Thoughts of a minibus traveller

  We carry guns, nah feelings.. is written above the window inside the minibus standing in the rain waiting on the police to check the driver's papers.  One of those days when the buses are passing full and I am running late so I have to take whatever I get kind of like how living in Guyana is with how the voters recycle those who make sure we will never get a good public transportation system. And so a bus pulls up and I just jump in to get in from the rain because I do not want to open the umbrella and I am running late. Conductor with mask on chin, driver without mask and most passengers wearing mask. Music loud. Sit at the back near a window in the hope that the Covid would blow away.  At the other end of the seat a young man, no mask.. not even on his chin. And I try to meditate to avoid the music and the lyrics but every now and then the conductor change the song when he realise is a dutty song. Between us a bird in the cage which belongs to the young man. I reme...

  Bus "I aint see you fuh a long time" bus conductor says and I could hear the smile behind the mask as we bump fists in the Covid greeting.. I jump in the front seat. Radio playing and bus driver and conductor stopping, reversing, looking for passengers and having nice back and forth conversation that kind of mellow and cool in the hot sun. Driver with cap and so.. mask on his chin . Driver tell me jump out so passenger could come in. Tall woman, yellow tee shirt tucked in white jeans and yellow band around her afro. She says afternoon, and sits between me and driver. Radio man talk about how to eat avocado with some crush up Club Social and put honey on it and driver say whah.. and conductor say yeah honey... you aint know honey does wuk good wid anything and we talk about what to eat honey wid and how some people have 'honey roasted chicken' on de menu board but is really bun shugah chicken..  Conductor ask if we never drink XM wid honey..  woman on the radio say h...

    "Mask, mask.. " the conductor tells the  man coming on the bus. The man had just put out a cigarette. Eyes red. Clean bright red cap. Neat trousers and black shoes. Conductor and driver are older men, wearing masks. All the passengers wearing masks. First time since Covid come to Guyana that I hear a conductor ask passengers about the mask. "Yeah yea.. let me sit down"  I am at the last row, corner near the left wheel , half lying half sitting and face kind of out the window.   Man comes past me,  says 'hey' in a pleasant knowing way. I wonder if is one of the guys near the market who always calling me doc. He sits on the corner opposite to me. Pulls out two blue masks from his back pocket and chooses one.   I know the move.  I keep a blue mask in my pocket sometimes for the places which would not accept me with the plaid cloth which covers more of my face than the blue mask. ("Vidya , why you don't wear a proper mask, you look like ...

    Dear Isaiah, Joel and Haresh,  Thunder is rolling and sun is shining while I write this and think about you,. and wishing that I could have gone to your killers, and said, chop me instead,  kill me instead and may you drink my blood and find satisfaction. In 2001, citizens killed 10 year old Mervyn Barran and his father in the Enterprise Backdam. You probably never heard of him or his father. In 2003, during another racial crime wave, citizens kidnapped and killed 16 year old Roy Bell. Red Thread had a vigil then afterwards.. and I now think that in the vigil then, it was for those children and adults killed and maimed in violence - from other citizens, from the police, , and for those to come, not yet born. I don't know if any of those citizen killers voted, or if they are like me, they didn't vote. I don't know if they have killed before, or will kill again, it must be easy to chop children. I have a cutlass which I keep just in case, and I hope that my hands c...

  Humid Saturday morning. Road is quiet, slow. Minibus comes up at nice speed. Driver no mask. Young woman in front seat, two women in back seat. All wearing masks. I say 'morning' . Some masked mornings and Driver's unmasked morning in reply. Young man stops the bus.  Beanie covering head, and silver ring near the top of the ear. No mask. I wonder if he is anti-masker. But I don't pollute the bus by asking. Driver asks us if we know the location of a school. "Dis girl got directions for a short way to the school but I aint understand it..anybody know is where?".. Nobody knows really..masked mutterings. He asks someone on the road. Women behind him says from behind her mask "you gotta walk the long way to learn the short way".. Young woman comes out the bus to go to learn the short way from the long way. I feel a bit bad for us old people preaching from behind the masks. Town is busy.  Go in a store , get an item. Saw the sign "Wanted Handy Bo...

