Focusing on Toycie
Beryl Clarke, Contributor

Two weeks ago, I promised to do a lesson in which we would focus on Toycie and the impact that her life had on Beka. Last week, however, we dealt with the answers to the question set previously. Here we go now.

Toycie, as you know, is a bright, pretty 17-year-old, but wouldn't you agree that the circumstances of her family put her at a distinct disadvantage? Let us think about her situation. Her father had gone to Panama before her birth and had never been in touch with her, and her mother had gone to the USA leaving her with her aunt and rarely wrote. It must have been particularly hurtful that the man her mother had married in Brooklyn did not even know that she had a daughter in Belize.

In our country, as elsewhere in the Caribbean, we know that many children are brought up by grandparents, grandmother, aunt or older brother or sister and many are properly brought up. There are others, though, who do not fare very well because of different reasons. Children need loving and caring parents or guardians. I am not saying that Aunt Eila was not a good and loving guardian, far from that, for we know that despite her poverty she did her best. But her financial position must have made Toycie uncomfortable, must have contributed to her desire to get out of it and into a better style of life, as represented by Emilio. One should not wonder at her, intelligent as she was, and having the intellectual potential that she did, for deluding herself into believing Emilio's promises. She tries to make the best of her situation but she lives in a 'dawg siddung'! Try to visualise how the house must have looked and the general condition it was in - then imagine yourself as Toycie. Remember, too, that her best friend lives in a good house with both parents and has the financial security that she lacks. Miss Eila also does not have the knowledge or necessary experience to teach her niece about her sexuality and about male/female relationships. You can see, therefore, that it is not very surprising that she becomes involved in a no-win situation.

Beka and Toycie have an excellent friendship. While Beka, from a more privileged situation, is failing in school and telling lies to the disappointment of her family, Toycie is excelling. She provides company for Beka and gives her sound advice. She really behaves like an older sibling and has Beka's admiration. Unfortunately, she does not accept the gentle warnings she receives concerning her activity with Emilio. Toycie is an ambitious young woman who believes that through hard work and academic success, she could improve socially and financially and, as such, is a good example for Beka. It is Toycie who is learning to play the guitar while Beka had wasted her chance to do so, but it is also Toycie who encourages her friend to pursue her dream of becoming a politician.

Toycie's pregnancy, failure to graduate, mental illness and death have a tremendous effect on Beka who learns several lessons from her friend's misfortune.

1. Boys cannot be trusted to keep their word to a girl after they enter into a sexual relationship.

2. There are consequences to sexual activity.

3. Premarital sex can have very painful consequences if the woman becomes pregnant and does not receive the support of her male partner.

4. Society is often unfair to women. Toycie is expelled from school while Emilio continues his secondary education and has the intention of going on to university.

5. Race and class truly separate people as Mrs Villanueva demonstrates. Hypocritically, she has pretended to be fond of Toycie but, in reality, even when she refers to her as 'daughter', she does not think that she is good enough for her son.

6. Her sense of responsibility grows during Toycie's pregnancy and illness. Notice how she offers help and makes plans to help with the child to be born.

7. She decides not to fall in love and get married.

8. Toycie's experience forces Beka to work so that she can escape the harsh existence that uneducated women encounter. It is as if she has to be successful for Toycie. She wins the essay competition feeling that Toycie would have won one of the prizes if she had been alive.

We do not have to make the same mistakes others have made but we can learn from them. God bless!