Angus Chinnery

I Am Happiest When at Home

ByHugo F. Vanterpool

Copyright © 2013 Hugo F. Vanterpool. All rights reserved.

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iii

Dedication

My wife Erlin and our fi ve children: Harlan, Vareen, Karis, Jeremy, and Derek Vanterpool.

v

Table of Contents

Foreword .................................................................................... viiAcknowledgment ......................................................................... xIntroduction ................................................................................. xiChapter 1 School Days ................................................................. 1Chapter 2 Young Teacher, Young Lover ........................................ 8Chapter 3 Legal Training, Uncle Ebbie...................................... 20Chapter 4 Homeward Bound ...................................................... 26Chapter 5 Linda .......................................................................... 39Chapter 6 Angus Tries Again ..................................................... 54Chapter 7 The Hurricane ............................................................ 62Chapter 8 The Antiguan Honeymoon ........................................ 76Chapter 9 A Real Scare and a Narrow Escape ........................... 94Chapter 10 Latricia Shows Up ................................................. 118Chapter 11 A Family Visit to the Countryside ......................... 136Chapter 12 As Wealth Increases Crime Quickens Its Pace ...... 153Chapter 13 Angus Falls ............................................................ 160Chapter 14 Big John ................................................................. 167Chapter 15 A Rape Case Shakes the Quiet Community .......... 182Chapter 16 John Crawford ....................................................... 192Chapter 17 Vacation in Jamaica ............................................... 201Chapter 18 The Case of the Missing Singers ........................... 224Chapter 19 Jackson Relaxes ..................................................... 232Chapter 20 Treasure Hunt ........................................................ 235Chapter 21 David Is Framed .................................................... 255Chapter 22 Linda the Mother ................................................... 261Chapter 23 Hilda ...................................................................... 266Chapter 24 Visit to Grandma and Grandpa .............................. 276

vi Hugo F. Vanterpool

Chapter 25 Mother Receives a Letter ...................................... 283Chapter 26 Hillary Decides ...................................................... 285Chapter 27 Angus Takes a Fishing Trip ................................... 289Chapter 28 Lawyer Caines and Her Case ................................ 299Chapter 29 Stella Smith to Be Married .................................... 312Chapter 30 Angus Meets His Godmother ................................ 317Chapter 31 Angus on too Many Committees ........................... 321Chapter 32 Our Caribbean Homeland ...................................... 325Chapter 33 The Children Home for Christmas ........................ 332Chapter 34 The Crown Versus John Stephen Smith ................. 350Chapter 35 Hillary and Daniel Especially Loved by All .......... 356Chapter 36 Angus Off to Columbia ......................................... 367Chapter 37 My Home Sweet Home ......................................... 372

vii

Foreword

Angus Chinnery, I Am Happiest When at Home is the sec-ond major work produced by Hugo Vanterpool, a West In-dian educator residing in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). His fi rst major work, Dusk to Dawn, is well known locally, regionally, and internationally. It is also one of the works currently studied by secondary school students in the British Virgin Islands.

The setting of Angus Chinnery, I Am Happiest When at Home takes place from the 1950s to the 1980s when the BVI depended mainly on farming and fi shing for survival. Secondary education at the time was limited to a select few. Those fortunate enough to gain such an education were re-warded with a position in government service, where sala-ries usually started around $20.00 per month.

During that period, the dream of most young British Vir-gin Islanders was to travel to the United States. Angus, the main character in the book, was no exception. However, on arriving there with his brand new wife, he quickly discov-ered that the good life, described by many who had immi-grated there, was non-existent. For him life was hard. To fur-ther complicate matters, his young, beautiful wife Latricia, who swiftly adapted to the stylish life in the United States, was unfaithful and had their marriage annulled. Feeling hopeless, betrayed, devastated, and ashamed, Angus made the only sensible decision available to him. Swallowing his pride, he sought refuge with an elderly uncle living in the Bronx, who readily took him in.

Angus entered college, gained his law degree, and worked with one of the nation’s most prestigious law fi rms. Despite the encouragement of colleagues to remain in the United States, home beckoned and Angus returned to the Virgin Is-

viii Hugo F. Vanterpool

lands where he married the gentle, levelheaded Linda and raised two boys and two girls.

The book is skillfully written to appeal to readers of vari-ous ages and interests. The story, with its witty scenarios and simple prosaic form, can be read simply for enjoyment. On the other hand, it could easily be one of the Caribbean nov-els selected by schools at the primary or secondary level for more in-depth literary study. Because the facts in the book have been thoroughly researched and the author has so skill-fully intertwined the story within the sociological, cultural, historical, and geographical aspects of the country, anyone who studies the novel seriously will gain a wealth of knowl-edge about the growth and development of the country dur-ing the latter half of the twentieth century.

The author also uses amusing narratives, vivid descrip-tions, and local anecdotes to bring the book alive and keep the reader enthralled. Although many elderly members of al-most any Caribbean island can easily identify with the story, the author’s use of local dialect and his careful selection of cultural activities help to make the book unique to the Brit-ish Virgin Islands.

In the Caribbean, as a whole, and in the Virgin Islands, in particular, the extended family system grew from strength to strength among black families during the post-emancipation period. Whereas most West Indian novelists, writing about the black family in the region, tend to focus on the dysfunc-tional ties in the family system, this author has highlighted the strength, unity, and pride displayed by many black fami-lies during the era under examination. The author captures the strong emphasis West Indians place on education as a tool for upward social mobility, as well as the role of the family in ensuring that children achieve academically.

Angus Chinnery, I Am Happiest When at Home mirrors the life of many West Indians who migrated to England, the United States, and Canada in the post-emancipation period, and especially in the post-World War II period to seek a bet-ter life. While many of those emigrants remained in their ad-

Angus Chinnery ix

opted countries, others educated themselves, gained work-ing experience, and returned to their homelands to make a contribution to national development. Angus was one such individual who returned to his homeland and who came to realize that he was indeed happiest when at home.