'Aye, come in , is nah churchroad you going'.. the bus driver asks me, red mask hanging around his neck like an accessory.   First time I had traveled with him , I had asked about loud music and turning it down and he had turned it down and turned it up back at me while looking at me with a half smile. Always speeding and dodging and weaving.  And always stopping, no matter how loud the music - and even if I tap my head and tap my heart and my ears to say that I aint able with music, he always insists.. man come in , The last time he said "De police remove de box dem, music arite man, come in, come in' We don't talk much else. Saturday morning, music not so bad.   I say 'you bus look full' . he said.. nah man , look is two to a seat. Public health guidelines had said half the passengers in a bus and no conductor.  Some bus drivers wearing masks. Some bus conductors wearing masks. So I jump in . My face masked sitting two to a seat behind a...

Images from Pixabay Is a 12 minute walk or 4 minute bus drive and I am in a hurry. A bus stops near me. A woman about my age comes out of the front seat. Young man moves from the jump seat to the front seat. I go to the front door. "Nah nah, two man can't sit in front.." An older man had told me before in another that two man can't sit in front. When I told some 14 year old boys about the incident, they laughed and said..nah.. nah that is extreme, he got insecurities. Conductor comes out and I jump in the front seat near to him. I say "So driver , man, what gun happen, if i sit down deh, yall gun turn gay" "I am gay.. " bus driver says.  Front seat passenger looks at him funnily. Conductor laughs awkardly. I laugh and say so man, what gun happen if I sit down. "I aint want turn you gay " bus driver tells me "But how you aint know I aint gay already".... "This is a gay bus.." driver says I...

1pm. Place hot, quiet. Road empty as it is around this time on week days. Minibus moving slow.  Man driving.  Woman conducting.  Bag of oranges hang up on the back of the front seat. No passengers I jump in the front seat.  Say good afternoon, and hear the response.. quiet and slow like the afternoon. No music. Bus moving slow to get passengers. I smell the citrus. Not like air freshner. Nice cloud coming up. I think these must be oranges and limes and so mix up. Man murmuring.. anybody coming deh? She going.. Women replying softly.. nah.. nobody.. she aint going..  Is nice how they talking to each other. I wonder if they are together because I know some other married men and women who working bus who order each other around.. 'Girl, you gotta look where you going.' Aye don't drive the bus yet.. 'Where we buying food today..'.. you know they married because the lovey dovey stuff don't talk and is only bus business. Bus driving slow.. like...

Screenshot from HGPTV Protest "You might a see me, I was in de protest. De police lashing you now .. 26 disc, den 14 disc from de camera, saying is obstruction of traffic.. not jumping traffic light. Since September, thing, now they brining in January.   I picking up passenger. on de route, i got a road service license which say i can pick up passenger on the route.. traffic flowing side of me.. magistrate giving 25,000 for each disc, he don't like minibus driver because a minibus kill he brother..." Quiet Sunday morning on Regent Street. White minibus pulls up. Driver alone in front seat. About 50 years old or so. No Conductor, Soft reggae music playing. "You going Kitty" he ask. Everyone on social media had mocked the protests outside the court. 'Dem lawless'. Dem tink is PPP time. , dem wutless.."   Unlike say, transgender sex workers protesting cross dressing laws, the minibus drivers it seemed want to break laws, but pay reasona...

Minibus 42 short drop bus park is confusing and even though I am mindful and being aware of my surroundings, I can't figure out which bus to go. Woman in a blue blouse and a cap , wearing long (rain) boots tells me come come,, short drop yes yes and I trust her and go as I realise I never get call to no minibus or car by a woman before. I kind of scan the bus and realise that I am the only man so far, and more women join the bus. I buy a pack of 'sweet nuts' (man had sweet nuts and salt nuts) which is what happens when you waiting on the bus to full. A chatty woman in the seat behind me seems to know the others (or maybe she been sitting there long and they now know each other well). Conversation is loud and I stop being polite and just open my ears as I eat the sweet nuts. "Strong coolie woman" "She is a strong coolie woman" the women say about a woman who is dealing with a violent husband. "He put she in hospital already", "Sh...

