Police and the Policed: Language and

Power Relations on the Margins of the

Global South Danielle Watson
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/police-and-the-policed-language-and-power-relations-
on-the-margins-of-the-global-south-danielle-watson/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

The West and the Global Power Shift: Transatlantic

Relations and Global Governance 1st Edition Riccardo
Alcaro

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-west-and-the-global-power-
shift-transatlantic-relations-and-global-governance-1st-edition-
riccardo-alcaro/

Citizenship on the Margins: State Power, Security and

Precariousness in 21st-Century Jamaica Yonique Campbell

https://textbookfull.com/product/citizenship-on-the-margins-
state-power-security-and-precariousness-in-21st-century-jamaica-
yonique-campbell/

Violence Work State Power and the Limits of Police

Micol Seigel

https://textbookfull.com/product/violence-work-state-power-and-
the-limits-of-police-micol-seigel/

North American Perspectives on the Development of

Public Relations: Other Voices 1st Edition Tom Watson
(Eds.)

https://textbookfull.com/product/north-american-perspectives-on-
the-development-of-public-relations-other-voices-1st-edition-tom-
watson-eds/
International Relations from the Global South Worlds of
Difference 1st Edition Arlene B Tickner Karen Smith

https://textbookfull.com/product/international-relations-from-
the-global-south-worlds-of-difference-1st-edition-arlene-b-
tickner-karen-smith/

The Rise and Fall of Emerging Powers: Globalisation, US

Power and the Global North-South Divide 1st Edition Ray
Kiely (Auth.)

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-rise-and-fall-of-emerging-
powers-globalisation-us-power-and-the-global-north-south-
divide-1st-edition-ray-kiely-auth/

People Money and Power in the Economic Crisis

Perspectives from the Global South The Human Economy
Keith Hart (Editor)

https://textbookfull.com/product/people-money-and-power-in-the-
economic-crisis-perspectives-from-the-global-south-the-human-
economy-keith-hart-editor/

Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change,

and the Making of the 1960s 1st Edition Risa Goluboff

https://textbookfull.com/product/vagrant-nation-police-power-
constitutional-change-and-the-making-of-the-1960s-1st-edition-
risa-goluboff/

The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and the Global

South 1st Edition Kerry Carrington

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-palgrave-handbook-of-
criminology-and-the-global-south-1st-edition-kerry-carrington/
Police and the Policed
Language and Power
Relations on the Margins
of the Global South

Danielle Watson
Police and the Policed
 Danielle Watson

Police and the Policed

Language and Power Relations on the Margins of
the Global South
Danielle Watson
University of the South Pacific
Suva, Fiji

ISBN 978-3-030-00882-6    ISBN 978-3-030-00883-3 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00883-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018959228

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu-
tional affiliations.

Cover illustration: Pattern © Harvey Loake

This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Preface

In October 2016, I joined the ranks of PhD survivors. Like many before
me, my intention was to publish my dissertation as a book. This intention
was unaccompanied by any semblance of a plan and in my head, it would
simply be a matter of selecting a publisher and sending them a copy of my
dissertation, which they would then turn into something magnificent
(after all, policing in Trinidad and Tobago was a buzz topic and the atten-
tion of the Western world was fixed upon us because of the escalating
crime epidemic). I quickly realized writing a book was very different from
writing a dissertation and it was not as simple as repackaging. The idea was
shelved until 2017 when I presented at the Crime and Justice in Asia and
the Global South International Conference. There, I presented a paper
titled ‘“Crime, Criminality and North-to-South Criminological
Complexities”: Theoretical Implications for Policing “Hotspot”
Communities in “Underdeveloped” Countries’. The paper received much
attention from scholars conducting research in the Global South. For
many of these individuals, my arguments about the dangers of adopted
quick-fix policing solutions from the North and the shortcomings of
force-to-fit borrowed crime-fighting strategies were as relevant as they
were shared. This was a point being made by many of the presenters from
the developing Global South. What was different was that the position I
took and the fact that the geographic area being represented was not pre-
viously exemplified in Southern Criminology discourses.
The English-speaking Caribbean was not well represented in scholarly
representations of the Global South. Generalizations about the Caribbean
and unsubstantiated claims about crime and criminality in a region diverse

v
vi PREFACE

in multiple aspects, propelled my desire to commit to the improved visibil-

ity of the region in criminological literature on the Global South. More
than simply a focus on Caribbean diversity, I acknowledged the need to
reflect on the continued impact of northern criminological positions and
policies on governance or, more specifically, policing in contexts marked
by diasporic histories, problematic police/civilian relations, cultural and
ethnic diversity, institutional structures and competing ideological posi-
tions. I felt obligated to commence my contribution to criminological, or
more specifically policing scholarship, by writing about my country. My
linguistic background allowed me to take a multidisciplinary approach to
examine policing. My social position as a Caribbean national with ties to
three islands and insider knowledge of areas categorized as marginalized in
all of these spaces propelled me to take on the task of presenting positions
not easily accessed by ‘outsiders’ and unknown to many on the ‘inside’
with no knowledge of the realities of the ‘othered’.
Police and the Policed symbolizes my commitment to representing the
developing world in criminological literature. Here I share revelations
from my dissertation and insight into the realities of two groups operating
on the margins. It is demonstrative of the power haggling which takes
place between police and the policed, and shows how power is navigated
through language to help or hinder relations between and among indi-
viduals or groups.

Suva, Fiji Danielle Watson

 Acknowledgments

I am grateful to my PhD supervisor Professor Ian Robertson who served

as father, counselor, friend, therapist, discoverer, comedian and many
other roles that were required at any given point of the PhD journey. I
recognize my mentor Paula E. Morgan who chiseled me into the academic
I am today and gave me the push I needed to complete this piece of work.
She saw potential in me beyond my limited vision and worked continu-
ously to nurture my spiritual, mental and intellectual self. To the members
of my academic network who continue to help me find my footing—
Nathan Pino, Kerry Carrington, Nii-K Plange—thank you for stretching
my imagination beyond the boundaries of my discipline. I am eternally
grateful for the advice, encouragement and support given. To the officers
and residents of ‘my hotspot’, thank you for welcoming me into your
world, realities which many may never experience. Finally, I wish to thank
Hazel Watson, my mother, my motivator, my friend, for managing my life
beyond the writing.

vii
 Contents

1 Introduction   1

2 Policing Marginalized Communities in the Global South:

Examining Contextual Realities   9

3 Community Profiles: Initial Thoughts on Positioning

the Police and the Policed  27

4 Assigning the Brand: Police Labeling and its Impact

on Police/Community Relations  39

5 Branding Babylon: How the Policed see the Police  65

6 Police Typecasting and the Power Dichotomy  91

7 Stigmatizing and Stereotyping the Police: Communicative

Realities for the Policed 109

ix
x Contents

8 Negotiating Labels, Stigmas and Stereotypes: Discussions

for the Future of Policing 125

Index 135
 List of Figures

Fig. 4.1 Police labels assigned to residents 44

Fig. 5.1 Labels used to describe police 67

xi
 List of Tables

Table 4.1 Lists the labels, number of occurrences in data and meanings 43
Table 5.1 Police labels as assigned by community members and
meanings derived from discourses 68

xiii
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Abstract Police/community relations in high-crime communities have

been a common topic for criminologists and policy makers across the
globe. In societies with diasporic histories and culturally unique positions
on crime and criminality, the challenge for individuals tasked with the
responsibility of devising strategies to address identified problems is more
a matter of understanding social spaces set apart from mainstream posi-
tions informing outsider policies and practices intended to address insider
issues. This chapter provides a context for understanding the realities of
police and the policed from a marginalized community in Trinidad and
Tobago, the country with one of the highest crime indexes in the world.
It prepares readers for further discussions about problematic police/com-
munity interactions.

Keywords Policing • Police/community relations • Trinidad and

Tobago • Mainstream

Police/community relations in high-crime communities have been a com-

mon topic for criminologists and policy makers across the globe. A com-
mon position taken by policy makers has been the identification of
high-crime communities as problematic spaces in need of improved polic-
ing strategies intended to address identified problems. In societies with
diasporic histories and culturally unique positions on crime and c­ riminality,
the challenge for individuals tasked with the responsibility of devising

© The Author(s) 2019 1

D. Watson, Police and the Policed,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00883-3_1
2 D. WATSON

strategies to address identified problems is more a matter of understanding

social spaces set apart from mainstream positions informing outsider poli-
cies and practices intended to address insider issues (Harcourt 1998; De
Sardan 1999; Watson and Kerrigan 2018). Policy reform, citizen security
programs and crime-fighting tactics are common strategies derived to
address issues of crime on the margins (Nordstrom 2007). Such initiatives
do not acknowledge residents of marginalized communities as partners in
the crime-fighting process. Instead, there is an initial othering working in
the disservice of all strategies intended to action positive change. Police
and the Policed offers a glimpse into the realities of police and the policed
from a marginalized community in Trinidad and Tobago, the country
with one of the highest crime indexes in the world. I offer insight into the
communicative realities of residents from the community and officers
charged with the responsibility of policing the community to highlight the
problematic nature of police/community relations borne of a history of
problematic interactions underscored by force-to-fit policies more symp-
tomatic that practically suited to addressing the problem.
While I acknowledge that marginalized communities across the globe
bear similarities and the discretionary nature of policing allows for shifts to
accommodate what is required in different situations and context, my
position is that it is important to acknowledge and understand the intrica-
cies accounting for the uniqueness of different social spaces. It is also use-
ful to understand the impact of different perspectives and constructed
positions about groups of individuals if policing is to be effective.
Assumptions about international, regional or national similarities work in
the disservice of communication between groups with a history of prob-
lematic relations. What is discussed in this book is one aspect impacting
communicative realities—imposed or assigned categories. I do not make
claims specific to addressing all police/community relations in high-crime
communities but instead highlight how branding affects how police inter-
act with members of a particular community and how members of the
community respond to the police. It is also useful to note that judgments
about crime and criminality are not my focus here as my aim is to empha-
size the influence of opinion formations on interactions and the skillful
navigation of interactive terrains. My contemplation on issues pertinent to
the topics discussed in the chapters should in no way be viewed as abso-
lute. Much of what is presented to show the impact of labels, stigmas and
stereotypes on police/community relations is highly suggestive of the
 INTRODUCTION 3

­ifficulty to communicate with members of ‘othered’ groups and I

d
acknowledge that reality.

