Episode 17: Full Circle

NARRATION
Previously, on Timestorm: 

IDRISSA
My name is Idrissa. Welcome to my baobab tree. I come from a long line of griots. My grandfather is buried in the shade of this tree. [***] Aayóo nenne. 

AMINATA
You hear that? Your uncle is singing to you, my sweet Youssou.

IDRISSA
Sweet dreams, my dear Youssou. 

ALEXA
That’s the other drumstick you found today.

IDRISSA
I hope you’ll both accept it as a gift.

BENI
I have this drumstick. 

OLLER
These carvings, they're Taíno?

BENI
Francisco just signed the drumstick. I thought this multi-stage quest would never end. 

ALEXA
I thought we'd be carrying that drumstick around forever.

ATABEY
Quest: incomplete.

ALEXA / BENI
What?!

MUSIC: THEME SONG - "IN THE TIMESTORM"

Witness. Find. Remember.
The hidden past seeks its dawn,
showing us that we all belong.
Horacio, Alexa, and Beni take back time,
find history in the timestorm.
Witness. Find. Remember.

THE TIMESTORM. ANOTHER DIMENSION.

MUSIC: "TIMESTORM” TRANSITION.

BENI
But we went to three motherlands!

ALEXA
We accepted the beat from Idrissa in Africa—

BENI
Check.

ALEXA
Agueybana carved the beat in North America—

BENI
Check.

ALEXA
Oller painted the beat in Europe—

BENI
Check!

HORACIO
You’ve done all that’s been asked of you, so far.

ATABEY
There’s one final part of this quest that will complete the circle.

HORACIO
And when you return—

ALEXA | BENI
Nope. | No way.

ATABEY
Are you refusing to complete the quest?

ALEXA
Oh no, we’re finishing this.

BENI
Right now.

HORACIO
Okay. Pues. Clothing!

A whoosh indicates a costume change.

ALEXA
Another white skirt. I’ll tuck the drumstick into the waistline.

BENI
Another white shirt. With a choice of pockets for the barometer.

ALEXA
Cute bun with an orange flower. 

ATABEY
From a flamboyán tree.

BENI
Straw hat.

HORACIO
A pava hat.

ALEXA
Looks like we’re going—

BENI/ALEXA
Back to Puerto Rico.

ATABEY
The northeastern coast. Loiza.

BENI
That’s where Pa’s from.

A zap. The barometer buzzes. 

ATABEY
Mil ochocientos noventa / eighteen-ninety / Loiza / Puerto Rico / ritmo / rhythm / decidientes Africanos / family tree / árbol genealógico / full circle / círculo completo / life / vida. Your quest: Give the beat of three motherlands in Loiza in eighteen ninety. Quest begins now.

A dramatic thunderclap. ALEXA and BENI yell as they travel through the portal.

1890. THE SHORELINE. LOIZA, PUERTO RICO.

ALEXA and BENI laugh as they land under a palm tree. Distant ocean waves and rain on palm trees are heard.

BENI
Look, you can see the ocean.

ALEXA
The flowers on this tree are like the one in my hair. Flamboyán. 

A small dog barks as it runs towards them.

ALEXA
Hey, little monster! What are you doing running around in the rain?

PITO
Brownie!

BENI
It must belong to that boy.

The dog barks again, closer.

PITO
Brownie! She’s friendly.

ALEXA
I can tell.

BENI
Are those quenepas?

PITO
Yes. I’m running an errand for my mother.

ALEXA
Those things are delicious.

BENI
I haven’t tasted a quenepa since—

ALEXA
Last year’s crop.

PITO
You can grab your own bunch from any of those trees. Don Firi lets kids take whatever they want.

ALEXA
Maybe we’ll check it out later.

PITO
I’m Pito.

BENI
Nito.

ALEXA
Landra.

The dog barks and pants.

PITO
And this is Brownie. She thinks she’s the protector of this flamboyán tree because she used to come here with my great-grandfather. Pero, bisabuelo hasn’t been able to take care of Brownie for a while. 

The dog barks.

ALEXA
Is your great-grandfather sick? 

PITO
Not sick. He’s just ninety-nine.

BENI/ALEXA
Oh.

PITO
He talks to family members that he hasn’t seen in decades. They were from his homeland across the ocean in Senegal.

ALEXA | BENI
Really? | Senegal?

PITO
Have you been there?

ALEXA
We’ve heard stories about Senegal.

PITO
Oh, bisabuleo used to love telling us stories about life before he was brought here. About the old village, family, and his sacred tree.

