The Farm
by Sherman Alexie
1. Jonah
All of us, the Indians, know exactly where
we were
when scientists announced that they had found the cure
for cancer. I was eating lunch in the Tribal
Cafe
for the third time that week and was only halfway
through my fry bread when the national
news broke
into the local news: a white man in a lab coat
stood at a podium porcupined with microphones
and quietly spoke. "We have found that the bone
marrow of Indians, synthesized with a few
trace
elements, form a powerful antiviral agent named
Steptoe 123. This agent, when taken orally,
will
stop the metastatic growth of tumors and kill
cancer cells. Steptoe 123 has been 95%
effective
in ten years of research under the direction
of Dr. Miles Steptoe at the Center for
Disease
Control. We have prepared a detailed press release
which will give you more information on
Steptoe
123, Dr. Steptoe, and all that you need to know
at this time. The President, with a clear
vision
of the future of Steptoe 123, has made a decision.
Therefore, under the authority of Executive
Order
1492, we have closed all of the reservation borders
within the United States and will keep
them closed
to any and all unauthorized traffic until further notice."
Silence. Then I turned to Charlie the Cook,
who was really
the dishwater. "Jonah," he asked me. "Is it real?"
"It's real," I said. Charlie
looked at me, looked
at Agnes the Waitress, who was really the cook.
"Why is it real?" asked Charlie,
but it was too late
for a history lesson. We all needed to escape
before the borders were completely shut
down.
"We've got to go," I said. "We've got to go now."
So Agnes, Charlie, and I jumped into my
old car
and prayed it would save us like that famous ark
but we didn't even make it past
Cold Springs before we heard the first dissonant
music: the helicopters played ragtime as
they fell
from Heaven, as one descended on us with propeller
blades that broke our hearts and windshield.
I drove the car off the road and into a field
where everything stopped
 as Sam the Indian, who
was really white, suddenly stepped onto the road
with his hands out, palms open, just inches below
that helicopter, as Charlie asked, "Where
did he
come from?" I just remember Sam was whittled
to bone as he helicopter dropped down onto
him.
(Did you know you can play a gospel hymn
on a flute carved from human bone? I heard
the hymn once, in a dream, but have since learned
to play it on a hollow femur.) The soldiers
came
for us then, dragged us from the car, asked for our names
and tribal affiliations, demanded to know
if the guy
killed under the helicopter was Indian or white.
"He was white," I said. "Fully
white?" a soldier asked
and I told him that Sam the Indian might be the last
fully good white man in America. "The
dead guy ain't Feeder
or Breeder," shouted the soldier. Sam wasn't needed
because the scientists couldn't use his
bone marrow
so the soldiers left Sam's body to the crows and sparrows.
"What am I?" I asked the soldier
as he tied my hands behind
my back with soft cotton twine, but he did not reply.
"What am I?" I asked the soldier
as they carried
me to the helicopter. "Are you single or married?"
asked a soldier. "I'm a bag of bones,"
I said.
"Do you have any children," the soldier asked again
and again, but I kept telling him I was
all alone
in this new world, that I was just a bag of bones.
2. Sam the Indian
When the blades fell upon me
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When the blades fell upon me
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When the blades fell upon me
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When the blades fell upon me
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When the blades fell upon me
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When the blades fell upon me
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When the blades fell upon me
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
3. Charlie the
Cook
After we were captured by the soldiers,
they took all of the Indians to a place called the Farm. My history became
their history. They took notes. They tattooed my forehead with a B for Breeder,
because I was young and pure-blood. They keep the Breeder men and women
together. In each cell, there are five women and one man. We are rotated
often, never allowed to develop relationships. We are not allowed to talk.
We are never in the same cell with a member of the same tribe. Bright lights
wake us at 6 A.M. We eat breakfast only after we procreate. I'm supposed
to have sex with five Indian women a day. I have fathered dozens of children
since this all started. Half of my children became Breeders and stayed at
the Farm, while the other half became Feeders and were sent to the Kitchen.
The Feeders have it much worse than the Breeders. The Feeders have their
marrow taken from them. They are hooked up to machines that suck it out.
