Selling Mama Naya’s Veggies

After drinking a cold glass of Toki orange juice, we got to work! First, we helped Maya Naya place the tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cucumbers in transparent plastic bags, then we priced each cabbage head, making sure we got it just right. As my siblings and I worked, I thought of how much I loved Mama Naya. “Mama Naya es la major, verdad? (Mama Naya is the best, isn't she?) I said, smiling up at her.   

Mama Naya chuckled softly, her eyes twinkling with warmth. “Oh, cariño, ¡eres simplemente la más dulce!” (Oh, sweetie, you are just the sweetest!) she said, reaching down to mess up my hair affectionately. 

My heart swelled with love as I looked at her. “Mama Naya, te amo por que tu eres la mas dulce.” (Mama Naya, I love you because you are the sweetest.) 

Her laughter filled the air with joy. “Bueno, ¡gracias, cariño! ¿Pero sabes qué es aún más dulce? ¡Pasando tiempo con mis maravillosos nietos!” (Well, thank you, darling! But you know what's even sweeter? Spending time with my wonderful grandchildren!) I beamed up at her. Mama Naya truly was the most loving grandmother in the whole wide world. 

After we finished bagging and pricing the veggies, it was time to take them to the village to sell. My big sister Marbea was super strong and was able to ride our dad's bike really well, so she got to be in charge of that. 

Meanwhile, I took charge of the sling bag in which we would put the money. Then my little sister and brother and I each grabbed a small pan to carry the bagged tomatoes and sweet peppers. My little brother, always helpful but also eyeing the juicy tomatoes said, "Llevaré los tomates. ¡Cuando regrese, voy a comerme uno con sal y pimienta! ¡No puedo esperar!" (I'll carry the tomatoes! When I come back I will yum one with salt and pepper! I can’t wait!) 

My little sister announced eagerly. “¡Y yo me llevaré los pimientos dulces! ¡Se ven tan bonitos en las bolsas!” (And I'll take the sweet peppers! They look so pretty in the bags!) 

“Bueno. ¡Vamos a mostrarle a Mamá Naya que podemos ser grandes ayudantes!” (Good. Let's show Mama Naya we can be great helpers!) 

So, we left our house with our load of veggies. As we strutted down the hill, we met Don 

Domingo, one of our neighbors. “No quiere comprar tomates, chile dulce, pepino y repollo, Don Domingo?” I asked politely. “Estan muy Buenos y a buen precio.”

“Ahorita, no gracias,” he said.  

 “Esta bien,” I replied.  

We went door to door, asking everyone if they wanted to buy. “No quiere comprar tomates, chile dulce, pepino y repollo? Estan muy Buenos y a buen precio.” I'd said each time, holding up my pan. 

"¡Y también tenemos chile dulces! ¡Están muy buenos!" ("And we've got sweet peppers too! They're really good!") My little sister added, waving a bag of sweet peppers. 

My brother would then jump in: “Tengo los tomates! ¡Están muy jugosos!” (I have the tomatoes! They're very juicy!) 

The ladies would come outside to see our veggies. “Only a dollar for a bag of tomatoes, a dollar for sweet peppers, and a dollar for cucumbers. The price of the cabbage heads depends on how big they are. Small ones are a dollar, medium ones are a dollar fifty, and the biggest ones are for two dollars," I'd explain confidently. 

Every time someone bought from us, it was like a little burst of sunshine warming me up from the inside out. It made me feel proud, excited, and just plain happy! I felt we were real pros at selling veggies. Soon, our pans and buckets were empty, and since the sun was still out, we decided to go back home for the remaining veggies at home. We had only walked about half of our village, and we needed to complete our mission to sell all the veggies Mama Naya had brought.  

We drank water while our mother refilled our pans and buckets with the remaining veggies, and we set out once more. This time, we headed to the section of the village where only Creole people lived. On the way there, my siblings and I came together to discuss how we were going to explain our veggies and prices in English. We agreed that Marbea, being the oldest, would do the talking. But then she hesitated. "Yo no puedo hablar bien el inglés.” (I'm not good at speaking English), she said, her brow wrinkling with worry. 

"I can do it!" I exclaimed. “Solo recuérdame cómo se dice ‘repollo’ en inglés.” (“Just remind me how to say ‘cabbage’ in English.”) 