ALEXA | BENI
Baobab tree?

PITO 
That’s right.

ALEXA
We must have heard the same stories.

PITO
My great-grandfather says that’s why he was put on this earth. To pass on stories of his ancestors so they’re not forgotten. Bisabuelo loved to tell me and my sister countless tales.

BENI
Sister?

PITO
Elba. She’s with Mami, who’s about to have another baby.

ALEXA
A baby brother or sister.

The dog barks.

PITO
Jealous, Brownie? Bueno, I should get back to my mother with these quenepas, now that the rain has stopped. It was nice to meet you.

BENI
Hey, we’ll walk with you.

ALEXA
Yeah, we can help carry the quenepas.

PITO
Oh. Okay.

1890. OUTSIDE OF A MODEST HOME. LOIZA, PUERTO RICO.

MUSIC: THREE MOTHERLANDS TRANSITION.

The kids walk along a dirt road, approaching a small house. 

ELBA
(Yelling from the doorway) Lupito! 

PITO
I’ve got the quenepas right here, Elba.

ELBA
Forget the quenepas. 

A woman in labor wails from inside the house.

ELBA
The baby’s coming ahora mismo!

PITO
Now? Should I get Pa?

ELBA
I sent a neighbor to get him. 

IDRISSA
(From inside the house) Youssou!

ALEXA / BENI
(Whispering) Youssou.

ELBA
Bisabuelo is hallucinating again. He’s gotten louder since Mami went into labor.

A woman in labor wails from inside the house.

IDRISSA
(From inside the house) Youssou! 

ELBA
I need to stay with Mami. 

PITO
Claro. I’ll look in on bisabuelo.

A dog barks.

ELBA
Callate, Brownie! 

ALEXA
We’ll look after Brownie!

ELBA
And you are?

ALEXA
Landra.

BENI
Nito.

ELBA
Por favor, keep the dog out here. She just gets in the way.

A woman in labor wails from inside the house.

ELBA
Pito, be ready to come to the back room if I call for you.

ELBA rushes back into the house.

PITO
That’s my sister. Elba. She’s...

BENI
In charge?

PITO
You could say that. 

ALEXA
We’ll keep Brownie out here on the porch.

PITO
I’ll be right there in the front room.

ALEXA and BENI sit on a wooden step.

The dog whimpers.

BENI
Hey, Brownie, girl.

ALEXA
It’s okay, sweetie.

The twins whisper the following exchange.

BENI
So...Pito’s great-grandfather is—

ALEXA / BENI
Idrissa.

ALEXA
I can’t believe this. We just saw him—and he was nineteen.

BENI
And now he’s ninety-nine. 

ALEXA
And here in Loiza, Puerto Rico—instead of Senegal.

BENI
Pito said he was brought here.

ALEXA
You know what that means?

BENI
He didn’t come here by choice.

ALEXA
He was enslaved. Probably forced to work on one of these sugar plantations.

BENI
I can’t even imagine what he’s been through.

ALEXA
I can’t either.

A woman in labor wails from inside the house.

IDRISSA
(From indoors) Youssou!

The dog barks and runs into the house.

BENI
Brownie! 

ALEXA
Brownie! Come back!

The twins chase the dog into the house.

1890. A BEDROOM IN A MODEST HOME. LOIZA, PUERTO RICO.

A woman in labor wails.

IDRISSA
Youssou!

PITO
It’s just Brownie, bisabuelo. 

ALEXA
Sorry. She’s a fast dog.

PITO
Brownie does what she wants. Come in.

ALEXA and BENI step into the room. 

PITO
Bisabuelo, these are my friends, Nito and Landra.

ALEXA | BENI
Hola, señor.

IDRISSA
Me llamo...my name...

PITO
His name is Gabriel.

FLASHBACK:

IDRISSA
My name is Idrissa.

BENI
Benjamin.

ALEXA
Alexandra.

IDRISSA
Welcome to my baobab tree.

FLASHBACK END.

IDRISSA
Welcome...baobab...my family’s tree.

BENI
Look at all these drums.

PITO
Bisabuelo’s known for his collection.

BENI
El barril de bomba.

PITO
Do you play, Nito?

BENI
I tried it once.

ALEXA
Is this a knit Brownie?

PITO
My sister made it for bisabuelo. 

ALEXA
Elba knits? 

PITO
Oh, sí. All kinds of stuff. Look, here’s a palm tree, a cross, and a carrying case for a pocket watch.

ALEXA
Carrying case. Huh.

A woman in labor wails.

