Bumpy

Chapter 1
The Birth

      Norman and Marlon had a sister named Claudia. She was their only sister. Claudia gave birth to a baby girl. The baby was born prematurely, and she was such a tiny thing. She weighed about two and a half pounds. The doctors at the hospital had to keep Claudia’s baby in an incubator for a few weeks. Claudia’s family were so happy when she brought home her cute Indian baby.

      Norman was the youngest sibling. Although Marlon and his sister could not get along well, he loved his first niece very much. Claudia would put the baby on a pillow to sleep because she was still very small. Furthermore, Marlon would pat the infant on the back and sing her a lullaby. Claudia named her baby Roxanne, and she later registered the child’s birth.

      Roxanne’s father was a soldier in the JDF Air Wing. His surname was Harrison, but the people who knew him affectionately called him Harry. The first time Harry visited his daughter at Claudia’s house he jokingly said, “Where is she?” Then he added, “She’s so small, I can barely see her.”

      Harry’s mother died a few months after Roxanne was born, and speaking metaphorically, he said that his daughter killed his mother. Unfortunately, Harry died tragically in a motor vehicle accident before Roxanne turned two years old. Therefore, Roxanne did not know her father.

Chapter 2
The Name

      One day a man by the name of Mr. Miller went to see Roxanne. He was a close friend of Claudia and the family. Mr. Miller was surprised when he saw how small Roxanne was. He immediately remembered the nursery rhyme, “Bye, Baby Bunting.” Therefore, he began to recite the words of the nursery rhyme.

      At that moment, Marlon had an idea. He said that Roxanne was as small as a bump, and so he nicknamed her “Bumpy” because “Bumpy” sounded like “Bunting.” Claudia agreed with him and that was how Roxanne got the affectionate name “Bumpy.” Roxanne’s mother, friends, relatives and other people called her “Bumpy” from that time on.

Chapter 3
Baby Talk

      Bumpy was an amusing little girl when she was learning to talk. Everyone loved to hear her speak, and some persons would tell her to say certain words again. Bumpy could not correctly pronounce the names of her two uncles Norman and Marlon, so she called both of them “Maw-mon.”

      On a windy afternoon Norman and Marlon went home together, and when Bumpy saw them, she said, “Di two Maw-mon come.” Bumpy’s baby talk made her uncles laugh, and they gave her some treats and a big hug.

Chapter 4
“An Dat”

      When Bumpy turned three years old, her uncle Marlon brought home a big paper bag full of fruits. There were different kinds of fruits in the paper bag, namely limes, mangoes, oranges, apples, ripe bananas, and sweetsops. Marlon took the fruits out of the paper bag and put them on a table, and then he asked Bumpy what kind of fruits they were. She looked at the fruits carefully then she pointed at them one by one and told him the names of the ones that she knew.

      Bumpy pointed at a lime and said, “Lime.” She touched a mango and said, “Man-go.” She picked up an orange and said, “O-ringe.” She grabbed an apple and said, “A-ple.” She touched a ripe banana and said, “Ba-na-na.”

      The last fruit Bumpy pointed at was a sweetsop, she paused for a moment, and then she said, “An dat!” Marlon chuckled, and he said, “Oh, you don’t know that one. It’s a sweetsop.” Furthermore, Marlon taught Bumpy how to say sweetsop.

Chapter 5
Kindergarten

      Bumpy attended a kindergarten at a church on Maxfield Avenue. Claudia took her to school in the mornings and picked her up in the afternoons. The teachers at the kindergarten did not allow anyone to collect children from the school without proper identification or authorization from a parent or guardian. A member of a child’s family could collect a child from the school as long as the teachers knew the person.

      One sunny afternoon Claudia was busy, so she asked her brother Marlon to pick up Bumpy from kindergarten. Claudia had forgotten to call the teacher and tell her that she sent Marlon for Bumpy. Marlon went to the school and told one of the teachers that he came to collect Roxanne. “Who are you?” the teacher asked. Marlon replied, “I’m Roxanne’s uncle.” The teacher said, “I don’t know you.”

