A duppy made Rafael dumb

Twenty years ago, Rafael Shaw had an encounter with what he considers a ghost, and it wasn’t a pleasant one.

He told THE WEEKEND STAR that one day, he was at home with some friends in Sandside district, St Mary, when he heard his door, which he claimed was already shut, abruptly slam. Naturally, he went to investigate.

“Mi and mi friend dem always a hang out and play domino late. When mi leave fi go home, it was about 11 that night. At the time, mi did live with one a me family member, and another man did live pan the other side of the house. We never ready fi go a wi bed, so we deh inna my part of the house a play some domino and thing, and mi just hear ‘blow’,” he said.

Shaw said that shocked by the sound, he went to investigate but did not see anything except a black cloud.

“When mi go out, mi go with a ‘striker’ (a piece of board) because kill mi dead, a smaddy come inna mi house. All mi coulda see a black. The place did just extra black. So now, mi a go turn to mi friend dem fi tell dem seh nothing was there, but mi realise seh mi dumb,” he said.

Frightened by this event, he rushed into the living room where he and his friends had been playing and tried to indicate to them that he had lost his speech.

he said that his friend, realising what had happened, rushed into the kitchen and told him to eat some salt.

“Mi seh, mi panic when mi realise seh mi couldn’t talk, and dem seh to me seh mi fi suck some salt. A likkle bit afta me deh a suck the salt mi start talk back, and as dat happen so, mi go back inna the hall and start cuss,” he said.

When asked why he decided to curse the ‘ghost’, he said that growing up, he was taught by his grandmother that when a ghost is near, you should curse them and let them know that they are dead.

Shaw said that to his relief, after putting the spirit in its place, it never bothered him again. He said that he would not want anything like that to happen to him again as it was a frightening experience.