IDRISSA
Youssou! Youssou!

A woman in labor wails.

PITO
He’s told us so many stories about his nephew, Youssou.

FLASHBACK TO EPISODE 12, SCENE 2:

IDRISSA
I’m here because of my nephew. My father is the griot and will announce his name for the village to hear. And then we’ll have a celebration with rhythm and dancing.

FLASHBACK END.

ELBA
(From the back of the house) Ven paca, Pito!

ALEXA
Go ahead.

BENI
We’ll stay here.

PITO rushes out of the room.

BENI
Señor, we’ve got a gift for you.

ALEXA takes out the drumstick.

IDRISSA
Baobab? 

FLASHBACK FROM EPISODE 12, SCENE 2:

IDRISSA
I came in search of a piece of fallen wood that will make a good drumstick.

FLASHBACK END.

ALEXA
Yes. The wood is from a baobab tree.

IDRISSA
Carved...painted. 

BENI
It’s been passed back and forth across the years.

ALEXA
Along with a story about a great keeper of history, who once found the stick in the shade of a baobab tree.

BENI
His name was Idrissa.

IDRISSA
My name was Idrissa. Before I was taken across an ocean against my will. Before I was given another name from a different faith. I was Idrissa.

ALEXA
Idrissa, please accept this drumstick as a gift.

IDRISSA
So kind. But it is not for me to take.

A woman in labor wails. A baby cries.The dog barks.

IDRISSA
Youssou!

1890. A BEDROOM IN A MODEST HOME, LOIZA, PUERTO RICO.

MUSIC: TRANSITION RHYTHM.
Light rain hits a wooden roof. There are two snores, one is louder.

ALEXA
(Whispering) I can’t believe Brownie’s snore is louder than Idrissa’s.

BENI
(Whispering) I can’t believe Idrissa didn’t accept our gift. Let me see the drumstick?

ALEXA hands him the drumstick.

ALEXA
(Whispering) I’m telling you: never-ending quest. 

PITO and ELBA approach the house.

BENI
(Whispering) Oh, look. They’re coming with the baby.

PITO and ELBA enter the room. ELBA is holding the baby.

ALEXA
(Whispering) How precious.

ELBA
Bisabuelo?

ALEXA
He’s sleeping—

The dog barks. IDRISSA stirs awake.

ALEXA
Never mind.

ELBA
Meet your newest great-grandson.

PITO
Mami’s doing fine. Papi’s with her now. 

The baby cries.

IDRISSA
(Singing) Aayóo nenne. Aayóo nenne.

ELBA
¿Qué canción es esa, bisabbuelo?

PITO
Yes, what song is it?

IDRISSA
Wolof...lullaby. Sweet dreams, my dear Youssou.

ELBA
Ay, we haven’t told you his name yet!

IDRISSA
Youssou.

ELBA
Manolo Youssou Martinez.

IDRISSA
Manolo Youssou.

BENI uses the drumstick to play the rhythm from the naming ceremony.

IDRISSA
Ah.

PITO
That’s a rhythm bisabuelo used to play. How do you know it, Nito?

BENI
It was handed down to me.

ELBA
Mira. Where’d you get that drumstick?

IDRISSA
Baobab.

ELBA
There are no baobab trees in Puerto Rico, bisabuelo. 

IDRISSA
Mis bisnietos, promise me you’ll tell Manolo Youssou my story. Tell him I was born across the ocean into a family of griots. Tell him how they tried to take so much—my name, my freedom, my past. But they didn’t know that griots are keepers of history. And so I passed on that history to you in our afternoons spent under my flamboyán tree. Tell little Manolo Yousoou his great-grandfather Gabriel was once a griot named Idrissa.

BENI finishes the rhythm.

ELBA
Ay, bisabuelo. Of course we will.

A thunderclap. The barometer buzzes. The baby cries. The dog barks.

ELBA
Qué es eso?

BENI
We have to go! 

PITO
Right now?

BENI
We have to go! 

ALEXA / BENI
Bye, Idrissa.

IDRISSA
Ah, twins.

ALEXA
It was so good to see you.

BENI
You have no idea.

ALEXA / BENI
Adios!

The twins rush out onto the porch.

IDRISSA / IDRISSA (PAST)
I’ve got stories / for you, Little Youssou.

The baby cries.

1890. THE PORCH IN A MODEST HOME, LOIZA, PUERTO RICO.

Coqui frogs croak.

ELBA sits on the porch steps; she’s crying. The dog runs onto her lap.

ELBA
Brownie. 

