HOW STELLA MET JOE

The year was 1947. The mailboat ride from Hatchet Bay to Nassau was not the smoothest. As Stella stepped off the mailboat. “The Fifty Two Miles”. Her legs were a little unsteady and one of the young men said to lean against one of the posts that held the ropes to anchor to the boat. She had to steady her footing. Mama Fedora concerned asked her “Stella, you alright”?

‘Yes Mama, I just a little woosie, I’ll be okay”. She proceeded to collect their suitcases and boxes of pineapples and watermelons that her father had packed for his sister Ellen. Stella couldn’t let Mama lift anything heavy, Mama was not in the best of health, had come to Nassau to see the doctor.

“I see cousin Cody, Mamma, he come to pick us up”. As Cody loaded the luggage onto the truck, Mama and Stella climbed into the passenger seat. Cody drove down Bay St., Stella’s eyes were glued to the window, as she peered into the picturesque shop windows with the most stylish dresses. When they turned off Bay on to East St.; as they approached the hill, the scent of roasting peanuts assaulted her nostrils as they approached Mortimer’s Candy Kitchen.

The truck took a left turn through Eneas Jumper Corner. As they got half way through, the truck turned into a yard with a modest clapboard house. A stout brown skin woman, around Mama’s age was standing on the porch. She had a broad smile on her face, displaying perfectly even white teeth. She did not give the truck time to come to a complete stop as she ushered down the steps. “Oh good God, Stella!” “Fedora, how you?” Before mama could answer she continued “Lord looka Stella, she all grown up”.

They entered the house followed by Cody bringing the luggage. But not before Stella spied a light skinned young man at the side of the house, welding a hammer at a work bench. “I wonder who he is”. She thought to herself. Little did she know, the gentleman was checking her out too; and thinking the same thing.

That evening Aunt Ellen invited the young man to supper. She introduced the two young people. “I didn’t know you had a brother back in Eleuthera, Ms. Ellen, who had a daughter.” Joseph said responding to Aunty Ellen; and such a pretty one he thought. Estella’s appetite seemed to have left her. She began pushing the food around her plate with her fork.

“Girl, you een hungry aye? Eat up” said Aunty Ellen.

Stella glanced shyly across the table at Joseph. He too seemed to be having a loss of appetite.

During the two weeks Stella was visiting. She saw Joseph three or four times, but had very little contact with him. At the end of her two weeks Cousin Cody took Mama and Stella back to the mailboat for departure. He had asked Joseph to accompany him. As he sat on the back of the truck he tried to see as much of Stella as he could through the back window. Stella could feel his eyes on her back. After they arrived on the dock and the luggage loaded on, Stella decided to walk across the street to the City Bakery to buy cakes and cookies. Joseph asked her if he could accompany her, and she agreed. There was a long line in the bakery so it took a while before she was served; as they exited the bakery they heard the blast of the mailboat’s horn. As she began to run, as daintily as she could, towards the dock, with Joseph trotting along side her. When they reached the dock, the mailboat was pulling away as the mate on the dock was securing the ropes. Stella could see Mama Fedora as she was standing on the dock. There were tears streaming down Mama’s face, as she wrung her hands and watched in disbelief.

Stella searched in her handbag for a handkerchief as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She felt a light tap on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll bring you back in two days when the boat returns. Let’s get you back to your auntie”. It was Joseph trying to comfort her.

What am I going to wear for two days, Stella thought, all my clothes are on the boat. She was quiet all the way on the drive back to Eneas Jumper Corner. As she exited the truck in Aunty Ellen’s yard, suddenly she heard the sound of drums, and if there was anything Stella liked it was a band, you wouldn’t think she was the same young lady who was subdued on the drive to her aunt’s house, as she bolted from the yard toward the sound of the drums. The band was marching north up East Street. She ran out to the corner and waited for the band to pass. She begun tapping her feet and swayed her body as the band approached. When the band reached her she started marching up the hill with them. The smell of the peanuts caused her to check herself, she knew she wasn’t far from Shirley Street. Stella turned around , and doing so she bumped into someone, who stepped on her left foot. She felt her slipper loose and nearly come off her foot. Her slipper latch was broken. Stella begun the long walk to Eneas Jumper Corner, dragging her slipper. Trying her best to keep it on.

“Estella, what happened to your shoe?”

Joseph asked her as she hobbled into the yard. “Can I fix your slipper, for you?”

Stella looked at him a little embarrassed. “Someone stepped on my foot and broke my shoe latch”, she replied shyly. “Yes please, you can fix it, thank you.” She handed him the slipper.

The two days passed quickly. Stella found herself on the road to the mailboat again, accompanied by her cousin and Joseph. Joseph used that opportunity to continue to get acquainted with her. He asked her about her family in Eleuthera and about her settlement, of Hatchet Bay. It was now easier to talk to him, she was a little disappointed when the dock came into view. Cody pulled up, got out and went to the boat, stating that he had to check on something, but they both knew he wanted to give them a little time alone.

Joseph handed Stella a small brown paper bag. “This is a little treat to enjoy on the ride home”. Stella took the bag and opened it. It was a jar of chocolates, a brand Stella had always wanted to sample. She smiled and said “Thank you”.

“Can I write to you? “ Joseph asked her.

“I guess it will be alright” she replied and then stepped onto the boat. Joseph waited until the boat sailed out of sight, before he and Cody left the dock.

Every week Joseph faithfully wrote to Stella and each letter was accompanied with a jar of chocolates. Stella was always happy to reply. She returned to Nassau several times during the course of the year, and each trip solidified their growing friendship.

Joseph knew Estella was the woman he wanted for his wife, so almost a year to the date of their first meeting he asked Stella if she would consent to him writing a letter to her father, Edward Belle, asking his permission to become engaged to her. Of course Stella consented; she had fallen in love with Joseph since she first set eyes on him.

Joseph wrote to Papa. Stella’s father replied favorably, and Joseph asked Estella to become his bride. She said” YES”.

They were married 28th June 1948.