AN ODE TO G

Ah, G! How I miss you so!

I remember those days when we used to play every afternoon after school. I would run home, so excited at the opportunity to play with my bestest friend.

But, then my world came crashing down, that day I returned from school and you were nowhere to be found.

I ran through the compound calling your name, to no avail.

Then I entered the house and walked into the kitchen, where my granny and others were gathered.

"Where's G?" I asked. "I can't find him anywhere. Do you know where he is, Mama?"

Mama slowly looked up from her seat by a large frying pan full of frying pieces of flesh. She smiled sadly but didn't respond and proceeded to use a large metallic spoon to stir the contents of the frying pan.

My cousin, however, opted to give me the answer I sought but could never have imagined.

She opened a blue cooler, before then, unnoticed. Within it were succulent pieces of meat and into it, she reached, soon to brandish what could only be...

Crunch was the sound made as her teeth sunk into the crispy meat. She licked her lips slowly. The smile that followed was very different  from the empathetic smile Mama had offered only seconds before.

She was eating G! My G! The goat I had spent weeks feeding, cleaning and running around with. My friend. My confidante. G was in tiny fried pieces.Within a cooler. Being prepared for my recently departed grandfather's upcoming funeral.

Oh, G! It's been years since that day when I saw you in the morning and promised to take you for a walk around the compound in the evening. I am so sorry I wasn't there to save you. I never ate you and frankly, never put a piece of your brethren in my mouth for years. That was until my Jamaican friends introduced me to Curry Goat.

Nevertheless, this is an ode to Goatey, my friend that left far too soon.

I still miss you.