PITO enters.

PITO
Everyone's asleep. Manolo, Mami, y bisabuelo. Even Papi.

ELBA
Thanks for checking.

PITO
I know you’re tired, Elba. Mira, eso. You always say Brownie’s good-for-nothing. But he’s pretty good at licking away your tears.

They laugh.

ELBA
No hay mucho tiempo. We don't have much time left with bisabuelo.

PITO
I know.

ELBA
Sometimes I wish we could all take a boat across the ocean to Senegal, sit with him under his baobab tree.

PITO
Bisabuelo’s got a tree right here. El flamboyán near the shore. 

ELBA
All the hours we've spent with him under those bright flowers. All the stories he's told us. Pito, tantas historias. Guess it's our tree, too.

PITO
He told me he wants to be buried in the shade of it.

ELBA
Ay, bisabuelo.

A soft bark.

PITO
When Manolo's old enough, we'll bring him to our tree and tell him all of bisabuelo’s stories that we remember.

ELBA
We’ll start him early. Before he learns to talk.

PITO
Like it was for us.

ELBA
Remember that one story about the mysterious children who visited the village and then—

PITO
They vanished!

ELBA
Leaving only a basket.

They laugh.

PITO
He loved telling that one. And he always insisted it was true! 

ELBA
I never believed him. Pero, the way Nito and Landra came and went so quickly—

PITO
It’s almost as if they vanished, too.

ELBA
We'll have our own stories to tell Manolo Youssou.

The dog barks.

ELBA/PITO
Ay, Brownie.

THE TIMESTORM. ANOTHER DIMENSION.

MUSIC: "TIMESTORM” TRANSITION.

The twins laugh as they land in the timestorm.

ALEXA
We weren’t able to complete the mission!

BENI
He wouldn’t take the drumstick.

HORACIO
He wasn’t supposed to.

BENI
But I thought we were supposed to give the beat of the three motherlands.

HORACIO
You did, Beni.

ATABEY
Artifact cloud, emerge.

The artifact could emerges, making a rhythm.

HORACIO
You remembered and played the rhythm. 

ATABEY
Artifact, attained.

HORACIO
It was at that moment that you gave Idrissa the beat. 

The artifact floats into the cloud.

ATABEY
Quest: complete. 

BENI
Oh. Wow.

ATABEY
Artifact cloud, retreat.

The artifact cloud retreats.

HORACIO
How do you feel?

BENI
Sad. But also...

ALEXA
...happy...

BENI
Yeah.

ALEXA
...all at once.

BENI
Idrissa was so surprised when he saw the drumstick again.

ALEXA
He knew not to take it. How’d he know?

HORACIO
I guess you learn a lot when you live to be ninety-nine.

BENI
His life wasn’t easy. 

ALEXA
They took so much from him.

HORACIO
From Idrissa and countless others who were enslaved.

ALEXA
But who’s left in our time to remember all of the Idrissas? 

ATABEY
You humans have a lot to figure out.

HORACIO
Hey, that’s a lot of pressure on my kid cousins, Atabey. 

ATABEY
Not just these two. Humans, in general, have a lot to figure out.

BENI
She’s not wrong.

ALEXA
But thanks for having our back, Horacio.

ATABEY
You three humans are loyal.

HORACIO
And I’m sure these two humans are exhausted.

BENI | ALEXA
Oh yeah. | So tired.

HORACIO
Clothing!

A whoosh indicates a costume change.

ALEXA
Two trips in a row.

BENI
We leveled up!

A dramatic thunderclap. ALEXA and BENI YELL as they travel through the portal.

MUSIC: THEME SONG: "IN THE TIMESTORM" (INSTRUMENTAL).

NARRATION
This episode of Timestorm was written and directed by me, Dania Ramos with audio engineering, sound design, and original music by Michael Aquino. 

The role of Alexa Ventura was played by Leilany Figueroa. Beni Ventura was played by Claudio Venancio. Horacio Méndez was played by Orlando Segarra. Atabey was played by Alicia Rivas. Idrissa was played by Darin F. Earl the second. Pito was played by Cooper Tate. Elba was played by Brissae Valdes. Additional voice by Jennica Carmona.

Timestorm is produced by Cocotazo Media and is a proud member of TRAX from PRX. If you enjoy the show, ask your parents to subscribe to Timestorm on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or the Kids Listen App. 

Timestorm is produced in Essex County, New Jersey, which is situated on the traditional territory of the Leni Lenape people.

As always, thanks for listening.

ATABEY
Witness. Find. Remember.