Sun is hot, and my mind is fuzzy. I don't want to be on the road but I have to be on the road. Bus is speeding towards me, looking like a hot red but different colours. I cringe and think I have no choice, I am in a hurry, is not a far way to go , and if is loud music then the speed the driver moving at I will reach where I going in no time. Jump in the front seat , say morning without looking at driver, and driver turns in a cheerful voice says.. 'morning.. wait, I aint know you does tek bus?" I turn to him and laugh and say why man. Then I realise the man wearing a pink tee shirt. And as I look around inside the bus, the walls and so  looking pink. The man says, ' I aint see you a long time' and gives me a fist bump. Music is loudish. I say, yeah man in the way that I talk to people who know me, but who I can't remember. My head trying shift the fog to process the pink. Driver is relaxing in the front seat, nice vibe from him, not stressed and so o...

"Enjoying my old age" The bus is empty , oldish and I stumble into the front seat. Pain all over the body from the stress and poor mental health. There is a KFC bag on the dashboard and a drink. Most of me wants to sit down and dwell in the dark clouds and wait on the bus to move off. I had messed up in the caregiving and the patient had to go to hospital unnecessarily. The moon is about and I am trying to work with the moon. The tiny part of me though.. "So, this KFC fuh whoever sit down in dis seat?" Driver laughs. Straggly gray hair , glasses kind of half way down his nose, cap. "Nah , this is mine. You know when you are elderly and people feel they have to buy something for you. " "Man you lucky!" "I am enjoying my old age.. you see these glasses, I can drive without them... I am 70.." The man has a nice tone of voice, nice smiling tone of voice. "this i use for pain' he shows me the bottle of shilling oil. ...

I shout aye aye to de bus hoping dat my voice would travel more fast and loud dan my legs.. de bus had 3 people in it and i didn't hear any music so I think I deh good. Conductor look small built but he didn't see me. Driver saw me and stop and kind of reverse lil bit on the side of the road in a way like he wasn't sure if he had to reverse. I jump in the front seat and say morning and driver reach the traffic light. He turn to me and seh.. 'Is I h ad to see you.. the conductor aint hear you.. ' in a nice kind of voice not angry... 'he does bun high grade'.. I notice driver fiddling with knob on the tape and I want to cuss.. is a new thing like dem bus driver does turn down volume to pick up ol people and turn up volume to pick up school chirren. I jump and started I seh ' Wuh.. wid loud music and if he high.. he aint gun hear nutting man an high grade gun kill yuh brain cells'.. I kind of turn me mouth back in the direction. Nuttin...

Running a lil late and I breathe deeply and I praying that I don't ketch a loud dutty music bus. I learn about Chronnix and I hope the bus dem playing the music at least. Bus come up, music loud. I in a hurry. I shut up. Bus has mostly children, teenagers, women. The lyrics nasty and dutty coming out, the driver realise and shift the song. Music loud. Next song got nasty lyrics tuh. "Lakshmi blessings" write on the roof above the window. The dashboard look like it have a Ganesha and Durga murti. I holler from the backseat near the windwo.. Conductor signal to turn down the music because he think I want to come off. I ask fuh different music. Nobody else say anything. Nobo  I was going to ask fuh coolie music but I don't know if was a coolie man already singing de nasty dutty lyrics. I ask for gospel from the back seat by the window. Nobody else say anything. Nobody else ask. My back start hurt again and I say let me shut up. Driver look in rear vi...

"Whuh is de latest" the bus man asked. I had signalled it as it passed me. A beautiful kind of sunflower yellow. The dashboard is dark blue. The colour is the only thing really on the dash board. There are dusty holes where the sound system and the AC vents used to be. Conductor is chilling out. Woolen cap. 'Hey bhaiya.. ' he says.. I jump.. I have never heard him speak before. I jumped in the front seat. Relief that there was no loud music .  This bus man like to gaff though and sometimes you wonder whether the loud music might have been well.. you know.. "White man shoot up.. what you tink about dat?" Bus man says  "yeah.. if was a muslim you would ah hear different.. you know, I like country like North Korea, Venezuela, Iran and Cuba.. dem country don't depend on de US.. I wonder when we gun get like dat" Bus keeps moving.. passengers ignoring. "Like Granny want a pit bull.. dem gun know.. you ever watch a show pun Youtu...

