Kingston Noir
This collection is comprised of works of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors’ imaginations. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by Akashic Books
©2012 Akashic Books
Series concept by Tim McLoughlin and Johnny Temple
Kingston map by Aaron Petrovich
eISBN-13: 978-1-61775-117-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-61775-074-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011960945
All rights reserved
First printing
Akashic Books
PO Box 1456
New York, NY 10009
ALSO IN THE AKASHIC BOOKS NOIR SERIES
BALTIMORE NOIR,
edited by LAURA LIPPMAN
BARCELONA NOIR
(SPAIN), edited by ADRIANA V. LÓPEZ & CARMEN OSPINA
BOSTON NOIR,
edited by DENNIS LEHANE
BOSTON NOIR 2: The Classics,
edited by DENNIS LEHANE, JAIME CLARKE & MARY COTTON
BRONX NOIR,
edited by S.J. ROZAN
BROOKLYN NOIR,
edited by TIM MCLOUGHLIN
BROOKLYN NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS,
edited by TIM MCLOUGHLIN
BROOKLYN NOIR 3: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH,
edited by TIM MCLOUGHLIN & THOMAS ADCOCK
CAPE COD NOIR,
edited by DAVID L. ULIN
CHICAGO NOIR,
edited by NEAL POLACK
COPENHAGEN NOIR
(DENMARK), edited by BO TAO MICHAËLIS
D.C. NOIR,
edited by GEORGE PELECANOS
D.C. NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS,
edited by GEORGE PELECANOS
DELHI NOIR
(INDIA), edited by HIRSH SAWHNEY
DETROIT NOIR,
edited by E.J. OLSEN & JOHN C. HOCKING
DUBLIN NOIR
(IRELAND), edited by KEN BRUEN
HAITI NOIR,
edited by EDWIDGE DANTICAT
HAVANA NOIR
(CUBA), edited by ACHY OBEJAS
INDIAN COUNTRY NOIR,
edited by SARAH CORTEZ & LIZ MARTÍNEZ
ISTANBUL NOIR
(TURKEY), edited by MUSTAFA ZIYALAN & AMY SPANGLER
KANSAS CITY NOIR,
edited by STEVE PAUL
LAS VEGAS NOIR,
edited by JARRET KEENE & TODD JAMES PIERCE
LONDON NOIR
(ENGLAND), edited by CATHI UNSWORTH
LONE STAR NOIR,
edited by BOBY BYRD & JOHNNY BYRD
LONG ISLAND NOIR,
edited by KAYLIE JONES
LOS ANGELES NOIR,
edited by DENISE HAMILTON
LOS ANGELES NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS,
edited by DENISE HAMILTON
MANHATTAN NOIR,
edited by LAWRENCE BLOCK
MANHATTAN NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS,
edited by LAWRENCE BLOCK
MEXICO CITY NOIR
(MEXICO), edited by PACO I. TAIBO II
MIAMI NOIR,
edited by LES STANDIFORD
MOSCOW NOIR
(RUSSIA), edited by NATALIA SMIRNOVA & JULIA GOUMEN
MUMBAI NOIR
(INDIA), edited by ALTAF TYREWALA
NEW JERSEY NOIR,
edited by JOYCE CAROL OATES
NEW ORLEANS NOIR,
edited by JULIE SMITH
ORANGE COUNTY NOIR,
edited by GARY PHILLIPS
PARIS NOIR
(FRANCE), edited by AURÉLIEN MASSON
PHILADELPHIA NOIR,
edited by CARLIN ROMANO
PHOENIX NOIR,
edited by PATRICK MILLIKIN
PITTSBURGH NOIR,
edited by KATHLEEN GEORGE
PORTLAND NOIR,
edited by KEVIN SAMPSELL
QUEENS NOIR,
edited by ROBERT KNIGHTLY
RICHMOND NOIR,
edited by ANDREW BLOSSOM, BRIAN CASTLEBERRY & TOM DE HAVEN
ROME NOIR
(ITALY), edited by CHIARA STANGALINO & MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI
ST. PETERSBURG NOIR
(RUSSIA), edited by NATALIA SMIRNOVA & JULIA GOUMEN
SAN DIEGO NOIR,
edited by MARYELIZABETH HART
SAN FRANCISCO NOIR,
edited by PETER MARAVELIS
SAN FRANCISCO NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS,
edited by PETER MARAVELIS
SEATTLE NOIR,
edited by CURT COLBERT
STATEN ISLAND NOIR,
edited by PATRICIA SMITH
TORONTO NOIR
(CANADA), edited by JANINE ARMIN & NATHANIEL G. MORE
TRINIDAD NOIR
(TRINIDAD & TOBAGO), edited by LISA ALEN-AGOSTINI & JEANNE MASON
TWIN CITIES NOIR
, edited by JULIE SCHAPER & STEVEN HORWITZ
