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The following program is a fictional story. While certain characters may bear a resemblance to or be based on actual people, this is a piece of art and does not claim to represent or impersonate any real-life person. While some of the events portrayed may be based on real-life events, they are not meant to be an accurate depiction of historical or current news events.
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A Next Day, an Afrofuturist series by J.L. Roberts, part three. Blue. I mean, it’s not like we’re ever going to see each other again. If we’re not going to see each other again, then why does the rest of the plan even matter? You trying to steal my intellectual property? No, no, I’m just messing with you.
It’s not like I’ll be upset if you use my plan and actually manage to save the world. I’m not terribly concerned with my legacy at this point. Not that I ever really was. Okay, so yeah, so a keeper isn’t really an AA sponsor. That’s just what comes out when you try to shrink a 10 dimensional world into a two dimensional conversation. Okay, okay, I get it. A room replicated, a keeper, what else?
I’m not really enjoying the urgency of this anymore. Do you have somewhere to be? Are you sleepy? Because you seem quite awake. Well, it’s 1.30 in the morning and the bar is closing. I guess she trailed off. You guess you’re mapping your usual end of the night routine onto this unusually riveting conversation and kind of ruining it?
I slapped my teeth together in the kindergarten picture day smile to soften the bluntness. I wasn’t thinking that. It’s not that you’re not. I just thought with the vibe. I don’t want to have sex with you. No, I know that’s not. Wow. What is happening to you right now? I’m really not sure actually. I think I.
She trailed off again for a moment, looked away and then said, I don’t think I know how to do this. Clearly not, but that’s okay. I tried to give her a moment to find herself again. Sam walked past us and out the side door with a giant bag of empty beer bottles. The commotion and the noise served as a natural cathartic interruption. Do you want help? I asked. Sam threw a
Nah, I’m good. Over their shoulder and hurried away from the awkwardness as if it might cling to their shoe like an accidental piece of toilet paper. Are you all right? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I do like talking about this, the end of a world and my plan to save us. It’s just sort of a big thing, you know? And when I do tell people about it, I like to give it the respect that it deserves. No, that makes sense.
You’re right. It just feels kind of like you’re looking for a bandaid for a bullet hole or one of those how to change your life pamphlets. And this isn’t that. Sam came back in and took a deep breath out as they rounded the bar, relieved that the apogee of the tension had gone. Just a little hill of discomfort now. I guess I’ve been in escape mode for like the last six months.
definitely, same. Thus the crosswords and crocheting. The fuck am I gonna do with a silk shawl at the end of the world? Or even the money I’d sell it for? The bar is me peeking my head out a bit though, seeing if anybody else sees what I see, seeing if anyone’s ready to do anything about it yet.
Exactly, because what could we even do? Everything’s fucked and people are fucking dying and the government isn’t doing shit.
and fuck a whack ass protest and I can’t get my black ass out there anyway so I might as well. She was quiet again, realizing that her mask was falling. I took the opening because otherwise the bar wasn’t me peeking my head out really. Might as well fuck your way to the end of the world. Yeah, kind of, why not? ⁓ no judgment from me.
I’ma go home and get myself off after this. Sam, who was done and ready to close, but staring at their phone and giving us a few minutes to figure things out, laughed out loud then. We all did. I’m kind of hungry, I said. Why don’t we go get something to eat and continue our conversation? That will give you time to remember how to maybe make friends and that there are these things called cell phones.
where people can call each other and make plans to hang out again, you know, so they don’t have to never see each other again. You’re kind of an asshole. You know that? Am I, or am I the Capricorn who’s going to save your slutty ass at the end of the world? We all laughed full belly laughs now. Sam approached us with the keys and we walked to the door. As they pulled down the gate and locked it,
I put my hand out to keep them from stepping in a pile of dog shit that had been deposited to the right of the bar gate. You hungry? I said, as they looked down and realized the gesture. thanks, man. ⁓ I could, I could eat, but let me think. Come along. We could use a third set of eyes. Plus you’ve already heard a bunch and you can help me explain if I get stuck. Sam looked at Karen.
then back at me, then back at Karen, then back at me. We are not fucking. I’m not in that place. And I consider sex to be like substance use, something I’ve promised myself I’d be considered and deliberate about. Plus she already says she fucking herself when she get home. More laughter. Excuse me. My pronouns are they them. So that’s they are fucking themself when they get home.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed like that with other people. And from the looks of them, neither could they. That pizza place on Cherry is still open. ⁓ I don’t know about gluten. They have gluten-free and vegan slices. cool. We started walking, and somewhere along the way, we each decided to say yes to the night.
