Title: Run Big Fraid ... and other Village Stories
Author: Easton Lee
Publisher: BalaPress
Reviewed by: Mel Cooke

EASTON LEE'S Run Big Fraid ... and other village stories packs 34 short, mostly funny tales into its 237 pages which, by nature of their historical setting (the 1938 labour riots and World War II are mentioned), harken back to Jamaica 70 to 90 years ago.

Not that Lee, in retelling the village stories, mostly in prose, with a few poems recording his own experiences and impressions (among them Church and Me), takes the broad view of Jamaican history. These stories are, as the book is titled, village stories, in which the concerns of people from places like Charley's Run to whom 'town' is a distant, and, maybe, dread prospect reign supreme.

No mention of criminals

However, a lot is said about the state of the country in what does not crop up in the village stories. It is significant that there is no mention of marauding criminals (the sole killing come in Want All, Lose All, where Mass James stabs Bucky over a running land dispute). And, 'manners' are so important that the lack thereof causes a rift between the redoubtable Miss Jessica and her godchildren, as well as their mother, in Godmother.

Do not look for brilliant turns of phrase in Run Big Fraid. So Easton Lee get it, so him tell it back. However, he does so clearly and with great attention to detail, which, naturally, makes the stories really come to life.

The more things change, though, the more things remain the same and the recurrent theme in the stories is the same one that dominated cyberspace until the recent ascendancy of social networking sites such as Facebook.

It is sex. Sure, there are often relationships around it, but mostly it is a matter of sex.

There is the funny side of sex in Golden Shower, where Gladstone has to keep cool and 'tek wet' as Maas Ferdie lets some recycled Red Stripe Pilsener go in the garden where Gladstone is hiding after he is nearly caught with Hyacinth. Another funny (though a bit painful) sex-related incident is in Pyjama Sport. Philbert escapes Maas Clinton's bedroom, where he had been having fun with his wife, Pauline. And, when Maas Clinton finally is able to tell the tale of his divorce, he tells an old schoolmate:

"Imagine, me come home sudden in a middle night and find a man inna mi bedroom, inna me bed, wid me wife, an, if dat was not enough, di man inna mi pyjama".

Also, in the rib-tickling sexual vein are First Come, First Served (Miss Zella is well known for her taste in younger men and, as she hollers for another dead husband a young man seizes the opportunity to stake his claim. In between sobs she says "Somebody did ask mi already') and Push Start'.

But there are stories in Run Big Fraid where the power games and brutality of sex come into play, with the abused eventually getting the upper hand - and it is literally 'upper hand' in Taming the Beast. Gladstone beats Clarice at will, but the tables are turned when she gets him by the testicles in a death grip and squeezes until the whole village gathers for the spectacle of her marching him up and down in the yard.

There is nothing funny in There is a Time, though, even as the tables are turned yet again. Joslyn, who has taken advantage of many a young woman in the district, gets his just desserts from Violet, who entraps and slashes his penis in revenge for his merciless handling of her sister.

'Duppy story'

The title story is a wonderful blend of a 'duppy story', an attempted 'looking' of a young woman by an old man and the revenge of a young man taken for a fool by many. They plan to scare the old man at the cotton tree where he arranges to meet the girl by acting as duppies, the youngster they dismiss surprises them by pretending to be a duppy also, which they believe. And, the old man whoops, "run big fraid, likkle fraid dey back a you" in delight at the scared men running.

There are tales of the shopkeepers as well, the Chinese, 'To Rahtid' also involving sex and power. Phonso, who has harassed many of the village's women, touches shopkeeper Chin's daughter and gets a sound beating, Chin using martial arts to whip the strong bully. "Sol a bitch," is all, the now, 'Mister Chin' to all says as he walks away.

By Duty Bound covers a Chinese wife taking in the child of her husband's lover ("You Chinese woman are something else. Is a good thing is you and not me," her friend of African descent says). Love Story tells how Mass Henry planned for his family and, after visiting his parents' grave in China, died a happy man.

Gungo Soup

And, there is so much more in Easton Lee's Run Big Fraid ... and other village stories. Love runs fatally off the tracks in Little Red Train, the railway also playing a role in Gungo Soup Remedy and Who Dat'. The labour riots and British soldiers come into play in Strike ("look how di white man dem a get dung eena de breadfruit"), healing rituals are central to Myal, the madness that overshadows matters of inheritance powers 'Deadlef'.

Run Big Fraid ... and other village stories goes to the heart of rural life in the voices of those who lived it of many years ago and it does so well.