Falling Coconuts

Many Bequia families raised animals on their property and Mac’s parents were no exception.  Momma tended sheep and chickens on family hill while Bluesy raised goats, pigs and a cow.  The pigs (I believe just one at a time) were kept in a pen on the hill but the cow was tethered at the coconut wharf near the waterfront.  The goats ran wild at La’Anse Coite (pronounced “lance se koi”) on the windward side of the Island near Spring Bay.  Catching one of the agile goats for Momma to cook was always an interesting challenge!

One morning Mac ran into the Pizzeria to tell me that Bluesy had been hit in the head by a falling coconut and had been taken to the Bequia casualty clinic.  He had been tethering his cow at the coconut wharf when it happened, and as those trees were very tall a falling nut could do serious damage. Mac said his father seemed to be all right but that he was being kept at the clinic for observation.

After work that afternoon I went to family hill to collect Vanessa and found Momma sitting alone on her porch.  When I asked after Bluesy I was astonished when she retorted, “serves the f…cker right!”  Momma was convinced that tethering the cow was just an excuse for Bluesy to “lime” with young girls, and that getting whacked in the head by a falling coconut was well deserved.  If she was trying to hide her anxiety about her husband’s injuries she did a fine job!

A few weeks later an elderly couple stepped off the Friendship Rose.  It had been a rough trip across the channel and the couple were shaking as they checked into the Frangipani Hotel, especially the lady.  She was so discombobulated by the horrific crossing that she asked the hotel to call the Catholic Priest, she wanted him by her side in the event she needed last rites!  The hotel obliged and the Catholic Priest arrived to comfort the distressed woman.

The elderly man, upset by the whole ordeal, decided to take a quiet walk through the coconut wharf near the hotel.  Bluesy was busy tethering his cow (at least that’s what he told Momma!) and witnessed what happened to the unfortunate visitor as he strolled beneath the tall palm trees.  A coconut dropped and landed on the man’s head, knocking him unconscious.  Bluesy jumped into action, doing what he wished someone had done for HIM when he had been struck by a nut a few weeks earlier.  Grabbing the unconscious tourist by the armpits, he dragged him to the sea and dunked his head under the water in order to revive him.

Bluesy was right, the dunking DID revive the man, who totally freaked out when he came to with his head being held under water!  He had no idea what had happened to him, one minute he was having a much-needed peaceful stroll, the next minute he was being drowned by a total stranger!

Having no other choice, the two distraught tourists spent the night at the Frangipani Hotel. The next morning (again having no other choice) they were back on the Friendship Rose, never to be seen again.  Their anticipated two-week vacation in Paradise had been a 24 hour nightmare in Hell!