Summary

In “Under the Ackee Tree,” as a young man in Kingston, Topper had many endless opportunities and relationships. When he met Sanya, he fell in love. He told his father he wanted to go to school for fashion design, but his father disparaged the idea (48). Suddenly Topper felt he had no “options at all” (48). He started overseeing “construction jobs” and learning to build (48). Sanya saw his potential (49).

After Topper and Sanya married, they had Delano. Because of political unrest in Jamaica, they moved to the States, settling in Miami. They had their “second son,” Trelawny (52). To remind himself of home, Topper planted seeds for a “mango tree and ackee tree,” but they did not sprout (52).

Trelawny grew “up strange. Foreign” (52). Topper blamed himself for leaving Jamaica.

Topper struggled to keep a job. Sanya resented the time he spent drawing...