him?”

            “That’s true, Miss Cloris, but if he has nothing to do with it, why did he run away?”

            “I don’t know, Corporal. Maybe when you catch him, he’ll be able to provide you with some answers.”

            “We’ll be doing just that, Miss Cloris,” the Corporal told her as he led the little group of people out of the yard in search of Mendy.

             Miss Cloris knew that Mendy had come to live in Byfield district a year ago and promptly rented a room from her. He said he had a woman and children living in St. Mary and that he was from that part of the island. Two months after he arrived in Byfield District he met Reba Sawyers and they became friends.  Reba had left him a month ago, but she never told anybody her reasons for doing so.

           Mendy said he was a businessman, but nobody saw him doing any business, but he was always prompt with his rent and paid cash for everything he bought. Six months ago he returned to Byfield district with half a dozen goats which he promptly butchered and sold off to various householders, a hotel and a supermarket in Ocho Rios.
Read the full story in 'Going to the bushes to cut Firewood' or in 'Riding the milk-truck to School'.