When You Realise Your Tongue is Being Pulled

In Jamaica, when someone tries to get you involved in an argument, we say; “don’t pull my tongue”.

I wrote an item http://172.104.9.193/arguments-take-two/#comment-9168 about people who try to create an argument, and a friend called me, and related these events.

Winston and Errol are brothers.  They used to argue a lot and so Winston packed up and left the city because he couldn’t take any more of it.

It was always put that Winston had started the argument as if he was the contentious one.    Winston had reached the stage that he decided he had no brother and he was gone.

Years passed and Errol contacted him because of a particular legal matter.  Winston was like.. so what.. but Errol sent him a ticket to fly in, so Winston was; “okay.”

It had been so many years and Winston was completely bland.  The years had blunted everything.

When he arrived Errol met him, took him to his flat, and Winston was very sleepy and not at all into any argument or discussion.

Errol gave him a good breakfast, lunch, dinner, and it was very calm.

The next day, Errol took him to the office and business was transacted, and everything was almost done, save he had to visit another office on the following day.

The first day had passed pretty much in quietude and sleep. The second was the bustle of busy offices and the third dawned with another bustle.

Winston was not bringing up any topic, he wasn’t discussing anything.  Winston spoke about nothing.  If Errol talked he listened, maybe did a nod or a yes but no conversation about anything.

Completing the business they returned to the flat and Errol booked a ticket for Winston to fly back tomorrow as the business had gone so well so quickly the two weeks were unnecessary.

Winston didn’t say around by the brief visit, he was just enjoying the fact that he had spent three days with his brother and there was no argument.  No loud voices, no disagreement, nothing.

As Winston lay in bed, drifting into sleep, Errol began to run a paper shredder.

Here it was, ten pm at night, and Errol is running a paper shredder in the room where he was trying to sleep.

Winston put the cover over his head, not to simply block out the noise but to hide his face from Errol.

After all these years, Winston got the Epiphany.

Errol, always did something like running a paper shredder to provoke and argument.

There was absolutely no reason for Errol to do the shredding now.  It could be done tomorrow, after Winston was gone. But it had to be done now because any normal person would ask; “Why are you doing this now?”  which would allow Winston to use the remark as a the starting gun for an argument.

Winston thought back on his past, remembering a few of the more violent arguments, and there was always a ‘paper shredder’ which started it.

Errol would always do something and Winston would always respond, and then Errol would ‘react’.

Errol would tell the story, leaving out the provocation, to make it seem that it was Winston who started the fight.

As Winston lay in bed, unable to sleep, of course, because of the paper shredder, he smiled, knowing that tomorrow he would leave Errol’s house with the  revelation of what caused the fights, why he was estranged from his brother.

He wondered how long Errol would keep it up… after all… it was Errol who had to drive him to the airport.  He could sleep in the car…

Eventually Errol stopped.  Winston said nothing.   He dropped to sleep, was woken to get ready, and as he reached the airport, a smile covered his mouth.

Errol had tried to provoke a fight and he, Winston, had refused to join.  Errol lost.