VENICE NOIR
(ITALY), edited by MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI
WALL STREET NOIR,
edited by PETER SPIEGELMAN
FORTHCOMING
BOGOTÁ NOIR
(COLOMBIA), edited by ANDREA MONTEJO
BUFFALO NOIR,
edited by BRIGID HUGHES & ED PARK
JERUSALEM NOIR,
edited by SAYED KASHUA
LAGOS NOIR
(NIGERIA), edited by CHRIS ABANI
MANILA NOIR
(PHILIPPINES), edited by JESSICA HAGEDORN
SEOUL NOIR
(KOREA), edited by BS PUBLISHING CO.
TEL AVIV NOIR
(ISRAEL), edited by ETGAR KERET
For Addis and Makonnen, my daughter and son
T
ABLE OF
C
ONTENTS
W
HAT
I
F?
W
HY
W
OULD?
I
lived in Kingston from 1963 to 1982. I was born there—at St. Joseph’s on Deanery Road, delivered by Dr. Parboosingh. I was christened there as well, by Reverend Campbell at Christ Church on Antrim Road. My hometown was also where I first had sex. This happened in the small room I shared with my brother in a hot prefabricated house in Hughenden. No—I’m not going to share her name.
One of the things I remember most about my years in Kingston, in addition to the fact that I’d faked my orgasm that first time so I could go back to reading a comic book, is that this metropolis of half a million in those days had no directional signs. As such, people would get lost all the time, even those who’d grown up there, but especially those who had not.
Which way to public horse-pit-all? Which part you turn fo’ reach the zoo? Carib theater—is where that is?
And the answer to these questions always seemed to go along the following (squiggly) line: “Okay … you going go down so where I pointing, then you going see a man with a coconut cart. When you see him now, you going turn, but not turn all the way, just part way, cause you going see a fence that kinda break down. But you not going stop there at the fence, y’know. You only going see it. You going see it, then you going pass. You going pass it till you reach the gully. But when you reach the gully now, what you going do is wheel round till you see the big tree. Listen me good here now. Cross the street when you see the big tree, because you have some man out there who will hold you up. Then after you cross the street now, go on and go on, and go on, then turn again, then turn again, then stay straight. Stay straight until you see where the road turn. But you mustn’t turn. You must stay straight … and then if you still can’t find where you going, just aks again.”
Today, the largest English-speaking city between Miami and Buenos Aires has lots of signs. Even so, if you’re not from there it’s still easy to get lost.
This is one of many ways in which Kingston reminds me of New Orleans. Like its cultural cousin on the Mississippi, Kingston is a liquor-loving, music-maddened, seafood-smitten, classaddicted place. Dangerous as a
mutha
, but also—especially when you feel a cool wind coming off the harbor, or see a cape of mist on the shoulders of the northern hills, or hear a bongo natty singing praises to the Father as some herb smoke warms his heart—a place of Benedictine peace.
Every story in this collection was written (and rewritten, and rewritten, and
damn rewritten, Colin
) by an author who knows and understands this charismatic, badass city very well. In addition to having this intimate knowledge, the eleven writers share something else—a fascination with the city’s turbulent dynamics, with the way its boundaries of color, class, race, gender, ideology, and sexual privilege crisscross like stormtangled power lines.