Stredwick

When Dave Martin and Alton Brooks came to Keswick Mountain High School both boys were going on fifteen years of age. They were put in Grade Eight. We subsequently learned that they had been kicked from so many schools it wasn't funny. It was the first term of school and the football season was on. They soon became instant football stars. Most of us didn't see why they were picked for the senior team. True, their last school was a very large one and a football powerhouse but we still felt that they should have proven themselves before being picked. Our school had dropped out all football competitions but we still played a few games against nearby schools and those looking practice games. I personally wasn't impressed with them after their first outing after we were beaten 5-0 by a nearby school. Both boys were also involved in a bitter fight over a girl, Jacinth Reid. Sad to say neither boy made it past Grade Eight. I don't know what happened at their next school.

I understood that Desmond Bradley came from Kingston to attend our school. He soon started a gang and every evening there was a fight between him and some other boy. Sometimes it was a member of his gang who would at Desmond's inducement, pick a fight with another boy. All of these fights happened after school. Many students were beginning to fear the gang. It wasn't until six months later that Desmond challenged Sonny Brown. It was a tough fight but Sonny was a skillful fighter and soon had him on the receiving end of some hard blows. After the fight Desmond left for another school and his gang was broken up.

Here is a list of my books on the Internet: Undercover Soldier(novel) Uptown Lovers(novel) Bring back the Good old Days(short story collection) Waiting to Cross the Bridge(short story collection) Going to the Bushes to cut Firewood(short story collection) Taking a short cut Home(short story collection) Going into the hills to Teach(short story collection) Days up the River(short story collection) Riding the milk truck to School(short story collection) Making grass mats to Sell(short story collection) The Fire by the Wayside(short story collection) Glengoffe Days(poetry collection) Life at 21 Lane(One act Play) The Free Loaders(One act Play)  Please look up these stories and start reading.

It was heartening to see Robert Mugabe leave the international scene at last. One has to wonder at to what is motivating these men to stay power for so long? Is it that they are power hungry or they just love power and all that is associated with it? Sometime the constitution of their country limits them to two or three terms in office but they want to change it to allow them to stay in power for ever.

This is a play about a middle aged man trying to trick his step-daughters out of  their inheritance. His fifteen year old son, and alleged gunman, is caught in the middle. This is a very humorous story with a lot of twists and turns. Although this play has never been performed it still makes good reading.

ZOSO means zone of special operations. It is really a convenient way for not calling a state of emergency. But it seems to be running on it's while crime spirals out of control. Didn't I hear that the police were to get sniffer dogs to help search for guns. The ZOSOs simply don't make sense if we are not finding the guns. One of our problems is that there are too war torn communities.

So Jamaica is about to embark on a new identification system. My understanding is that each Jamaican will get a number which they will use until death. Is there a cost to register for NIDS? How often would one have to renew your identity card? Would there be a cost to renew your identity card. How foolproof will the card be? Some of the fines for no registering are too high and should only be imposed for tampering with the card. Frankly I think it is a good idea.

In 2014 I spent a week in Bogota, Colombia. That got me thinking about my own country, Jamaica and how small it was.I don't know if life would have been any better for ordinary Jamaicans had the country been bigger. But Colombia is a much larger country that Jamaica. Their currency value in $ US is much lower than ours. Most African countries are much larger than Jamaica but have a lower per capita income.

I have dedicated my books to family members. I have friends who have passed and who I would like to dedicate a book to. I would however have to get their loved one's permission. I'm not sure how it would work out so I'll leave it alone.

At the moment I am not earning from my writing. I am just an amateur writer who doesn't even have a good comman d of the English Language. I just love writing and indulge in it sometimes. I love writing though. At the moment it is difficult to get training in Jamaica to be a writer.

So the West Indies have won their test series against Zimbabwe with the final of the two tests being drawn. I'm sure they must be disappointed at not winning the series 2-0. I don't know if they will be playing any one days or 20 over matches. It should be interesting to how West Indies fear against Ireland and the other team who have recently been granted Test status.