Participants:
| Scene Title | Mind The Roots |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | All she wants is some yams. |
| Date | August 6, 2018 |
Satoru Memorial Garden
It was an early morning run, that originally took him past the gardens. All that life in verdant shades and edging toward the eventuality of naturally occurring sepia tones, humming softly on a frequency that not all people can hear. Whispering softly on the wind, breezes carrying tales like gossiping fishwives. The world around him seeming to fade to the background for the few seconds it took him to run past the entrance, he took the time to jog backwards to read the hours of operation once more before continuing on his way.
Now, Dequan has returned. He’s traded the jogging shorts and drenched white tank-top for a dark blue t-shirt that fits around the swell of his biceps and across the chest, a pair of dark jeans and a pair of dark brown cowboy boots. All that long hair is left out, still damp from a shower to fall around his shoulders and down his back. It's in the early afternoon when the plant lover finds himself wandering along a winding path between the various raised beds, kneeling down beside a raised bed to reach out and allow his hand to hover above the ground there, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
Sitting crossed legged in one of the plots, is a woman with a long dark mane of hair that is braided loosely and swings at the middle of her back. Brown eyes open as she hears someone come nearby. Squinting in the sunlight and taking in the tall man with the long hair she cups her eyes with pale hands, “Smells fresh.” She says softly in her rasp as she digs in the dirt idly with one hand, mixing the dirt in on itself. “Green.” Not the green that Eve prefers but.
A break from Benchmark, her morning routine of rehab for her leg over. The leg in question is free of a cast and her staff lays collapsed in on itself on the ground next to her, she’s trying not to rely on it as much. The wind pulls at a few loose strands of hair and she contemplates the greenery around them. “I’m waiting for a sweet potato.”
Dequan looks up when he hears a voice, glancing over to where Eve is settled.
There’s a squint and a tilt of his head before the corner of his mouth is tugged up in a small half smile. He pull his hand back and let his head fall back as he takes another deep breath and the ‘mmhm’ rumbles low in his chest as he agrees with the woman. “One of the best scents out there, ain’t it?” His voice is low, colored by the warm tones of New Orleans and the sharpened ever so slightly but the crisp corners of the southern Gulf coast.
“Didn’t count on seein’ a beautiful city flower like yourself in one of these plots, ma’am. This a regular thing in New York?” He asks with a lift of an eyebrow before nodding towards the plot after hearing about the sweet potato. “Ahh, so how long have you been waiting?”
Eve cackles, “I’m more a weed, this city just can’t get rid of me.” Said softly as she plays with a nearby leaf but she doesn’t pluck it, swinging her braid around to the front of herself she tilts her head. “But green smells nice, fruit.. Vegetables. Eat your spinach Popeye, ya know.” She shrugs her shoulder though in her mind she is thinking of the spinach she’s gonna eat later. Munchies whether she’s stoned or not that’s Eve.
Looking back down at the earth which has not let loose a sweet potato yet she holds up her hand, “Just an hour, it’s coming.” Staring intently at the ground, she leans in close and pats the surface as if trying to calm it, “It’s okay to come out now, no more robbers. Just people who want to eat you.” Cocking her head to the side she tries to listen hard, “Nope can’t hear them. Not my gift.” Sometimes she wishes she could talk to plants and animals and aliens even.
Running a hand through his hair to pull it out of his face, Dequan saunters closer to Eve and her current plot position. He just regards her silently for a few moment, dark gaze searching her own for a moment before he replies softly. “A famous man once said a weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” Full lips twist in a wry smile. “There is probably still more you have to reveal to the city, hm?”
There is an easy laugh at the mention of Popeye, and he playfully curls and arm flexing just a bit. “Yeah, I know a little somethin’ about that.” Then his attention turns back to the plot, listening to Eve’s attempt to coax the potato to the surface.
He gives the woman a quick chin-up. “Let’s see.” He cocks his head to the side, reaching out again to let his hand hover above the ground thoughtfully. “I think right now, your lil’ sweet potato is trying to sleep in for a few more weeks. Trying to enjoy having a warm bed before its ready to to come out and join you for dinner.” He squints as if focusing on something only he can hear. “But it's awfully sorry, and is sure you’ll make somethin tasty when it does come out to meet you, ma’am.”
“Aren't you learned and stuff.” A wink thrown his way before Eve’s eyes take in the earth in front of her, she hides a mischievous smile behind a hand a faux yawn, stretching her long arms out. “Well look at that! A real savant! Could you please tell the wee thing that I will patiently wait for it to come up. I mustn't interrupt its beauty rest.” Eve also doesn't own this plot and she's planning on stealing the sweet potato but one, fat juicy one is enough for her.