Methodological Approach
The Qualitative Study Data were drawn from a larger project on repre-
sentations of power in the discourses of police and community residents in
a high-crime community in northern Trinidad (Watson 2016). I examined
interview transcripts from 40 of the 93 police officers assigned to, or hav-
ing been previously dispatched to, the community and 40 residents from
the community. All officers interviewed have had reason to interact with
the community’s residents at some point, whether during patrol, respond-
ing to calls for assistance, taking reports or during casual encounters. All
community members had prior interaction with police. Police participants
included 10 Charge Room Officers, 25 Task Force Officers and 5 Guard
and Emergency Branch Officers. Community members included 27 indi-
viduals branded suspects and 13 individuals labeled victims based on prior
interaction with the police. All individuals were selected based on their
willingness to participate in the study and their availability. Further infor-
mation on participant selection can be sourced from Watson 2016.
Structured interviews were conducted from July to September 2013.
These were coordinated by the principal researcher on the larger project
with the help of two trained research assistants. Police officers and mem-
bers of the community were approached by the principal researcher
requesting a brief interview and outlining the purpose of the meet. They
were made aware that their contributions were being included as part of
a study about police/community interaction in a designated crime
hotspot.

The interview protocol for both police and the policed comprised 20
questions geared toward eliciting responses about police/community
relations and the labels, stigmas and stereotypes evidenced in their dis-
courses about each other. For the last question, both groups were shown
samples of recordings taken from civilian recorded footage uploaded to
YouTube of police officers—two of whom were under investigation for
misuse of force in the line of duty—and asked their opinions about what
was depicted. The study relied on the analysis of transcribed interview
data.
4 D. WATSON

Chapter Structure
The book has eight chapters. Each chapter presents an area pertinent to
police and community relation in branded communities. The idea behind
the organization of the chapters was to begin by establishing a context for
understanding the communities within which police operate before mov-
ing to discussions about policing in action. This decision was informed by
a desire to move beyond general force-to-fit descriptions of policing mar-
ginalized communities to show that contextualization reveals much about
social spaces that usually gets taken for granted or become the product of
arbitrary or convenient grouping based on minimal points of similarities.
The chapters move from international and regional to local ideas about
policing the margins. A further context is also provided to discuss and
reevaluate positions relating to police/community relations.
Each chapter moves from a general introduction of the focal area to
discussions about policing contexts or policing in context. Each chapter
problematizes an aspect of either policing of police/community relations
in a crime hotspot. Scholarly literature specific to each chapter is discussed
as a point of departure from which the topic under discussion is elaborated
upon. Earlier chapters present power relations on the margins in a broader
sense, while the latter chapters focus specifically on manifestations of
power evidenced in police and community discourses. Ideas about com-
munity branding are presented and special emphasis is placed on how
labels, stigmas and stereotypes impact police relations with residents of a
marginalized community in the Global South. While the initial chapters
are more intended to share informed reflections and conceptualizations on
a topic which has received much interest globally, the latter chapters are
more purposeful in the presentation and sharing of information intended
to serve as a guide for others intending to do similar research in the
branded communities, or persons with general interest on the topic of
policing marginalized communities.

Chapter 2—Policing Marginalized Communities in the Global

South: Examining Contextual Realities
Chapter 2 is used to present a description of what is meant by marginal-
ized communities in the Global South and to elaborate on the uniqueness
of such spaces. The chapter moves from a general description to a descrip-
 INTRODUCTION 5

tion informed by context and purpose. The intent was to present the
problems associated with applying general descriptions to communities
branded marginalized and to highlight the need for the creation of litera-
ture which is historically, contextually and socially specific if solutions are
to be derived to address issues of problematic police and community rela-
tions in high-crime communities categorized as marginalized.

Chapter 3—Community Profiles: Initial Thoughts on Positioning

the Police and the Policed
Chapter 3 presents a context to assist with developing an understanding of
the police and the people they police in a community designated a crime
hotspot. A common occurrence in criminological discussions about
Caribbean territories is generalizations suggesting a one-size-fits-all
approach to understanding and presenting the realities of the police and
the people. Many of these positions fall short in acknowledging the diver-
sity of the different geographic spaces. Even less focus has been placed on
acknowledging the differences in communities within the same jurisdic-
tion. What may be true of some communities simply may not apply to
others. Here, information is presented to assist with the positioning of the
police and the people, and to provide a sense of the general attitude of
officers to policing in these communities and the general attitude of the
communities toward the police.

Chapter 4—Assigning the Brand: Police Labeling and Its Impact

on Police/Community Relations
This chapter describes labels which come into play during police and com-
munity relations and shows the power of these labels during interactions.
Police labels are discussed under specific themes after which a discussion
of the label intersection and its effect on police/community relations is
presented. Arguments about what the assignment of labels suggests are
discussed. The chapter also explores how labels are framed in discourses
providing descriptions set up to situate community members and signal
appropriate responses to them intentionally attempting to influence per-
ceptions, viewpoints and interactive practices.
6 D. WATSON

Chapter 5—Branding Babylon: How the Policed See the Police

This chapter presents and describes labels assigned to officers and shows
how these labels are purposefully aimed at influencing interactive domains
and views about the police. In the same way that officers of the law assign
categories to the people they police, the policed create assignations to
describe how they perceive the police. These categorizations also work in
the service of determining interactive realities between the authors of the
labels and the labeled. The assigned labels reveal vital information about
how community members see the police and how officers are situated in
their discourses. Here, these labels are thematically grouped and discussed
to highlight their effect on police/community relations.

Chapter 6—Police Typecasting and the Power Dichotomy

Chapter 6 identifies, describes and interprets stigmas and stereotypes man-
ifested in police discourses. Police stigmas and stereotypes about the
policed are thematically discussed to show how they work in the (dis)ser-
vice of communication between the police and the policed. The discourses
within which stigmas and stereotypes are framed provide descriptions
showing how the lexicon of the authors project power through their con-
textual, social, cultural and situational language expressions. Stigmas and
stereotypes have been merged here as the discussed stereotypes appear to
present negative dimensions, stigmatizing overtones or overlaps within
the discourses. In the few documented instances where they differ, they
are discussed separately.

Chapter 7—Stigmatizing and Stereotyping the Police:

Communicative Realities for the Policed
In Chap. 7, stigmas and stereotypes evidenced in the discourses of the
policed are explained and a further discussion of their impact on commu-
nication between the community and the police is presented. Much like
police stigmas and stereotypes, those identified in the discourses of the
policed are thematically grouped. All stigmas and stereotypes are discussed
together in this chapter as discourses identified were not found to differ-
entiate between them and they appear to present only negative or defam-
ing attributes of the othered group.
 INTRODUCTION 7

Chapter 8—Negotiating Labels, Stigmas and Stereotypes:

Discussions for the Future of Policing
In this chapter, the reality of categorizations, the historical compounding
of categories and the conflicting worldviews informing these categoriza-
tions are discussed. For both groups authoring discourses about each
other, language is the tool used to make sense of interactions while also
informing how they relate. Here, explanations are presented about how
police and community members negotiate interactions after labels, stigmas
and stereotypes have been established. Arguments are also presented to
highlight the factors undermining group interaction once labels, stigmas
and stereotypes become ‘truth’. Issues surrounding the need for commu-
nicative redress are also presented.

References
De Sardan, J. O. (1999). A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa? The Journal
of Modern African Studies, 37(1), 25–52.
Harcourt, B. E. (1998). Reflecting on the Subject: A Critique of the Social
Influence Conception of Deterrence, the Broken Windows Theory, and Order-­
Maintenance Policing New York Style. Michigan Law Review, 97(2), 291–389.
Nordstrom, C. (2007). Global Outlaws: Crime, Money, and Power in the
Contemporary World (Vol. 16). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Watson, D. (2016). Exploring Power Manifestations Within Police and Civilian
Discourses: A Study of Labelling, Stigmatizing and Stereotyping in a ‘Hotspot’
Community in Northern Trinidad (PhD Dissertation). The University of the
West Indies, St Augustine.
Watson, D., & Kerrigan, D. (2018). Crime, Criminality, and North-to-South
Criminological Complexities: Theoretical Implications for Policing ‘Hotspot’
Communities in ‘Underdeveloped’ Countries. In The Palgrave Handbook of
Criminology and the Global South (pp. 611–632). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
 CHAPTER 2

Policing Marginalized Communities

in the Global South: Examining Contextual
Realities

Abstract In policing scholarship, communities not conforming to social

and political ideologies of the ‘powerful’ are usually presented as problem-
atic spaces for police organizations. What is not at the forefront of such
scholarly discussions is the community as a space where ‘insiders’ are made
to adjust or accept the positions of ‘outsiders’ carrying out a mandate
which may not necessarily align with ideologies at work within the particu-
lar social space. The author presents a description of what is meant by
marginalized communities in the Global South and highlights problems
associated with applying general descriptions to such communities and the
need to create literature which is historically, contextually and socially spe-
cific if solutions are to be derived to address issues of problematic police
and community relations.

