Buddy Bolden
By Kalamu ya Salaam, first published in Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
A space traveler visiting Earth is subjected to all the dark experiences of being human and eventually loses hold of his/her own identity.
Author
Year
Words
Plot Summary
A space traveler is finally returning to the mother womb after exploring the far reaches of the astral world. The traveler happily kisses the cook in greeting and she returns the gesture with a small welcome dance. Their interaction spans across the frame of years and centuries, as is the normal passage of time in the mother womb. After sitting down for a small meal, the traveler prepares to go to Earth, a place all of them are cautious of. A voice in the intercom calls out for the travelers to be especially cautious of getting amnesia or psychic dislocation. On Earth, the traveler realizes she is Billie Holiday, a singer, performing through the physical pain of the bruises on her face, left by her man. She is on the verge of collapse but pushes on, reminding herself she is stronger these earthlings. When the show is over, she stumbles off stage and a white reporter jumps to bring up discrimination as a topic for conversation. She responds that she sings to survive and let the pain out. She also mentions the injustices she and millions of others experience, but his attention has clearly strayed. When she reads his report in the paper the next day, it is clear he could not understand what she was trying to convey. The traveler anticipates the return to mother womb, only to wake up just before flying back. The traveler is in bed naked with Nia, and the room is dark. His flight dreams are over, and he struggles to remember if he is the space traveler visiting earth or the human dreaming it all up.
Tags