      She looked at Marlon suspiciously, and then she called Roxanne. “Do you know this man?” she asked. Roxanne stood there like a statue, and she said nothing. “Bumpy, don’t you know me?” Marlon asked. Bumpy still did not respond. She just stood there looking at Marlon as if he were a total stranger. The teacher felt that Marlon was a kidnapper, and she was about to call the police, so he quickly left the kindergarten and went straight home.

      When Marlon entered the house without Bumpy, Claudia asked, “What happened? Where is Bumpy?” Marlon replied, “I can’t believe that Bumpy grew up in this house with me, yet she acted as if she didn’t know me.” Furthermore, Marlon said, “I left quickly because I didn’t want the teacher to call the police.” Claudia was very upset over the matter. “What a stupid little child!” she shouted. A few minutes later Claudia went to the kindergarten alone, and she brought bumpy home.

Chapter 6
The Eggs

      Claudia’s next-door neighbour Gwen had common domesticated fowls in her yard. Some fowls flew over the fence and made nests in Claudia’s backyard. Every day the fowls would lay eggs in their nests. Bumpy liked boiled eggs and fried eggs. In the mornings, Bumpy’s uncle Marlon would take eggs from the nests and prepare them for her, but he would always leave one egg in each nest.

      This benefitted Claudia in that she did not have to purchase eggs, and she could save more money. Marlon told Bumpy not to take any eggs from the nests, but he did not tell her the reason for the instruction that he gave her.

      Bumpy was a disobedient and mischievous child. She did not know that the fowls would stop laying in the nests if someone removed all the eggs from them. One morning Bumpy went to the fowls’ nests, she took the remaining eggs from the nests and broke them, and then she put round stones in nests.

      When the fowls came back to lay and saw that all their precious eggs had gone, they became angry and began to cluck loudly. The fowls went away unhappily, and they did not lay any more eggs in the nests from that day on.

      The following day Marlon went to the nests to get eggs for Bumpy. Much to his surprise, all the eggs were missing and whitish stones were in the nests. Marlon knew that Bumpy did it, so he prepared breakfast without eggs and gave it to her. The meal consisted of bread and butter, fried ripe plantings, and Milo tea.

      When Bumpy saw the food, she said, “I want eggs.” Marlon did not respond to Bumpy’s request, but Claudia did. “Eat what you have!” she said. “Every morning, we get free eggs from the fowls, and they stopped laying in our yard because of what you did, so I won’t buy any eggs for you,” she added.

Chapter 7
Ritz

      Marlon took Bumpy to Ritz on a Friday evening to see a double bill of martial arts movies. Ritz was a roofless cinema on Maxfield Avenue. Marlon regularly went to the Ritz with his brother Norman to watch movies, especially on weekends. Due to their early arrival at Ritz, Marlon and Bumpy along with other people had to wait outside for about an hour.

      While they were waiting on the sidewalk, a middle-aged man came up and stood beside them. The shabby man was drunk, and he did not appear to be a patron of Ritz. He was smoking a cigarette, and the smoke was affecting Bumpy. Moreover, he was not a good-looking person.

      Bumpy did not like the man’s appearance, so she said, “Move, ugly man!” The man did not pay attention to her, and he remained standing there. Marlon did not scold Bumpy because he thought she was just joking. Bumpy again said, “Move, ugly man!” The man still did not move, so Bumpy kicked him on the left foot and said, “I say move, ugly man!”

      That rude act angered the man. He cursed and threatened the little girl. “Did your mother teach you to kick people?” he asked. Bumpy was too scared to answer. “If you weren’t such a little child, I’d kick your ass,” he snarled. Marlon felt so embarrassed, he did not expect Bumpy to kick the man.

      Shortly after that, someone opened the entrance to Ritz, and the patrons including Marlon and Bumpy went inside. When the movie was over, Marlon took Bumpy home, and he reported the matter to her mother. Claudia gave Bumpy a spanking for her bad behaviour.

The End