Jackass sey di worl' no level. Jackass sey smaddy hedit off de tape fe de 'Kingly' evidence.

The tape, the tape, the tape. It was not so long ago that the whole Jamaica was abuzz about 'de tape' after the Kingly one died a commoner's death and tongues wagged that the ambassador was really an amb-'ass'-ador, there had been a different kind of stabbin' in the cabin before the one that took life and Peter Peter was more a cucumber than a pumpkin eater.

And Vybz Kartel asked who was Peter King man?

Nobody could tell until last week when 'de tape' came up in the court case and, lo and behold, the man himself was bawling out to Jesus Christ when the ecstasy got to his 'head'. (Heh heh, that one was sorta corny but just too sweet to let pass.) But, as we were informed in Friday's WEEKEND STAR, while 'de tape' was duly handed over as ordered, it was not all of it (or, more accurately, them.) It was written:

"The court was told on Monday that some of the tapes could not be located. Sources say that the missing tapes may contain footage of many prominent professionals who are living a 'down-low' life."

And that was that. And Jackass has to ask 'just so?'. Nah man. The world is not level at all.

These are exhibits in a murder case. Murder. How can they go missing, just like that and there has not been (at least, so far) legal rumpus? When there is a murder case and a gun goes missing or a bullet casing goes missing, all hell breaks loose. When there is a cocaine case and some of the white stuff is replaced with flour or simply disappears, there is hell to pay.

So how comes parts of 'de tape' are not around and (at least, not yet, Jackass cautions) no heads are rolling and there are no claims of the course of justice being thwarted? How come?

Jackass knows that it is because of that one word in the story. 'Prominent'. Translate that into Jamaican terms and it means 'money'. Now Jackass does not feel that parts of 'de tape' disappeared because the people responsible for the disappearance felt sympathetic towards the people whose 'sexploits' were recorded. Read between the lines.

But that is how Jamaica runs. If you are not 'prominent' and you have a run-in with the police, you spend as much time as it takes for a child to pass GSAT, go through high school and enter university just waiting for the trial to start. If you are 'prominent' enough there is hardly a chance that you will end up on a television news report with a placard chanting 'We Want Justice!'.