Sometimes they survive. Sometimes they die. It happens to children, too.
There is no age limit. When they need the marrow, they take it. There's
constant demand. Each cancer patient needs a year's worth of Steptoe 123.
Late at night, in the cell, I reach my hand out into the dark and I feel
another hand reaching out for mine. I cannot see who I touch. We cannot
speak. But we hold each other's hands lightly, ready to release our grips
at any moment.
4. Agnes the
Waitress
When the Indian men come to me
I try to smile.
I lift my tunic
and part my legs
with as much honor
as I can manage.
I try to love the Indian men
who are forced to enter me.
It would be easy to hate them.
Some women do.
Some women refuse
to acknowledge the man's body.
Some women close their eyes
and imagine a new childhood.
Some women weep constantly.
They don't last long.
But I hold the men close
and kiss their necks.
That always surprises them.
They stare at me
and I wonder if
I am beautiful.
I have forgotten
what that means.
I cannot tell the difference
between a beautiful man
and an ugly man
because it makes no difference.
We do not have the luxury
of such a decision.
We are Indian
and that is all that matters
though it is rumored
that white guards sneak
into bed with Indian women.
I have heard the rustling
of blankets late at night
when Indian women crawled
into bed with Indian women.
An Indian woman once kissed me
and I felt her hands on my breasts.
I reached for her, too
but the guard rushed in
and took her away.
I never saw her again.
I dream about her
though I cannot tell you
if she was beautiful.
I want to believe
my babies are beautiful
though I have learned to let them go.
I give birth.
I heal.
I am pregnant again.
Pregnancy is the good time.
Pregnant women share a cell.
We eat well.
We are not touched.
We are allowed to speak
to the body inside our own
and pretend it is our mother,
father, sister, and brother.
5. Charlie the
Cook
We have developed a highly complex and
subtle sign language. Through slight gestures, such as brushing the hair
from our faces, we can talk about the past. The volume of a cough can change
the tense of a sentence. A woman can sit up in bed, scratch her cheek, stand
quickly, shuffle across the room to a water fountain, take a big drink,
swallow loudly, and we'd all know she was telling a joke. Indians always
find a way to laugh, though each of us laugh in a different way. I laugh
by crossing my arms. I cry by tapping my left foot against the floor.
6. Agnes the
Waitress
I try to find the soldiers beneath their
masks.
I try to find the doctors behind their sorrow.
The white people never thought to ask
if we would voluntarily donate the marrow.
7. Jonah
We've been planning the revolution for
years.
We have weapons and white friends, but I fear
Indians have forgotten how to survive.
It's a complicated song and dance. Late at night
we practice. We pound invisible drums.
We sing
with our mouths closed. Silence is the thing
we must learn to fear. This is the plan.
One night, we will slip from our beds and stand
together. We will stamp our feet in unison
and sing the same song loudly with strong lungs
and hearts. We will sing the old songs.
Cousins, this is not where we belong.
Way, ya, hi, yo. Way, ya, hi, yo.<
Way, ya, hi, yo. Way, ya, hi, yo.
Cousins, remember how we sang and danced
back then.
During the revolution, we will find our music again.
8. Sam the Indian
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
When I fell into Heaven
I was closer to being Indian than I had ever been before.
9. Charlie the
Cook
I have not seen a black man in years. Not
a black woman. Not a Mexican man, though their blood is often mixed with
Indians, too. I have not seen another Indian man. I have seen only white
men and Indian women. There are rumors. The Indian women have refused to
procreate, and instead, they are killing the Indian men. It would be easy.
In each cell, five women to each man. There are rumors. Indian men are becoming
sterile. We have fathered too many children. There are rumors. The revolution
is about to begin. Indians will rise against our jailers. We will never
touch each other again. We will allow ourselves to die as a people, rather
than live as we do now. There are rumors. A large army of sympathetic outsiders,
white, black, brown, and yellow, are preparing to storm the Farm. They will
free us. There are rumors. All of the cancer is gone. It has been completely
destroyed. Our jailers will soon open the doors and let us free. They will
give us medals of honor as we leave.
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