The Guard Dogs of Babylon

About the Authors

Lewis Henry is the product of a caring community in Barbados. He migrated to the UK in response to the need for workers to help rebuild Britain after World War II. Encouraged by his family, he pursued education at several universities in search of answers to the social challenges he encountered. He taught at secondary and tertiary institutions before establishing a skills training and enterprise centre in Birmingham. Then, as Caribbean Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme, he provided educational and financial resources to help recipients create a better world. Now retired, he continues to inspire youth through his writing.

***

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those who have recognised the role of ‘Guard Dogs’ in perpetuating the status quo in unjust, stratified societies; and who have gone a step further in trying to transcend those who have kept others in a state of oppression. In particular, it is dedicated to those women who have been confronted by ALL the ‘Guard Dogs of Babylon’ at the same time, even within their families. The hero’s mother, Yolande, typifies such women who had to be both mother and father to him, yet managed to equip him with the values and the determination to acquire the means of rising above the ‘Guard Dogs of Babylon’.

***

The Guard Dogs Of Babylon

Published by Austin Macauley at Smashwords

Copyright 2018, Lewis Henry

The right of Lewis Henry to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

***

A CIP catalogue record for this title is

Available from the British Library.

***

www.austinmacauley.com

***

The Guard Dogs Of Babylon, 2018

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

ISBN 9781788485517 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781788485524 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781788485531 (E-Book)

***

First Published in 2018

Austin Macauley Publishers.LTD/

CGC-33-01, 25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf, London E14 5LQ

***

***

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the enormous support he received from his family, his friends and his community, as well as the tremendous inspiration he got from his carefully chosen role models who helped him analyse society and escape from the ‘Guard Dogs’ that hunted for him all his life. These sources of inspiration include his parents, and his heroes, such as Toussaint L’Ouverture, Karl Marx, Kwame Nkrumah, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Condoleezza Rice.

***

***

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

The Transition from Primary School to Secondary School

Chapter 2

Joining the New Community at Secondary School

Chapter 3

Girls, Girls, Girls…

Chapter 4

The World of High-Status Work… Away from Agriculture

Chapter 5

Snarling People Everywhere

Chapter 6

Flight from Snarlas

Chapter 7

The Journey to Europe

Chapter 8

The Mighty Guard Dogs of Babylon

Chapter 9

Transcending the Guard Dogs of Babylon

Chapter 10

The Journey Home to Complete the Triangle and Defy the Gate of No Return

***

***

***

***

Chapter 1

The Transition from Primary School to Secondary School

Gordon Grant was born and grew up in a rural village on a small Caribbean island. The village was surrounded by sugar cane plantations that fostered closely-knit communities that were like large, extended families.

By the age of eleven, Gordon had become part of a powerful peer group made up of his village chums. All children from the village went to the same primary school. Every day they would make the long journey to school. Primary schools were located next to the established churches, in some cases miles away from children’s villages. That meant that they had to walk through other villages to get to school. In those days, people were very territorial and somewhat wary of outsiders. Any dispute that started at school often escalated into skirmishes when the outsiders passed through the village of those children who were aggrieved. There were two strict rules which had to be obeyed: (i) keep to the main road in sight of adults; and (ii) stick together. So children from each village had to stick to their own groups for safety when going through other villages.

Occasionally, the bravest boys would avoid the main roads through villages and seek adventure elsewhere. They loved to explore the woods and cart roads surrounding villages. Since this unknown territory carried a hint of danger, they moved in tight groups. As a result, solidarity and loyalty among the boys from the village were very strong.

This identity found fullest expression in the games they played within the village. In their spare time, mainly during the school holidays, the children played a wide range of games. These games were gender specific. It was extremely rare to see girls and boys playing together. The girls played in groups inside or near to their homes, while the boys played together in the middle of the roads that ran through the village, under large trees or in the gullies.

The boys’ favourite game was cricket. All forms of cricket were played, including the formal ‘two-innings’ match, the ‘one-inning match’, the ‘limited-overs’ match and the ‘free-for-all’. The last mentioned game was also known as ‘Tip and Run Two’. Dozens of boys could play it at the same time. Each batsman had to complete two runs every time he hit the ball. Anyone who got the ball could bowl. Whoever got a batsman out by hitting his wicket, or catching him out, or running him out, could bat. It was furious fun and could last for hours. The best young players that emerged from these games were invited to play for the village cricket team that participated in the national cricket tournaments. This adult team known as the ‘Panthers’ was the undisputed flag bearer of the village.

