Episode 4: La Maestra

Transcript

Episode 4: La Maestra

NARRATION
Previously, on Timestorm...

ALEXA
The windshield turns into a screen?

BENI
It's like a private movie theatre.

HORACIO
Bueno, I don’t control the transmissions.

BENI
...who does?

HORACIO
Atabey.

ATABEY
I told you not to call me that. That's not my name. I don’t require a name. I simply am. I exist outside of the physical realm.

BENI
Whoa! I wish it was that easy to get dressed for school.

ATABEY
The clothing the timestorm provides for you holds the knowledge you’ll need for your journey. The language and customs of the time and place you visit.

HORACIO
Your quests will be to meet certain people and witness certain moments. And then find and retrieve artifacts that will help preserve that history.

ATABEY
Beni, that barometer you hold is sensitive to these spacetime energy waves. When a portal opens —

BENI
It glows purple.

HORACIO
And when you're in the past, it'll glow blue if you’re on the right track for the quest.

ATABEY
Your quest: Retrieve a plea for equality from San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1838.

MUSIC: "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

1838. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. A PORTICO & CELESTINA CODERO'S CLASSROOM.

A thunderclap. ALEXA and BENI laugh as they land outside of a classroom. Rain hits the roof of a portico above them.

ALEXA
Holy humidity.

BENI
Where do you think we are?

ALEXA
San Juan. Eighteen thirty-eight.

BENI
I meant the building.

ROMÁN
Hello?

ALEXA
Hi!

ROMÁN
Are you a new student?

ALEXA
Yes. I am.

BENI
So am I. But not at this school.

ALEXA
Of course not. Because boys and girls don't attend school together.

BENI
That's right. That's just how life works around here.

ROMÁN
Are you new in town?

ALEXA
Yes. This is all so new.

ROMÁN
No need to be nervous. Celestina Cordero is most welcoming. Some say she's the best teacher in San Juan. For girls, anyway. No one can match her brother, Rafael. I used to be his student.

BENI
Rafael Cordero?

ROMÁN
I assume you are headed to the school for boys, now that you're done chaperoning your sister.

BENI
Yes. I see you are safe. Now I can leave you...and go to school.

ALEXA
Thank you, dear brother, for...you know...chaperoning me.

ROMÁN
I'll be passing the boys school on Luna Street on my way to the seminary. If you want to travel with?

Distant thunder.

BENI
That'd be excellent. I'm Benito.

ALEXA
I'm Alexa...ndra.

ROMÁN
Román. Un placer.

ALEXA/BENI
A pleasure.

In the distance, students recite a list of animal species.

ROMÁN
To la maestra's classroom. She awaits my arrival. I run errands for her on Friday mornings. You can follow me in, Aleksandra.

ALEXA
Right now?

ROMÁN
Bueno, class has already started, as you can hear.

BENI
I'll be back for you at the end of the school day, hermana.

ALEXA
If you'll excuse us, Román. Hermanito? How about a hug?

ALEXA throws her arms around BENI.

BENI
Really?

ALEXA
I don't like us splitting up in the nineteenth century.

BENI
Not like we have a choice. Here. Put the barometer in your purse thingy.

ALEXA shoves the barometer into the satchel.

ALEXA
Keep an eye out for anything that could be a plea for equality.

BENI
You too.

The twins step back.

ALEXA
Be careful out there, hermanito.

BENI
Enjoy your lessons, hermana.

ALEXA and ROMÁN walk to the classroom.

CELESTINA
(behind the closed door) Taxonomy ranks. Ready?

ROMÁN opens the door to the classroom.

CELESTINA
Begin.

STUDENTS
The tree of life. Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.

CELESTINA
Good. Now, pair up and list five single-celled organisms on your slates.

Students use chalk to write on slates. CELESTINA crosses to ROMÁN and ALEXA.

CELESTINA
Bienvenidos.

ROMÁN
Hola, Doña Celestina. This is Aleksandra. A new mind to cultivate.

ALEXA
A pleasure to meet you, Maestra Cordero.

CELESTINA
Girls, please welcome Aleksandra to our class.

STUDENTS
Bienvenida.

ALEXA
Thanks.

CELESTINA
Why don't you sit by Marina y Patricia? You can share a slate with them.

ALEXA crosses to MARINA and PATRICIA.

CELESTINA
Román, today's errand is special. Let's speak at my desk.

ROMÁN
After you.

CELESTINA and ROMÁN walk across the classroom.

ALEXA
Hi.

PATRICIA
Hello.

MARINA
Hi.

ALEXA
I think I'm sharing this bench with you?

PATRICIA
You'll have to put your satchel underneath.

MARINA
Hardly any room as you can see.

ALEXA
Oh, that's fine. I'll just sit right here on the end.

ALEXA sits and slides her satchel under the bench.