Dr. Clarissa Layne

x

Acknowledgments

I wish to express my sincere thanks to the following per-sons who worked hard, helping me to review and criticize the manuscript:

Dr. Patricia Turnbull

Dr. Patricia Beamish Johnson

Dr. Clarissa Layne

xi

Introduction

Angus Chinnery is a prototype of the common West Indian, who left the Caribbean—and in particular the British Vir-gin Islands, his homeland—in search of a better life abroad. The catalyst, which drew him to make this journey, was his early love. At a young age, he was attracted to a beautiful girl named Latricia Sommerson.

Although Angus was not at fi rst inclined to go, his fi an-cée was determined to follow her parents and her younger siblings who had moved there. Her argument for going was a desire to join them while Angus—like so many other West Indians—believed that migrating to the United States was a way to make a fortune in a land of opportunity.

Once there, however, his young wife quickly proved un-faithful, and sought an annulment of their marriage. A dis-traught yet controlled Angus recovered enough composure to go to school. He linked up with an uncle who was glad to take in his nephew, the son of his only sister.

Eventually, they developed a father-son relationship. Un-cle Ebbie was particularly pleased that his nephew was in-clined to take what he saw as a sensible and progressive path to his personal development, and he encouraged him.

Once given the opportunity to enter college, Angus quickly excelled and graduated six years later as a brilliant lawyer. During his days at the university, he had been for-tunate to work for a law fi rm, which had been quite gen-erous to him. On graduating, he decided to accept an offer from this fi rm. It was during this period of his life that the idea of returning to his Caribbean home crystallized in his head. He was now unmarried, through no fault of his own. He feared that the corporate community in which he worked would soon turn him into a new creature. He thought that the United States would indeed help him fi nancially, but in

xii Hugo F. Vanterpool

the process, it might cost him his soul. He, therefore, set his sights on returning home.

Angus tried to put his situation into a global context. The yoke of slavery had been abolished in the British colonies in the West Indies for about one hundred and thirty years and in America for one hundred years. Because ex-slaves in the West Indies could turn to a life in agriculture but were for the most part very poor, many of them spread out over Europe and America to fi nd a better way of life. They re-portedly often became second-class citizens in Britain and America, but their situation in America seemed to be much worse, mainly because most American ex-slaves remained in their homeland, under the same social structure that existed during slavery. The West Indian ex-slaves, no doubt, feared worse in this land because they held a status even below that of the American Negro, who had been emancipated in 1865. They were black immigrants looking for work.

About a hundred years after West Indian slavery was abol-ished, Britain began to show more responsibility towards her colonies in the West Indies. London was undoubtedly concerned when higher than usual levels of social and eco-nomic unrest broke out in the former British colonies in the Caribbean, during the earlier part of the twentieth century. A ten-man commission chaired by Lord Moyne in 1938 was formed to investigate the social and economic conditions and related matters in the Caribbean. The commission’s recommendations to London helped alleviate the desperate economic and social situation in the region. However, it was their recommendation for political advancement of the re-gion, which would bear the most fruit.

Shortly after the Moyne Commission, a trend leading to political advancement for the British Caribbean Islands was set in motion, which resulted in a few of them becoming independent states, and others being given a political status leading to independence within a given time period. These larger ex-colonies, as well as the remaining ones, embarked upon a rigorous program of nation building, so that after two

Angus Chinnery xiii

or three generations, these areas were all showing marked improvements.

The political lot of those in the former British Caribbean improved—and thus the social status of black men, who ad-vanced beyond that of their counterparts in the United States as heads of state and as other high offi cials, emerged in the Caribbean. However, Negroes were still being discriminated against and sometimes lynched, particularly in America’s Southern states. For the most part, many of the nationals, or their offspring who had fl ed to the States, sought to return to see whether they could now live in their homeland. Those who had taken care not to burn their bridges behind them were able to return and resume their lifestyle in the land of their sojourn.

New programs had to be introduced to absorb the new-comers into the national fabric of the Caribbean. Angus was one of a fortunate number who had sought education before seeking to make money in the big country. For this reason, it was very easy for him to transition from a life in the United States to one on an island that was so much less developed. His homecoming in the Caribbean was much like that of a Jew returning to Jerusalem, after being exiled for many years.

1

Chapter 1

School Days

The other boys from the Road Town Elementary School, on Tortola in the Virgin Islands, thought that Angus Chin-nery was different. A quiet, decent minded boy, Angus never cursed, lied, or stole. He was just a strong boy with a healthy body and mind. All the boys were relatively poor, because the island of Tortola relied upon peasant agriculture and fi shing. The land, located on a hillside, was diffi cult to farm because it had to be tilled using hand implements. Farmers were too poor to acquire the machinery that would make it easier to cultivate. They had to build terraces to stop the soil from eroding downhill, which took time and effort.

Farm boys were expected to help in anything related to bringing in food for the family. They had few other reliable sources of income to turn to, except fi shing, and this was usually reserved for people who lived near the bays. Angus was a natural part of this setting, and he fi t in well. But it was Angus’s strong tendency to live an upright life that made the boys uncomfortable when he was around. That is, when they wanted to do naughty things, or be especially uncouth, because Angus was their conscience.

Angus could recall an afternoon when he and two other boys, Ira and Isaac, from his village, were heading home from school. Isaac said to Ira, “Tell you a li’l poem I larnt yesterday, Ira, but I can’t say it for Angus hear.”

Ira said, “Say it easy then.” So Isaac began in a half whis-per.

The higher the mountain,The greener the grass,The blacker the woman,The sweeter she arse.

2 Hugo F. Vanterpool

Angus heard, but chose to say nothing to them as they roared with laughter. He thought that if this was the sort of secret that was being kept from him, then they had little to offer him. He knew that he was a regular old sinner, like ev-erybody else, but his poor mother and father were concerned that his upbringing should be correct and in line with the fi n-est Methodist tradition. His father, who had traveled much as a seaman, was particularly stern in this regard, saying that he must get something out of his children. His parents tried, and were pleased to see that as he grew, their infl uence on his behaviour was becoming more marked.

