Satiricus was grinning. And this surprised his friend Cappo, the cane cutter who was knocking back a few with him – as usual – at their old stomping grounds, the Back Street Bar. Cappo was surprised since while he loved his buddy dearly, he had to admit Satiricus wasn’t exactly a “sunshiny” guy.
“Suh wha’ mek yuh skin yuh teet’ like da?” he asked bluntly, even though he knew Satiricus became the last of the big time spenders when he was in a good mood. And beers flowed like the proverbial milk and honey.
“Well, my good friend, this is one time when I will be asking YOU the questions,” said Satiricus as he continued grinning, “and not like how you usually grill me like I stole your mother’s white fowl!”
“Wha’ yuh wan’ aks me?” said Cappo guardedly. “Me only a wan canecutta yuh know.”
“And that’s exactly what I want to ask you about,” replied Satiricus. “What are you guys striking for?”
“Sato, yuh a wuk fuh wan pay-pa,” said Cappo sternly. “Yuh know abee wan’ mo’ money and stuff.”
“That’s exactly what I want to ask you about,” said Satiricus triumphantly. “How do you think you can get more money when the company is losing money and the government has to bail it out?”
“Budday! De company na lose money beca’se abee na do abee wuk,” Cappo said heatedly. “Why abee shou’d suffa fuh dem big maninja mistake?”
“You’re all in this thing together,” advised Satiricus. “If the company fall, everybody will be hurt.”
“Sato, lemme aks yuh somet’ing,” Cappo replied in a serious tone. “How laang me a wuk in de backdam?”
“Twenty-five years,” answered Satiricus.
“Yuh na t’ink abee old canecutta know waan-two t’ing ‘bout cane?” Cappo asked.
“I should think so,” said Satiricus said fervently.
“Suh how come de guvment a pay big, big money fuh all dem “expert” fuh fix suga’.” Cappo asked. “An’ dem na aks abee canecutta, who knew mo’ dan all dem expert about suga’?”
Satiricus stopped grinning. But he ordered another round for his friend Cappo, the cane cutter.
“Let’s drink to more money for sugar workers!” he said, as he clinked his bottle with Cappo’s.