The boys also came together for agricultural pursuits. This was a rural village in which residents grew their own food. Harvest time brought great happiness to the villagers as there was an abundance of different varieties of produce which they shared. From an early age, these boys were given the responsibility to help cultivate kitchen gardens, look after cows, sheep and goats and gather fodder for other animals like rabbits. They often helped each other with these chores.

Sometimes they pitched marbles or made toys under communal trees. On moon-lit nights they played traditional games like ‘Cat and Mouse’.

Sometimes they responded to the call of the wild. On such occasions a large group of boys, each with his own guard dog, would go hunting for mongooses, monkeys and wild rabbits. These outings invariably took them many miles from their village to the remaining forests, woods and gullies that were wildlife habitats. Every household had at least one dog and each dog was an important part of the family.

The first dog Gordon could remember was called ‘SAGGABOY’. He just turned up in the yard one day, enjoyed the food he received and decided to stay. He soon settled in as a member of Gordon’s family. He grew to be a very docile, playful, happy-go-lucky and contented dog. He was a common yard-dog, with a brindled coat of hair. He was always hanging around the compound, waiting for food or for anything interesting to happen. He liked playing with people or livestock that belonged to the family. But he hated intruders. Any human or animal trespasser would get a chasing from him. He was particularly watchful of what was going on in the sugar cane fields in front of the house. Even the movements of the slyest mongoose in the canes would be detected and the alarm sounded.

On the first day that Gordon went to school, Saggaboy tried to follow him all the way. For his own protection Yolande, Gordon’s mother, chased him back. However, when she returned she found him waiting there, about half a mile from home. For the rest of his life he would leave home, walk until he met his master and accompany him home. During the school holidays he would be part of every adventure involving Gordon.

Saggaboy’s greatest claim to fame was that he tracked down and cornered a pig that escaped from the slaughterers one Christmas. Gordon remembered the event clearly even though he was a small boy at the time. He recalled how four big men arrived at the crack of dawn on Christmas Eve to kill and parcel out the pig that had been fattened by his mother for the Christmas festival. Somehow, the pig realised that they were up to no good when they arrived early that morning. As they tried to lead him out of the pen, he struggled free, raced around the yard, and escaped through the back gate that had been carelessly left open.

All hell let loose as the men chased him. Instinctively, he sprinted across the vegetable garden to the nearest field that happened to be planted with eddoes. Through the eddoes he ran, closely followed by four men shouting at the top of their voices. They tried to cut him off from the field of tall sugar canes nearby that would not only have concealed him fully, but also retard the movement of grown men.

It was at that point that Saggaboy took up the chase. He quickly picked up the scent of the pig and followed it, all the time barking loudly to let the men know where he was. Two men followed him as best they could through the cane fields, while the other two trailed him along a cart road adjoining the field through which the pig was running. After what seemed to be hours of running, Saggaboy cornered the pig in an old limestone quarry and held him at bay until the men arrived. They then tied up the captive and took him back home, only to be mercilessly slaughtered. Thereafter, Saggaboy became a hero. He also became the constant companion of Gordon as he grew and spent more time away from home in the village.

One day, at the start of the sugar cane harvest, Saggaboy met a tragic end. For days he had been running with other dogs. The pack could be seen running everywhere, led by one dog. He heard adults say that the dogs were tracking a bitch ‘in heat’. At first, Gordon believed that they were looking for water. Then, an older boy from the village explained to him that the bitch was trying to select the fittest male to father her pups. Every male was trying to keep up with her ‘to reap the final reward’. They thought of nothing else as they pursued her.

In hot pursuit, poor old Saggaboy took no notice of the trucks and tractors pulling trailers full of canes. Obsessed with the erotic smell coming from the bitch, he ran into the path of a truck and was killed on the spot.

A few adults helped Gordon to put Saggaboy’s body in a bag and take it home to be buried. Very soon his friends heard the bad news and came around to Gordon’s house. They dug a grave for Saggaboy under the breadfruit tree and buried him with all the ceremony and tears that are normally reserved for a human being. It was the end of an era.