Angus began to select his friends more carefully as he reached the higher classes in school. One of his good friends, a boy named Julian Sutton, lived at Doty. Julian, it appeared to Angus, was misunderstood. It seemed that either the teacher was ignorant of the geography and the topogra-phy of Tortola—which is only twenty-eight square miles and boasts some very rugged mountains and hills—or she was wicked, unfeeling, bad, or plain stupid. But then the head-mistress was just as bad, and, because of the teacher, Julian got lashes from her fi ve times in one week for being late for school. Yet, neither the teacher nor the headmistress ever asked him why?

The teacher would say, “Julian, you late again? Go up to the desk.”

Later he got his lashes along with the other offenders, many of whom lived a stone’s throw from the school, and were only late because they munched their breakfast much too slowly.

One day, Angus said to Julian, “Julian, why you always late?”

“You know where I live Angus—Doty. Well, we pasture at a place called Edny, two miles, or so from Doty. Every other day, we go to Sal Ghut in the mornings to water the cattle. I walk back from Sal Ghut to Edny, and then back to Doty, feeling dog tired. Then I have to get ready for school and walk from Doty all the way to Road Town to school, eating

Angus Chinnery 3

my dry bread for breakfast as I hurry along the road. I have no time to sit down and eat in the mornings. Road Town is a good eight miles from Doty. Thank God most of the road is sloping downhill. If I reach school two minutes past nine, I get marched to the desk for punishment. The headmistress made a rule that if you come to school one minute after nine, you get punished. She looks too rigid and stupid to ask if it is reasonable for a child to be late. I have a problem with that, but I can do nothing about it. I refuse to cry to her like some silly puking ghul. I feel that one of these days, I will hold the strap and jerk her down. I’m sure that if she should get a cut, it is vinegar or ink you will see coming out of her veins instead of blood. I don’t think she has one ounce of human feeling.”

Angus listened to this speech with great interest. He had never seen this side of Julian before. Julian was always at the foot of the class, while Angus was always at the head. It wasn’t that Julian was stupid, as he often appeared, but it seemed now that he was often too tired to learn anything, particularly in the mornings.

Julian, watching him keenly, said, “I think you have more sense than the teacher. At least you asked why I am late. She never did. Boy, I want to leave school now. I feel sure I will never get into the secondary school. In any case, I think I would be too tired to go on like this for another fi ve years or so.”

‘I would like to get in,” said Angus “Don’t know what I would come out to be though.”

“You could get to be anything, said Julian. You’re always coming out head of the class. When we leave school, would you still be my friend?”

“Why not?” Angus said.“Well, you know how some people does get too big to hail

schoolmates who didn’t do as well as they did?”Angus considered what he said. More and more he felt

that Julian was an intelligent young man, although he was sometimes too tired to focus on academic stuff, especially

4 Hugo F. Vanterpool

after his long trek to school in the mornings. So he said, “Ju-lian, I got to know you as a person, a decent good person. As long as you continue to be like that, we will always be friends. I don’t have any interest in being bad, so I prefer to keep company with good people.”

Julian showed how pleased he was with a smile that went from ear to ear. The headmistress, observing them in close conversation, strolled over to them and said, “What an un-likely pair the two of you make. It is like light communicat-ing with darkness.”

‘Ma’am?” said both boys together.Strangely enough, Julian was the fi rst to speak. “Ma’am,

neither the light nor the darkness by themselves is bad. It is only how we as people choose to use them.”

The headmistress looked a bit surprised. She bit her lips as if trying to hold back something she was going to say. Then she said, “Tomorrow is Empire Day. I want you both to help me organize the rope for the Tug-of-war. It is a bit heavy.”

“You want us to put more white lime on the track, too?” asked Angus, feeling a bit awkward, having observed the headmistress’s lip movement.

“No, Angus,” she said. ‘I have already told Amos and Brian to do that, but thank you for asking.” She left them, still standing, while she walked away.

When she had gone, Julian turned to Angus and said,” You see how she looked at me when I spoke to her? I tell you she got me for a real ass. It’s like she don’t believe that I am ca-pable of thinking anything. I don’t stand a chance with her. She will always think that because I was not quick at Eng-lish grammar and arithmetic in her school, I was good for nothing, but God didn’t make us that way. You see how she single, like no man want her, with her long face. I bet you if I marry her, you will see her dropping a child every year for four years running. And dem same children might come out bright, not from she, but from me. I think they call it genet-ics. That is how God Almighty works.”

Angus Chinnery 5

Angus could only smile. Yet he thought that Julian was right. Julian was a big boy, and if he put on a man’s suit, it would fi t him quite well. The thought of the headmistress bearing down on him because no one else wanted to marry her was quite funny to him. Julian would leave school in a year or two, and would no doubt become a farmer on his own. He would be about ten years younger than the teacher, but he would be a man. So the idea was not so ridiculous after all. This however, put her treatment of him as a student in another light. She needed to see him as a person, and not as a cipher.

Angus was beginning to be aware that the attitude of teach-ers toward students in 1956 left something to be desired. The teachers, for the most part, were not college trained, and they were often unrealistic in their expectation of student per-formance. Students, on the other hand, sought a way to ex-press their feelings to the teachers, without being rude. This didn’t always work out, and the opposite reaction took place with ill consequences. Some sort of confl ict resolution was needed that would leave the teacher feeling respected, and the student not feeling humiliated.

One head master was heard saying that the answer was to have a larger number of teachers trained even before they entered the teaching service, but no island in the Caribbean could afford such a luxury. Teacher training at this level could only be afforded in Canada, the United States, and one or two rich nations in Europe, at that time. England, which had given the Pupil Teacher System to the English speaking Caribbean, was still using pupil teachers in their schools.

Around 1956, one of the largest islands in the British Caribbean had classes with over fi fty students headed by a teacher who was not trained. Therefore, both parents and pupils had to put up with all types of shortcomings in the system, while, at the same time, thanking their lucky stars that some level of education was being given to the young people.

Later that year, Angus found himself in the secondary school. It was the only one on the island of Tortola at the

6 Hugo F. Vanterpool

time. He was fourteen years old and he entered in Form two. This was normal, because the children in standards six and seven in the elementary schools usually outperformed those entering the secondary school at the Form one level. He was accustomed to performing at the highest level in his class.

