Historic Water Square in Falmouth, Trelawny - File

It was mid-afternoon on a weekday and Miss Lucy was doing what she does most days. She was sitting at the entrance of her small hat shop in Falmouth, Trelawny, shooting the breeze.

"Things slow, man," she said, rubbing her hands together. The shop was very small and hardly had room to accommodate anything other than the wooden showcase and boom box already inside. The hats she was selling were hanging just outside, next to her. It was gospel music that was blaring from the boom box.

"Since lately, everything slow down. Is not like one time when people was buying," said Miss Lucy.

She can't recall when she first started selling there, but knows it was quite a while back.

"Long time, man. Long time," said she.

Sticking to it

It seemed a bit of a bore just sitting there with only a slight chance of making a sale, but Miss Lucy isn't giving up her trade anytime soon.

"Den, wah mi fi do? Since late, everything dry up, nuh betta nuh deh," she said.

It was further down the road that I met up with Bruce, the shoemaker. Now Bruce, while quite an amicable fellow when you get to know him, is the kind of guy who may cause you to find religion if you were to come across him in a dark alley. He had shifty eyes, a burn mark on his forehead and a scar that ran from the corner of his lip to his left ear.

"Ah, some serious money I ah look fi see some Christmus merriment, but from morning I siddung yah like Bredda Dawg," he said when I visited his wooden stall near a large Methodist church building.

Miss Lucy at her hat shop in Falmouth, Trelawny. - Photo by Robert Lalah

Bruce seemed to be in his mid-40s. I asked him how long he had been working as a shoemaker in Falmouth.

"Well, is around 20 year now yuh know, mi boss. I ah do dis ting long time, but is like I haffi go start sell some bleaching cream or some tight pants right now, for ah dat alone ah sell," he laughed.

I started chuckling too, but was met with a cold stare from the middle-aged shoemaker.

"Yuh think ah joke? I never see Falmouth slow down so like ghost town. I really haffi go branch out," he said.

Hope for christmas

There were a lot of shoes hanging at the back of Bruce's stall. I asked him if that didn't translate to booming business for him.

"Well, no, yuh know. Some ah dem ah mine. Mi only put dem up so di place nuh look too bad. Some ah di rest is people carry dem shoes from 1902 and nuh come back fi dem," said Bruce.

I asked him if he held much promise for the upcoming Christmas season.

"Well, Falmouth is a funny place yuh know. Things hard sometime, but when Christmus come, nuh place nuh nice like Falmouth. Right now, I waan pay a likkle man fi meck up some sign fi mi. Mi ah go start advertise likkle more and see wah can gwaan fi mi," said Bruce.

"I live ah Falmouth all my life and I nah leave, so it up to we fi meck it better."

robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com