Keywords Marginalized communities • Crime hotspots • Policing

margins

Marginalization, Hotspot Communities and Police/

Community Relations
Marginalized communities around the world are alike in their optional or
assigned non-compliance with mainstream ideological, political, social and
economic standards. This categorization is usually assigned to peripheral
dwellers or groups of socially excluded or ignored individuals within a

© The Author(s) 2019 9

D. Watson, Police and the Policed,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00883-3_2
10 D. WATSON

society (Sokoloff and Dupont 2005). It is also not concerned with group
size. In this sense, marginalized communities can account for majority
populations who are set apart from powerful social, political and economic
actors within a society. Descriptions also extend to include groups of indi-
viduals designated marginalized because of socially or contextually deter-
mined vulnerability. In essence, marginalization relates specifically to
assumed or apparent disadvantage. For many Caribbean territories, includ-
ing Trinidad and Tobago, marginalization is premised on perceptions
associated with social class or residential address, education and/or per-
ceived status within a society (Berkman 2007). It is therefore not unusual
for persons to be marginalized on the basis of residence within a commu-
nity deemed a ghetto or by virtue of not having attained the level of edu-
cation deemed normal by governments or policy makers.
Although marginalization is generalized when referring to communi-
ties in developing countries, it is often the case that such classifications are
not intended to apply to all communities but end up being inappropriately
assigned as a matter of convenience. Socially excluded communities in the
Caribbean and Latin America are often generalized as spaces where per-
sons live in fear of becoming victims of violent crimes and police and non-­
law-­abiding citizens present a potential threat to residents, who in turn are
left without options for justice (Berkman 2007; Goldstein 2003). Such
literature on high-crime communities suggests that within these spaces,
residents view their neighbors, the police and persons outside their imme-
diate circle as a threat (Buff 1994). Studies also categorize these spaces as
well known for high incidents of violence, homicide rates higher than
other areas within the same national borders and lower-class populations
compelled to illegitimate and violent acts as a primary source of income
(Caldeira 2000). These arguments do not apply to many marginalized
communities as continuance of these social spaces and the way of life of
the people are premised on notions of group solidarity and outsider exclu-
sion (Watson and Kerrigan 2018). Berkman (2007) argues that the vio-
lence assumed to be commonplace in many marginalized communities is
reflective of the actions of the minority and accounts are usually sensation-
alized by the media, politicians and residents of the middle and upper
classes. Several scholars acknowledge such generalizations as appropriately
assigned to some communities but highly problematic and inaccurate
when assigned to others. Butcher and de Tagtachian (2016) suggest that
communities on the margins uphold and value bonds that signify belong-
ing and acceptance to a collective and are compelled to the sense of
 POLICING MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH… 11

i­nclusivity the group provides. They are held together by their ability to
identify with each other’s economic, social and political struggles and
trust, togetherness and solidarity are strengthened and fortified through
identification with a shared reality of otherness (Watson and Kerrigan
2018). Language and communication among individuals belonging to the
group are premised on systems of solidarity and social distance. According
to Marais (1992), communities do not hold like ideals concerning social
order, nor are they concerned about the same social ills. Within the
researched community, the language used within various social contexts is
determined by specific characteristics which may be unknown or abnormal
to non-residents. Understanding the relationship between language,
power and social context is essential to providing an understanding of how
the community works (Barton and Tusting 2005). Where the language
used by police officers contradicts established values and norms within the
community, attempts at interaction by the police are likely marked by
alienation and possibly hostility. Residents are likely to work together to
maintain safety and security at the community level (Woolcock 2005).
Rejection of mainstream paradigms of acceptable social behaviors and
standards of conflict resolution position members of marginalized com-
munities as conflicting with persons adhering to upheld ideologies of
those with authority over justice, economic and political power. Despite
identified similarities in economic disadvantage and limited access to
resources among such communities, they are constructed differently
dependent on dynamics at work within the space informing adaptation
and specificity of context.
While groups of individuals or entire communities can be marginalized
for a multiplicity of reasons, the focus here is on communities deemed
marginalized because of their identification as crime hotspots by powerful
social actors. In August 2011, a partial State of Emergency (SoE) was
enforced by the then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, in an
attempt to combat the escalating ‘crime epidemic’. A total of 57 areas
were identified and branded as high-crime areas or more specifically
‘hotspots’. This decree translated to overnight curfews being enforced in
the designated hotspot communities and police being granted increased
powers to conduct searches and make arrests (Hutchinson-Jafar 2011).
Arguments provided to validate the decision included Trinidad being used
as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics and firearms, and the spiraling
murder rate. The arguments give rise to assumptions about residents from
such communities and their propensity to engage in unlawful acts.
12 D. WATSON

Marginalization in this sense is premised on assumed propensity for vio-

lence based on place of abode. The categorization does not state that all
residents of the community are violent, yet the non-violent community
members share the assigned brand and are subject to the consequences of
their residence. What is also relevant is the non-conformity of the 57 com-
munities to common general description of marginalized. The community
within which the study was conducted, for example, differs from the two
neighboring communities with which a border is shared. The community
is situated between one of the communities known for the highest murder
rate in Trinidad and Tobago, and a community well known for the sale of
illegal substances, narcotics and gang-related activities. The community
also differs from neighboring communities in that there is planned infra-
structure and a considerably higher rate of employment than neighboring
communities (Caribbean Human Development Report 2012; Central
Statistics Office National Census 2011; London 2013; Ministry of
Planning and Development, Trinidad and Tobago 2012). The docu-
mented instances of crimes occurring in the community are also signifi-
cantly lower than other marginalized communities as well as communities
not labeled marginalized. These known differences provide a glimpse into
the problematic nature of establishing one-size-fits-all responses to prob-
lems in developing countries or more so in any context. Categorizations
appear more based on the checking of boxes against established indicators
of marginalization than focused on accurately describing a social space.
The labeling of a community as a ‘crime hotspot’ not only has negative
social implications for individuals residing within the community, it also
adversely affects policing within the community, how residents interact
with individuals from outside the community and how these individuals
interact with each other. The assignment of a stigmatizing label impacts
how individuals are treated. These labels hold power as their assignment is
believed to alter behavior to match the assigned identity (Becker 1963,
2003; Lein 2009; Oboler 1995; Ray and Downs 1986). According to
Cooley (1902), people define themselves according to the view of ­society’s
perception of them. Individuals’ self-concept is informed by the way oth-
ers label, perceive and treat them. Their conception of self and community
is contextualized by the act of labeling and the reaction it warrants (Becker
2003; Mead 1934). The power of a label is evidenced in its ability to result
in negative action, transform image and categorize associations. For resi-
dents of hotspot communities in Trinidad and Tobago, interaction with
the most visible arm of governance, the police, is likely influenced by the
 POLICING MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH… 13

assigned brand. Marginalization in this context translates to increased

police presence in communities, increased military presence, military
interaction with residents in a manner that is not relegated to residents of
non-marginalized communities and enforced penalties for non-­compliance
with community-specific enforced restrictions (Reiner 2010). Subjugation
to constant surveillance and the continued anticipation of violent crimes
erupting within the space present a sense of limited access to justice for
inhabitants of the space. In such communities, there is the sense that
access to conventional methods of obtaining justice is limited as individu-
als on the margins are prone to becoming the problem as opposed to
being victims themselves (Reiss and Roth 1993). Justice in such context is
not conceived as conventionally administered by the state but instead the
result of actions taken by those within the communities who take up the
task of administering justice in the presence of failed state provisions
intended to satisfy community requirements. It is therefore not unusual
for justice, or as some might argue vigilante measures, to be administered
by members of the community where they view the state as being unwill-
ing or unable to provide justice through normative institutional means
(Concha-Eastman 1991). Berkman argues, ‘the issue of security, author-
ity, justice, identity and economics are tangible in the violent acts used to
secure [individuals] in socially excluded areas, beyond the influence of the
state institutions and mainstream paradigms of conflict resolution’ (2007:
5). Such rejection of mainstream paradigms of acceptable social behaviors
and conflict resolution position members of marginalized communities as
conflicting with persons adhering to upheld ideologies of those with
authority over justice, resources and political power. For residents of such
communities, the decision to trust police officers as agents of the state is
likely colored by knowledge of an inefficient judicial system and hard-line
policing policies, knowledge of police corruption, complex and conflicting
ideas about justice and security and skepticism about the ability of the
police to enforce true justice.

The Assigned Brand as Part of the Problem

For many marginalized communities, categorization as marginalized or
‘othered’ becomes less an indicator of prioritized areas for development
and more an indicator of the assigned status of ‘other’. In the case of
Trinidad and Tobago, the enforced partial SoE brought to public aware-
ness the high degree of interface between police officers and residents of
14 D. WATSON

marginalized communities. During the SoE, the assumed realities of indi-

viduals from the communities were communicated by the media in such a
manner as to lead to the stereotyping of citizens as marginalized victims
and to the triggering of prejudices against police officers, which was likely
to significantly compromise the effectiveness of relationships between the
groups. Although the roles of the different arms of the Trinidad and
Tobago Police Service (TTPS) are well documented, the contextual mean-
ings or parameters of operation attached to these roles are sometimes
unclear to members of marginalized communities.
Prior to the introduction of community policing perspectives in
Trinidad and Tobago, the issue of police and community relations in mar-
ginalized communities has been dealt with in a manner placing specificity
on either police officers as agents of the state or community residents as
social actors within a branded space. Existing research provides frames for
understanding and analyzing policing and police perspectives (Bowling
2010; Chevigny and Chevigny 1995; Deosaran 2002; Mastrofski and
Lum 2008; Pino 2009), civilian perspectives on policing (Maguire et al.
2010) and discourses on police power (Fairclough 2001), power ideolo-
gies, its manifestations and shifts within societies (Watson 2014). The
existing body of literature presents police and community members’ inter-
actions within these marginalized communities as delicate and requiring
improvement strategies to eradicate high occurrences of problematic rela-
tions. Some of these scholars made assertions about power relations
between groups as significant to interactive processes on the margins.
They identified human interaction as underscored by understood, accepted
or contested power dynamics. This points to a key area in understanding
police and community relations as an analysis of the discourses reflective of
this assumed power may enhance understanding of police and community
relations in marginalized communities. Language paradigms, in this sense,
reflect the structural characteristics of power between police officers and
the policed.
The structure of language reveals differences in experiences, positions
and assumed power. In most instances, police officers are seen in marginal-
ized communities where an arrest is being made or during an altercation,
both of which require a certain degree of authority demonstrated through
specified speech acts. Police presence is marked by a high degree of anxi-
ety, skepticism or fear on the part of individuals in communities known for
problematic police/community relations. In most documented instances
of police/community relations in high-crime communities, community
 POLICING MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH… 15

members complain about the manner in which they are spoken to by

police officers, while police officers complain about the unwillingness of
the policed to communicate openly. What is usually not taken into consid-
eration during interaction is that police and community responses to each
other are impacted by the subject or topic, the desired communicative
goals, time, location and audience. It is also affected by speaker class, men-
tal state of being and other stable features, such as interest and appearance.
The relationship between participants largely determines language choice.
Where there is an assumption about social status, power and lack of famil-
iarity, the output varies as opposed to situations where there is an interper-
sonal relationship marked by familiarity and a sense of belonging or
personal identification. An example of this is reflected when examining the
meaning of the word ‘informant’, which (preliminary research shows) var-
ies significantly for police officers and the policed in Trinidad and Tobago.
For residents of negatively branded communities, it is very likely that the
reason for interaction and the narrative framing such interactions do not
work in the service of positive, peaceful or non-problematic relations. If
we consider the nature of interaction during an enforced SoE, it is very
likely that neither police officers nor residents of the policed marginalized
communities are keen to engage with each other. The branding of the
space sets the tone for all interaction and serves as a forecast for interaction
between police and the policed.
It is also critical to our understanding of branded hotspots to identify
police officers and the policed as two separate categories of individuals
interacting from two varied standpoints—police officers as agents of the
state and the policed as independent agents. Police officers are individuals
bound by institutional conventions, which directly impact their identities
and functional capacities in the field. In essence, policing is a bureaucratic
act ‘deconstructed’ by its discretionary nature (Watson et al. 2018). There
are legislations to guide officers, but some situations require alternative
measures be used. An example of this is seen in the handling of female
suspects by male officers. Although policies do not state male officers are
not permitted to handle female suspects, precautions are taken during
such interactions to guard against future allegations of inappropriate han-
dling. It is likely that female officers present are placed at the forefront of
matters involving female citizens. There is a sense of existing regulated
discourses infused with contextualized discourses influenced by varied
‘truths’ about the social world, which operate independently of ‘categori-
cal grids of specifications’ about policing (Foucault 1980; Derrida 1978).
16 D. WATSON