MARINA
We need to write five single-celled organisms. Do you want to write them?

ALEXA
Sure. Thank you. Uh...

PATRICIA
Why so confused?

MARINA
Have you never seen a slate before?

PATRICIA
Have you never seen chalk?

MARINA and PATRICIA giggle.

CELESTINA
Román, please see this correspondence makes its way to the newspaper office.

CELESTINA hands ROMÁN the paper.

ROMÁN
It will be at La Gaceta within a quarter of an hour.

CELESTINA
I'm ever grateful for your help. Buenos días.

ROMÁN
Adiós, Doña Celestina.

ROMÁN exits the classroom. ALEXA drops chalk on the floor.

PATRICIA
Careful!

MARINA
Look what you've done.

ALEXA
Sorry. I didn't mean for it to—

PATRICIA
There's not enough chalk to go around.

CELESTINA
Is this the first time chalk has fallen in this room?

MARINA/PATRICIA
No, Maestra Cordero.

CELESTINA
Well then. It's hardly anything to remark on. Please resume your writing.

Students use chalk to write on slates.

1838. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. A STREET.

MUSIC: "LA MAESTRA” TRANSITION.

BENI
Do you run a lot of errands for Celestina Cordero?

ROMÁN
Well, only on Fridays when my lessons at the seminary start later in the morning. How lucky am I to go from Rafael Cordero's classroom to el Seminario Conciliar de San Ildefonso?

BENI
Wow. You really love school.

ROMÁN
Back in Ponce, my family was as poor as they come. But then we moved to the capital when my parents heard how Don Rafael was changing lives in his classroom.

A rooster crows. PEÑA'S approaches and laughs.

PEÑA
A free black man teaching children. The Queen should outlaw it at once.

ROMÁN
I'm grateful to have learned from Rafael Cordero. He showed me that education is the way to justice and freedom.

PEÑA
You learned about freedom from a black man? (laughs) Que porquería. What’s that in your hand?

ROMÁN
I'm delivering it to La Gaceta.

PEÑA
Give it here.

ROMÁN
It's not mine to give.

PEÑA snatches paper out of his hand.

PEÑA
Now let's see who has sent you on this little errand.
(reading) Dear Editor, I request the following announcement is printed in the next issue of La Gaceta as follows...

MUSIC: "SO LONG, AND THANKS."

CELESTINA
I ask the island government, under the rule of the Spanish crown, to fulfill my request for supplies for the San Juan School for Girls. I have made similar appeals in private letters to the governor and the Council of San Juan. Since my personal pleas remain unanswered, I now ask in this public forum. My students work hard, I work hard. It's unfair that being born female prevents us from being acknowledged for our efforts. I seek the same allocation of supplies offered to the school for boys on Luna Street. Please show my girls equal respect. They deserve it. Sincerely, Celestina Cordero.

PEÑA
...Educator, San Juan Public School for Girls.

PEÑA laughs.

BENI
A plea for equality.

A rooster crows.

PEÑA
The only thing more ridiculous than a free black man educating boys is a free black woman educating girls. How delusional must this woman be to think La Gaceta would publish such a desperate notice? Here’s what I think of it.

PEÑA crumbles the paper.

BENI
No. It's important. Can't you understand that?

PEÑA
(laughs) You think you're fit to judge such things?

BENI picks up the paper and smoothes it out.

BENI
It wasn't right to throw this notice to the ground like that.

ROMÁN
Ay, por favor. A little dirt and a few wrinkles won't stop us from delivering it to La Gaceta.

PEÑA snatches the paper from BENI.

PEÑA
You can't deliver what is not in your possession. I'll take this to the governor, so he can see how close a lowly spinster con-woman came to mocking him in print.

ROMÁN
Celestina Cordero is brilliant.

PEÑA
(laughs) I suggest you leave. We like to keep the streets clear of porquería.

PEÑA laughs and then walks away.

BENI
I can't believe him! He doesn't have the right to do that. Does he?

ROMÁN
Some civil guards think they can do whatever they want. That their class and European blood make them superior.

BENI
Celestina's only asking for what's fair.

ROMÁN
If that officer goes to the governor and paints Celestina as a con woman, this plea could backfire on her.

BENI
You think they'd shut her school down?

ROMÁN
I don't know. How I wish I could to run up to that officer and— No. I can't risk it. Certainly not with you in my charge.

BENI
I can handle plenty.

ROMÁN
¿Oh, sí? Getting arrested before arriving on your first day of school?

BENI
Arrested? For what?

ROMÁN
Bueno, sometimes they don't need a reason. Come on. We'll tell Rafael what's happened.

THE TIMESTORM. ANOTHER DIMENSION.

MUSIC: TRANSITION - "TIMESTORM"

HORACIO
Ah! He had it! The artifact was right in Beni's hand.

