Modulating Tones

  In the town—now a city—where I grew up, East St. Georges Avenue was lined with bars.  Every weekend they were filled with people drinking, jukeboxes blaring, and soul food dinners selling out of the kitchens. These were just some of the places where the Down Linden and Up Linden communities came together. If you lived across U.S. Highway 1 & 9 toward Tremley Point, you were considered to be from Down Linden. If you lived on the East St. Georges Avenue side, you were from Up Linden. On Friday nights, Pitty Pat card games were played for money in many homes, and cards were cut well into the early hours of Saturday morning, sometimes continuing on through Saturday night. House parties were alive with adults dancing, the Motown sound blaring, whiting fish frying, and collard greens simmering on the stove while children would sneak and peek around corners taking it all in. The laughter, the music, the drinking, and the unmistakable sense of community filled them with joy. Fai...