The policed are not bound to such conventions and in this sense can be
regarded as free agents. They are however bound by communal ideologies
informing existence within a particular space or social group. Despite
common assumptions about police having absolute power over individuals
from marginalized groups, both groups possess different forms of power
during interaction (Watson 2014). The police possess state-vested powers,
while the community residents are uniquely positioned to influence what
happens within their space.
Insight into the impact of an assigned brand on a group of individuals
can also be derived from examining their interaction with another group.
In the case of hotspot communities, interaction with the most visible arm
of governance is likely to provide vital insight into how members of such
communities are positioned within a society. Such interaction is likely to
produce what Sower describes as ‘competing discourses of political strug-
gle that give contested meaning to national/ethnic identities and define
particular power relations’ (1999: 751). These ‘competing discourses’ or
occasions of language in use are pervaded by ideology. It is the perspec-
tival, plural and partial ideologies held by police officers and residents of
the community they police that provide a context for examining their talk-­
in-­action. Empowering one group of individuals to maintain the ideals as
perceived by a certain sector of society creates a context for problematic
relations where other sectors within a society are excluded or marginal-
ized. Interaction between police officers as agents of the state and com-
munity members belonging to ‘othered’ sectors of society is bound by
problematic discursive conventions. The authoritative bodies determining
the legislation of the country operate within different spheres. Discourses
within these contexts are shaped by ideological power relations excluding
the margins. Such discourses expose veiled ideologies which emerge and
are reproduced by individuals, groups and institutions (Mayr 2008).
Several researchers have produced literature to demonstrate the power
of words and their impact on categorizing individuals as well as ­influencing
interactions with others within and outside of marginalized communities.
In The Language of Oppression, Bosmajian (1983) described the negative
powers of language. He described language as a ‘metaphorizing’ tool used
to assign stigmatizing labels, which construct and suppress marginalized
groups within a society. His research highlighted the categorizing of
African Americans as ‘beasts’, Jews as ‘parasites’ and American Indians as
‘uncivilized barbarians’. This research points to the power of discourses to
suppress or incite power discourses during police and community
 POLICING MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH… 17

i­nteraction in branded spaces. His research suggests that the manner in

which individuals are perceived is enormously consequential to interac-
tions as language acts have consequences during interaction (Coston and
Kimmel 2012). For Goffman, ‘society establishes the means of categoriz-
ing persons and the complement of attributes felt to be ordinary and natu-
ral for members of each of these categories’ (1976: 11). In the context of
my arguments which follow in the later chapters, labels, stigmas and ste-
reotypes are interpreted as discriminatory concepts that impact the lives of
all individuals on a daily basis. Some of these concepts have become com-
monplace categorizations that make for ease of interaction among indi-
viduals, while others are employed in the service of initiating, protracting
or compounding relations underscored by problematic or discriminatory
over/undertones.
By categorizing individuals belonging to a specific group as marginal-
ized, we impute a sort of social identity that informs interaction. These
have the power to impact individuals’ social standing and are therefore
critical to building stable patterns of associations between police officers
and residents of negatively categorized communities. Research shows that
communities bearing stigmatizing labels develop bad reputations which
not only affect interaction with individuals from outside the community
but also the community’s prospects for economic development (Clear
et al. 2001). Stigmatizing labels generate stereotypes that result in negative
reactions from members of a society about a group or individual. These
lead to the generation of negative beliefs about a person’s personality as
well as clichéd behavioral expectations. Goffman describes this as the con-
struction of ideologies to justify inferiority and animosity based on ascribed
differences that translate to ‘truth’ in discourses produced (1976). The
manner in which a group or individual is defined allows for the application
of a form of control—emotional, social, physical—which underscores
interaction. Marginalization can discredit, alienate, complicate, exaggerate
and/or inform social identity. Research shows that these may work in the
service or disservice of preserving societal order (Coston and Kimmel
2012; Goffman 1976). While they may represent specific meanings to one
group, they hold the possibility to convey something different to another
group. Individuals are more accommodating of persons belonging to the
same categories, thus resulting in a sense of interconnectedness and align-
ment. Perceptions inform community connectedness as well as disconnec-
tions with persons perceived to be a part of the ‘othered’ group of
‘outsiders’. They are therefore power manifestations in and of themselves.
18 D. WATSON

The act of policing a ‘crime hotspot’ is reliant on the ability to navigate

social spaces. A police officer is therefore required to understand the space,
its inhabitants, underlying ideologies and discourse properties of inhabit-
ants. A failure to understand the group and their language presents a chal-
lenge to officers. The same is true if residents within the community fail to
understand the acts of policing in practice. Fairclough (2001) describes this
as an ability to understand the positions set up for participants—police or
the policed—within the community discourses or policing discourses, and
the extent to which these are occupied during interaction. This points to a
degree of expectation during interaction as perceptions held not only influ-
ence discourses but frame responses. Linguistically defined social spaces—
crime hotspot community—impact social relationships of occupants and
language choices. It is primarily through language that individuals demon-
strate acceptance or resistance during interactions and assert social identity
and purpose, thus demonstrating forms of power—power informing the
discourses or reflected through the discourses. An understanding of these
linguistic manifestations of power or power discourses therefore requires a
commitment to analyzing the relationship between discourse processes,
immediate social conditions and remote social conditions.
Because police officers cannot exist in isolation and their effectiveness is
dependent to a large extent on their relationship with the public, policing
within marginalized communities branded crime hotspots and tainted by
negative assumptions about inhabitants of a specific geographic space is
unlikely to be anything but problematic. Police perception of their roles
and the public’s understanding of these roles affect their relationship with
the public (Marais 1992). An understanding of the ideologies governing
the discretionary act of policing must therefore be held by all stakehold-
ers—police officers, legislators, community members—involved, and the
reality of the assigned brand must therefore be considered.

Media Sensationalization and the Margins

The media significantly accounts for how communities are represented
and portrayed. It contributes significantly to the setting up of identities for
individuals (Fairclough 1995). The media promotes choices—headlines,
label, jargons—which contribute to discourses constructed by individuals
to define self and others. In most instances, filmed reconstructions are
perceived as actual realities and interpreted as such by the population. The
issue of how the mass media affect and are affected by relations between
 POLICING MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH… 19

particular groups has also been brought to the forefront by several

researchers (Hall et al. 2013; Kress and Hodge 1979). The relationship
between police and residents of marginalized communities is primarily
portrayed as problematic. The constant portrayal of individuals dissatisfied
with the assumed ineffectiveness of the law provides meaning in the ser-
vice of producing unequal relations of power and relations of power domi-
nation (Fairclough 1995). The representations of turn-taking, topic
control and formulations are depictive of versions of realities constituted
by the media, thus the ideological and language processes involved display
a prejudiced representation of police/civilian interaction (Barak 1995).
The media gives rise to propositions that generally figure as implicit
assumptions.
The representation of reality in one way as opposed to another reflects
a particular ideology. Where police and the policed are portrayed in the
media, the representations are ‘emotionally charged’ to depict a negative
quality of one group against the backdrop of a positive quality of the other.
There is also the purposeful creation of an exaggerated public threat from
‘communities overrun by rampant criminal activities’ or ‘violent police
beating’ of ‘unarmed’ civilians. The discourses present a villainized group
while downplaying any challenge posed by the other group involved.
These transmissions of participation by individuals belonging to the differ-
ent groups influence as well as shape interactions. Individual participation
forms reality as much as it is informed by reality, a widespread edifice of
meanings, explanations, propositions and institutions that Berger and
Luckmann (1966) refer to as the ‘dialectic process’. This dialectic process
posits individual interpretation as dependent on experiences and commu-
nities of operation, which invariably impact the construction of meaning.
The media is therefore of paramount importance in the formation and
presentation of power relationships on the margins as they orient how
individuals see themselves and others in the world. The media presents
definitions of interactions and realities that become objectified, internal-
ized and accepted as true by the larger society.
The media’s role as a communicative medium to the larger population
places its architects in a position to shape the world of police and commu-
nity residents’ interaction, ascribe roles to the actors and determine the
extent to which the roles are developed, idealized or ‘villainized’. It is
regarded as a moral entrepreneur in that the media defines and redefines
groups or individuals, thus informing how interactions should be defined
and establishing cycles of internalizations and externalizations which
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
hier.… hier langest rait.… sóó.… deur.… deur de ploas.… Enne.…
enne soo’ langest ’t pad.… soo.… hier vlak-en-langest!.… vlak-en-
langest ’t roam.… Enn.… dá’ t’r.… da’ t’r.… ’n dooskop.… op sit.…
op de bok.… die kaikt.… kàikt.… almoar kaikt.…

Z’n stemmetje had zacht geklonken in gesmoorde ontdaanheid door

de plechtige luistering van de vrouwen, die mee-angstigden met ’t
kind, in benauwde gezichtsvertrekkingen.

Vuil groezelde lampjesschijn over schemerhoekje op Wimpies bedje,

en bleek z’n doodshoofdje grauwde in ’t vale schuwe licht, met
angstoogen groot en wildsmeekend, naar z’n moeder.

Stil stonden de bemutste vrouwenhoofden, donkerend naar Wimpie

toe, in angst-luister en even in plotse stilte loeide windvlaag ààn in
klaagsidder van buiten om raamduisternis, naar ’t nachtpad.