Then during the last long school holidays of his primary school career, Gordon’s primary school Headmaster came to the village. He was a spectacular figure who was always dressed in white. He was well respected and feared in all the villages from which his charges came.

On that day, he was bringing news of the results of the examination which the ‘brightest’ of the 11-year-olds had taken earlier that year. He went to the homes of every student who had taken the examination.

The truth is that Gordon had forgotten about the examination. He remembered how his Teacher had taken a few boys to a school far, far away, to take a ‘test’. It was the Teacher who decided which school each boy would take the test for. There was no ‘common entrance’ examination. It was a mystery how the Teachers made the decision. Was it the child’s academic ability? Was it the family’s ability to pay the school fees? Was it the status of the family? Or was it a combination of all those things? A few people gossiped about these things; but the vast majority of parents trusted the Teachers and respected their professional ethics.

A group of boys was sitting under a large tamarind tree in the village when one of them caught sight of the Headmaster and shouted: Look Mr Brainbox coming. ‘Brainbox’ was one of the many different names the boys bestowed on the Headmaster.

That can’t be Mr Bigstick coming to our house, exclaimed another.

All I know is that somebody in trouble, shouted several boys, almost simultaneously.

Instinctively they all ran off to the place where they felt safe… The gully on the edge of the village.

Several hours later Gordon and his friends wandered back home. Gordon lived on the perimeter of the village. His friends dropped out as they passed their homes. His inseparable friend who lived two doors from him was the last one (using his pet-name) to say: See you later Donnie, my buddy.

When Gordon got home, he found his mother in an agitated state.

Oh, my God! How am I going to get all that money to pay for you to go to Camford School? All those books! The uniform! Bus fare! Lunch money!

What happened, Mummy?

Didn’t you see your Headmaster in the village? Five boys passed for Government Grammar Schools and you get into Camford, she replied.

Gordon sauntered off to his room wondering what all the fuss was about. A bit later he sneaked out to visit friends. By then the news had spread around the village like wildfire. Everywhere Gordon went people commented on the fact that he got into Camford. Some people said it with a smile on their face; while others looked worried.

‘Who got into where’ was the topic of conversation in every group. No two boys passed for the same school. One passed for Kings College, one for Dunchester, another for Bexley, another for Newton College, and one for Camford. More girls than boys passed for good secondary schools and their distribution between girls’ schools was similar. But the boys paid little attention to that information.

Before the week was out, the gossip reached a climax when somebody stood outside their house and asked Gordon’s mother: How the hell you gwine pay for dat boy to go to Camford when yuh can’t even fix yuh lil old wooden house?

But for every negative response, there were several positive actions by well-wishers in the village who congratulated both the mother and son. Some, like the local tailor promised to help with the uniform; many parents of older students offered to lend him textbooks; and his Uncle Collie promised to help with the school fees.

Yet, for the first time in his life Gordon realised that he was considered poor and that there was something bad about it. For the first time he began to conceive of himself as different and set apart. For the first time he was learning about the power of others who were part of his everyday life to define his identity and social reality. It was the beginning of what would haunt him for the rest of his life, force him to construct a fortress to protect his identity, and lead to a degree of isolation from what was going on around him. The more hostile his environment, the more often he retreated to his fortress. This was essential to prevent him from having to submit or fight back in order to prevent others from classifying him and trying to dominate him.

Gordon began gathering material from a variety of sources to build this fortress. One familiar source was a recurrent dream. Initially the dream took him out of his own beloved village to a terrible place. Unlike his village it was an unknown, unsafe and unhappy settlement, located in the backyard of a sugar plantation. It was a place from which he was always trying to escape. In this dream, his enquiring mind would lead him to the boundary of the plantation and on to a succession of other plantations. In the far distance would be hills, mountains and forests. Surrounding the whole island would be the ocean, which could be reached by various routes and terrains of different lengths. The ocean was considered the end of his world, with dangerous waters in which escapees soon drowned.

He knew that he was asking for trouble if he strayed from his plantation. But instinctively he would focus on the distant mountain clothed in forests, and start running. He believed that he would be safe once he reached the forests. What’s more, he was adamant that he deserved better than what was on offer in that terrible place of his dream.

The boundaries of all sugar plantations of his dream were under constant surveillance by watchmen and their Guard Dogs. These dogs were trained