One of the fi rst things he had to learn was that there were other smart children on the island besides him. This he learnt quite quickly and, as a humble boy, made the adjust-ment well. Still, at the end of the fi rst term when an exami-nation was given, he was to discover that he was third in the class. He was not at all displeased with this discovery, as it made him feel that he had some others to compete with. He was particularly happy that he would be studying algebra, chemistry, biology, and a foreign language. He did not real-ize it at the time, but these were the core subjects needed for matriculation into a college or university. Neither was he thinking of going to one of those institutions. He was poor, and his parents had fi ve other children, which was the norm.

Farming families everywhere on earth tended to have large families. They seemed to take the Bible seriously when it talked about being fruitful, multiplying, and replenishing the earth. In any case, many hands were needed to help with the numerous chores, and no one seemed bothered about not getting an education. A farmer on the island tended to think that if he had brought his son through secondary school, he had done very well, and the son, if he wanted more educa-tion, must fend for himself.

It seemed to Angus that he simply breezed through sec-ondary school. Two distinct events always remained fi xed in his head, Sports Day and Speech Day. The fi rst, when the school inter-house competition took place, was sheer plea-sure for him. As for the second, graduation day always gave him serious thoughts, because the guest speaker always brought something from the outer world to challenge them with that they considered a breeze.

By the time he reached fi fth form, he felt that he needed to start working for himself as soon as possible. He could

Angus Chinnery 7

see that his father could ill afford to feed and clothe him any longer, although he said nothing about him leaving. The only good clothes he had by this time were his school uniform, and the pants that in some places were threadbare, with iron shines all over them.

He made it to the end of the school year, and came out of the school loaded with awards in every subject except math-ematics. This was his weakest area although he did average work in it. The teaching of the subject at the time left much to be desired. However, what he lacked in mathematics, he more than compensated for in other subject areas.

8

Chapter 2

Young Teacher, Young Lover

Angus did what most other West Indian boys who showed academic promise did around this time. He entered his coun-try’s teaching service, planning to move up to some higher post in the civil service, when the opportunity presented it-self. The islands offered very little in terms of industry, so it became the custom for youths to grab onto some poor-pay-ing government job, or try to escape to England or America.

It was never clear to him what fellows found to do in Eng-land or America, but he thought that their lot had to be bet-ter over there because when they went, they seldom came back. The sad truth, he discovered later, was that their lives were often much worse than they had been in the Caribbean. In addition to poverty, discrimination, and unemployment, which they often found in metropolitan countries, they had to keep themselves warm in winter. This doubled the cost of remaining in big cities. Yet the land of opportunity beck-oned, and people from poorer countries went to seek their fortune. He was to discover later that many who would have come back couldn’t, because it was too expensive to do so.

After working for a year at $20.00 per month, Angus was tempted to go and till the soil full time, or to go away to America as most of his schoolmates had done. Then one summer on his way from St. Thomas, he met Latricia. She was a tall and very attractive young lady. Her skin color was like that of a mulatto, and her hair fell in a lovely curl to the nape of her neck. Angus, immediately taken in by her beauty, sought her presence from that time on. His whole focus in life changed when he fell headlong in love with

Angus Chinnery 9

her. He couldn’t think of any straight course for his future or hers, because she wanted to go to the United States, and he wished to stay in the Virgin Islands. Yet their relationship just seemed to grow by leaps and bounds.

One day, his old grandmother watched them together. “Just like two peas in a pod,” she muttered.” Later she re-marked, “Angus, meh boy, hot love cool quick.”

Now he loved his old granny, and he knew that for her to make such a comment, she had to see something that she didn’t especially like, but he did not feel he should ask her about it. As he examined his feelings, he realized that he was afraid that he might discover something that could change his relationship with Tricia, and he didn’t want that to hap-pen. Then an event soon occurred which was to change things for both of them.

One evening, Latricia seemed unusually serious, and An-gus, anxious to satisfy himself that he was not the cause of her pensiveness, asked, “Tricia, my dear, whatever is ailing you?”

Without winking or blinking, she said, “Angus, I want to go to the States, and, furthermore, I am going to make plans to go next month.”

Angus knew what this meant. They had discussed some parts of it before. Either he had to make up his mind to go with her, or it was good-bye for good. He thought about it. Many of his acquaintances had gone there singly to seek their fortune. He had an excellent opportunity to go now with someone he loved. Why shouldn’t he take the plunge? Yet severing his ties with family was something he did not quite feel like doing yet. He also would have wished to get to know Latricia’s family better before becoming a part of it. He had met a brother, who seemed quite nice and polite, but that was all. Finally, he made up his mind to go.

The conventions of the time did not favor respectable couples traveling long distances together, where intimate as-sociations were necessary, so their plans called for a hastily arranged wedding. Their parents thought it would be consid-ered improper for two persons to share the intimacy that the

10 Hugo F. Vanterpool

trip would require for so long, without being married. They would have to go by ship from St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands (USVI) to New York.

They arranged a modest wedding in the Roman Catholic Church in St. Thomas. Then when all expenses were paid for the wedding and the travel arrangements, Angus found that he had the fat sum of $134.00. This made him some-what nervous. He was going to her people with virtually no money in his pockets. God knows how long it will be before I land a job, he thought.

Latricia’s family lived in Washington, D. C., in the area near the Maryland border. It was not diffi cult to fi nd employ-ment in this part of the city, that is, if you were satisfi ed with very low wages and extremely poor working conditions. One week after they arrived, Angus got a job in a hardware store making $120.00 a month. He felt quite lucky about this. Latricia was luckier, for an insurance agency hired her for $225.00 a month, and she felt quite rich. Her parents would allow them to live with them for a couple of weeks, but the apartment had only two bedrooms, and the younger children had to make up bunk beds in the living room. This forced the married couple to go apartment hunting immediately.

