“When did we decide on that?” Justin said. “I don’t recall voting for them.”

“I don’t know, you must’ve missed that group circle, Justin. Maybe you were napping.”

Sero thought back to the group circles she’d attended and those she might have missed for work, because she didn’t remember voting on Cerise and Daphne either.

“When are we voting on Cameron?” Justin asked. “I’d like to know what the issue is. He’s a totally stand-up guy, I can vouch for him.”

“We don’t have space right now,” Micah said. “Also, the dairy cows are arriving soon and we need to figure out a milking schedule—”

“Don’t change the subject,” Justin interrupted. “Cameron can bunk with me. We can squeeze another futon in the room.”

“Justin!” Micah snapped. “We’ll discuss it later, you and me. Okay?” He stared Justin down. Sero felt her stomach curdle with anxiety. No one spoke back to Micah, not even in jest.

“Nah.” Justin shrugged. “Let’s do it now.” He rolled his head to look around the circle. “In front of everyone. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, right? Everything out in the open. So, here’s what I think, Micah. You like bringing in more girls, especially your type of girls—”

“The dairy cows will need regular—” Micah interrupted in a raised voice.

“What happened to consensus, huh? Or even democracy? It’s a fuckin’ dictatorship. Should we even be getting cows, with all the methane they release—”

“ENOUGH!” Micah bellowed from deep in his throat, an outburst that shut down Justin and took everyone else aback. Sero glanced around; the others looked as shocked and frightened as she felt, averting their eyes from both Micah and Justin. “Group circle’s over for today. We have a ton of work to do. It looks like shit out there. The beans need trellises, the strawberries haven’t been watered in forever, and the damn citrus trees have some sort of pest infestation. Don’t you care about this place, guys?” When no one responded, he yelled, “Let’s GO!”

Everyone scrambled to their feet and moved outside. Micah and Justin remained behind, and that was just as well. Sero was so disturbed by Micah’s anger that she didn’t want to see him right now. The mood in the fields was tense, as everyone busily pulled out work gloves and tools and worked quietly.

“I think Justin’s tried to hit on every woman here,” Zoe said at last.

Not me, Sero thought, unsure how to feel about this.

“And he always does a half-ass job washing dishes,” David added.

“Well, it would help to have regular hot water in the kitchen,” August said, chuckling. “How long till the plumbing’s finally repaired?”

Sero tried to tune it all out, the negativity and the bickering. She walked over to the citrus grove by herself and tried to figure out what was wrong with the trees. Some type of pest had been eating tiny holes in the leaves and leaving a viscous white layer on the fruit, which couldn’t be scrubbed away. It would require some research to find a solution, but she was preoccupied with Greenfields and the moldy plants, about which she still hadn’t told Micah, and now she was even more reluctant to do so.