Our father, who art our mother

My name is Adande Thomas and I walk my son, Adan, to school through the Botanical Gardens.

I born and grow Santa Cruz, Sam Boucaud Rd, Moraldo Trace. But I never played cricket with Brian Lara. Like how BC Pires tell me everybody from Santa Cruz does claim they once bowl out Brian. In my time, I wasn’t no bowler, so I used to more just go and admire him.

My father dead when I was three years. So it come like (I lost) my father and my mother. I grow up with my granny. She was a mother and father to me. She died two years aback. I have a son, Adan Thomas, five, and a daughter, Monique Thomas, nine.

I ain’t mind to take part in everybody little service, Christian, Jehovah, just to see what going on. I believe it have one God.

One thing I learn to do good in Santa Cruz RC is check (keep a mental tally of sums and make correct change). I always liked my maths. Nobody can’t rob me at a doubles stand. I sure of that. I’s play my little cards, little romey, little poker, and I’s win, because I could real check.

Right after Common Entrance, I went straight to learn a trade, woodwork, at Servol. I been working since. I stayed a little while at Peakes, I branched off, end up going and doing woodwork private with a friend. Then I was just around, doing one or two little hustle. Some years aback, my cousin come and teach me A/C, private, by himself. Now I’m doing a little handiwork, private.

Things get real tough now. It hard to make a dollar. You can’t do like long-time to say, “Well, everything was low but you coulda live out of [within] your budget.” You coulda make the best out of [whatever work you got]. Without a work today, is very hard. Any little thing you have right now, you have to make use of it.

It ent easy to wake up and wonder what work you will get, what could happen to your children. But the Father don’t give you more than you could bear. It have something out there for you but you have to push yourself, you can’t wait for it to come to you.

I’m a very faithful person. I’s just hold on and ask the Father, “I know it have better out there for me.” So, at the end of the day, nothing can stop what is for me from getting to me.

When you grow up without a father and with your granny, part of your nature is to cook. I could cook fry rice, baked chicken, macaroni pie, oil down, steam down, pelau. I does do the cooking for my children right through.

From we generation to older folks generation, is a lot different: them will actually show you to wash [clothes], teach you to clean. Keep you in an active gear. But you have to make up your mind is that you want in the long run.

My granny love was more different to a mother and father love. She show me the way how it supposed to be, for me, who never had no mother and father. So, for my two children, I am mother and father. I will make sure that, what I learned from Granny, I will teach them!

I have my son since he is one years old, so I put myself to be that kind of person, knowing what I myself went through, boy. I lost my father when I was three years old, nuh. I find it pass on, but it ent pass on, ‘cause I’m living. I change around, I make myself how I is right now: don’t be in trouble; always home; pick my son up. One procedure, nuh.

I know I could move up. I willing to do anything. Is survival and something is better than nothing. You have to watch your life, watch if you have education, if you have a trade. You can’t say you ain’t doing this, you ain’t doing that! You can’t say you want a good work but you can’t read, you can’t spell.

My relaxation is mostly to take my kids to the savannah in Santa Cruz. Kick a little ball. Run about. We’s go to we little movies, not regular, because, in my mind, you can’t just pick up yourself, you going with two children, and is a cost. Is more like a plan. You have to budget for children to go to school, travel in the week, and then you have to buy them popcorn, everybody want to play video game, plus is three o’ we. We’s go maybe three times for the year but, thank God, that is three times better than not going at all.

My daughter going Santa Cruz RC and my son going St Ann's RC and is a good distance from which part I live. But I’s watch it like a benefit. Like a change of mind. People’s say, “Boy, it so far!” But everything is your time, nah, boy. Anything could happen out here, but is how you put your things in place.

Most days, we’s get a little drop from Santa Cruz to Maraval because it ent have no taxi working over the hill. Take a car, stop out and walk through the Gardens. It nice. He enjoy the walk, I enjoy the walk. He like to play. It does ease up all your stress. Sometime you wake up and study, boy, what you going to eat, how you going to work tomorrow. We’s enjoy the time together. Any little thing he see, he’s ask me questions. Little signs telling ‘bout how long this tree here. We’s communicate good. He like to see the squirrels.

When you get older in life, your experience does be there — but we doesn’t self use it! We’s want to keep all we knowledge to we-self. We want to keep things that going on in we life to we-self. But, sometimes, is good to come out and share, communicate, let people know what going on. You have to talk, for people to know. I was never on pictures and thing. But is time for me to come out of the little circle I always in, keeping to myself, and look out to the wider world.

Once you born in Trini, we’re all Trini, but, for me, I could say a Trini is how you carry about yourself. We want to get on a type of way, talk a type of way, use a type of obscene language and say, “All Trinis so!” But not all Trinis are so. A Trini is how you hold your head high and talk proud. Glad to say you born and grow in Trinidad and, no matter if things rough, you fighting it! We Trinis is fighters.

Trinidad & Tobago mean a lot to me. Don’t matter how budget going down and crime going up. We here, we are one and we have to make it happen. We have to make everybody know we could change things — but we have to come together and work together.

Read the full version of this feature on Saturday at www.BCPires.com

Right after Common Entrance, I went straight to learn a trade, woodwork, at Servol. I been working since. I stayed a little while at Peakes, I branched off, end up going and doing woodwork private with a friend. Then I was just around, doing one or two little hustle. Some years aback, my cousin come and teach me A/C, private, by himself. Now I’m doing a little handiwork, private.

Read the full version of this