During this exercise, Latricia’s extravagant taste and lack of good judgment began to become apparent. She wanted them to rent a lovely apartment for $300.00 a month, when their gross income was only $345.00. When Angus protested, she pouted, and made some comment about needing to have a decent place for when her friends came to visit. She got the fi rst shock when she received her fi rst bimonthly paycheck. She had forgotten about deductions for taxes and social se-curity, and when she received her check, she cried foul play, for it was substantially less than she expected. They were about to settle for a basement apartment, within their salary range, although Angus did not like the exposed sewage pipes showing in the roof.

It was Latricia’s father who saved them. He showed up say-ing that he wished to see what they were renting. He looked

Angus Chinnery 11

at the building and said, “Angus, my son, this is not a good deal. If we get a heavy snowstorm, you could be snowed in until somebody remembers you and gets the chance to dig you out.”

Angus had not thought of that possibility. He thanked his father-in-law profusely and went on searching. Next, they rented a one-bedroom unit costing $175.00 per month. An-gus now felt that he would be happy settling into his new extended family. They all liked him, and he liked them. He had at once established a particularly good relationship with his father-in-law, but this relationship was not allowed to prosper. He soon discovered that his wife was showing some qualities that he thought he couldn’t live with.

About two months after they had moved to their new home, he noticed that Latricia began to fi x her hair, her face, and her clothes as near to the American sophisticated ladies of Vogue Magazine, as she could. She had subscribed to Vogue, and was always digging into its pages. After a few weeks, what started off looking simple seemed to turn into an obsession with her. Angus fi nally realized that she was trying to pass for white, which distressed him quite a bit. He was aware that some mulattos did this to get the same privi-leges as white employees and citizens when they were able to get away with it. To him, it was simply living a lie, and one day, he talked to her about it.

“Honey, why are you doing this? You feel you are white, or would like to be white? I love you just as you are. And even if you were much darker, it would make no difference to me”

“Why am I doing this, Angus?” She turned, eyes blazing. “You think I am so stupid to sit by and see opportunities for promotion pass me by because I am colored, without doing what I can to avail myself of them.”

Angus began to see her in a different light from then on, and he soon discovered that she had a different reason for passing for white, one that she didn’t care to share with him. A young man at her offi ce called Lucas was paying

12 Hugo F. Vanterpool

her attention. He was trying to be near her every moment he could, and she loved it immensely. Angus discovered that Lucas was white, and once he realized what was happening, he tried to discuss it with her, but their relationship started to go downhill.

One day, a few months later, she got bold enough to bring Lucas to the apartment, thinking that Angus was not at home. Angus was not feeling well that day, so his boss gave him the afternoon off. He arrived home feeling glad for the comfort of a place he could call home. He stood in the sit-ting room wondering whether he should get himself a cup of tea, or head straight to bed. As he stood there, he thought he heard sounds coming from the bedroom. Not knowing what to expect, and thinking that it might be a burglar in the room, he got a broomstick and opened the bedroom door very qui-etly. To his horror, he saw someone in bed with his wife. He stood with the broom raised as the full horror of the scene registered in his mind. His fi rst impulse was to start working them over with the broom, but he controlled himself. This was the United States of America. Very strange things hap-pened here.

After this incident, Angus thought that the time had come for him to consider moving out. He remembered a line from Shakespeare’s play Othello, which seemed to comfort him greatly. Othello thinking that his wife Desdemona was hav-ing an affair with Cassio, his lieutenant, remarked:

“I had rather be a toad and live upon the vapor of a dun-geon,

Than keep a corner in the thing I love for others’ uses.”Angus found himself identifying with Othello. It was his

nature to be faithful in any relationship. He could never be happy knowing that his wife was having an affair, but Latri-cia, he quickly found had her plans made. She found Lucas very attractive, and rumors had it that his family was quite wealthy, and even owned shares in the insurance company they both worked for. So like the American girls she was so rapidly getting to know and revere, she thought that she

Angus Chinnery 13

could divorce poor Angus, and marry rich Lucas. However, Latricia was a staunch Roman Catholic, and one day decided to go and have a little chat with her priest.

I won’t tell him the whole story, she thought to herself. I’ll just tell him enough so that he knows I am thinking of separation.

So, later that week on her way back from work, Latricia stopped by to see the priest. She discussed her situation with him and was delighted to learn that she didn’t even have to go through the messy business of a divorce. The priest could fi nd grounds to conveniently annul the marriage. She did think it a bit strange that he said nothing about putting aside her differences with Angus and trying a path to reconcilia-tion, as she thought he would.

With a wide-toothed smile, she asked him to please put the process into motion. He seemed to have little problems with this, mainly because Angus was a protestant, and Latri-cia a Catholic. Angus, therefore, was surprised to fi nd that although he was free, he felt lonely and downhearted after a couple of weeks. He wondered if the process that left him single was a legal one. In fact, he was stupefi ed. He was a young man in America, with a very low income, who had a wife who turned out to be vain, shallow, and unfaithful, and, yet, he still loved her, even though she had abandoned him so soon after expressing so much love for him.

He had too many bills to pay, which would make it dif-fi cult to remain in the apartment. It was true that he was now making $250.00 per month, but with a rent of $175.00, he would be under too much pressure. He wondered what he should do. He could not think of going home, because he would need to take some time to get over his disappointment. Besides, many of the folks he knew at home would heckle him over his failed stateside marriage. He wondered if he should talk with his in-laws about it, but he soon abandoned this thought once he reasoned that Latricia’s action was a decisive one, and she probably had not even mentioned it to her parents. The deed was already done.

14 Hugo F. Vanterpool

Gradually the clouds began to fl y away from around his confused brain, and he thought of his old uncle living in New York. His mother had given him the address, and he had promised himself that he would look him up some day. It was now only ten months since he had come to these shores, so that was not so bad. He decided to look him up.

For the fi rst time since coming to the States, Angus began to think of his academic potential and the possibility of a ca-reer. First, of all, he would need to get into a school, and this would mean a terrible sacrifi ce, for he would need to work in order to pay for his tuition. He soon found catalogues for colleges and universities in the state where his uncle was liv-ing. He decided on the University of New York as a good in-stitution to try, and knew he must now go and fi nd his uncle to see if he could take him in.