So Sam, how big is that bedroom that used to be your studio? Cause I really might murder my roommate. Well, that depends. Depends? They mean it depends on how serious you are about fucking your way to the end of the world. We stopped short of the corner and let the guffaws and shoulder slaps and stomach grabs overtake us. I mean, that’s fair. My roommate is worse if you can believe it.
Last night I stepped on a used condom, condom on the floor of our bathroom. She really ain’t trying to feel nothing. And it’s worse because it’s dudes. That’s fucking disgusting. My studio has its own bathroom. So you wouldn’t have to worry about that for multiple reasons. my God, sign me up. So you really live on an old lady’s property in a trailer?
It’s a tiny house, but yes, I really do. That’s actually awesome. I can’t believe you don’t have to pay rent in this economy. You’re rich. I’m lucky for sure. Lucky that Ms. Gladys could see my vision. Her son tried to talk her out of it. Your vision for Giovanni’s Rome, for grassroots creative community. Wait, so Ms. Gladys isn’t on this too? This is a cult.
If it’s a cult where I don’t have to pay rent and we grow our own food, sign me up.
I hadn’t really thought about it like that. But no, I don’t think it’s a cult. There’s no worship or Kool-Aid, and I’m not asking people for much money, just humanity. Just then we arrived at the pizza spot. Inside or outside? Let’s sit outside. I try to be COVID conscious. I snagged a table outside and Sam and Karen went in to order their slices. When they came out,
I went in. I needed a minute to contemplate the cult idea. Was I recreating Earthseed? Once we were all back at the table with food and drinks, the conversation continued. I’ve been thinking about the cult thing. ⁓ I wasn’t serious. I know, but it’s worth considering. What differentiates a cult from a community?
You mean besides a man usually white robbing and sleeping with all his disciples? Yeah, besides that. I don’t mean to rush you, because I know you hate that. But can we get back to all the pieces involved? Then we can decide if it’s a cult after you’ve laid it all out for us? Yeah, sure. That’s a good idea. But just so you know, I don’t think we’re going to get through it all tonight.
You really need an elevator pitch, my dear. You’re going to lose a lot of people just in the amount of time it takes to figure out what the hell you’re even talking about. Yeah, I think that might be on purpose. Sam already proving to be a valuable addition to the conversation. So you caught that, huh? I did, and I get it. Everybody’s rushing around looking for a quick fix.
And it’s not that I’m judging them. I’ve been there. I’m still there often. But one of the big things that occurred to me is that the urgency and the quickness is a part of the sickness. The idea that this all came to be in the blink of an eye or that we can fix it with one thing or one person. It’s like nobody really knows what a society is, what a species is, and how long it all takes, how many times it didn’t come to fruition before it did.
If we rush it, I’m afraid it won’t become. I’m afraid we’ll end up right back where we started. But what’s the it? What’s the thing that you’re scared of rushing? That’s what I’ve been waiting on all night. A room, some keepers. That isn’t enough to save us. Well, for starters, giving up urgency. That is enough to save us in many ways. Sometimes urgency is needed though.
Like asking out a girl before someone else does or before she leaves the bar. Why is that urgent? If it’s just about the sex, don’t you have as many choices as there are willing girls in a bar on a given night? But if I want that girl exactly that, that right there, what if I told you that in order to get a given girl, instead of having to rush, you had to wait?
then she probably isn’t a girl I want. Karen chuckled a bit awkwardly. Exactly. I stood up in excitement. Exactly what? You know what you’re looking for. You know what you want and don’t want. And you know that a girl who requires too much patience isn’t for you. I know what I want too. And I know that anyone who doesn’t have the patience to sit through
A complex explanation of my idea isn’t for a room, Giovanni’s room. So this is all a test then. No, not at all. It’s just what has happened. When people lose interest or don’t ask questions, I know that they aren’t ready to do anything that isn’t quick and absolute. World building isn’t that. Nothing alive in the world is that. When people stay and let me take my time,
I know then too. Yeah, it’s funny because our conversation went totally differently. You weren’t in a hurry, I said to Sam. Okay, so I’m impatient. I’ll give you that. But I’m here now, aren’t I? You are, and I’m glad. Why are you glad? Because like you said, sometimes urgency is needed. It will be good to have someone who can move fast when it’s needed.
So you are recruiting me for your cult. You’re recruiting yourself. We all laughed. Can I tell you a bit more? Please, I’m already in an episode of the Twilight Zone here. My boner is completely gone and somehow I’ve chosen a sexless night of talking about the end of the world with strangers. A world. Sam again for the win. Facts.
