How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

Tookie walks home during a rising hurricane and settles on his porch to watch. A lizard comes up and starts warning him to evacuate before the storm hits, but the man defensively explains he doesn’t have the means to do so. He tells the lizard that he gave his mother all the money he had so that she, her sister, and her sister’s children could survive. He tells the lizard his teachers referred to him as a “waste” and he never amounted to much (375). The lizard challenges this, however, asking him how he has a house if he never amounted to much. Tookie answers honestly, saying he sells marijuana and ecstasy to make ends meet. This relaxes the lizard for a second, but then he perks up and asks if Tookie has any pets that might attack him. Tookie says no and invites the lizard on the porch for some “Vienna sausages” (375). The lizard turns down the invitation and chooses to lay in the rain instead. Tookie glances over at his elderly neighbor Miss Mary’s house—the only other person who didn’t evacuate in his area—then goes inside to take a nap.

The next morning Tookie’s house and street are completely flooded. The lizard appears to tell him I told you so and remark on Miss Mary’s misfortune. Tookie heads to Miss Mary’s despite his fear of deep water; his elders considered him too stupid to learn how to swim. He finds the old woman sitting on a chair on a table, refusing to leave. After a small good-natured squabble, he gets Miss Mary to leave her chair, and carries her over to his attic. Once they are safe in his attic, he notices a large entity moving beneath the water by his house but ignores it.

They eat and listen to the rescue helicopters ignore them, then Tookie leaves the house in search of “something that would float” (378). After a while he runs into his friend Dre, pushing a teenager and baby around on an “inflatable kiddie pool” (379). Tookie asks what their plans are, and they explain they are headed to the navy base to look for “beds and medicine” (380). They are too afraid they will be shot by cops if they try to find harbor in neighboring cities. Tookie tells them to wait while he gets Miss Mary, but Dre says no, they can’t lose time waiting. Tookie walks away and directly into the lizard. The lizard has multiple suggestions for how Tookie might survive, none of which involve relying on the government. He also warns Tookie there is something dangerous moving about the flood waters, something of which to be careful. They both agree the storm isn’t over yet, then part ways.

Tookie takes the lizard’s advice and uses an abandoned rowboat to get himself and Miss Mary to an empty barge. They eat the last of Tookie’s food—all of which he stole from a convenience store—and Tookie contemplates their next move. Miss Mary asks him to construct something on top of the barge to let the helicopters know they need help. She warns him that this hurricane has released some haints, and he should be extra careful. As Tookie contemplates this new potential danger, Miss Mary confesses she is “too old to start over again” (384). Tookie tries to reassure her that she will be okay and they go to sleep.

While they sleep, something shakes the barge, almost tipping it. They both try to assess the danger, and Miss Mary pulls out a knife. He tries to calm her down, but she won’t listen to condescension, and yells at him. This makes him think of his elders who used to mock his intelligence and for a second he contemplates murdering her. A house crumbles to pieces in the distance, and Tookie feels “ashamed” over his anger, deciding then to focus on enemies more dangerous than Miss Mary (386).

The next morning, they awaken and notice something caught on the edge of the barge. Tookie goes to get rid of it and realizes it’s one of the lizard’s wings. He “vow[s]” to eventually bury it (388). He sets out in search of food, often robbing houses in which the owners lay deceased. He runs into the lizard, who explains it was a relative and not him who had been hurt the night before. Tookie asks him if it’s a haint that did it, and the lizard confirms Miss Mary’s hypothesis.

Tookie says he wants to fight the haint, since the lizard claims it has been destroyed before. The lizard tries to stop him, however, saying it’s not his “fight” (389). He explains that it was the lizards that brought on the storm, not the humans, therefore it needs to be the lizards who finish it. The lizard disappears.

Tookie returns to the barge and suffers through the afternoon heat long enough to paint a giant HELP sign on the top of their barge. He falls asleep while Miss Mary keeps watch. She wakes him, as she hears a loud sound. He hears it too, grabs his gun, and wishes Miss Mary luck before leaving to fight whatever is out there.

Tookie tries to approach the being silently, but given the amount of noise the being is causing on its own, this is an unnecessary precaution. Tookie allows all the racist, bigoted comments he has ever heard to rain down on him and fill him with rage. His rage only expands when he realizes the being has a lizard in its mouth. Tookie attacks, as do several of the lizards, eventually beating the being into submission through their combined efforts. Tookie runs for his injured lizard friend who jokes with him through the pain. Tookie realizes how satisfied he feels knowing he confronted the evil being head on, instead of trying to hide from it. The lizard asks if Tookie if he will leave New Orleans once he has been saved. Tookie says that if he does, it would only be temporarily. They agree to find each other during the next storm, then part ways.

Tookie moves to a shelter in Texas then eventually moves in with Miss Mary and her daughter. He works hard and when he has “enough” packs his bags and heads back home (397).