┍━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┑

chapter nine

|adventures to trinidad|

┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙

, this place looks amazing," benjamin blythe said as he looks around the surroundings.

"just the beginning my friend," bash said as both blythe helped the men in work carry some barrel and sacks.

"you look underwhelmed, " the younger blythe notices that bash isn't too very glad to be back at their home.

"what do you want me to do, dance?" bash said as ben stifled a laugh.

"it's been two years," gilbert reasoned.

"yes, i'm very happy to be home, " bash told to the blythe brothers. "but you two? you'll cry when you have to leave, trinidad will get into your soul. now, we have to get these barrels where they're going."

they carry some barrel as ben notice that his brother was struggling, "you alright there, gil?"

"oh! sea legs and seashore ain't friend, you know."

"i just need to... get my balance."

"you need more than that with your mawga self. you catch a stiff breeze, you're gone. but your brother here seems to be a strong one."

"eh, i get to used to it, you know," ben reasoned.

"i'm not that skinny," gilbert defends himself as his brother laugh. "you sure, brother?"

"don't worry, blythe. i'll find you some good trinidadian bush medicine." bash said as they continue to carry the barrels to its rightful place.

"when i was a boy, i would come down here every day," bash to blythe brothers.

"i had no idea such a place could exist!"

"bet you never thought you'd find yourself this far from..." bash trailed off, "hey, what the name again?"

"avonlea," ben answered as he stared at the people and what they're doing in amazement. he likes the way that the worlds has a place for someone like bash. in avonlea, in such a small town, he's sure that people there were very judgemental.

"i used to shop here for my mom. every ingredient she cooked with had to be fresh. nothing stale in her kitchen."

"all these smells are making me hungry," gilbert said.

"it's true. it's very tempting," ben agreed to his brother.

"you have anything good to eat up on prince edward?" bash questioned.

"i like potatoes," ben said as he handed the barrel to a man up in a cart.

"c'mon, potatoes? give me something to work here!"

"well... missus kincannon would serve crab every once in a while," Gilbert stated as ben looked at the men who was cooking some food he doesn't even know but he knows that it'll taste great.

"now we're gettin' somewhere! how'd she prepare it?"

"boil it, i think. add some salt," the younger blythe simply said.

"that's it? crab with... salt?" bash questioned in disbelief.

"what's wrong with that?"

"nothing. crab nice when you cook it up right. like mommy's crab callaloo. Sunday food. she'd boil down a pile of dasheen leaves in coconut milk, throw in some onions, garlic, okra, a pig tail, and then the crab. add a whole pimento pepper and let it simmer," bash happily explained. "you've been eating some of that, ben?"

"um, some fish, i guess. back in my... um, former fiance's house, they like seafood." ben explained as he starting to get unhappy by victoria's thought.

"former? i'm sorry, blythe."

"it- it's alright. but, um, back to your story, i don't think i've ever had a hot pepper in my life."

"me either," gilbert said.

"yeah, you? your little dry-up body would go to war against itself, baby blythe!" bash teased as he let out a chuckle at the younger blythe.

"i'm not a baby! and i think could handle it," gilbert defends but bash and ben just laughed at him.

"mommy'd say, 'bash, come for a taste', i'd tip my head back and she'd feed me a spoonful. i can almost taste it now, sliding down my throat like spicy green medicine."

"sounds delicious," ben said as his brother agreed.

"oh, it was. but it was always just one taste. then she'd serve the family... and i'd be given the scraps that were left."

"why didn't you eat with the family?" gilbert curiously asked.

"it wasn't my family."

"whose family was it?"

"the white people she worked for, blythe."

"i feel like an idiot. i'm so sorry," gilbert immediately apologized. ben only stayed silent as he attentively listens to them.

"don't be. still got more flavor from one spoonful every sunday than you had in your whole life, from the sounds of it. crab with... here it comes... The secret ingredient: salt," bash said as the two erupted from laughter. the two looked at ben, who seems to lost on his thoughts. "penny for your thoughts?"

"well, then, but you're gonna be very very poor," ben joked as they all chuckled. "eh, just thinking... something."

"you're always thinking something," gilbert teased.

"well, i'm not like a childish like you," he shot back as gilbert playfully rolled his eyes.

ben and gilbert immediately notice a brown horse, they reached it as they started to pet it, "oh, wow. what a beauty. hey. i used to ride one just like her. come on over here, bash. she's friendly."

"i have a thing about horses," bash just simply said.

suddenly, a white man approached, "you, boy, since you're already sniffing around my horse, go on to the stable and fetch her some feed. Angling for a tip before the job's even done?"

"i am not your boy. i am a free man, sir. since eighteen thirty-four. i'm sure you can find assistance inside the hotel," bash retorted as they leave the man.

"that was messed up. he just assumed you were a servant."

"the man was very rude and arrogant," ben said.

"way things are. if we cried every time that happens, the whole of trinidad would be flooded. now let's get us to a better neighborhood. you two still need some medicine."