—’t Is sonde jonge, je moak main puur oàkelig.. zei rillend vrouw
Zeilmaker.

—Niks main jonge.… niks hoor, suste Ant, eigen bijgeloof-angst in ’r

hart smorend,—aa’s ’k weerkeer.… [214]

—Neenet moeder!.… neenet! moeder mag nie weg!.… nie weg!.…

gilde in dollen angst Wimpie, opsjokkerend z’n lijfje in kracht, met
elleboogstut achteruit in de peluw, dat z’n zandzakken aan ’t
voeteneind rumoerig bonkten, zadderend tegen ’t bed op.

—Moeder mo’ hier blaive.… ’k bin soo bang, ’k hep dooskop

sellefers.… sien.… sellefers sien.… en kaike.… al moar kaike.… da’
sullie doen.… enne.… enne.. mi s’n neus op ’t roampie.… soo.…
soo.… en kàike!.…

Lichter raakte geel schijnsel z’n doods-hoofdje, nu in angstgebaar

vrouw Zeilmaker van z’n bedje wegdonkerde, ’t licht uit.—In groezel
lampschemer van de kamer staarde ’t, in stillen schrik. Zweet angst-
glom om z’n breeën mond en neus en spakig uitgekniesd, vleesch-
vervreten, gebaarden z’n armpjes zenuwbenauwd boven z’n hoofdje.

Vrouw Reeker rilde, bezoog ’r kommetje water met kakementbeving

tegen ’t steen en vrouw Zeilmaker sloeg bang, in oogenangst, ’n
kruis.

—He je main ooit?! stem-drift e ze zacht uit.

—Daa’s droome main jonge.… droome, suste Ant weer.. aaiig

koesterend z’n magere wangetjes en zweethoofdje.… daa’s
nàgtmerrie. Murrige komp koàpeloàn.… kê je biechte main jonge.…
enn.… aa’s je kommuneseerd heb is ’t daàn.. tog ieder moand
sóó.… nie?.… Enne.… hep Omoe dan nie je kouse kruist veur ’t bed
leit, ieder nacht?

—’t Is sonde, lachte nu plots weer mannerig-zwaar vrouw Zeune, je

mot t’met op alderlei figgeleere.… kouse in ’n kruissie veur ’t bed.…
jullie laikt hier t’met allegoar daas.…

Vrouw Hassel bleef sussend en streelend Wimpie’s angstgrauw

gezichtje aaien. Naar buurvrouw Zeilmaker had ze stiekem
gefluisterd nog even te wachten.

—Aa’s tie wat bedoard is, goan ’k mee.…

Vrouw Zeune was op ’t verbeukte waschstel over vrouw Reeker

gaan zitten, kijkend dàn op neergeblokte stomme ouë Rams, die
pruim-siste sneller, dàn op ’t beteuterde gezicht van vrouw Reeker,
die kleine slokjes klappertandend, uit ’r kommetje opzoog. [215]

—Seg buurvrouw, barstte vrouw Zeune ineen weer uit, tot Ant, waar
is tog jullie gait bleefe.… is ’t beesie dood?.…
’n Ontstelde wenk gebaarde Ant uit ’t halfduister hoekje, naar vrouw
Zeune toe.

’t Beesje hadden ze moeten verkoopen, voor de huur.—Kees had

geraasd. Wimpie was dol op ’t diertje geweest. Ruim ’n week had ie
’r om gegriend. Maar nou net docht ie ’r ’n dag niet an, nou gong dat
waif ’t weer ophale.… Vrouw Zeune begreep half, maar zwijgend
zitten kon ze toch niet. Ze was gewend an venten, schreeuwen,
drukte en wat ’r man, klein tuindersbaasje, niet kon, lapte zij met ’r
lolligen mond op de markt en in Amsterdam.

—Seg buurvrouw.… is da’ snuit van ouë lappe al hier weest?.… de

huur ophoale saa’k moar segge?.… Is ’t ie al hier weest?.… wá’ ’n
dwarrel hee?.… Waa’n geep.…

—Swaig buurvrouw … bin aa’s de dood … aas’k sain sien buurvrouw,

jammerde vrouw Zeilmaker … Nou kraigt ie van main puur ellef
weeke.. nou sien ie, dá’ Joap nies omhande hep.… main Kees
nies.… main Willem nies.. Nou sien ie dâ wai droog brood vrete..
nou draigt ie rond.. dà je de skrik om ’t hart sloat.… Main Kristus..
hai trapt ons op stroat..

In woede trok vrouw Zeilmaker ’r kort rood sjaaltje dichter om ’r

schouers, prik-puntend onzeker, ’n speld in de wolstof.

—Hoe’s gosminsemogelik, jammer-schudde vrouw Zeune, met ’r

hoofd dat de zwarte balletjes van ’r wollen kaper juichten.… Dá’
kreng.… in de ploas bai main suster.… beefe se t’met aa’s se sàin
sien. Enne hai sait moar.… hai sait.… de groote heere motte van
main geld hebbe.… ik stoan d’r veur.… aa’s hai nie betoalt.… is ie
s’n boantje puur kwait.. nou betoale se van somer dubbel huur sien
jullie.… dubbel saa’k moar segge.… om aa’s dan in winter is.… nie
d’ruit set worre.… Moar hai mot self betoale sait ie.
—Da’ liegt ie.… hai sait sellefers teuge màin swoàger … die
bouwboer uit de polder.… hep ie sellefers sait.… hep ie sait da’ tie
ons dondere sel tò wai nie meer kenne.… da’ tie ons achter ons
duufelemint sel sitte.… [216]

—Hier-òp-an! Gommenikkie, aa’s tie morge komp.… baste woedend

vrouw Zeune, ken ie ’n lik onder se’n kakebaine kraige.… waa’n
skar.… waa’n kwinkwank.… Wai hebbe nie genogt in ons kop.… ’n
mins valt t’r bai dood.… aa’s je nie je lol d’rin houwt.… sou je t’met j’
aige f’rsuipe.…

—Dá’ rooit na’ niks vrouw Zeune, schelnijdigde vrouw Rams

ertusschen, hai ’s ’n fesoenlijk mins.… hai suip nie.… hai loop nie
nòa de maide.… enn.… en ikke seg moar.… ’n mins sonder
gòsdiens.… is.… is minder aa’s ’n beest.… daa’s main weut.…
Hai.… hai is suinig, hai is fesoenlik en.. en ’n mins sonder gòsdiens
is.. is minder.. aa’s ’n beest..

Stem van vrouw Rams beefde van nijdigheid. Haar lippen trokken
hatelijk op, één mondhoek bleef natrillen, ’r oogappels stáárden,
stáárden.…

—Nou, vrouw Rams, daa’s jou weut.… maar ikk.… ikke sien je?.…
ikke f’rtrouw de vint nog nie mi ’n leeg flenelletje.… saa’k stikke.…
Jai.… jai kèn nie sien.… moar ikke wel.… Enne.… enne.… vroag
nou alle vrouwe van de ploas.… wat-tie sloerie, die vuilpoes van
hòarlui hebbe wil.. aasse.… aasse nie betoale kenne.… Enn.…
enne.… mí’ de jonge waife gooit ie ’t dubbel groag op ’n ékoortje.…
En hai.… hài nie suipe?.… hài nie suipe? Nou ikke wou.… da’ ’k
sain loodpot op da’ teràin hier had.… enne fesoenlik?.. Hep ie nie mi
main Trien gain hoarlemmerdaikies wille moake? enn heb ie nie.…
Geert.… van.… vrouw Grint ongelukkig wille moake?.…
—Daa’s puur f’nain.… fenain, schold met schelle stem grootmoeder
Rams,.… hai is altait in de kerrek.… enne niemoant is t’r soo bestig
in sain gloof aa’s hai … want sonder gòsdiens.… is ’n mins.… minder
aa’s ’n beest.… snappie.. vrouw Zeune.… snappie?!.…

—Daa’s net, kalmde vrouw Zeilmaker.… gedrukt woar,.. aa’s ’n

boek.…

—Nou dattie katteliek is.… nou is tie broaf veur vrouw Rams, baste
gromzwaar vrouw Zeune, moar ik seg moar.… die faine.… die
faine!.… daa’s houe en bouwe.… kletse [217]de honderd uit!.… moar
die hebbe se hier!.… achter hoarlie elleboog!.… enne.… ikk.… ikke
seg de gek.… veur main persoon.… ikke leen hoarlie lieverst main
kerkboekie.. aa’s main skoatse.… saa’k moar segge.

Ant stond nog in schemer-vaal hoekje, aan bedje van Wimpie, die
half onder stemgeraas insluimerde. Met ’r paarsig-magere,
doorpeeste hand streek ze zacht-koesterend over z’n bleek-beenig
kopje, dat alleen even opschokte, als stemme-gekijf oprauwde en
vrouw Rams geluid, nijdig-schel boven de anderen uitdrong.

—Vrouw Zeune.… ’t is sonde.… schamperde zachter ineens vrouw

Rams.… jai bin gevoarlik.… daa’s nou main weut.… jai goan.…
vast.… in de f’rdoemenis.… jai kraigt nooit de genoade.… jai belait
je skult nie.… jai hep gain ootmoed.…

—Bi-jai-’t-Hain! poe!.… poe! blies minachtend vrouw Zeune terug.…

aa’s je nie puur veul ouer was aa’s ikke.… sou ’k je roake.… je mos
je skame.… minss.… jài mot noodig klesseneere van ootmoet.… die
flapt d’r me’r alles uit wá’ se leest hep in d’r kàtegismis.… da’ ke’k
ook.… van elk skoap op de werelt spreekt se kwoad.… jai bin main
’n dàs.… hieròp-pan!.…
—Jai bin f’roordeeld, plechtigde klemmender vrouw Rams door, ’r
starre oogappels in stemme-richting van vrouw Zeune, beangstigend
in geloofsextaze, stijgend in stemmeplechtigheid.… jai goan de
doossonde in!.… jai blaif.… brande.… in ’t onuitbluschboar
voaagevuuur.… jai kraigt gewaitens-knoaging!—

Zelotische waanzin galmde door haar stem en ’r handgebaren, vaag

de richting in van vrouw Zeune, strekten en krompen terug, in en uit
’t groezele kamerduister. Een starre grijns van dwepen stramde in ’r
spichtig bruin-geel gezicht en rillend onder angstigen invloed, stond
vrouw Zeilmaker ’r te bestaren.