“Eve,” holding her hand out to shake, “I come here to get some peace, air.” The teasing tone shifted to something more neutral, she comes here to think.
Humming softly to herself before she blinks, “Never seen you here before.” There's lots of people Eve doesn't see but she's here often enough. That's it.
A slow, solemn nod precedes Dequan leaning forward, closer to the earth and murmuring softly in the language he learned from his Mother. A soft pat is given to the soil before he looks back to Eve. “Well Monsieur Patate, or Madam Patate appreciates your understanding.” He tucks hair behind his ear and stays in the squat though, resting his elbows on his knees comfortably. Distracted momentarily by human interaction, he is not as focused on assessing the garden.
He has to push up out of the squat though when a hand is extended, taking it in his own and bending down low enough to brush his lips against the back of it. “Dequan. And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” There is a twinkle of amusement in his eyes that causes them a shadow of laugh lines to appear at their corners. Eve, sitting in the garden, this time not seeking forbidden fruit…nay, this time just wanting a sweet potato.
He doesn’t share the joke though, he just releases the offered hand and looks around. “I’m fairly new to these parts, so that could be why you’ve never seen me before.”
“Well Dequan they certainly teach you manners at home,” batting her eyelashes at the kiss to her hand before laughing aloud and patting his hand in good nature, “Strong.” A squint of her eyes, “Where were you during the war?” The question is pretty direct from Eve but the shift in conversation is swift and she does it without missing a beat.
Eyebrows pitch up and the pale woman’s face turns towards the sky to follow, eyes tracking a pigeon in flight. If she were in a sillier mood she would call out to it. Eve’s attention stays on the bird, she wants to call out to Eileen, maybe she’s watching. Maybe Jazzhands is watching. Maybe Dequan is watching, coming back to herself and refocusing her sight on the man in front of her. “That language is beautiful, I felt like I just heard a spell being cast.”
A crooked smile crosses wine colored lips, “Don’t you get any ideas you,” wagging her finger in his face, “I can’t be charmed or bewitched.” Eve says it as sure as she would say the sky is blue.
That question seems louder than any thing else that has been said. The tall man bows his head for a moment before lowering himself down to the ground, beside the plot of earth Eve has claimed for her and the future potato. Stretching a long leg out, he bends the other and rests an arm against his knee with a soft sigh. “I was with my family, and my people.” Dequan finally replies, jaw clenching in a reflexive twitch as he thinks back on those days.
He watches the woman carefully now, how she jumps from one topic to another, the changes in tone and such. But he says nothing about it. “It is as beautiful as the woman who taught it to me. However, when I was younger and getting a tongue lashin’ with it, didn’t sound so pretty at that time.” Then he laughs, it’s a soft laugh and more of a chuckle, but it rumbles deep in his chest.
“Duly noted, Miss Eve. No comanche sweet talking for you. I’ll be good.” He winks and looks up to the sky. “I have a feeling this is one of the few places in this city that are as peaceful as this.”
“A good place to be. I was with my friends, often alone. On the road.” A traveling whirlwind of mischief and carnage, ah what she wouldn’t do— stopping herself with that line of thinking. Peace was good but the former terrorist knew she flourished in chaos. Staring at the earth she seems satisfied with his answer nodding along still. “There was a robbery here not to long ago, but we stopped them.” A coy smile on her lips and there is the last bits of a black eye fading on her left. Necessary for justice nobody could steal yams unless it was Eve.
“Otherwise peaceful is right, it’s good.” It’s the reason Eve comes here before she slips off to do whatever it is she does, her head turning to look into the trees in the distance. She’d have to run those “errands” later she decided, soaking up the sun and pleasant company worth a slight delay. “Do you hope to find it here in the Safe Zone as a whole? Peacefulness?” A curious expression on her face and her brown eyes twinkle in the morning light.
That information is tired away, not the road tripping through the war, no the bit about attempted robbery. He addresses the first thing first though, head tilting to the side. “Often times, in lieu of those who are from the same bloodlines? Our friends become bonded with us through blood. Traveling through life with people like that? Ain’t a bad place to be.” Then Dequan glances over to the woman’s fading black eye, eyebrows raising a fraction. “I’m sure you did.” He chuckles softly. “I’m sure you did.”
He rubs a hand over his face, letting it slip back to rub the nape of his neck as he shrugs a shoulder. “I didn’t come here lookin’ for peace, baby girl.” He admits after a moment. “That’s a state of being that most of us aren’t even worthy of anymore. It exists, it ain’t gone no where. We just sometimes are too caught up in temporary and trivial pursuits of what we think is peace, that we pass it right by.”