So a room is 14 people tops, probably 12. And that is where the becoming happens. Becoming? Yes, becoming. That is where we become ourselves, the humans that we could and would be if we didn’t live in this world. You mean without rent and bills and cops and men and misogyny and all that bullshit? Exactly. If we want to live in a different world, we have to become different.
And if we’re going to become different, we have to practice. At least that’s what I think. That’s what my knowing says and neuroscience and physics. Your knowing? Is that like intuition? Sort of. It’s my connection to myself, my origins, and the earth we’re all living on. Okay, you didn’t say it like that to me. That is sounding a little woo woo and culty.
More laughter. In the laughter of the night, at a pizza place with two strangers, it began. It became. Violet.
I slept a whole next day. This has happened every time I have died so far. Initially, there is a kind of muted euphoria and energy. After, I sleep asleep like that of a newborn.
I feel nervous about this reality because I do not know if my body is capable of staying awake after the dying. I’ve never had to try. We have been thinking of occupying new lands. We’ve been in this place for five local seasons, and that is a longer relationship than we have had with a given plot of earth. She will need rest from us and us from her. Other rooms will come and work with her on replenishment.
Giovanni’s room has brought new land into our community. It lies farther north and we have not yet been there to ask permission to see if she will have us. So much of the earth is still laden with poison, with sickness. The former white and former owner of the land has already done an accountability ritual. And I’ve heard that a few wild animals were seen over the course of her giving herself back to the earth.
This is an indication that she is already healing. When we do migrate, if I die, I will end up as a passenger. And it evokes fear in me to think that others may notice this departure from my current routine. I may need to have a conversation with at least Sam before we depart. Karen waited for me to awaken.
decontaminate and dress before she came in to talk to me about the seeds. We decontaminate for three days and quarantine for six since what happened with Lourdes. You look renewed said Karen walking in with the microscope in one hand and a drawing from Essie and Jacare in another. Jacare requested that I tell you a reason why his head is so small in the picture
is that you have not sung to him in three days. He’s so funny. Clearly that is his polite way of asking without asking when I’ll be back. Yeah, we work with him every day on direct and assertive communication. He is in a reorganization phase for sure. I feel like I’m in a reorganization phase myself. Yes, you slept for quite a while.
There is no way that Karen hasn’t noticed the dying too, though she has been a little more distracted with her new deeper connection to April. April’s sister Ebony was the owner of our new community land up north and Ebony’s decision to join Giovanni’s room has brought up a lot for April. Karen is a keeper in April’s room. I worry that Karen is overextending herself.
April is on a journey of deciding whether she will leave her current room and join a new one with Ebony. The sisters have a history of co-dependency and April feels a responsibility because she is older. I am Karen’s keeper right now though, and our mission to find insulin, the dying and my long rest has meant that she has had less support. Yeah.
Losing Kara has been hard on my body and my system. We’re all hurting. Danny insisted on waiting for you to wake up to do the ceremony. She didn’t have to do that. I think you’re the only one she’s going to let hold her in this thing. Is she not talking to her keeper? Who is it right now? It’s Rose. Shit. No wonder. Who’s the other keeper in their room right now? Ray, she’s trying.
but it’s slow going. She’s good. She’ll get through the armor. I’m really trying to be better about not being keeper to the masses. I want to acknowledge and be accountable for not being able to be as present for you these last few days. I’d like for us to set up a time to meet today. You’ve been busy trying to help Jacare and Kara and getting blown up. Sam has stepped up to support me.
Of course they have. Who are they keeping for right now? B, nothing much going on in their room, mostly conversations about migration. That’s good. How’s April? A mess, but April can wait. Look at these seeds. Karen gestured to the microscope and I went over to get the right mask so that I could get a good look through the lens.
You can just pull down your mask. It’s fine. We both know you’re not going to get sick and you’re not going to get me sick. I stopped mid reach and my skin got a chill. We don’t need another Lordis situation. said, grabbing the scope mask and switching out the regular one. We have rock solid immune systems and you know it. We’re the only ones who haven’t been sick. Me, you and Sam.
I realized that I had been holding my breath that whole time and I let it out. Karen is usually even more astute than Sam.
April really had been a distraction. Yes, and the moment we allow our deliberate practices to lapse is the moment we find out we aren’t infallible. I can’t afford to lose you. We can’t afford any avoidable losses in our community. Shit, sorry. That was insensitive of me. I take your words into my heart. You’re fine. Scoot over and let me see. I pulled the chair up next to Karen at the desk.
and looked into the microscope. The testa looks so good. Right? We haven’t seen one without structural damage in, well, we’ve never seen one like this. I know. I was trying to conceal my excitement. Where did you find these? In a room behind the door. It looked kind of like a laboratory, so, so we shouldn’t get our hopes up yet.
they might be tampered with, they might be another trap. Where exactly did you find them? In a bedroom, tucked into a book. So I was thinking that you were thinking they were someone’s stash. Exactly. Where could they have come from? Do you think they’re organic?