Mareba thought for a moment. Then she said, "Bueno, ya que ‘pollo’ en español es ‘chicken’ en inglés, entonces deci 'rechicken' para repollo." (Well, since 'pollo' in Spanish is 'chicken' in English, then say 'repollo' for 'cabbage.') 

I arched my brow, not quite convinced. "¿Seguro que no estás solo bromeando conmigo?" 

(You sure you’re not just messing with me?)

“¿No es ‘pollo’ 'chicken' en inglés, pues?” (Isn't 'pollo' chicken in English, then?) She argued.  

“Si,” I agreed reluctantly.  

“Okay, entonces deci ‘rechicken.’ (Okay, then, say 'rechicken'). “‘Miss, you no want to buy rechicken, tomato, cucumber, and sweet pepper?’ Because sweet is ‘dulce,’ and chile is ‘pepper,’ that makes it ‘sweet pepper.’ Chicken is pollo, so just add the ‘re’ in front, which then makes it ‘repollo.’ ‘Re’ plus the ‘pollo’ equals ‘repollo,’ so ‘re’ in front of chicken is ‘rechicken.’ Then tomato is ‘tomato,’ and pepino is ‘cucumber.’ So, yes; that is it. Say, ‘Miss, you no want to buy rechicken, tomato, cucumber, and sweet pepper?” Bea said convincingly.   

“Ok,” I said. And in my mind I repeated over and over, “Miss, you no want to buy rechicken, tomato, cucumber, and sweet pepper?!” until we came to the first house. 

As we approached, my little sister yelled with all her might, “Good hastanoon!” 

A big, round, dark-skinned lady with kinky hair and a grumpy face came out. "Good evening, babe," she said. I was taken by surprise; even though she had a grumpy-looking face, her voice was friendly.  “Miss, you no want to buy rechicken, tomato, cucumber, and sweet pepper?” I asked. 

“Rechicken? What is rechicken?” She replied with a puzzled look.  

I put down my pan, quickly took out a cabbage head from the bucket, and showed her. 

“Oh, you mean ‘cabbage!’” She giggled.  

“Yes, ma’am cabbage,” I replied, embarrassed but delighted to learn that repollo was ‘cabbage.’  

“Let me get two bags of tomatoes, two bags of cucumber, one bag of sweet pepper, and a medium size of your famous rechicken.” She laughed. We smiled.  

“Wait, where did you get the word ‘rechicken’ from?” she asked.  

“Miss, well…we came up with it because we did not know how to say it. You see, sweet is ‘dulce’ in Spanish, and chile is ‘pepper,’ so that makes it ‘sweet pepper.’ Chicken is ‘pollo,’ so we just added the ‘re’ in front, which then makes it ‘repollo.’ ‘Re’ plus the ‘pollo’ equals ‘repollo,’ so that means ‘re’ in front of chicken makes it ‘rechicken’,” I thoroughly explained. 

Mrs. Jones (we later learned her name) giggled again. Then her giggle converted to laughter. Uncontrollable laughter. We all joined in her laughter, except that we were laughing at the way she laughed: starting with a little giggle, then it grew bigger and bigger, like when you blow up a balloon until it pops. Everybody couldn't stop laughing as her laugh made the next one even funnier. We just couldn't stop laughing! 

As soon as she was able to speak again, Mrs. Jones said, “You all made my day. I did not expect 

to laugh like this today. Thank you. Please, remember it is not ‘re-chicken’ but ‘cabbage.’”  

“Yes, ma’am, ‘cabbage,’” I repeated sheepishly. “It will be $6.50.”   

“Okay, let me go for my money in the house. I will come right back.”  

When she returned, she paid us for the cabbage and gave us a dollar extra. “You all share it so you can buy one ideal each,” she said. 

“Thank you, Miss,” we chorused, thoroughly delighted. “Bye!” 

We then proceeded to the other houses. At every house, my little sister would yell, “Good hastanoon!” even though it was already evening. Whenever I was about to tell the person who came out what we were selling, I looked at my siblings and smiled. Thankfully, several persons bought at least one bag of each of the veggies. One by one, the bags were gone, and our pans and buckets became empty once more. With big grins on our faces and a skip in our steps, we made our way back home. We had completed our mission. We knew Mama Naya would be so proud of us.  

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Laura Garcia is an English Education major at the University of Belize and resides in Ontario Village. She has a passion for teaching and working with young people, not only in academics but also in Christian dance choreography and drama.