Dequan shakes his head slowly and looks down to the plot, moving his hand trailing fingers lightly over the dirt. “Nah, I came here because we heard that there were some people in need. Food, clothing, and shelter are the bare necessities. Ya’ll got so many buildings already, and obviously folks aren’t wanting for clothing. Yet, the one thing the earth provides so readily is the one thing that seems to prove the most challenging to sustain when a population is starting to grow again.” He narrows his eyes as he lifts his hand sprinkling specs of dirt between his fingers back onto the plot. “Can’t keep a people safe, if they’re hungry. So, that’s why we’re here. To help out however we can in that regard.”
“Blood is blood and not. Eve’s eyes rise to meet Dequan with a rueful smile, “Sometimes you've got to do stuff yourself. Secrets don't make friends but they do keep people alive.” A puzzling statement from a puzzling woman. Something more for Eve herself to chew on and she does, the inside of her cheek before his intentions are declared.
“Good, because then you came to the wrong place.” If he were looking for peace that is.
Licking her lips and smiling, “A good soul in a dirty city. Don't get corrupted. By all the.. whodoo inthe air. It's contagious.” Wrinkling her nose at the things that have begun to plague the Safe Zone. “Almost makes you believe we don't deserve nice things. Not always.” Flat eyed look to the trees now. “You're enjoy it here. Making it a brighter place.”
“You should meet with my friend Gillian. She's on the council, she may be able to direct you.”
“And if you’re not care the very secrets you keep to protect the people you love, they start to take on a new life inside you. Make you start wondering who’s doing the same for you.” Dequan drawls softly and then he nods slowly when its confirmed that the SZ is so not the place to find peace.
There’s another low and rumbling chuckle when his soul is deemed as ‘good’ and a warning is given. He wipes a hand on his jeans and hmmm softly. “Well, Miss Eve I’m sure that regardless of all the contagious whodoo and the fact that the world wants you to believe you don’t deserve nice things…you will one day at least get you sweet potato.”
Then he’s taking a mental note of that name, humming softly. “Does your friend have a last name? It would be rather forward of me to start askin’ around for a lady that I don’t know by her first name…”
“Oh you’re a wise one!” With no level of a condescending tone in her voice, “I like the way you speak.” Though her bright eyes dim, “It’s scary, people have plans for you. You have plans for you and that you over there is like wait! I’ve got a stinking plan too! It’s exhausting.” Her tone exhausted as if she had been running a marathon. “Maybe there are slices of peace, like here.” Eve’s view hampered by her experiences and what she sees. The prospect of a sweet potato though make her eyes light up again.
“Yes I’d like that.”
A snicker, “Childs, Gillian Childs. You might also want to look up Richard Ray, Raytech is good for things.. Of that nature.” Eve’s expression is neutral, tilting her head she sighs up at the sun. “Maybe there is peace.” she repeats.
“Then I’ll make sure to add to my plans, to get you a sweet potato.” Dequan winks and then pushes himself back up to a standing position. He’s quiet for a few moment thought, shrugging a shoulder. “Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of something tasty to help take an edge off of exhaustion.”
The names are saved in his mental filing system, Last Name, First Name. He also looks up towards the sun, not directly but in the direction of the Sun and nods slowly. “What peace there is to find in this world…is to fully embrace life from its source.” His lips twist in a wry smile.
“Is there anything else you have on your vegetable or fruit wish list?”
A weak smile from the oracle and she nods at Dequan, “So kind to an almost stranger, there is good in the world.” Eve’s gaze goes back to that patch of dirt and she pats it gently, “Soon baby, soon.” Dequan stands while Eve continues to sit, propping herself up on elbows as she bends backwards, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I would like mangos.” She must have a thing for the color orange or there was a rumour that mangos naturally increase your marijuana high, who's to say.
“Come to Cat’s Cradle sometime and don’t believe all the stories you hear about the place.” There was never a llama in the venue, never.
“Hm.” Dequan responds softly to the commentary about good being in the world and he just bows his head in an appreciative nod. There’s an amused twitch of his lips though as she starts speaking to the ground again.
Starting to make his way back down the winding path, he turns to look over his shoulder at Eve, eyebrows raising. “Alright, a sweet potato and a mango. I’ma have to see what I can do about that.”
He lifts a hand slightly to wave. “I’ll come by Cat’s Cradle, and maybe I’ll have the pleasure of helping create some new stories .” He smiles kindly. “I’ll see you around Miss Eve.”
A hand lifts to wave but Eve is not paying attention anymore she's staring intent on the spot that the sweet potato is bound to grow out of eventually, shedding the dark around it. As Dequan makes his way back and out of the Garden the pale woman begins humming softly as she swirls a long finger in the dirt making a circular motion before striking a symbol out in the earth, “Mind the roots,” she murmurs as her head lifts and the oracle watches Dequan’s retreating back.