ATABEY
The quest was never going to be that easy.

HORACIO
You know where that civil guard's headed with the artifact. Y ahora, mira, Alexa and Beni are separated and stuck at school.

ATABEY
The twins can each handle being in Celestina and Rafael's classrooms. A quest isn't simply about retrieving an object from a space and time. It is about who they meet and what they experience along the way.

HORACIO
Oh, so now the artifacts aren't important? You've always made such a big deal about them. Los artefactos. But if it's all about the experience then why bother finding them?

ATABEY
You humans need your artifacts. Something to guide you on the journey. A reason why.

HORACIO
Are you saying the artifacts are meaningless? That they've traveled all that way for a piece of paper?

ATABEY
You tell me: what is a plea for equality worth to Celestina and those girls?

1838. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. CELESTINA'S CLASSROOM.

MUSIC: TRANSITION - "LA MAESTRA"

CELESTINA
What is El Fortín San Juan de la Cruz known for? Go ahead, Marina.

MARINA
It's the smallest of the five forts in the capital.

CELESTINA
Precisely. ¿Si, Patricia?

PATRICIA
And it was built underwater on purpose, so you needed a boat to get there.

CELESTINA
Excellent. And last but not least, La Fortaleza was originally built as a fort, but what distinction does it hold now? Aleksandra? Do you know?

PATRICIA
Hasn't said a word since she sat down.

MARINA
Hasn't put that broken piece of chalk to the slate even once.

ALEXA
It's the executive mansion, home of the governor of Puerto Rico.

PATRICIA
Everyone knows that.

MARINA
Easiest question to answer.

ALEXA
It's also known for...uh...

CELESTINA
¿Si, Aleksandra?

ALEXA
All the international leaders that have stayed there, including kings, queens, and U. S. presidents.

The entire classroom laughs at ALEXA.

CELESTINA
¡Niñas!

MARINA
American presidents!

PATRICIA
Can you imagine? George Washington slept here.

ALEXA
Not George Washington. The Kenn— Oh. Never mind...forget it.

CELESTINA
Stop this laughing. ¡Ahora mismo! A vibrant imagination is an amazing thing to possess. And that’s exactly what it takes to envision a future where an island governor hosts a foreign president en La Fortaleza.

A church bell tolls one o'clock.

CELESTINA
Time for lunch.

PATRICIA
What's wrong, Miss America?

ALEXA
Nothing.

MARINA
As in nothing inside of that satchel of yours?

MARINA and PATRICIA laugh.

CELESTINA
Aleksandra? Come to my desk, please.

ALEXA
Maestra?

CELESTINA tears a loaf of bread in two.

CELESTINA
We all forget our lunch sometimes. Have some of my bread. Please. Take it. Our stomachs must be fed along with our minds.

ALEXA
Thank you, maestra.

1838. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. RAFAEL CORDERO'S CLASSROOM.

STUDENTS play INSTRUMENTS and recite Shakespeare.

ROMÁN
Here we are. Rafael Cordero's school. Ah, how I miss Luna Street.

RAFAEL
Román! You've arrived during free art practice.

ROMÁN
It was always my favorite. Don Rafael, I'd like to introduce you to Benito, a new student. I ran into him while stopping by your sister's school.

BENI
It's an honor to be in your class, Maestro Cordero.

RAFAEL
Pleasure is mine, Benito. Román, have you delivered Celestina's request for supplies to La Gaceta?

ROMÁN
A civil guard stopped us on the street and confiscated the notice before we made it to La Gaceta. He even said he was going to tell the governor that she was trying to humiliate him.

RAFAEL
Did you catch the guard's name?

ROMÁN
No. He was average height. Dark hair, mustache. Wore that uniform.

BENI
His laugh.

RAFAEL
What about it?

BENI
Sounded like a demon.

RAFAEL
Peña y Ruiz.

ROMÁN
You know him?

RAFAEL
Thinks he's untouchable because he guards the governor's residence during the afternoon shift.

ROMÁN
I was afraid to risk being arrested on the spot, but I wanted so badly to go after him and snatch Celestina's notice right from his pocket.

RAFAEL
It is best for you to leave this alone, Román. I'll let my sister know what has happened.

ROMÁN
Ooh. I can't stand witnessing injustice and doing nothing about it.

RAFAEL
Don’t lose that righteousness. But understand this is Celestina’s fight. Stick to your studies for now.

ROMÁN
Está bien. I’ll head to the seminary at once. Much luck to you, Benito.

BENI
Thank you for your help.

ROMÁN
My pleasure. I'm sure we'll cross paths soon enough. Hasta la próxima.

RAFAEL
Adiós, Román.

RAFAEL
Bueno, Benito. Join any art group you'd like.

