The Cost of Coffee
Part 15
Prompts for 6 June 2025 from
Write about sleeping in a car
Mysterious certainty
"Don't do that thing"
A character who is voluntold
Missed the beginning? Start here or wait until September when the series posts will repeat in order twice a day!
The first day’s testimony unfolded like a routine checklist—who, what, where, and when. The why and how, Pinta guessed, would come in time. She watched the first man carefully, hoping for some tendril of insight into what was happening in the community. She didn’t know him, or the three who followed.
On the fifth day, she felt it: a mysterious certainty that Arturo would add something unexpected—probably not a positive development. He gave her the creeps.
Naimeh sat with Pinta and her father. It seemed as though the whole community stopped everything for these testimonies.
"Back in the day," Father said, "proceedings like this were shown on screens everywhere, with analysts breaking everything down, experts making predictions, and gamblers placing bets. Human nature not only wants power for itself, but it also loves to watch the powerful fall."
Naimeh shuddered next to Pinta. She seemed to be thinking as she watched the proceedings begin. She didn't say anything, but Pinta could almost smell the wheels in her head turning. Pinta and Naimeh had always been friendly sisters; there was no real rivalry between them. Of the two, Pinta was the more book-smart and analytical, while Naimeh's perceptive abilities sometimes bordered on prophetic. When Naimeh shuddered, Pinta noticed.
"What?" Pinta whispered. Naimeh shook her head and Father quieted her with a look as Arturo stood to face the council. Three council members stepped forward as the lead questioners. The first, a woman with fiery red hair, began the questioning.
"As you know, Arthur, these proceedings are designed to restore confidence in our community members. Our questions are designed to ensure our principles of collaboration, cooperation, and equality are fully embraced and understood by all so that we continue to live in harmony.
In that light, please explain your understanding of participatory economics and the foundation upon which it is built here on our Bio."
Pinta thought about Mother then. As the Comptroller, she'd been instrumental in designing Bio's economy. Was she part of this? Trying to stop it? Unaware?
Arturo looked the woman directly in the eyes. "Participatory economics is a model based on a humanist foundation wherein the community owns all things, but each sector manages itself and makes decisions based on what is best for the community."
Naimeh shuddered again, but this time Pinta understood. Arturo may have offered an accurate definition, but his voice was tinged with skepticism and oily with disdain. Pinta thought back to her report research. Something was off with what Arthur said, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Naimeh must have felt what Pinta was thinking. Something wasn't right.
The red haired woman stepped back and was replaced with a tall elegant man with ebony skin and a high forehead. His stern presence made Arturo seem to shrink a little. He spoke and his words resonated in the room.
"Explain, please, how you believe income should be distributed in this economy."
Arturo squirmed a little before answering, "Remuneration is ideally based on who works the hardest and contributes the most to increasing value." The questioner raised an eyebrow.
Pinta looked at Father in surprise. He remained stoic, but she could see the set of his jaw. She leaned to Naimeh, whispering, "Is he okay?" Naimeh frowned at Pinta, but mouthed back,
"Fires."
Arturo tried to add something to his statement, but he mostly stuttered, finishing with "Erm, that is, the most abundant supply leads to no perceived need, which requires a certain amount of oversight…" His voice faded as he stood, sweating profusely. The tall, dark man stepped back and was replaced by a woman whose serene face looked stern as she approached.
"Sir," she began, "if a situation arose wherein a product was defective, delayed, or destroyed, how should the person with 'oversight' respond?" Arturo blanched and tried to sit, but was interrupted by the woman. "Don't do that thing."
"What thing?" Arturo stammered.
"That thing that you think makes you look frail and faint. I have known you for many years. As a member of the Bio, you brought expertise in product management and were assigned to manage distribution in the agriculture sector, a task you did admirably well. In recent months, however, recipients of coffee products have noted a decline in quality, which they reported to you."
Arturo sputtered, "What reports? I don't' know what you're talking about."
"We have copies of the reports, all signed by you as received and read. More recently, we have been made aware of an increasing pressure on those who package coffee to ship improperly packaged goods in the name of profit."
"Who told you that?" Arturo's face reddened as he spoke. He turned directly to Pinta and pointed. "It was her, wasn't it. Nosing around where she doesn't belong, eavesdropping on private conversations. She's a troublemaker. She should be in school, not wandering around the Bio believing she is better than the rest of us."
The room erupted in shouts as Pinta sat, stunned by the accusations--and worried that maybe she was part of the problem after all. Naimeh pulled her out of the room as Father stood silently, staring at Arturo. The Council members tried to call the room to order, but suddenly, people began talking about things that Arturo had said to them, belittling them, threatening to reduce their share of the Sector income, and asserting an authority that he only had by nature of his assertiveness and self-assurance.
Back in the home suite it was Naimeh's turn to run the shower with soothing scents for her sister. By the time Father returned, the girls were sitting and drinking rich coffee. Naimeh had the checkers board on her lap, but for the moment, it lay dormant. Their father sat down with them and poured his own steaming cup.
"Well, girls, it seems that things are beginning to unravel. Paths that we once thought were smooth are cracking under the weight of human nature and the reality that people are not naturally benevolent."
"What happened, Father? Will there be more days of testimony? When will Mother come back if Arturo is the source of disruption?" Pinta wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she also knew she wouldn't sleep well if she didn't.
"Once the Council restored order, they listened to every person's observations and comments. Some they dismissed as petty. Others were resolved with an apology from Arturo, and as it turned out, a dozen other managers from across the agricultural sectors who will join Arturo volunteering in waste management for an indeterminate time. I'm not sure what you would call 'mandatory volunteering,' but that is the current state of things."
Naimeh spoke for the first time in days. "There will be more undoing. Today is the beginning of a reckoning. Whoever loves money or power never has enough to share."
"That reminds me, Naimeh," Pinta began, lowering her voice to avoid being overheard by the AI. "How did you get my poem? Did you take it out of my notebook? Why?"
Rather than risk being heard, Naimeh picked up the checkers board. "Tomorrow. Lunch in Norway."
At that moment, the AI alerted them to someone at the front entrance. Father opened the door and made a strangling sound. Pinta and Naimeh rushed to see what caused his response. Just outside the door lay Mother, leaning back on an Airstream cart, her eyes closed as if in deep sleep. Pinta looked to Father, but Naimeh moved to gather her mother in her arms and carry her inside.
Things are getting simpler and more complicated at once. Well done!
What I mostly want to know is, did you draw that illustration at the beginning?