Ook vrouw Zeune, in ander geloof, wist in ’t eerst niet wat ze zeggen
zou, overbluft door de plechtige dreig-strakheid van vrouw Rams
woorden in ’t stille krot, omloeid van windgeklaag. [218]

—Bi-jai-’t-Hain! lolde ze plots ruwig terug, na even stemmestilte

tusschen allen.… daa’s fàine kemedie, mi-sonder betoale.… mooie
f’rtooning.… allemàchtig.… waa’n waif.… komp Ant is ’t daan?.… ’k
mot soo fort.…

Uit ’t donker bedsteedje waar Dien met d’r drie zusjes lag, rommelde
plots rumoer òp en angstig gehuil. Dientje was recht overeind
gesprongen.—’n Paar vuile lappen als dekking over de kinderlijfjes
heengepuild, had ze van ’r afgetrapt, dat de karkasjes ingekronkeld,
slaap-asemend, in doffe suffige stilte, naakt wurmden en guurden in
’t armelijke groezellicht. Te gillen zat ze overeind, met ’r mager
verzenuwd borstje bloot, ’r groenige, mager-beenige knietjes onder
de kin, staar-oogend tegen ’t donkere bedmuurtje, met ’r handjes
krampig in ’r kort afgesneeën blonde haren woelend.

Ant joeg naar ’t bed, woedend. Van niemand anders kon ze wat
velen dan van Wimpie.
—Hou je bek maid.… hou je.… hep je weer je malle kuure?.…

Maar Dientje zag ’r niet, bleef staren, krabde één handje op ’r naakte
dij onder ’r smoezelig-goor vod-hemdje en met bangen angstsidder
in ’r stem, toonloos heeschte ze zacht-gerekt uit, als in ijlkoorts:

—Hier.… hier.… hier hep.… pie main beet!.… Help help.… nou wil ie
main steke.… Stil!.… stil!.… kaik hier.… stil!.…

„Help” had ze zacht uitgeheescht, en „stil” toonloozer nog

doordringend, angstig-broos.

—Hou je bek mormel, d’r is niks, goan legge!.… d’r is niks!.…

Buurvrouwen waren in kliek naar ’t bedje gedrongen, met de koppen

bijeen, het duister holletje ingebogen. Maar Ant drong ze terug en
fluisterend vroeg ze aan vrouw Zeune of ze d’r effe, ’t flesschie uit
den hoek van ’t schoorsteentje wou geven. Dientje, in bed, met ’r
voetjes opgetrokken, op de gonjen zak, kromp in, stamelde zacht
klankjes, lief-schreiend, die volgden r’ vingertje, dat strak-zeker iets
aanwees op ’t donker muurtje [219]van bedstee. En zacht afgebroken,
toonloos, heeschte ze weer.… plots met ’n gil ertusschen.

—Dà komp ie.… moe.… oè.… moe.… oe.… der!! Nou hep ie ’n
mes.… enn.… enne ’k wor soo dik.… soo dik!!.. Main hoofd wor
soo.… dik.… kaaik.… kaaik.… nou graipt ie.… enn.… o.… moe.…
moe.… oe.… der!! nou steekt ie.… aijj.… aijj!.… ajj!!.… moederrr.…
hai steekt.… moederrr!.… moederrr!.…

Twee kleintjes naast ’r werden wakker, wreven hun nachtlijfjes in

kouguurte, huilden zacht in stillen schrik. In ’t ander bedje bleef nog
stil alles. De half-open slaapmondjes zuurden adem uit in eng
ruimtetje. Opgedrongen bijéen, in nauwe holletjes met armpjes op
elkaars borst en gezichtjes gedrukt, grauwden de kopjes onder ’t
groezel-zwakke licht, stil en wezenloos; verstonk er scherpe urine-
lucht.—Vrouw Rams was van den haard, in tastvagen schuif, arm
gekromd vooruit, door ’t vertrek naar ’t bedsteetje geschoffeld,
scherpte weer nijdig.

—Daa’s de sonde van je sloerie!.… die suiplap!.… die

maidef’rkrachter.… daa’s de vloek van onse Heere.…

—Hou je bek moeder.… seg da nie.… je moakt main roàsend!.…

roàsend!!.… ’k sou sain f’rmoorde kenne aa’s tie thuis komp.…
stootte Ant uit, in huilwoeste vervoering en snikdrift van uitputting.

—Da’ lieg ie.… da’ lieg ie Omoe.… kermde Wimpie er doorheen, die
al lang wakker was, en stil-ontdaan te luisteren lag naar ’t zacht-
ontroerde ijl-stemmetje van Dien.

—Moar buurvrouw.… wa’ skeelt da’ kind? baste driftig vrouw Zeune.

—Aldegoar senuwe.… senuwe sait dokter.…

—Nouw daa’s net, stemde verbouwereerd vrouw Zeune in, angstig

kijkend naar Dientje.… daa’s eenderlai maine.…! moar sóó erg toch
nie buurvrouw.…

Ant was weer naar Wimpie toegehold, had ’m geaaid, en gesust, dat
ie weer rustig werd.

—Nouw buurvrouw, ik seg fierkant.… da kind doene te veul.… dâ

is’t!.… Se hep main d’r nood al kloagt. Soo’n [220]hufter.… soo’n
neutedop!.… Nou kaik.… ’s morges de polder in!.… enne.… kaik!
om naige uur weer ’t gangetje skrobbe bai vrouw Leming.… soo’n
skoap.. tut hallef ellef.. nie?.… nie?.… enne.… dan.… dan mos-se
doalik na de ploas kèrante ombrenge.… veur Teunisse.… tut.…
tut.… drie? da’ skoap!.… enn da’ hepse nog niks in ’r laifie.… en ’s
middags jou hellepe.… en s’oafes mo se finte aa’s t’r is, mi poone.…
da skoap!.… se loop d’r aige dood.. enne op de kooters passe!.…

—Wa’ gesanik, buurvrouw, nijdigde Ant.… is ’t main skuld?.… se

hep niks meer om hande.… van skool kenne wai nie frete!

Nijdig slofte ze weer naar ’t bedsteedje toe, naar Dien die zacht-
toonloos door-ijlde, met dwalend stemmetje; greep ’t kind met éen
hand bij de polsen, brak ’r tanden, met scherp afgekartelde tinnen
lepel van elkaar, ’n sloot valeriaan ijlend kindermondje ingietend.

—Niks aa’s senuwe.… dokter sait ’t ook.… se hep ’t nie veul.… soo
eens in ’t weekie.… ja buurvrouw.… daa’s nou màin lééfe.… Soo mo
je nou in d’r eeuwighait an ’t hannekemaie!.. naige kooters.… één an
de borst.… sonder vreete!.… die màin ’s nachts nog leegsuigt.…
drie moal.… daa’k gain oog toe doen!.… Bestig leefetje soo heè?
gain wonder daa’k kaik aa’s ’n geroamte hee.…?

Ant snikte. Met ’t fleschje in d’r hand was ze neergestrompeld bij ’t

tafeltje, gingen er schrei-schokken door ’r schouders.. De
buurvrouwen, om ’r, stonden stil, met verdroefde gezichten.. Vrouw
Reeker was heelemaal ’r eigen angst vergeten en stilletjes
aangedaan van de narigheid bij Ant. Nooit zou ze zoo trotsch meer
wezen, nam ze zich stilletjes voor en ereis wat sturen, als ze wat
over had. Beschaamd om ’r grienen was Ant weer opgestaan,
droogde met forsch schortgewrijf ’r oogen uit; keek ze neer, strak op
Dientje, die zacht nog steunde en wartaal uit-angstigde, maar toch
weer toegedekt lag, onder ’r stank-verwasemende half-rottende
boekweitzakken, met ’r bleek, zenuw-doorschokt, starend hoofdje
onder de luizende lappen uit. [221]

—’t Skoap is afgevrete aa’s ’n talhout, zei vrouw Zeune,

meewarig,.… sullie doen te veul? te veul.… da’ goan hoarlie na’ d’r
lui senuwe.… Buurvrouw wà.… wà vodde die kooters tug an d’r laifie
hebbe, hullie rille kompleet van kou.… da gaift gain sloap soo!

—Daa’s main skuld nie.… Kees hep vast niks.… Nou droagt sai.…
onderbroekies van Kees s’n broek.… en.… da mo’k bewoare.… en
sai.… van hem’s rokkie.… en de klaine.… voering van ’n lellig
broekie.… ikke lap en stop main aige ’n beroerte!.…

Plots schoot Dientje weer overeind met woeste schrikoogen en

angstgebaar, in wijzende, kromme vingertjes.

—Moe-oe.… de veldwòachter moe.… dà is tie!.… hier!.… hie.… er!

’r Hoofd wrong ze wild weg tegen den buik van Ant, die zelf geen
raad meer wist, en dood op was.

—Buurvrouw, toe, gaif t’r nog es effe ’t flessie.… wá’ mo’k

beginne.… daa’s puur iedre week soo!.…

Door vrouw Zeune geholpen, drukte ze ’t kronkelend angstlijfje neer

en sieperde tusschen de dichtgezenuwde tandjes ’t kind weer ’n slok
valeriaan in.

Ouë Rams, bij de schouw, in ’t groezel-trieste vertrek, droefvaal en

leeg-grauwend in ’t zwakke licht, siste achtereen z’n straaltjes tegen
ketelbuik, verschoof z’n stoel dan rechts, dan links. Wimpie
staroogde luisterend, uit z’n donkerend bedje, naar z’n zusje. Twee
kleintjes, in ’t hokje naast Dientje, lagen nog zacht te snikken,
wetend dat ze afgerost werden in vermoeienis-drift, als ze
meeschreeuwden.

Kwijnend lampje groezelde nog even vuil licht over ’t

vrouwengroepje vóór bedsteedje, waar sterker nu, tusschen walg-
lucht van zoet-zurige valeriaan, vochtige vodden-stank uitrotte van
zakken en smoezele onderkleertjes, in stank-hoopjes bij de
bedsteeën opgestapeld.—Langzaam bedaarde Dientje, plooide haar
gezichtje weer rustiger, dommelde ze in, naast de anderen. De
kopjes van voorste kinderen, even, grauwig zwak-geel beschenen, in
slaapmom, verduisterden vaal, in schrei-armelijke [222]kamerdiepte.
De lijfjes ingepast, en vlak op elkaar gedrongen, lagen nog verwoeld
en naakt. Zacht adem-stil slaap-gehijg zuchtte door de bedsteetjes,
droever vergroezelend in ’t weenende geelgrauw. Doodmoe was Ant
op ’n kruk naast Wimpie neergesmakt.