RAFAEL
Is music your calling?

A student plays the violin.

RAFAEL
Painting with little Francisco?

A student paints on a canvas.

RAFAEL
Or perhaps drama with Alejandrito, our little prince of theatre?

ALEJANDRO
Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them!

1838. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. CELESTINA'S CLASSROOM.

MUSIC: TRANSITION - "SO LONG, AND THANKS"

CELESTINA
See you on Monday, girls.

STUDENTS
Hasta la próxima, Maestra Cordero.

STUDENTS shuffle out of the classroom.

MARINA
See you Monday, Miss America.

ALEXA
Hopefully not.

PATRICIA
What did you say?

ALEXA
See you on Monday.

MARINA, PATRICIA, and the other students exit the classroom.

CELESTINA
Sometimes it’s hard, being new in town.

ALEXA
Yeah, you could say that.

CELESTINA
Where’s your family from?

ALEXA
Ponce.

CELESTINA
A long way. You’ll do fine in my classroom. You've got quite an imagination.

ALEXA
That's what everyone says about my brother. Loves stories and all that.

CELESTINA
I'm glad he's encouraged for it. But it is important for others to credit your strengths as well.

ALEXA
Oh, I totally get credit.

CELESTINA
Totally?

ALEXA
What I mean is...my other teachers let me know that I'm smart.

CELESTINA
I didn’t realize they had a girls’ school in Ponce.

ALEXA
It was more like homeschooling. Family members who taught me and my brother.

CELESTINA
I'm glad they understand the importance of educating young women. Many still don't, even here, in the capital. I'm fighting hard for my girls to get an equal education. Just today, I sent Román with a request for supplies.

ALEXA
A plea for equality.

CELESTINA
I intend for it to be published en La Gaceta. In the past, I've appealed to the governor directly, but my words have fallen on deaf ears. Here’s hoping it makes its way to print.

ALEXA
En la Gaceta. Uh, I should start heading home. It’s a bit of a trek.

CELESTINA
You aren’t walking alone, are you?

ALEXA
My brother, Benito, should be here any moment.

CELESTINA
I didn't catch your last name.

ALEXA
Ventura.

CELESTINA
The mason's daughter?

ALEXA
No, my father's a pilot.

CELESTINA
Ah, a boat captain.

ALEXA
Right. He pilots boats. Down here. At sea level.

CELESTINA
A great profession on an island. See you Monday.

ALEXA
I won't be...my mother might need my help around the house in the coming weeks. I'm not sure when I'll be back.

CELESTINA
Hasta la próxima. Whenever it may be.

ALEXA
Maestra...

MUSIC: "SO LONG, AND THANKS"

CELESTINA
Yes?

ALEXA
Thank you for the warm welcome into your classroom. And for everything you're fighting for. Even if you don't ever get the government to treat us equally, I'm sure generations of girls will benefit from your efforts.

CELESTINA
There you go predicting the future again. I'll make a prediction of my own. I think you'll do amazing things, Aleksandra Ventura. Buena suerte.

ALEXA
Thank you.

THE TIMESTORM. ANOTHER DIMENSION.

ATABEY
You tell me: what is a plea for equality worth to Celestina and those girls?

HORACIO
Everything.

ATABEY
And in the original timeline, it's been lost forever. There's only one way to get it back.

HORACIO
They must get that artifact.

1838. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. OUTSIDE OF CELESTINA CORDEO'S CLASSROOM.

ALEXA opens the classroom door.

ALEXA
Beni?

ALEXA/BENI
I'm so glad to see you.

BENI
You wouldn't believe what happened today.

ALEXA
I know what the artifact is.

BENI
Me too.

ALEXA
So, it's at La Gaceta?

BENI
Not quite.

ALEXA
We should probably—

BENI
Can we find somewhere to—

ALEXA/BENI
Yeah.

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

NARRATION:
This episode of Timestorm was written by 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. With special guests J. F. Seary as Celestina Cordero, Juan Cartagena as Rafael Cordero, Alexis Pérez as Román, and Carlos Ponton as Peña. Also featured were Alyssa Bracken, Amanda Bracken, and Yadier Johnson.

It's time for our Listener Share-out!

TREVOR:
Hi, my name is Trevor. I'm eleven years old from Montclair, New Jersey. My time-travel share-out is about Area 51. Shhhhh! It's a top-secret U.S. Air Force location in Nevada. I would travel back to nineteen forty-seven and investigate the Roswell UFO crash. I would find out for myself if there really is life outside of Earth.

NARRATION:
Your secret is safe with us, Trevor. Thanks for sharing.

Hey, listeners, we want to feature your voice in an upcoming episode! You can learn more about how to submit a Share-out by visiting Timestorm Series dot com.

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As always, thanks for listening.

ATABEY:
Witness. Find. Remember.