In Debt To A Jamaican Man

Chapter 1

This story is set in Jamaica so there will be features of the Jamaican culture represented within this story. In addition, there will be areas where the Jamaican patois will be seen in some dialogues. For my non-Jamaican or non-caribbean readers, please feel free to comment if there are any issues with understanding some words or phrases. 
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Sabrina's POV

If there was one thing that I hated more than anything else, it was driving when it rains and driving at night. The two just didn't go well together for me. The tasks practically gave me anxiety every time. If I had a choice, I wouldn't leave my house these days. I dread the experience.

Before I started driving, I always heard my father saying how much he hated driving whenever it rains, and I lived to prove why. It was a literal nightmare. Whenever it rains, it seems as if everyone loses their damn minds. First, we have the people who would just run out in front of your vehicle to cross the road, then panic when they realize that the vehicle is too close and stop in the middle of the road. On top of it, they shout insults at you as if it was your fault. Then there are the mad drivers who kept swerving all over the place, failing to use their horns properly. If you weren't careful enough, their behavior is sure to result in an accident.

As much as I am capable of driving, sometimes this place causes me to hate it.
Almost every other weekend it was the same thing, traffic, mad drivers, and crosses pedestrians. I often wish that I didn't have to go through this encounter at all, especially when driving from Kingston to Portland.

I came to Kingston a few years ago to attend university. Ever since 11th grade when our high school had us visiting different universities on their open day, I had decided that The University of the West Indies (UWI) was the choice for me. Furthermore, there was a group of three of us that were friends, and we all wanted to stick together and attend UWI. The idea of leaving home and venturing off towards the 'bigger city life' was fascinating to me, until I started feeling homesick. After a few months at university, I wanted to come home almost every weekend and would make the journey back to Portland whenever I got the chance. I was never on my own before and university life introduced me to that, so it was inevitable that I would miss home sometimes.

After graduating almost two years ago, I decided to officially move to Kingston because of a job opportunity. There was a vacant position for a Biology teacher at a High school in St. Andrew, where one of my cousins worked. She had informed me that they needed a Science teacher and helped me secure the position there. There was no way I would turn down such an opportunity, especially when I wasn't certain about securing a permanent teaching position in Portland. 

My cousin was the bursar at the school and lived alone, so she was more than happy for me to move into one of the two bedrooms she had at the apartment she rented in Havendale. However, I am a certified country girl who loves my parish. Hence, almost every other weekend, I travel back to Portland to visit my parents and other relatives. I just couldn't leave out going to Rio Grande either.

I love visiting home on the weekends whenever I can, but at times the traveling process could be stressful. I used to take public transportation to and from work, and to and from Portland until my father left his car in my care 6 months ago when he went on vacation in New York. When he returned to Jamaica, he was planning on selling the car to buy a different model, so I bought it off him. Though, he practically gave me the Honda Civic since he didn't want to collect the full amount. 

My Dad had refused to sell me the car for the price he had planned. He had said that I needed the car since the transportation situation was a hassle for me at times, but he could never charge me the selling price he would have charged another buyer, so I should consider it a gift. One thing about my Dad was that he always goes all out for me, even with me being an adult. If it was up to him alone, he probably would have just given me the car, but I couldn't allow myself to do that. I had been saving from the last time I went on the Students work and travel programme in the States and from my months of working, so I could afford to give him more than half the money he wanted.