Joanna’s Challenge

Joanna and Donna were sisters and lived near a large sugar estate on the Vere Plains on the Island of Jamaica. Joanna, the older, was a pretty little girl and was loved by all especially her mother who they called Moms. I am not quite sure why she was pluralized but maybe to them she was a double share of a Mommy. Both girls were taught the morals and disciplines that well bred children should have.

Although she never got married to their father, Moms persisted in being the God fearing mother who had the moxie and was unrelenting in her efforts to train her children in the way they should go, but as life with our human nature would have it, temptations do come along and we sometimes yield.

It was customary for Moms to put down money on her dresser in her bedroom where anyone could see it. Joanna always felt left out when her friends at the all age school spent their money to buy things such as sweets, cakes, Kisco-pops and ice cream. She thought of how she could measure up with her peers, and all the things she could have while she was at school, if only she could have some of that money! The more she thought of it the more it seemed that it would do no harm if she took just one ten dollar bill. After all, there were several of them! There were ten dollar bills and twenties as well, and Moms would not miss just one ten dollar bill anyway, she thought.

As she arrived at school that day, she could hardly wait for the recess time to come. She was ready to impress all her close friends and she did. As soon as it was break time, she headed to where all the children were heading, to where all the nice, sweet stuffing were. In those days ten dollars had far greater value than today, and it seems she was confused with all that money to spend. She was driven to folly and treated all her friends, buying them whatever they wanted; even those who were just ‘wanted to be my friends’. Now with all this money, she could even buy friends! But there was a problem. Joanna did not know what to do with the lots of change she got back when each time she made the first purchase from a ten dollar. At first she did not know where to hide them. Then suddenly she got a clever idea, or so she thought. She would disguise them between the pages of her school books.

Soon ten dollars was not enough anymore. Her circle of friends had grown and she needed more money to squander and impress. Well it seems Moms did not notice the missing ten dollar bills and Joanna didn’t think that she would now miss any of the 20 dollar notes either. So off she went with the first 20 dollar bill, and man, did she have a time with her friends! Turning into a complete fool with all that money; not knowing how to spend it! By this time, her books were getting quite thick and heavy with all that extra change she was getting back.

Shortly after school that evening when she arrived home, Moms asked, “Joanna, from d’ other day I have been missing some money. Have you seen it?”

“Are you sure you have not taken any of it?” She asked more forcefully.

“No Moms” she reiterated. But this time her voice had begun to be a little shaky, and her face sympathized. Moms took note of her response but said nothing further on the subject. The tension in the air quickly drove Joanna to the bathroom for her evening bath; a conveniently available excuse for getting away, hoping that it will all fade away soon.

Joanna who had been extra clean that evening, finally emerged from the bathroom. As she headed to the room, she saw something that instantly froze her in her tracks. Suddenly the bedroom had become a major crime scene, but instead of the usual yellow tape, there was Moms and Grandma encircling the evidence. All the contents of her schoolbag, including her treasured books, were well shaken out on the bed looking pretty much like a burglar had just passed through.

As she looked up at the investigators, six eyes pierced through hers intently. These were the eyes of Moms, and of Grandma peering over her pair of reading glasses. The stare of those eyes seemed to shout, “Seize that guilty criminal!” Suddenly the ice had begun to melt in Joanna’s legs, but before they could be fully thawed out, Moms grabbed her and gave her a whipping which she was never to forget and which thoroughly cured her of pilferage.