Chapter 4 Summary
This chapter gives the backstory of Fisheye, also known as Belasco John, who came from Moruga to Port of Spain. His father was a preacher but also a skilled stickfighter who trained his sons in the art. Fisheye’s character is marked by his restlessness and seemingly endless need for a violent outlet. When he first came to Port of Spain, he was given the name Fisheye, and even though he tried to tell people his real name, they refused to use it, so he fought them. He earned a reputation for being brave, strong, and aggressive.
When he first moved to Port of Spain, he lived with another man from Moruga called Lefthander and his pregnant girlfriend, and he began a job loading trucks. Fisheye’s physical strength allowed him to be productive and quick at the work, which gave him a sense of masculinity; however, he learned from other men that if he worked that hard, he would just be given more work, so he toned it down. He ended up regretting hearing that, because he found he had excess energy and too many thoughts in his head that needed an outlet. This feeling was exacerbated when he moved to Calvary Hill and lived alone. His friend Lonnie told him it was “the devil” that was in him and that he must find a productive outlet for it. Fisheye began attending the cinema nightly and developed a taste for westerns. This shaped his behavior and even the way he carried himself. On one occasion, he tried to act like an outlaw by refusing to pay for a meal at a diner, but the interaction was awkward, and he was arrested on suspicion of having a knife. He served six months of hard labor.
During his time in jail, a man named Reds encouraged him to join the steel band on the hill, and eventually he did, even though he was not a musician. Instead, he used his physical strength to load and carry band equipment, and his reputation grew as a result. The narrator calls his early days in the steel band “the war days,” when members from steel bands of different neighborhoods didn’t dare impede on the others’ territory after dark. Fisheye was satisfied with his place in the band because it reaffirmed his masculinity, and the band liked the imposing reputation his membership lent to the whole operation. Fisheye’s presence lifted Calvary Hill’s band to the heights of “the tall names,” those bands most feared by the others for their violence and power. He made a name for himself through his involvement in street fighting, which gave him an outlet for restlessness.
Fisheye became known for his black hat with its silver ribbon, and this period of his life was a fortuitous one; he recalls having a relationship with Yvonne, who was an educated and politically conscious woman, and being lucky at gambling. Fisheye watched as the steel band grew, recruiting even the educated boys from Calvary Hill who were drawn to the rhythm of the drums, even if they had to temporarily stay with a sympathetic relative because their families wouldn't accept their membership. Fisheye began to mentor some of the “fidgety” younger men, in whom he recognized himself. Despite all the positive aspects of his life, he couldn’t resist a fight and continued to battle with the other bands. Yvonne grew impatient with his violence and tried to get him to refocus his attention on political causes. She encouraged him to “fight the government” that limited the progress of Black people in Trinidad.
Influenced by Yvonne,...
(This entire section contains 1206 words.)
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Fisheye told his band friends that they needed to broker a peace among all the rival steel bands to work toward something bigger and more meaningful. He was not able to convince his friends to agree, and people jokingly began to call him the Premier. He no longer got the rush he once did from street fights, and Yvonne told him to leave the band, but he could not see how that would be possible. Soon, a peace arose between the steel bands for no apparent reason, but instead of leading the people to embrace political causes, the friendliness only spawned conversations about music instead of about violence. Despite his hopes for some greater good, Fisheye still felt an urge to disrupt things during Carnival and got himself and his band into trouble with other crews.
Even worse, some new bands of light-skinned people began to form and eventually started a trend of corporate sponsorships among steel bands. Fisheye wanted to run them out of town, but his band friends did not see the point. Yvonne kept urging him to find something more productive to do with his life, and he thanked her by beating her, which caused her to pack up and leave him. He tried to find her at political events for PNM, the People’s National Movement, but to no avail. He saw that PNM was drawing crowds and amassing some power, and he could not help but hope for large-scale change. Instead of officially joining the movement, though, Fisheye beat up people who spoke out against it.
He began working for Crash Programme, a government project, with his friend Reds, and he met a woman named Daphne who had three children. He joins the band that Carnival but does not get drunk; he simply basks in the feeling of pride that the steel band emits. This period, however, ushers in the era of sponsorship for steel bands that Fisheye so stringently opposes. In order to prevent Calvary Hill from joining with a sponsor, Fisheye starts fights during Carnival; he knows sponsors do not wanted to be associated with bad behavior. Reds comes to tell Fisheye that the steel band is considering suspending his membership if he can’t control himself during Carnival and stop drawing negative attention to the band. Fisheye vows to destroy all the band’s equipment if they do so, and Reds leaves him alone on the culvert outside his house.
At this point, Aldrick arrives with Fisheye’s stepson. Aldrick says the boy has told him Fisheye is beating the boy for no reason, to which Fisheye questions why Aldrick cares. Aldrick says that he will lift weights and get ready to fight Fisheye on the boy’s behalf, but Fisheye is not in the mood for this kind of banter. Aldrick says the boy has been helping with the dragon costume, and then Fisheye asks Aldrick if he heard what the steel band is trying to do to him. He wants Aldrick to warn the band, but he says he isn’t a messenger before he leaves Fisheye and the boy to walk home. Aldrick’s neighbor, an Indian man whose name he doesn’t know, greets Aldrick and offers him a cigarette. They smoke and chat briefly about the card game “All Fours.” The man asks about Aldrick’s dragon costume and says his name is Pariag; he remarks how they have lived near each other a while but never talked. When he returns home, Aldrick thinks about how he has also never tried to initiate conversation with this neighbor.
