SOMA | The Meme Dump
Levon passes a number of women dressed in matching khaki coveralls, marked with the Reneeco logo. The women are unloading a moving van filled with household items, furniture, clothes and electronics. Everything is piled in a heap in front of a small industrial incinerator. A burly woman is smashing it all with a sledgehammer and feeding the bits into the fire. The woman eyes Levon suspiciously. Levon avoids eye contact and walks on.
He follows the singing voices further. He sees a gathering of women around a large outdoor washroom complex. A crowd of women in overalls are standing at the entrance to the facility singing in a round.
Levon notices his friend Sarah is among the choir members.
A car moves out of the Renew.us complex, heading towards the washroom. It slowly approaches Levon from behind. Levon skittishly jumps out of the path of the slowmoving vehicle. He watches the car park in front of washroom. The waiting choir members raise their voices in welcome. June Vervaine emerges from the car. She is resplendent. Her hair is divided into braids, each woven with coloured cellophane and plastic jewels upcycled from the island's garbage. June is escorting a frail woman dressed in a tailored pantsuit. Her elderly companion clings to her arm with unsteady hands, hunched over by the weight of a helmet of black permed hair.
June and the elderly woman enter the washroom, followed by the 105
SOMA | The Meme Dump
choir. Levon sneaks to the side of the building, under a row of frosted ventilation windows. He struggles to stand on tiptoe, so he can peek through a window. His face grimaces as he tries to hold the awkward pose.
June walks the old woman into a shower stall. She sings to her. The choir joins in. The choir members reach out and gently undress the elderly woman. Sarah turns on the shower and tests the water temperature. June slowly guides the elderly woman under the shower head. The elderly woman’s black hair falls flat under the running water. She looks frightened and selfconscious. She stares at her gnarled feet as streams of black haircolour slip over her body and down the drain. June gently washes the makeup from the old woman’s face. Her heavy mascara and false eyelashes melt away.
June sings tenderly. The old woman smiles for the first time, her eyes bouncing around the room at the supportive faces. She’s shaking at the knees as the choir descend on her with warm towels, hugs, and welcoming praise.
The room is filled with a warm energy. The old woman seems at ease. Then she spots Levon’s filthy, bloodsoaked face leering in the window like some carnival mask. She screams and crouches down to hug her knees. June, Sarah and the choir now see Levon. In an instant, Sarah grabs a bar of soap and hurls it at Levon’s face.
SARAH
Mothafucka!
Levon is struck square in the eye. He falls away from the window holding his stinging eye. He retreats and is pursued by the Renew.us workers.
Sarah runs Levon down and tackles him. She’s furious. She snakes her body around his arm and performs a painful Jiu Jitsu submission.
LEVON
Aaaahhh! I tap! I tap!