Chapter 14-Packed in a Publico

"Get your bags and come, come!" shouted Kios. We exchanged glances but didn't argue. We all dashed inside. Fortunately, we hadn't stayed long enough to unpack them very much so it was a simple matter of grabbing them and going outside. I lingered inside after they had gone and quickly exchanged the white t-shirt I had been wearing for a blue and white Hawaiin shirt. There wasn't time for me to change my shorts but they were pretty basic cargos and hadn't gotten very dirty. I tossed the old t-shirt into my bag and hoisted it onto my back.

I jogged down the trail to where my friends and the islanders were lined up at the door of the publico. "We're taking this to town," explained Kat when I stopped. "They think it'll be safer than walking." From the way she said the last part, it seemed she would have preferred to walk whether it was more safe or not. I watched as each of our islander friends handed the driver one VC and then squeezed into the mass of people. The way cleared quickly when Ted started through the crowd and everyone cleared a seat for him.

I was the last to board. As I handed my VC to the driver, I surveyed the bus. Brown faces stared at me curiously from their packed positions. People were jammed in every corner. Kat had taken a seat on Ted's lap and Mitch was sitting high in one corner. I couldn't distinguish Kyle and Joseph's faces from the crowd so I pushed my way over to where Kat and Ted were sitting. Along the way I saw Kyle crouched down next to a group of kids on the floor. They chatted quickly in Patois and pointed at all of us. Kyle waved and forced a smile at me before batting away a small hand that had been pulling on his fake-looking hair. I chuckled and continued on.

I spotted Joseph as well. Two island women had placed themselves on either side of him. They batted their eyelashes in an attempt to get his attention. One was an elderly woman with a wizened old face and a chicken in hand, but she batted away as enthusiastically as the young, pretty girl, who made a twinge of jealousy run through me. Fortunately, Joseph wasn't paying any attention to them and smiled at me as I passed. I returned it and then sat in the remaining bit of seat next to Ted.

"Hullo," he said to me with a wide grin. Kat grinned as well from her perch and waved to me. I nodded warmly in reply and removed my backpack, setting it on my lap. Then I relaxed and listened to the hums of conversation around me. I couldn't understand any of it but it was interesting listening to the mix of voices that were all around me. In such a reflection of the Caribbean society, I felt very much like a tourist. I didn't let it get to me though. I wasn't going to surrender myself to being the stereotypical tourist so easily. We had messed up once but I was going to try and make sure that it didn't happen again.

I suddenly felt fingers touching my hair and I pulled away quickly. I turned and two young guys were looking at my curiously from behind. I smiled at them and sent them a small wave. They started grinning broadly and talking quickly in Patois. I shook my head and turned back to where I had been before.

Loud laughter erupted beside me and I turned to see Kat tickling Ted. "Do not do that!" he cried between laughs. His large hands grabbed Kat's wrists in mock anger.

She pouted and said, "You're no fun." She saw me staring at them, as much of the publico was, and mouthed, "I love this guy!"

I had been giggling and stopped it to ask, "Hey Ted?" He turned his jolly face to me. "How long is the ride to town?"

He stopped to think for a minute. "Well," he said. "It depend on how many people ride. If we did not stop it would only take about 5 minutes. Many people ride and they just wait on the side of the road. It could be 10 minutes and it could be 30 minutes." Then he snapped back to Kat who had begun sneaking up on tickling under his armpit. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," she said with an innocent smile. Ted just grinned and shook his head. After many stops, more packed in people, and about 20 minutes we reached St. Vincent. Not everyone was bound for town but more than half the bus emptied off. The people inside didn't have much time to sigh with relief because a whole throng of people waited to board the publico. Our group made our way through the masses and met beside a large palm tree. We left behind a bunch of people squabbling about chickens and bags.

"Boy am I glad I held onto my backpack instead of putting it up there," I remarked.

Joseph came up and put an arm around my shoulders. "Me too," he agreed and smiled down through his shades. I smiled back up at him and realized how good of an idea they were. The sun was high in the sky and made me squint everywhere I looked. Dropping my backpack to the ground, I began rummaging through the contents until I found my sunglasses. They had thick black rims and green lenses. They looked so crazy and were my favorites. After placing them

on my face everything had more of a greenish tint.

"Are you all ready to go?" asked Kios, approaching us. He sounded regretful.

"I guess we'd better," said Kat. "Before any of those Modab peoples spot us." He nodded and we started walking for the pier. We made a few stops along the way. Kat had to have a brightly patterned sarong that was half of what it would be in the states. Mitch and Kyle both bought shirts for their parents that said, "St. Vincent" in a number of different ways.

"Its better if I get buying their souvenirs done early," explained Mitch as he quickly picked out a few. I don't think he even looked at them.

Kyle took a little bit longer but not much. He was only buying one for his dad. "I want to find something really special for my mom," said Kyle. There was an odd look to his face when he said that, something reflective. He must have been thinking hard about it. He had always been dedicated to his mom, despite her emotional instabilities. Of course, that could be one of the reasons he was dedicated. Sometimes even he couldn't handle her though, which is why he spent so much time in The Bowl. We never saw him on Mother's Day. It was entirely dedicated to her. I always thought it one of his sweetest qualities. I had never met his mother. Sometimes our parents did things together but she never took part in it. Sometimes his father did but rarely. She rarely went into society in general, as I understood it.

I also stopped once. A woman was selling an assortment of things. Some of which were little Rasta dolls, girls and boys. They were really cute and I had to buy one of the girls. I'm a sucker for cute things.

Entirely too soon we were at the harbor and it was time to say goodbye. Most of us managed to keep our composure, except for Ted who bawled like a baby and picked Kat and I up at the same time for a big hug. After that I thought I saw a small tear drip past Kat's eye but she quickly rubbed it away. We weren't sure how to go about getting to another island but fortunately Kios had connections. Some people he knew were going to the island of Bequia to visit friends and had a boat big enough to let the four of us ride along. We bid final adieus to Kios and crew, along with our heartfelt thanks. We owed them so much and they didn't ask for anything in return. Around every corner we had either encountered wonderful or horrible people. Fortunately, the good seemed to come more frequently than the bad.

The small, gray boat wobbled as I stepped into it and took a seat next to Kat toward the bow. "This thing seems like its going to tip over!" I whispered to her. She nodded but didn't look at me. She was waving her arm off at the group of wonderful guys we were leaving behind. We passed around a final curve and she sighed as they vanished from view.

"I wonder who awaits in Bequia," I mused.

"We'll just have to wait and see," replied Kat.