By James McCall
On the morning of Thursday April 8, 2010, the headline on SKNVibes screamed and grabbed my attention so I briskly surveyed the first couple of paragraphs for the name of the hapless taxi driver who died at Canada Estate. The old ticker in my chest sank when the name that emerged was that of Bradford “Braddy” Tweede, a man whom I had known for decades.
As I was at work I did not spend time on the details so, for the rest of the day, I assumed that my friend had died in a traffic accident. However, upon arriving home that evening, I rushed to the computer to plough for the details only to find that Braddy had become St. Kitts-Nevis’ tenth murder victim for the year.
As long as I knew him and as much as we spoke over the years, I never asked him where he hailed from. Although he lived on Branch Street in Basseterre, something about the name Tweede always made me assume that he hailed from the Saddlers area for the simple reason that that village, at some stage, was synonymous with the name.
I have no idea what Braddy did as a vocation before I came to know and admire him, but will always remember him as a taxi driver; an exceptional one at that. Neither do I know what educational level he achieved but I never had reason to question it because we conversed on a variety of subjects and he NEVER came up short.
Although I am sure that, as a human being, he became angry from time to time, I never saw that side of him. He was an approachable person, always willing to lend a word of advice here; a nugget of wisdom there.
Anyone who is old enough to remember the days when all taxis were cars, can attest to the fact that the minibus which most taxi drivers use today, became a phenomenon largely because of Braddy. Insofar as I know, he was the first, and for many years, the only one who used that vehicular configuration to ply his trade. I am not too sure of the exact figure but, back then, the law stipulated a certain number of seats that a taxi ought to have had available and, as such, Braddy was required to remove some of his seats in order to comply.
Over the years he acquired a few of these vehicles, most of which were painted in what I assume must have been his favourite colour…navy blue. He seemed to have loved the Toyota Hiace as this was the make and model he used. Although other taxi operators use vehicles of different makes and models, the one thing that they all owe to Braddy Tweede is the fact that his insistence on using a “bus” to do his job was probably what made the strongest case for the authorities to amend the rules and allow a 14-seater to be used as a taxi.
The taxi business will certainly not be the same from here on in. I am sure that his vast experience made him an enjoyable person to listen to as he drove the visitors to their destinations. The industry will miss a stalwart; a man who dedicated much of his life promoting the tiny place in the Caribbean Sea, where he was born and raised, and where he lived his entire life. That same place just managed to have produced a misguided person who found it necessary and all too easy to point a gun at this gentle man and pull the trigger. I do not know what vital organs were damaged but one can imagine the effect and absolute shock that his aging body experienced as the bullet(s) hit him.
Maybe it is time that some noticeable and sustainable effort be made to rid the country of the far-too-many weapons that have happened to make their way onto the streets.
“Help, Lord” Psalm 12:1
