Paul H. Williams, Sunday Gleaner Writer

A better mechanic you could not get. But, Bagga was also superlative in another area. A better woman-beater you could not find. Yet, he was never bereft of women. He was a sweet-talker, and he used his mellifluous tongue and his money to pull the women into his web of misery.

The women came and went with great regularity. After a few days of bliss, he would suddenly turn upon them and beat them mercilessly for various reasons. The early morning beatings would disturb the entire community. The cries for help usually went unanswered. No one dared to intervene in Bagga's business.

The only man who ever attempted to rescue one of his victims got a beating himself, and a blow to his ego.

So, the women came and they left. Until, he brought Norma Beaverbridge home.

She was a tall, full-bodied woman with big, muscular arms and huge calves. The neighbours were taken aback by Bagga's latest choice, for he was a very small man. Together, she towered over him, and the sight had become a community joke, unbeknownst to them.

Everybody waited for the first cries of help from Norma, but after the first, second, third, fourth ... eighth week, no such cries came. What they heard was Norma's rebuke of Bagga's disgusting ways. There was a collective sigh of relief; Bagga had met his match. There would be no more early morning cries for help.

Bagga's demeanour had also changed. He went around looking very defeated and controlled.

Then, he started staying out or he would go home late at night. Norma accused him of keeping other women with her; he could care less. The more she ranted and raved, the later he stayed out. He hoped that Norma would get frustrated and leave. But, Norma was going nowhere.

One rainy night, Norma lay alone in Bagga's big trunk bed, hoping that he would come home. At some minutes after two, she decided enough was enough, and went in search of her man. She headed for his garage.

In a small board shed, an annex to the garage, Bagga and Millicent James lay on a cot in the dimly lit shed. They were enjoying, among other things, the early morning drizzle upon the roof.

When Norma reached the shed's door, she stopped and listened. What she heard, she did not like. She became riled. She stepped back a little, raised her heavy right leg and kicked in the door, which fell to the floor with a huge bang.

When Bagga and Millicent heard the crash, they jumped from the cot and stared in bewilderment at the gargantuan intruder standing akimbo at the entrance. Norma shouted, "Yuh damn brute yuh, yuh tink mi wouldn't find yuh. Mi an yuh tinite!" With that, she headed towards them.

Millicent rushed towards a corner. Bagga met Norma half-way. She raised her right arm to hit him, but Bagga grabbed her around the waist. Millicent screamed. Norma paid her no mind. It was Bagga she had wanted.

She tossed him to and fro trying to throw him to the ground. Bagga struggled to free himself. Her grip on him was firm. Then, suddenly, Norma let out a blood-curdling scream as Bagga sank his sharp teeth into her soft belly meat. She screamed again and released her hold on him. Millicent screamed even louder in the background.

Now free from Norma's clutch, Bagga attempted to run outside, but slipped in a small pool of water, which had come through the leaking roof. He fell with his back on the floor. Norma wasted no time in sitting on him. Millicent bellowed, tearing out her false hair at the same time.

Sitting on Bagga's torso, the furious Norma, cussing and crying, rained blow after blow upon Bagga. He tried to ward off her flailing hands, but they were too heavy. In a daze, he saw a big spanner on the floor beside him. He grabbed it, closed his eyes tightly and brought it towards Norma's forehead. It landed with a clunk!

Norma immediately fell sideways off Bagga and collapsed on to the floor, face down.

The now-free Bagga sprang to his feet and stood over the motionless Norma. Millicent joined him. She looked at Norma, then at Bagga. She slowly stooped and shook Norma, who did not move. She shook her a second and a third time. Norma did not respond. Millicent jumped up and yelled, "Yuh kill har. Murder! Murder! Call de police. Murder!" She then dashed through the door into the rainy night.

Minutes later, the hut was full with neighbours, who formed a semi-circle around the unconscious Norma. Millicent sobbed uncontrollably as she waited at the door for the police. Bagga had disappeared by then.

Oblivious of Millicent's presence, the neighbours speculated as to what might have happened. They did not spare their anger for Bagga, and recommended the hangman's noose. They were more than certain Norma would not recover. Until, someone saw her left big toe twitched in the dim light. "She a move, she a move, har toe a move!" an onlooker shouted.

The crowd moved closer to Norma. Millicent rushed towards them. Another person cried, "Fan har, fan har, and give har some air!" The crowd backed off as Norma stirred some more. She moved a leg. Two men held her limbs and brought her to the cot. They gingerly put her on to it. The canvas stretched under her weight to the ground. The cot's legs wobbled as Norma moved her head from side to side.

By the time the police arrived, Norma was fully revived, but Bagga was nowhere to be found. And that's how it remained, for he did not return to the district, and no one ever saw him again. Yet in his house, on his big trunk big, Norma Beaverbridge, who now sported a huge bump on the spot where the spanner had clouted her, waited somewhat impatiently for her man to return.