Strange morning as I have to run an errand and then run it again. I jump in a bus - conductor is a pleasant guy who always smiling and so but never do anything about the music in the buses which he works. I notice the Jehovah Witness literature on the shelf in front of him. "Are you a witness?" He gives the nice big smile "Nah,.. I like to read.. these are good things to read" "That's good man.. " "Yeah.. I learn that tattoos is against God, Christians shouldn't have tattoos.. " I thought of Witness I knew who is in love with a man who he said has really nice tattoos. I said nah man, it depends on the tattoos.. you can praise God with the tattoo ? He continued smiling.. No.. you shouldn't marke the skin.. "And this thing with the blood transfusion.. that you could mix the DNA and you could become the person whose blood you get... and if you is a good person you could become a bad person" I said man, blood tra...

Coolie man driving the bus , coolie woman who might be his wife is conductor. Man older dan me and wife my age and de dutty music on low volume. I keep my mout shout because i in a hurry. but when we reach lamaha and vlissengen he reach to turn up he volumen and I holler 'aye, you got customers who don't want dutty music' He look back at me and try again and I tell he dat he is de driver and he doan have I had in meh head fuh start up about how black people like gospel too but den i remember andooda east coast bus wid coolie driver and flower pun de dashboard and de dance hall wid de dj disrespecting east coast gyurls .. So i holler about play lil gospel, dey have dance hall gospel too and chutney gospel and dat at least you could put lil God in dem instead of poison. Driver change de music and put on soul music and conductor seh Uncle you like dis now? I seh is nah fuh me, is fuh when yall poisoning dme yute fuh money and dat money dat mek like dat aint gun las...

Dear woman I did not see you in the minibus. I jumped in the front seat, silently cursed the driver and conductor for the woman hating dancehall they were playing and then zoned out as my mind was cloudy. When the bus stoppped, I heard the driver say , "Wheh yuh going, come out de bus and go home nah" I didn't pay attention. I did not look back. I thought he was making joke as his ugly face seemed twisted in a half smile.  I heard the conductor say..'Woman, you aint hear yuh man seh go home?" I heard your voice say you going to the park, and then heard him say no, come out now and go home, and I heard you ask for the key and then I saw him give you the key. I still thought it was some joke thing but in trying to stay in my own zone, I realised that it was no joke. I saw you come to the window and look at him straight in his face and collect the key. I saw you with the child and I heard some bottles clinking - the conductor saying tek des GT bott...

Bus pull up, door open; Lamaha.. driver seh yeah and wave he hand behind he. Old man comes out the bus. Driver seh siddown deh. I vote to go in de bus and siddown deh betwen the old man and an old lady and another lady with a bag. 4 pun a set mek fuh 3. But I vote fuh dis Lamaha bus instead of de odder Carifesta bus because I late and I believe it gun kerry me where I want to go. Bus look full. Reach Pere Street and is two people who want to come in. Dey vote too , to come in de bus even though it only have seat fuh one  We waiting on de driver. De leader who we accept pun de journey. Old man jump out..  more bus passing. Driver seh 'tek a squeeze, somebody coming out just now'. Nobody complain. Old man is not do conductor. De driver has de money in his hand.  At least de music is low and nice and de bus not moving so fast like de odders. Old man come back in, somebody sit at de back and I think is 5 on a row mek fuh 4 and another one in front. The peopl...

Bus man pass and come back fuh me. I watch de front seat.. i see de head wid de long hair dat dey lil close to de head wid de cap on de head in de front seat Kal Ho Na Ho.. playing.. I seh morning.. and start singing.. gyurl look at me like I gun spoil she bus ride. Bus man look at me and kind of look away shame shame. I aint ketch what going on.. gyurl like she whispering in de ears. Bus man like he deh lil bad. I want fuh seh.. I know texting while driving is illegal but should a bus man get bassidy and want fuh crash.. ah mean.. ow man, yall cyan wait.. I look fuh see if dem wearing wedding ring.. but nah.. if dem was wearing wedding ring ah tink she would ah been conducting de bus.. Me mind wandering. but gyurl sideways glancing at me like I cutting up runnings.. Next ting is see is bus man tek he hand down and dem holding hands.. now all dat is nice and so on ..but not when I is de bus driver.. but de music nice.. and dis is not young luv.. de bus man look lil fri...