I should have resisted my older brother’s temptation the night before I travelled. He stole my stepfather’s big jug of ice-cold lemonade from the fridge and forced me to help him with it. Of course, I was greedy so I gladly accepted. Now, I can vividly remember that cool September morning the accident I encountered while travelling back to the city on the public bus.

            The summer holidays were over and it was time for me to head back to the city to the boarding school I attended. The journey from my village to the city of Kingston was approximately two and half hours and usually the villagers travel with their food. Some of them would tantalised my nostrils with the aroma of curry chicken and big white dumplings while others would have ackee and saltfish with tempting johnny cakes. Sometimes I envied them because there was no way my mother would allow me to eat on a bus. She claimed that the big old red country bus was too congested and I could contract germs from other people.

            That morning I woke up early, 4:00 am to be exact. My mother was already up and was busily packing all sorts of clothes in the old silver and grey grip she received from my grandfather before he died, while Calvin, my brother, was busily preparing the worn out white enamel basin ready for my bath.  Having completed my toiletries mama made sure I was properly attired. I had to wear my special occasion pink and blue underwear, a black cotton shorts that has safety pins securely around its waist, a nice silky white slip, a white cotton vest and then my khaki uniform. I love my uniform it was adorned with dark blue trimmings around the collar and dark blue tie. To make it more elegant I had on my black ballet and dark blue socks. I felt like a child of status whenever I had on my uniform. Wearing the uniform this particular morning was very important for two main reasons. It helped to secure my seat at the back of the bus and enabled me a reduced bus fare. One thing with mama she loved to see her children neat and tidy. She said a girl child should never leave the house in only one undergarment.