I mean, who knows what organic even means. Toward the end, the things in the grocery stores,
The shit that’s in them now. It has a sticker on it, but yeah, I know what you mean, but still, yes, still, this is promising. I tipped the scope and the seeds slid off of the plate and into my gloved hand. How many looked like this? I think there were four. There were only three in the band-aid. Maybe one fell out, but all three that I have look like this.
I was going to ask you what you thought about examining the insides, if you think it’s worth. You mean, should we destroy one just to test the inner coating when the other two might not sprout? Yeah, the last ones failed to thrive. How could I forget? There’s hardly any food anymore. Ever since the US government rolled back regulations and safety measures,
The agricultural industry and corporations like Monsanto have been interfering with the biology of fruits, vegetables and grains, trying to make them grow even faster, trying to make them grow at all what with the polluted soil and water and air. By the time people realized what was happening, there was a 30 % increase in the incidence of type one diabetes in children. They still haven’t admitted
that it was the food doing this to us, but we all know now. The farmers blame the data centers and the data centers blame the oil companies and the oil companies blame the farmers and Monsanto just sits there lying to everyone. All of the seeds are contaminated. Pollutants have changed the genetic structure of the plants. The seeds are growing fruits and vegetables with no nutritional value.
Apples with barely any sweetness to them, cucumbers that are gray inside, sour oranges with almost no glucose, and glucose is what we all need. Insulin prices soared, children died left and right, kitchen gardens were getting looted and destroyed. It’s like I always said, you can’t eat money, you can’t drink oil, you can’t breathe natural gas.
We have been rehabilitating the earth that we occupy. Little by little, we’ve been able to grow food that is closer and closer to real food. But when fruit and sugar became the country’s hottest commodities, what with other countries stopping their shipments due to the tariffs and threats of war, everyone went crazy. This is only the third time we’ve been able to get our hands on seeds that seem to be intact.
unadulterated at the cellular level by chemicals and plastics. I think we should sprout them all. I was thinking the same. I’m wondering if it makes sense to put it to the keepers though. We did last time. And last time we worsened our odds by cutting into one. What if it was the only viable seed? What if the others only disintegrated because they were contaminated?
In another dimension, every other reality has come to fruition. I know, it’s just a feeling, I guess. I worry that we succumbed to whiteness instead of trusting the land to nurture all of the seeds. I worry that because there is only Jakari left, other people don’t care enough. I worry that too. I think that Rose will be pregnant soon though. By who?
Gator, I think he appeals to her lingering pick-me energy. Universe, I hope not. We may end up losing her. If we both choose to bring our darkness into the light. Yes, it’s true. She annoys the shit out of me too. And sometimes I wish we didn’t need her. We need her for more than her nursing skills. Yes, yes, sharing space with people we don’t always agree with is a strength.
I have a knowing of this rationally. I am still in my work around the emotional part. Child, you and me both. I don’t often feel the urge to strangle someone, but we both laughed then. Are you hungry? You haven’t eaten in a day. Very. Speaking of fruit, are the lemons ready? Not yet. April missed her bicycle shift and we lost some necessary light.
What flavor did Rochelle make then for the yogurt? Honey rhubarb again. Universe. I swear the melanin deficient love rhubarb in a way I will never understand. I have a little bit of strawberry jam tucked away. We can stir some into yours today if you want. You’ve been holding out on me? Praise the earth. You know how I love strawberry. Wait, are these from last season?
Two seasons ago, I found a jar I had forgotten I stashed. Two seasons ago, the strawberries were incredible. Yeah, the jam is like, like an orgasm. I’ll bet it is. I’ll go and get you some. Yogurt too. There are beans, rice pudding, and Mexican corn dumplings. Shit, did Lucy succumb to Gator’s ugly friend? She’s usually only generous with her corn flour when she’s getting male attention.
Actually, I think it’s Lucy and Ray. What? Yeah, you’ve missed a lot. I have. How about I eat some food, and then we take a digestive walk and have a keeping session. Are you sure you have space to hold my stuff? I paused for a few moments and scanned my body. I felt rested. I felt energized and new.
Like I could be in communication with every cell in my body in a heartbeat, faster even. I am sure I would love it if you’d allow me to keep for you. Okay, let’s do it. Karen went to get up from the desk and grabbed the microscope. The seeds. ⁓ Let’s loop salmon and keep talking for now.
