Ben was dead! I cried as if it was my own father that had died. I thought about little Charmaine and poor Florence and I cried even harder. I picked up the ledger from the floor and continued to read. Most of what was written in the ledger was what Florence said was told to her by Stanley Wharbucks as she was too distraught to write anything. The days following the death of Ben were a blur to Florence. She spoke to no one and she refused to eat and drink anything. She said she had no appetite and no manner of coaxing by Stanley Wharbucks could get her to do otherwise. Stanley Wharbucks took Charmaine to stay with him at the main house. As sad as she was Charmaine was overjoyed to be staying in the main house. The stone lions at the top of the steps leading to the verandah had fascinated her from the first day she saw them and she looked forward to climbing atop them when her Grandfather was not around. When she saw the room that she was to stay in she gasped at its beauty. Stanley Wharbucks told her that the room had belonged to her mother. The walls of the room were painted bright pink. There was a huge four-poster bed in the middle of the room with a beautiful pink floral bedspread on it. The sheer curtains at the window matched the bedspread. The nightstands on either side of the bed had lamps with the bases in the shape of a Victorian-era woman and the pink shades had gold fringes. The seat of the dresser stool was covered with pink velvet and Charmaine ran her fingers across it. She turned to Stanley Wharbucks and said, “This is so beautiful!” He smiled and told her that her mother had said the very same thing when she saw the room for the first time. He lifted her up and placed her atop the stool so that she could have a better look at the hundreds
of tiny perfume bottles on the dresser that she could not take her eyes from the moment she saw them. When Charlotte was little, Stanley Wharbucks travelled a lot all over the world and he would always take back a bottle of perfume for her. He told Charmaine that as long as she was staying there she could use any of the perfume she wanted to. Charmaine slid off the stool and hugged Stanley Wharbucks’ legs. He was at a loss for words, all he could do was to gently pat her on her head. I smiled when I read this, for the life of me I could not imagine Stanley Wharbucks having nothing to say. Charmaine had finally gotten through to him. From that day, Charmaine and her Grandfather were inseparable. She would stay with Florence after school but as soon as it was night she would go to the main house to sleep. Preparations for Ben’s ‘nine night’ were underway and Charmaine, being the inquisitive child that she was, heard the workers on the estate talking about it and wanted to know what it was all about. It was Stanley Wharbucks who took her one side and gently explained the origins of the Jamaican ‘nine night’ to her. When he was finished, she nodded her head as if she understood what he was saying, but he knew that she didn’t. That gave me a chuckle. The night of the ‘nine night’ came and what a celebration it was! Ben was well known and beloved and hundreds of people from all over St. James were in attendance. There was food galore and rum to spare! Two bulls were slaughtered as well as pigs, goats and chickens. Florence oversaw the cooking of the food and all the helpers had to follow her instructions to the letter! Stanley Wharbucks presided over the function and made sure that order was kept and Ben’s memory honoured. The funeral was kept the next day at the cathedral in Montego Bay. There was not a dry eye in the church, even the Priest was crying as he spoke about the time when he and Ben attended school together. Ben had also wanted to become a Priest but he met Florence at a church outing and that was the end of that thinking! Earlier when the pallbearers brought the coffin into the church Florence let out a scream and when the lid was lifted and she saw Ben’s body, motionless, she fainted. Luckily Stanley Wharbucks had a bottle of smelling salts in the car and he hurriedly went for it and used it to revive her. The tributes were long and tearful, and many persons wanted to talk about the good that Ben had done for them. After the funeral service everyone returned to the estate as Ben was being buried in his garden amongst his prized roses and herbs. It was a solemn affair by the graveside and they had to restrain Florence as it seemed as if she wanted to jump down into the grave when the coffin was being lowered. I put down the ledger. I could not read anymore, it was too painful.
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