THE GARDNER
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Musa Jackson |
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| Synopsis |
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The Gardener opens on typical day in the life one of Harlem's long time
resident Miss Bertha Douglass toiling her backyard garden. She is an
eighty year old fixture in the community known for her organically grown
produce, earning her the reputation of having the best sweet potato pie
and greens in Harlem. Having seen the neighborhood go from renaissance to
urban decay to now experiencing one of the most aggressive
gentrifications. Stubbornly she avoids taking her medication instead
continuing to touch the lives of crack addicts and the homeless while
fending off ruthless real estate brokers. Douglass holdouts selling her
classic brownstone awaiting instruction from Johnny, the grandson she
raised and sent off to medical school. She begins to loose her battle with
reality sifting in and out of happier times of raising her young young
grandson Johnny. As night falls she opens up her home to a demented
homeless Stranger, she feeds and lets takes a shower. The Stranger returns
only to kill and bury her in her beloved garden and finish off the
remaining slice of sweet potato pie. Her neighbors unable to locate her
believe the cause of her disappearance maybe because of her Alzheimer's. A
veteran Detective and one of Johnny's childhood friends reveals that
Johnny indeed went off to medical school but got sidetracked by bad
hallucinogens and eventually spent most of his years in the Bellevue's
psychiatric ward. We finally realize that the stranger who puts an end to
Miss Douglass's life and her further descent into dementia was her beloved
Johnny.
Copyright 2006 Musa Jackson |
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