It must be nice, so Bev does it twice

SHE lost her first husband in a hail of bullets on March 23, 2003 but Beverly Taitt has since found love and happiness and became a wife for the second time around on September 10. The wedding was a double occasion for Beverly as she celebrated her 30th birthday on the day she wed Marlon Taitt. The mother of eight, including a baby boy born after her husband’s death, said her children were thrilled over the new addition to the family and revealed that “everybody loves Marlon.” “Everybody gets along terrific. They love him and he gets along pretty well with them and that is why I was able to get married, because everything is perfect. He gets along well with the children and that is a big factor. Everybody loves Marlon and so I realise it was the right thing to do,” Beverly said emphatically. Her new husband was a close associate of first husband Mark Guerra whom she married when she was 16.

Mark, a high-ranking member of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, was gunned down at Wallerfield one Sunday evening. He was called a “community leader” by some, but police described him as a gang leader who distributed guns to teenagers to carry out crime as well as being a suspect in several murders. Eight months ago Beverly gave birth to Mark’s 15th child, Mohammed. Mark never knew about Mohammed as Beverly only discovered she was pregnant three months after his killing. Beverly knew Marlon from “seeing him around” but they became friends about 18 months ago. They were married by Jamaat leader Yasin Abu Bakr. Her religion permits her to remarry three months after her husband’s death, but the only stipulation is that she marry a Muslim. She converted to Islam when she was 13 years old. Mark’s widow did not grieve over him, but still misses him and prays for him.

“I never really grieved for Mark. I love him and I miss him because in this life there is death, so I understand life and death. I pray for him all the time but it’s not like I sit and study him.” She was adamant that Mark used to do good despite what people said about him. She said Mark “lived to die” and always prepared her for his death, so she was ready to move on after his demise. “I know he used to do good despite what people say. He always prepared me in case he died so when he died I was more or less ready to carry on the legacy.  He always told me that when he dies to just take care of his kids and raise them in Islam and so far that is what I have been doing so I know he would be pleased with me.”

The CEPEP contractor for the Laventille/Port-of-Spain area runs her own business —My Youths Environmental Limited, through which she was able to obtain the CEPEP contract and has 65 people employed with her. After Mark’s death she ran a grocery at St Joseph Road to support her children, including Mark’s 16-year-old daughter Jamillah. That grocery has since become the office from which she conducts business. Husband Marlon is an office manager at the URP and is also a private contractor. Beverly’s work day begins at six and ends at five pm. She has hired a babysitter to take care of her eight-month-old Mohammed and a private tutor for her other children whose ages are three, six, seven, nine, ten, 14 and 16 years old. She plans to have two more children with Marlon.