We will have to decide whether we want to sew now or after migration either way. True. Where are you keeping them in the meantime? In my top secret spot, we cracked up laughing and as Karen backed out the door holding the microscope like a coffee cup, I yelled out to her, nurture the hope, not the fear. Always, she responded trailing off as she retreated.
Karen returned with breakfast and sat outside binding recipe books as I savored Rochelle’s corn dumplings and the now strawberry rhubarb yogurt. There were times when I worried that our collective tendency to stash and keep little things for ourselves was an indication that we were not moving away from whiteness diseases but back toward them. Moments like this.
when one of us presented another with our prized guarded treasure were frequent though. And it felt more like we were saving charms as gifts for others than hoarding them for ourselves. It is something that I have been meaning to bring up at our communal coming. Perhaps I will take the next migration coming to bring it to our collective awareness for contemplation. It was a warm crisp morning when Karen and I stepped out to walk.
And I found myself wishing that my quarantine could end so that I might feel the wind on my cheek. The last lingering memory of the blast that killed Kara haunted me and I was eager to replace it. I had been cryptic about the ghost memories I experienced after each dying. And each time my keeper seemed to know that I was holding something apart. I have never been good at coming up with frivolous lies on the fly.
Karen hooked her arm in mine and we strolled along a path on the back half of the land that abutted the forest. We waved to the guardians at their posts and Karen poured out all that she had been holding for April. I think Ebony is just following April. She’s experienced what it’s like out there on her own without April and she’s realized just how much she’s depended on her in the past. I listened and did not respond until the end.
I know that Ebony’s land is good for our community. I know that Ebony deserves a safer life among community the way we all do, but this is the first time I’ve felt conflicted this way. April has come so far. I’m concerned that Ebony’s presence will have April cycling backward instead of forward. Direction is a relative and amorphous construct, I reminded. I know.
And I know that April is on the journey that she is meant to be on in this moment, that she may choose another at any time. It’s just, it’s hard not to get invested sometimes. All the time, really. May I offer you a foundational link? Of course. Your brother. Wow. Yeah. It’s right there, isn’t it? It might be. What was his name again? Aiden.
Aidan and April. Wow. Would you like to say more about Aidan? Karen was quiet for quite a while after that. I believe that I am the one she is closest to in our community. And I also believe that she still struggles with feeling that she will not be accepted if she is fully known. He was too young to know what he was doing. How old was he?
14, but he was a young 14. 14 is young either way. It is. You were only 18, Karen. I was older. You were only 18. Think about our community. Think about what Anna’s 18 is like. Anna didn’t have the childhood that I had. No.
and your childhood didn’t come with lightning speed maturity. It doesn’t work like that. I think we should revisit your developmental experience inventory. I know it doesn’t work like that. Karen’s voice was short. She tugged her arm away from mine and stopped walking. I stood with her a ways away, breathing deeply into my suit, keeping my heart slow.
It was a strange feeling, asking my heart to be slower and having it respond instantaneously. Keeping sessions often feel timeless. Holding someone in moments of trauma is like standing at the edge of a black hole, watching objects be sucked in, imagining others fly out another side somewhere. I knew that with Karen, she would need me to break the silence.
I waited for the energy to shift and I asked, what do you need from me right now? I need a time machine. You got one of those? I do, right here. Where would you like to go? Back, back to the day I told on him. Okay, is there anything I need to know before our journey? Who said you could come with me?
Karen, I’m your keeper. I go where you go. Yeah, yeah. I put out my hand and hooked it around her arm again. I looked her in the eyes then.
I go where you go, I repeated. She kept eye contact with me until tears began streaming down her face. I’ll drive. You just tell me where to go. Okay, maybe tomorrow. I’m tired now. Okay, I said.
We stood in the afternoon shade of the teenage trees we had been cultivating in the back grove. The wind came through and ran its fingers through them, and we pretended that we could feel it too. At least I did. I had four more days of quarantine, and this part never seemed to get easier. I hated being separated from the air. I had come to love all of the elements almost equally.
and it was hard on my body to be missing any of them. I would see fire again at Kara’s ceremony later. I wouldn’t feel it all the way, but I’d take it in with my eyes. The wind is not like that. When you cannot feel it, only seeing its effect, believing in the movements it supposedly causes, feels like a leap of faith.
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A Next Day is an interactive Afrofuturist science fiction series about the origins of Giovanni’s Room, a matriarchal collective that forms in the wake of the collapse
of one of history’s most powerful regimes. Listeners are encouraged to follow along and send in their story ideas to giovannisroomgcc@gmail.com. Help us tell the tale. Help us write the future into existence.