One week later, Angus showed up at an apartment in Brooklyn, New York. He kept looking down at the scrap of paper in his hand, as if trying to make sure that he had the right number. Finally, he gathered the courage to knock. Af-ter what seemed like an eternity, he heard a shuffl ing sound on the inside, as someone came to the door.

“Who is there?” asked a voice that sounded rusty and un-used for some time.

“I am Angus Chinnery, one of your nephews from Tor-tola.”

After a long pause, the door opened slowly. A tall, gaunt man around sixty stood there. They searched each other’s faces for a full minute, and then the old man relaxed a bit and said, “Well, well. You are Stella’s son. But you come out the spittin’ image of David your father.”

Angus smiled. “It is good to meet you, Uncle Ebbie.” He found himself watching an older male version of his mother. “I sent you a card to hail you up for Christmas and to let you know that I am living in Washington. Actually, I should say was living in Washington.”

“Yes! Yes! But what happened?” Ebbie asked. “You are married, but you travel alone, and you say that you were liv-

Angus Chinnery 15

ing in Washington. But please, come in! Come in, and tell me your story.”

“A lot of things went sour over the last few months,” said Angus. “It looks as if I am not married anymore”

“What? I know the girls in the United States get married this week and divorce the next, but this is an island girl you married. Don’t tell me anything could have gone seriously wrong in so short a time?”

“You have to understand the thinking of Caribbean girls nowadays,” said Angus sadly. “They seem to think that they have to behave as the girls in America do. The standard of behaviour known and respected in the islands, based on good moral and religious ethics, is passing away, and this is being replaced by a money ethic, undergirded by a Hol-lywood standard for the girls. The girls seem to be listen-ing mainly to what comes out of Hollywood. They sing loud hallelujahs on Sundays, but from Monday to Saturday, their behaviour and their practices refl ect the kind of worldly dec-adence typical of the current US behaviour that your preach-ers are loudly condemning.”

“What about the men?”“The men seem to think that they have to do what the la-

dies want, in order to please them. But their main diffi culty is an economic one. Most would stay at home in the islands if they could fi nd the means of sustaining their families there. They move out because they need work that would pay them enough to provide a comfortable standard of living for their families. Conditions are still very poor in the Caribbean. You will recall that when you were a young man, large numbers of Tortolians migrated to Santo Domingo to fi nd work, most of them laboring in the sugarcane fi elds. Well, recently the exodus from Tortola has been to the United States Virgin Is-lands, where a lot of construction activity can be found as the islands prepare for an expansion in tourism. ”

Uncle Ebbie was still single, living alone in a one-bed-room apartment, with a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. He was not the tidiest of men, yet his home

16 Hugo F. Vanterpool

was not too bad. He paused while showing Angus around, and then pulled out a sofa bed. “This is where I have to put any visitor who wishes to stay overnight with me.” He watched him speculatively, as if expecting him to say something.

Angus paused, and then turned to face Uncle Ebbie. “To tell you the truth, Uncle Ebbie, right now I am out of doors, and if you would let me stay for a while, I would be grateful to sleep on a mat on the fl oor.”

Ebbie looked gratifi ed. “You sound like the kind of rela-tive I could get along with. You are welcome to stay, although you may have to put up with my loud snoring.”

So it was arranged that Angus would stay. He had two main short-term goals. First, he would try to get into a col-lege, and second, he must fi nd work. He would wish to get a response from the college fi rst, if that would not take too long, and then try to fi nd work in or near to the college. Yet he would not press his luck. He had an urgent need for work, and anything coming his way, he might wish to hold.

He recalled Uncle Ebbie’s words when he told him he was interested in going to college. The old man had smiled, ex-posing a ring of widely spaced, though very functional teeth.

“That is the best thing to do, Angus. The best opportu-nity this land offers is through education. I think a person is foolish to come up here, stay for years, and then head home without availing himself of the chance to get an education. People of my generation who came to the States always came to look for work, thinking that any work we did here would pay more than in the Caribbean. We were, of course, wrong. It all depended on what you did, and where you worked. Your color and your educational background made a difference as well as your level of need. We often found work, but the sys-tem did not allow us to be any better off than we would have been had we stayed at home.

“After working for a number of years and fi nding that we were making no progress, many of us would fain go back home. But, my boy, we felt too much shame to go home, empty handed. Sometimes, we went back telling people it

Angus Chinnery 17

was to visit, but actually, we went to check out the old home-land, to see how we would fi t back in. We often met those we left behind and found they were way ahead of where we left them. We were much poorer and would have to play catch up, if we returned. In a crestfallen state, we lapped our tails, ran back here, burrowed back into our little apartments, and waited for our social security check. Now I understand that even down there, they are setting up social security schemes.

“We used to think that here you would have an apartment with a fridge, a stove, a fl ush toilet and bath, a pension from a job, and a life insurance policy. With these things you were better off than most people at home. Now it’s as if every-where in the Caribbean, people have wised up, and they are getting the same things we held dear.

“So we have no big advantage in coming here, it seems to me, except maybe with two exceptions. First, if you get an education, you will get to move up, and the sky would be your limit. Unfortunately, if you’re a Negro, you will face an artifi cial barrier that will allow you to advance only so far. Second, if you get lucky and manage to make some money, you will be all right. It doesn’t matter how you make it. A good man would want to make it honestly, but we have a lot of rich rascals who make it to the top, and nobody seems to worry about them. In the second case, your color does not matter. A white woman would marry a black man if he has money, and a white man would marry a black woman for the same reason. The whole race issue is artifi cial. Money and sex are the great levelers. With a satisfactory amount of ei-ther one, color and race would be quickly forgotten.”

That night Angus retired to the sofa bed, only too glad to have found shelter. He thought of Latricia, and was sur-prised to fi nd that he didn’t feel at all heartbroken over their split. Although he still loved her, she had been unfaithful, and there was no use going after her. She had already chosen somebody over him, in spite of their marriage commitment. No, it would be better to learn to forget her and get on with his life.