—Nou buurvrouw, nou goan ’k nie meer! ik bin d’r kepot van!

—Dan naime wai je brood mee.… goeiigde vrouw Zeilmaker.… ’t is

ons f’rtrouwd héé? tjonge.… tjonge!!.… hoor rais de wind
opsteke!.… ’t raigent t’met aas de see.… hoe komp je d’r deur!.… mi
sukke goate in de skoene!.…

—Asseblief buurvrouw.… hier is drie sint.… dankie wel!.… hai kraigt

nog acht en twintig sint.… en aas tie.… aas tie.… nie wil.… seg da’
Kees wa’ om hande kraig, miskien al.…

—Wa? hai je bai sain nog skult van brood?.… nee buurvrouw.… dan
naim ik niks mee, angstigde vrouw Zeilmaker.. dan bakt ie vast
nie.… vast nie!.… lest f’r main ook.…

—Groote genoade wa’ nou.… jammerde Ant met diepen snik-hik,

handen, uitgepeesd-mager, op d’r gezicht drukkend, krampig.

Wimpie, woest, probeerde zich op te sjokkeren uit z’n bedje en

ontroerd beefde z’n stemmetje zwak:

—Aa’s moeder huilt, goan Wimpie doalik dood.… doàlik..

Strak en besloten klonk z’n stemmetje plots, en scherp gloeiden z’n

oogen in z’n vervreten-bleek hoofdje.
Ant, uit hoofdbuk, keek ’m aan, veegde ’r tranen met schort weg.…

—Meroàkelsche jonge.… hou je bek! nijdigde ze, kwaad van

vermoeienis,.… d’r mot toch vrete weuse!.…

—Nou buurvrouw, aa’s vrouw Zeilmaker je brood nie pakt, naim ikke
’t.… Sien je.… de broafe vrouw Reeker, die ons alle drie wel koste
ken.… die hout t’r mond.… die hep se hier.… enn vrouw Seilmoàker
is d’r nou d’rais.… ’n faine.… van jullie gloof!.… Enn ikke.. ikke bin
protestant.. moar ’t sit d’r dunnetjes op.… moar ikke seg moar.… van
de faine [223]mo’ je ’t hebbe.… die hebbe ze doàr, achter hoarlie
elleboog.. achter hoarlie mouw.… En bakke sèl ie!.… ikke hep de
heule winter op de reutel.… en somers betoale.… altait ’n joar
achter.… enn soo frete wai allegoar.… ikke.… sai.… hai.… Piet de
heule dot tuinders.

—Joa,.… onthutst ’n beetje, verantwoordde zich vrouw Zeilmaker,

moar jai hep omhande somers.… main Kees nie somers.… nie?.…

—Netuurlik, spotte vrouw Zeune, wai hebbe kerels, die d’r nog
werreke.… wai kraige de heule winter op reutel.… hai hep nooit
niks.… Och waif.… dá’ wee je nou ommirs nie?.… je mo wa òf’r
hebbe veur je mèdeminse.… enne.. nou kaik da skoap reis an!.…
hei je ’t nie durrefe woage?.. die poar sinte?.… nou is main man ’n
prêchtig mèrk van s’n aige.… en nou vent ikke d’r self bai.… op
Amsterdam.… en nou fedien hoarlie fent d’r t’met drie keere soo veul
aa’s hullie.… ’t is skande!.… da gong noàr kerrik!.… nou.… je sou se
molle-mi-de-klomp!.… nou.… dàg hoor! dag.… Wimpie!.… skoap!.…

Zwaar gromde ’r mannestem. Ze was de deur uitgehold en

schoorvoetend, bedremmeld, drentelden vrouw Reeker en Zeilmaker
na.
Grootmoe Rams schuifelde weer door de kamer, ’r zware heuplijf
zacht in schomm’ling, spichtig d’r vossekop, loerend uit de staar-
appels, armen krommig vooruit, in tast van dikke vingers,
mummelend wat heilige katechismus-zinnetjes. En ouë Rams als ’n
romp-blok in ’t verkort neergekwakt, siste langzaam, door kamerstil
geel-grauw, z’n pruimstraaltjes tegen buik van konkelpot, met zachte
onderdrukking van hoest die ’s avonds èrger oprochelen kwam.—

[Inhoud]

II.

Om tien uur klos-klompte Kees thuis. Wimpie lag nog wakker. De

ouë Rams stommelde in gangetjesbedstee, naast achterend. Ant
frommelde ’r plunje los, zwaar gapend met [224]zenuwgeluid.
Windraas en regenstrieming loei-kletterden tegen ’t hoog-cellige
raam van stil duinkrot. Met groote verdonkerde oogen lag Wimpie te
luisteren, bang-roerloos in de stilte, naar het weer dat dol-gierde ’t
pad rond.

—Goan je nie sloape, foàder?.… klonk vraag-aarzelend-zacht z’n

stemmetje.

—Neenet jonge.… foader mot ’r op uit f’nacht.… doe jai je ooge nou
toe, heè?

—Blaif je.… je.… dan de heule nacht wegg! gaapte in zwaren

zenuwkreet Ant weer uit!

—Wee ’k niks van.… aa’s vangst goed is nie! hebbe sullie m’n spuit
brocht?
—Joa.… he’k an d’muur hange.…

—Nou gaon jai d’r moar in.… breek je kop nie van main.. we hebbe ’t
weertje da’ we hebbe mòtte.…

Kees had den achterlader, die dwars tegen den muur hing uit den
hoek gehaald. Den lichtbak veegde ie van binnen, met z’n mouw, in
ruwe smeren schoon; ’t glas langs z’n vuile zwaar belapte broek,
waarover ie met moeite z’n hooge afgeloopen strooplaarzen had
getrokken.—

Zacht rammelde ie de lamp van lichtbak aan z’n oor.… of d’r genoeg
brandsel in was. Nog even moest ie den boel op monteren en
spiegel-reflektor uitpoetsen. Zenuwachtig gejaagd kromden z’n
groote handen door de àl donkerder kamer. In snellig beweeg trok ie
z’n achterlader uit elkaar en rommelde de spullen met lichtbak in
grauwen zak.

—Nou sloape, jonge, zei ie goeiig met vol-zware stem, rommelzak

over z’n schouer slingerend, de punt-enden als knoop, stevig in z’n
hand geknoest.

—Is nie errig swoar weer foader?.… zwak-angstig vroeg Wimpie

weer.

—Daa’s net jonge.… dà hep foader juustement noodig.. aers vangt

ie niks.… hoe meer wind.… en rege.… hoe meer schooje jonge.…
daa’s ’t echte Janeòarie-weertje! Maar nou mo’ je sain pakke hoor!..
nou van niks meer prakkeseere hoor!..

Zwaar donkerde z’n reuzig lijf in z’n beschimmelden jekker, [225]in de

lage duisterende kamer òp in àl zuiniger lampschijn.… Uitgemergeld
doodskopje van Wimpie lag nu vaal bleek-groen groezelig
beschenen, te staren naar de stille bewegingen van Kees.… Ant
draaide lampje laag, dat ’t bliksem-blauwig uitspetterde, knielde in
huiverende devotie voor krucifix en bad stil-snikkende woorden.—

Zonder z’n vrouw te groeten, even in ’t donker op Wimpie

aanstappend, ’n zoen op z’n kopje drukkend, stapte Kees de kamer
uit, zacht, op z’n teenen.—

Zware windbuldering van zee aandonderend, stormde ’t nachtpad

rond en in kolkend gesplinter kogelde hagelslag tegen ’t raam van
z’n krot, dat als donker dreigoog onder vuilen lap, den nacht in keek.
In stikdonkere dreiging lag ’t pad voor Kees, dichtgestormd met
helzwart, naar den zeeweg. Windgebulder rumoerde boven z’n
hoofd, in duister geweld, dolwoest en orkaan-kermend in
boomgedruisch. Kees rilde. ’t Wrokte hevig, gloei-hevig in ’m dat ie ’r
uit most. Wel echt weertje voor de jacht, maar toch gromde er
stikwoede en drift in ’m dat ie duinnacht in moèst, omdat ie ’r ’t land
aan had. Dan nog liever met sprenkels, maar da gong nie meer, nou
ie niks bezat. Nog tien had ie ’r toegedekt verleje week, en nou.…
alles was ’m afgeganneft.… alles.… door de speurders.

Geen duimbreed voor oogen kon ie zien. ’t Pad weggezwachteld in

diep-duisteren nacht, de lucht nog zwarter.—Hevig teisterende
windhuil uit alle duinhoeken, raasde op ’m áán. ’n Endje zou ie den
weg op gaan. Om half elf mosten de makkers er zijn. Bij elken stap
rammelde de lichtbak en achterlaad-stukken in den zak op z’n rug,
mee. Regen splinterde woest windkolkerig z’n naakt gezicht in, met
vlagen scherp prikkelend en guur door z’n dunne kleeren heen-
huiverend. Even bij windligging, floot ie rap, dubbeltonig licht signaal,
ijl door den week-huilerigen nawind, verslingerd in de duisternis.
Niets hoorde ie terugsignalen. Donderend takkengeraas rondom, in
fellen rhytmischen zwiep en sneeuwigen regen, [226]plots z’n mond
en oogen inwaaiend, als vlokjes smeltend nat. Wrevelig, met
stikwoede in ’t lijf, bleef ie marcheeren langs ’t pad, poogde ie in te
duwen tègen de windhoozen op duisteren zeeweg, die ver, ver voor
’m lag, toch vlak op ’m dreigde aan alle kanten, zwart dichtgegooid
met donker orkaangeweld en wilgengezwiep. En van overal uit duin
en akkers, stroomde aandonkering van zwarte windgolven,
donderbruisend en kolkend, omsmorend, achter floersen van nacht,
hallucineerende angststem van wind, die schreide, schreide uit alle
hoeken; soms ijl in zijlanen schoot, wild en huiver-gillend, dàn plots
klaagde, midden op den weg, waar lage wilgen, naakte stammen, nu
zwart-gedromd stonden, in duister huivergebaar. Windeloei, zacht
klaagde uit, in hallucinante klanken, als hooge mandolines,
veelstemmige snarenween, samenschreiend met duisteren zang van
de zee, die aanzong van ver, heel ver, over de duinen, en
opschuimde z’n golven-bassen, oneindig wijd, in sidderend tempo
door den nacht, klagelijk en wild, plots soms verspringend in
schrillen variant met wind-mandolines.—En sterker soms, als orkaan
even rustte en zachter gerucht uit wilgenduistre zijlaan deinde, klonk
huiverende zange-klacht op, veelstemmige mandoline, zwevend
boven breeë bassenrij van duisteren zeezang, die geweldig over het
smoor-donkere duinland aanzwol.