18 Hugo F. Vanterpool

He rolled over and tried to get accustomed to the hard bed. He slept for an hour or so and then dreamt that he was an older man returning to his homeland. He appeared to be tak-ing home two or three very large chests or suitcases. On his arrival at the pier, two eager children met him and called him Daddy. When he kissed them, it seemed that heaven’s bliss was his. He awoke sweating from the shock of the dream. It seemed so real. Thus far, he had no children, and by the looks of things, maybe he would have none. So the dream made little sense to him. Yet it was so vivid, that it stayed in his memory for years.

Angus awoke to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs. As he turned, his uncle’s voice said from the kitchenette, “Man, you must have had a hard day yesterday. It is now eleven, and you still sound tired as a dog. I wanted to wake you, so that you don’t waste the whole day. I work from twelve to six at the electricity plant, so I should leave soon for work.”

“Thank you for waking me,” said Angus. “I intend to pick up some application forms from one or two universities to-day. I wish to get working on them as soon as I possibly can.”

“I believe you would do a quicker job if you send for them by mail,” said Ebbie. “The campus is a long train ride from here.”

Angus followed his advice and within a week, he received a response from the University of New York and the Ameri-can University in Washington. He fi lled out both applica-tions, and set about fi nding the accompanying documents required. He considered doing a general humanities degree before trying to specialize in any area. In any case, it seemed that any of the universities he chose had this as a require-ment. One month later, the University of New York accepted him. He had taken a temporary position at a shoe store in Brooklyn that paid little better than minimum wage, but he was glad to get it.

After two months had passed, he went for an interview with the admissions department of the university. He found that the issue of money was of great concern to the college.

Angus Chinnery 19

They were very satisfi ed with his high school certifi cate, which was issued by Cambridge in England. However, he was able to persuade them that he would fi nd a job and be able to pay for his tuition. He would commute daily in order to take care of his board and lodging.

Angus, because of his money problems, was allowed to begin his formal college education as a part-time student. He was only allowed to take three courses a semester, but he felt so elated that he could attend the university at all that this mattered very little to him. He had to give up his job at the shoe store, but had been offered another in an attorney’s offi ce. When they realized that he was attending the Univer-sity of New York, they adjusted his hours, so that he could work a shift that helped him to attend classes regularly, and they even upped his pay a notch or two. Angus was now well set, and he decided to put his all into his work. By the end of his fi rst semester, his lecturers were satisfi ed that he was, not only a brilliant student, but also one who worked hard. They were very pleased with his performance.

Toward the end of the second semester, Angus knew what he would specialize in, as he got further into his job in the attorney’s offi ce. He found what they did fascinating, and decided to study to become a lawyer. This would mean that he had to fi nish his undergraduate degree and continue on.

The four years of undergraduate study seemed to go by very quickly, as he anticipated serious study ahead. At the completion of his undergraduate degree, the Brooklyn Law School received him gladly, and the university gave him a generous scholarship that would see him through fi nancially with no diffi culty. His uncle was very pleased, although he found that he would not see Angus as much. Angus would now be a full-time student, and he would want to continue at the offi ce as long as possible. This new adjustment meant that on some days, he would have to take evening classes, and on other days, he would have to work late at the offi ce.

20

Chapter 3

Legal Training, Uncle Ebbie

Angus worked nonstop for the next fi ve years. He entered the law school at the University of New York as planned and made pretty good strides in the program, as he started plan-ning his future. He made up his mind to return to the Virgin Islands, once he graduated and had worked for a year or two to gain some experience. For the fi rst time, he realized that the British and American legal systems were somewhat dif-ferent. He had somehow assumed that they were suffi ciently close and that someone trained in America could easily prac-tice on a British Caribbean Island. However, he discovered that he would need to do an attachment in England, or in some country where the British system of law is practiced, before he would be allowed to practice in the British Virgin Islands.

He made up his mind to do the latter, and for the pres-ent, put his elbows into the work. He thoroughly enjoyed his studies, especially the interaction with other students. He could recall long afterwards a group presentation he had taken part in. Five students were in the group, and they had split up the work evenly among themselves. Then one of their group members named Angela fell ill when a serious strain of infl uenza hit the campus. He was asked to assume her research because their area of work was similar. This he readily agreed to do along with his own research.

Then another member caught the virus, and some of the other team members tried to get him to carry their share of the work as well. Angus became angry and asked why. He was sensitive to the fact that he was the only colored person in the group, and in an environment where discrimination was still practiced against colored people—albeit the Uni-

Angus Chinnery 21

versity of New York was not too bad—he wondered whether they were trying to load him up, because they felt that col-ored folks should always carry the bag for white folks.

At fi rst, he decided not to take on the extra load. Then considering that they might all suffer as a result of his de-cision, he asked the team members, one by one, why they wanted him to carry a disproportionate share of the work. He was surprised at the response.

Kerry, answering for the others, said, “Angus, you don’t realize that you are the fl ipping quickest member of the group. Although you took on Angela’s share, you are fi n-ished and we are not. What’s more, your work looks good. Suppose this was a real court case, don’t you know that you would need to help the other members of your team fi nish the work in time to meet the court deadline?”

Angus thought about this for a while, and conceded that Kerry had a point.

“All right, all right, as long as you put it that way, I agree to do the major part, but each of you has to chip in with a small section of the research.” They all agreed.

Later that year, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dal-las, Texas. This left a heavy pall over the population of the United States and dampened the hopes of people of color, especially those who hoped to profi t from the civil rights legislation being introduced during his administration.

Angus, like most Americans, was deeply saddened by the death of a good man, through evil forces. He began to feel that United States society was too violent for him when John Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. were all assassinated within fi ve years —all good men who were fi ghting for justice and equity for both white and colored people in America. He knew in his heart that he had to leave the United States as soon as possible. Living here he reasoned was only for people who had to endure the horrors of a society gone mad with violence. He might have to live a poor life by returning to the islands, but better to live a sane life than one where the level of stress from crime

22 Hugo F. Vanterpool

turned you into a nervous wreck before you reached your prime.

Angus graduated from law school in 1968. He went to work for the fi rm, which had hired him while he studied law, and which had shown him so much consideration. He felt that he owed them something, and that he should not turn away from them just when he could make a meaningful con-tribution to help them. His work centered on the corporate fi eld. He was hesitant to tackle criminal law in New York, because he feared that the social setting could give rise to unpleasant experiences. He thought that if he defended a cli-ent successfully, the losing party might just come after him to get even, the society being as violent as it was. Further-more, since he was an alien, it seemed the best thing to do would be to get away before he became too bogged down in a culture so different from his own.

During the four years he spent at the law fi rm, a man named Huey Newton of the Black Panther Party was shot, arrested, and charged with the murder of a white cop. There was loud protest over the case. It was at a time at the end of the Viet Nam war when young folks, both black and white, were crying for change and for his release. The law fi rm where Angus worked was approached to defend the accused. While the case was being considered, some of the staff sounded out Angus with respect to his views on the Black Panther organization. They wanted to know whether or not he supported the movement.

John Crawford, one of the partners, asked him directly, “Angus, what do you think about this group that Newton represents? Do you think that our fi rm should defend them in court?”

Angus turned to him and asked, “Do you ask me this as a colored man, or do you ask me as an attorney?”

“Both,” said John. “It is always good to know the views of those you work with.”

“John, you really have to understand the reason this group was formed, which was a very long time in coming. The

Angus Chinnery 23

group reacted to protests against the atrocities being prac-ticed by whites against blacks in this country. Our cups are fi lled and running over, and some people have smaller cups than others do. People of African descent have had a long history of oppression and injustice practiced against them, for no other reason than that they happen to have black skin. Some have skin that looks more white than black, but that doesn’t matter. One small suggestion that a person may have black blood in his genes is enough to bring on the punish-ment.

“White folks who punish us are often more ignorant and illiterate than we are. In that sense, we have to be big enough to forgive them or there would be little change. The Ku Klux Klan has probably reached a high point in cruel behaviour, yet government has apparently done little to stop them from lynching and murdering the black population. It would be better if the whites viewed it as an indictment against God for making people with black skins, than to continue to mete out punishment against those who seem trapped under them.

“I do not agree with many of the practices of the Black Panther Party, but I support the reason for their actions. For example, I do not believe in killing, except in the military, but I am a colored man. No one should ask me to be differ-ent from the way I was born. I consider their approach to be rather extreme, and I would not take part in their activities. But, John, if we were to apply the Bible standard, we would practice the philosophy ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’.” This is what the Black Panthers are doing—nothing more.

“With regards to whether or not our fi rm should defend people like Huey Newton for what he believes, my answer is very clear. Of course, we should. A good law fi rm must stand for justice, and justice does not come down only on one side of the race divide. In fact, justice cannot recognize a race divide. Our fi rm will appear higher and nobler in the eyes of the public if we ignore race, class, and riches and seek to defend justice, righteousness, and truth.”

24 Hugo F. Vanterpool

John looked at him for a full minute and then he said, “I think you have much to offer to this fi rm. Why do you want to go back to Tortola? You will have to build a practice from scratch, and I heard that there are only one or two law fi rms in operation there, with one or two lawyers in each. There must be very little business in a place like Tortola.”

“That is one of the reasons I want to go back at this time, so that I can grow with the development that I know must come in a few years. The rest of the Caribbean is growing. It would be very odd if the British Virgin Islands doesn’t grow along with it.”

“I see. When you are setting up, you must remember to give me a call. I would like to offer you any assistance that I can.”

“Thanks very much for your offer,” said Angus. “A young law fi rm in a new environment will need all the kick-off help it can get, you can be sure.”

“What is the main economic activity of your islands?“We are just beginning to invest in tourism. The main

activity used to be agriculture, but dry weather has played havoc with both crops and animals upon which farmers rely. Many people ran to the United States Virgin Islands, which are only a short distance away, and where tourism has just begun to bloom. The government on my side of the Virgins is taking note and is beginning to try to attract the attention of foreign investors. I would say that in this development, the British Virgins is about twenty or twenty-fi ve years be-hind the United States Virgins. What’s more, it seems clear that we will be growing at a much slower pace. We won’t have a lot of continental citizens willing and ready to pour heavy development capital into the BVI until government has built up its infrastructure. Do not forget that we are Brit-ish, not American.”

“I have another observation,” said John. “All of the is-lands of the Caribbean, or most of them, seem to be going into tourism at the same time. Why is that?”

“I think it has to do with a study conducted by the St. Lu-cian economist, Sir Arthur Lewis, who recognized that for

Angus Chinnery 25

the Caribbean islands to take off economically, they would need a serious injection of foreign investment capital. He called the initiative he thought needed to be taken, Operation Boot Straps. Those islands that are endowed with natural re-sources—such as bauxite in Jamaica, Guyana, Puerto Rico, with its wet agricultural lands and potential for light indus-tries—can invite participants with plenty of foreign capital and perhaps market connections to help them exploit these resources.

“Islands that only have sun, sand, and sea are trying to exploit these resources, and the industry that wants to buy them happens to be tourism. So Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, the Dutch Antilles, and many parts of the British Caribbean—which have taken Arthur Lewis seri-ously—are going full speed ahead trying to provide incen-tives to attract as much foreign investment as possible. There is even an element of competition between the islands, which now seems anxious to offer the best incentive packages, so that foreign capital could fl ow to them.

“This is the late 1960s, but despite the fact that there is much development elsewhere in the world, there is still a dearth of investment capital available for the Caribbean region as a whole. And since the region lacks much in the form of natural resources, there is a mad scramble to get into service industries such as tourism.”

“I am beginning to see why you want to go back at this time,” said John. “In such an aggressive mood for growth, as you de-scribed, your fi rm would soon have its hands full with work.”

“I am hoping that there wouldn’t be too much criminal activities,” said Angus. “That is why I decided to focus on corporate law although crime always seems to follow growth and prosperity. It appears that when poverty pervades in a country, there is little to fi ght and kill for, so the people don’t do much of that. But as the country begins to prosper, rob-bery and killings begin. They now have something to rob and kill for. Still, the innocent people must be protected against the criminals.”

26

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