Plots hoorde Kees, kort van den wegkant naar Wiereland, zwak
doorwaaid fluitsignaal. Doar hà je de kerels.… Ril-ellendig, doorkild
van kou, slobberde ie door modderbrei van pad af, den weg op naar
de stroopers. Met hun vijven waren ze òpgegroept. Jan Breugel,
Klaas Koome, Delker, Piet Hassel en ’n nieuweling Plomp. Piet had
nooit nog gestroopt. Nou f’enoàved sou ie ’t ereis sien, wa se al
deeën de kerels.—

—Ikke sien gain pitje.… snof’rjenne.… wà sitte se hier in donker.…

wà sitte jullie, vloekte met driftstem de nieuweling Plomp, die zich
onzeker voelde in den nacht, en telkens dacht ergens tegen op te
loopen. Piet slifferde achter ’m áán, ook onrustig voor zich uit-
tastend en morrend in stilte, dat ie geen hand voor oogen door de
rumoerende duisternis kon zien. [227]

Kees sprak geen woord, in de donkere been-schuifelende

ontmoeting. Stil liep ie naast Jan Breugel, die den lichtbak dragen
zou.—Klaas Koome de „hazewind” en Delker de uitkijker, sjokten
achter Piet aan, spottend met den nieuweling, berooiden
bloemkweekers-knecht, die zich erg benauwd en zenuwachtig
voelde, en barren spijt had dat ie meegegaan was.—Met Kees, dien
Plomp donker-reuzig vlak voor ’m zag schaduwen, al kon ie geen
stip van z’n kop zien, durfde ie geen woord spreken. Dat was
duivelsmaat, leek ’m de gevaarlijkste van allen.

In den heuveligsten hoek van Duinkijk, achter woest-lage glooiingen,

tusschen weibrokken ging de tocht en overal joeg ’t windtumult van
zwarten nacht vol bang gekerm en zong nà, zwaar, uit ’t duin-duister,
den droeven zeezang van vèr.

Piet voelde zich niks op z’n gemak, en bang starde angst in ’m, als
plots windrumoer was uitgeraasd voor ’n oogenblik en de
stikduistering om ’m nòg stiller staarde in den nacht. Dan nog had ie
liever windgeloei.—Maar niks wou ie laten merken voor den
blufferigen Klaas Koome.

—Hei Piet.… lolde die, niks voelend voor den angst-zang van nacht-
orkaan.… op da’ teràin kenne me soame hée.… jai piept se in je
stroatje.… nou.… en ikke.… ikke konsteteer.… van da’ Kees nooit
mis skiet.… want hai.… mi s’n skooj-beweging!.…

—Hou je bek, dreigde Kees uit ’t duister, achter zich om-sprekend,—

is ’t nou weer om de honderd uit te klesse!.…

Uit padhoek, bij dichten boomengroep, waar éven luchtbrok wild-

droef grijs boven joeg in zwammigen veeg, kwam langzaam, loeiing
aanzwellen. En dampig stond, diep achter woeste haag, ’n raam-
hutje aan padkant, in gouïg kozijnlicht gelijst, als rossig nisje, zacht-
heilig uit nachtkrocht opdiepend, in warrigen brandschijn.

—Nou stil Kloas, fluisterde Breugel, da’ hei je Piet Smeuling.… de

koddebaier. Breugel’s stem was gaan fluisteren. Op de teenen
knarsloos, in zachten stap, sloop ’t stoetje lichthuisje langs, dat éven
fijnen goudschijn uit raam misten liet, zacht en warm de duisternis in,
’t pad zwak beschemerend. [228]

—Binne wai d’r nog nie?.… goan da’ wel goed?.… angstigde Plomp.

—Debies.… die sit nou al in de knaip.… op da’ teràin mò je Kees

hebbe,.… blufte Koome,.… se selle je nie gannefe moat.… ikke
konsteteer van da’ se je aa’s de drommel noar huis sture.… noa ’n
uur.… op da’ teràin is ’t ’n jachtbeweging.… die je nie snapt.…

—Hou toch je bekke,—snauwde Breugel, die naast Kees nog liep.

—F’rwa’, main manneke!.… we benne d’r ommers nog nie?.… Seg

Piet.… da’ há’ je bai motte weus.… verleje week.… twintig
làngoore.… in twintig skòòje!.… en sestig woar-ik-’m-weutjes.… in
sestig skòòje!.… hep Kees lapt!.. da waa’s d’r ’n mooie beweging.…
hai stong de paas te merkeere op Bekkerbosch.… op dá’ teràin hep
Kees de medallie.… Nou ik konsteteer van da’ nie eene uit Egmond,
uit Hoafedrecht of Seekaik sain lait.

Onverwacht bleven Kees en Breugel staan. Piet zag geen hand

breed voor oogen, sjokte maar recht uit, met vagen angst in z’n hart
en Plomp gromde, dat ze veur sain part net soo goed naar de hel
konne loope, geloofde ie ’t nog.—Kees en Breugel, geoefender,
zagen al beter in de duisternis. Ze stonden voor ’n wegkronkel bij ’n
dwarspad, dat ’t diepere duin indonkerde, vol zwarte heuveling.
Zacht schuifelden ze voort, tot ze, aan ’n breeë sloot voor ’n weiland,
op prikkeldraadschering stuitten. Met lichten sprong was Kees over
de sloot heen gewipt als ’n reuzige dansende schaduw en vlug ’t
stekeldraad overgebeend. Breugel en Dekker klauterden na en Kees
achter uit, stemfluisterde dat ’r nou geen woord meer gezegd mocht
worden. Klaas Koome, de praatzieke, nog staand voor slootkant,
fluisterde Piet en Plomp toch in, dat hier ’t weiland lag en de
strooptocht beginnen moest. Koome was over de sloot gesprongen,
hield zich geklemd aan ’t prikkeldraad en grabbelde in ’t donker naar
Piet en Plomp die ’m angstiger naklauterden.—Er zakte barre vrees
in Plomp, dat ie gegrepen zou worden, maar nou moest ie mee.…
D’r was t’met gain [229]freete thuis.… en allegoar hadde ze sain
opgehitst.… hai los werkman.… hai mos t’r soo wa’ baif’rdiene.…
ken se kossie bestig hoale.… beter aa’s mi poere in ’t winterland.…
Moar lol had ie ’r nie in.… aa’s Koome.… die ’t veur lol dee.… en
Delker.…

—Wel snôf’rjenne Plomp.… sien ik je snuit-beweging hoast.… Piet is

t’r al lang, barstte Klaas Koome uit.…

Van zwaar besneeuwd gestruik, glibberde Plomp’s been af, telkens

in ’t sloot-donkere nat, toen ie plotseling zich hoog voelde overlichten
en òptrekken.

—Bi je bekranst, lolde Koome, krachtkerel,—paa’s nou op,

dòndereminte!.… dá’ je op dá’ teràin je achterwerk nie an de prikkels
sitte loat!.… sou t’met ’n kemieke beweging sain.…

Zacht, zweeflicht fluitgeluidje siste op kleinen afstand van Klaas,

twee, drie maal achtereen, met klagelijken windloei mee, zacht
trillend.

—Nou stoan je ’r Plomp.… hoor.… de wind lait!.… Kees fluit.… op

dá’ teràin mot ie main hebbe.… merkeer de paas.… nou.…
hierhein!.…
Met angst-bonzend hart en klopping in z’n hoofd, was Plomp op den
donkeren weigrond gezakt. Nog niks kon ie zien, nou weer niet op
nieuwe plek. Vóór ’m duisterde weer geraas en stormbuldering,
overal pikzwarte diepte, waar ie dacht in te tuimelen, verder wijkend
bij elken stap, en toch weer dichter op ’m áándreigend.—

—Was dá’ nou de angst van in ’t donker loopen?.… Was tie nou
heulegoar g’n kerel? Moar vloeken kon ie, telkens vertrok ie z’n
gezicht, bang tegen hek-werk pal op te loopen.… vaag, onzeker,
niets ziend, niets tastend, en toch al maar vooruit!.… Nou klauterde
de angst tegen z’n keel.… want hadde sullie nie sait, dat hier ’n skot
van daan de koddebaiers loerde?.… kaik.… die motte nou loere uit
de donkere hoekies en sain vastgraipe.… netuurlik.… Sjokkerig in
tast, voelde ie zich bij ’t in duister fluisterende stoetje aangeland, dat
hurkte laag bij den grond. [230]

Kees, ongenaakbaar, met krachtwil, stil in speurfijne zinnen,

zenuwloos gehard en gericht op z’n doel, zonder schijntje angst,
beheerschte drukke onbezonnenheid en tartende klets van Koome,
die overal waar ie was ophakte met woesten geestdrift van z’n
stroopersbedrijf. Kees verafschuwde den vent, omdat ie geen ernst
had, en omdat ie niet òòk ’t stroopen verfoeide, daar ie toch goed te
vreten had, van ’n goed zaakje als zaadhandelaar.

Voorzichtig had Kees z’n achterlader uit den zak gemorreld, de

stukken in elkaar gehaakt, zacht, uit gewoonte, zonder besef, dat ’t
windgehuil knarsgeluid overraasde.

—Koome,—zei heesch fluisterend Breugel,—je weut ’t … kaik nog

moar reis.… noar Delker!.… ’t is hier heet.… jai houdt de sak.…
Delker hep se tieme kloar,.… gaif Piet die.… en Plomp d’r ook
een.… wa’ d’r komp,.… sloan toe.… Lá’ je nie bang moake
Plomp!.… splait se d’r smoel van mekoar!.… nou stil!.… ’t is hier
heet, heet!