October 10, 2022 • 26 mins
Savannah talks gentrification. After Irene is taken for ransom, Shant’e debates her next steps.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh wow. Thank you guys. What a great crowd we
have today. Thank you so much, thank you, thank you,
thank you. Okay, oh I love you too. All right, um,
welcome back to the Void. I'm your purgatory host Savannah Rhodes.
(00:24):
Today's show is about a tricky subject, gentrification. It's one
of those huge topics that nobody is neutral on. You
got to have an opinion. We might disagree on the
causes and the solutions, but in my opinion, the question
of its ethics is bineering. So let's test it out.
Play a little game, if you will. It's really simple.
(00:44):
You're gonna hear two different perspectives on gentrification, kindly borrowed
from the Internet, and then you decide who you'd rather
be stuck with in a zombie apocalypse. It's pretty easy. Okay,
there is a hint. There are no wrong answers here, everybody,
but there is a right one. All right, here we go,
you ready. First up, we have stop Moving to Oakland
(01:12):
by anonymous posted on Craigslist August. Stop moving to Oakland.
Our landlords are greedy, unaccountable, and vicious. They take every
chance they can to raise rental costs, and we can't
afford to live here anymore. Maybe you don't understand. Maybe
you just bring all of your money, your privilege, and
(01:35):
resources from New York l a Silicone Valley. We're not
like you. We're blue collar. We're busted. We struggle to
keep our heads above water and healthy food on the table,
roofs over our heads. We're not startups and cafes and
gastro pubs wt of gastro pub We're donuts and churches
(01:56):
and liquor stores. We're community gardens and fried chicken. Yeah,
we know it's pretty here. It wasn't the nineties when
you wouldn't have anything to do with us. So not
hip and so not San Francisco. It was in the
eighties when you were afraid of us. In our dangerous neighborhoods.
We have yards and wide streets, old buildings that look
(02:17):
like ships. You're turning our neighborhoods into Brooklyn and our
freeways into l A. You're replacing our family neighborhoods with
bad over manicure, facial hair and fixed gear bicycles, four
dollar cups of coffee, and high end food trucks. Our
landlords they're not responsible enough to handle your presence, your money,
(02:37):
your ambivalence to how you affect the world around you.
They see dollar signs, dream of becoming powerful real estate moguls,
or at least have no qualms about taking as much
as they can from whoever will give it, and you
give it, you have it to give. You can't seem
to love something for what it is. You need to
leave your mark and possess influence. If you will, we
(03:01):
love what we already are without you. You can have
San Francisco. It's already been destroyed. Please stop moving to Oakland.
Go home, Go back to wherever it is that you
came from. That you already fucked up. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Palazzo,
Go back there, stay there. Damn all right, that's a
(03:30):
tough one to fall off. Our next public opinion is
called how did Oakland get Ghetto? From Oakland MOFO dot
com August M not gonna lie. Some of our listeners
might find this one a bit rough. Oakland actually used
(03:51):
to be full of beautiful Victorian mansions, predominantly white and
middle to upper class. What change was during World War Two?
Kaiser Yes, the Insure Company, built several shipyards around the
Bay Area, including Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco. They set
up shop here, mass producing liberty ships for the war.
African Americans were actually allowed to work in these shipyards
(04:13):
and moved out here in the masses to escape racism
in the South. They were paid more here than they
can get anywhere else, but still face racism and lump
themselves together in communities like West Oakland. This sparked white
flight and all the wealthier, middle to upper class white
people moved out, leaving behind a beautiful Victorian lace neighborhood
(04:33):
that was destroyed and run down by the new residents
over the years, leaving behind the ghetto West Oakland. We
know now some people will argue that red lines forced
the African Americans to live in these areas and would
not allow them to move out to nicer areas like
Piedmont and the Hills, But that does still not change
(04:54):
the fact that the people living in the community they're
trashed it and set the pace for the future. Show.
After the war was over, the shipyard ghetto had a
higher unemployment rate, but that is no excuse to ruin
a beautiful neighborhood. I mean, when I'm unemployed I don't
go out trashing my city. I take the time to
work on this site and show love for my city.
(05:17):
The only people to blame for the ugly, beat up
housing now are the current and in some cases old residents.
They made Oakland ugly no one, but then it's not
Oakland's job to stay ghetto, business list, poor and ugly
so that a few people who aren't doing anything for
themselves can live here. Instead of crying that, people are
(05:39):
chipping in and provide security because they're tired of being robbed.
Maybe you should start a campaign and chipping for what
you want, schools, after school programs, whatever you think will
fix it, do it yourselves, take action like the new
residents are. I am pro gentrification, whatever that means, and
(05:59):
I want my need to improve, expand and get better update.
Moving out of Lokaland was the best thing I ever did.
I can't believe I spent my whole life there. I
guess I just didn't know any better. See what I mean,
(06:28):
You either care about other people or you don't. Simple
as that, as a society, we're out of crossroads. There's
a poem that says, each age is a dream that
is dying or one that is coming to birth. You
sense it, don't you. Blind faith in our politicians, our leaders,
and our media has vanished. Cynicism and mistrust have replaced hope.
(06:50):
As we watched the rats jump off the sinking ship.
It's the dying dream. So where do we go from here? Well,
we could continue down the road of less expansion, self preservation,
every person for themselves. Like in all you can Eat buffet,
we each get the equal opportunity to take everything we
can pile into our plates. Don't bother worrying about the
(07:12):
other person behind you. More food is on the way.
But in real life, no one replaces that tray of
lukewarm mashed potatoes. When it's gone. It's gone. Yeah, that's
an oversimplification, but you get my point. What we've created
in this world of ours is unsustainable. When we can
look at another person struggling and think, well, he's reaping
(07:34):
what he's sewed, that's not just a moral failure. It's
a sign that things are not going to get better
anytime soon. So I'm going to suggest the second option,
complete overhaul. Let's start over in the lies, exploitation, inequity,
and social indifference. Let's start something new. How I mean,
in history there's always an inciting act that jump starts
(07:57):
a movement, ignites a change and consciousness, or even a rebellion.
The window to act is narrowing. Maybe you're thinking, Savannah,
you're in a coma, How the hell are you going
to do anything? Well, you're right. In my current state,
I can't dismantle anything, but I know someone who can.
(08:19):
She might not think like me, but she sure does
look like me. John was at a cross Robes. So
far two hours had passed since Irene was taken by
Davon and Angela. She sat at a park bench, paralyzed
(08:40):
by the choices before her. Right now she was free,
and it was Irene who was being held hostage. She
could leave the city, even the state, if she wanted to.
If the last six months had taught her anything, it
was that she had the skill set to make it
on her own. But the world was a dangerous place
(09:01):
where a team girl with no friends and family. Chanty
had already learned that the hard way, the rational choice
would be to do. If she was instructed, go to Valera,
get him to pay the ransom for Ring, and finally
be rid of Devon. Forever. However, going to Valera would
(09:22):
mean returning herself to captivity, or perhaps worse. After all,
he was under the impression that she had actually killed Davon.
Chante and Irene failed to inform Valera that the pimp
escaped the fire and only the body of a woman,
most likely one of his girls, was recovered. This failure
would undoubtedly be seen as a lie of omission. Though
(09:48):
it was true Valeria had no patience for lies, it
was surely a safer option than spending her life on
the run from a man with eyes and ears everywhere,
and another who was fueled by dingens. That version of
freedom would be no freedom at all. Yes, Davon would
never forgive her for the egregious part she played in
(10:10):
naming him, nor would Valera understand her lack of honesty.
Their fury would not end at the return of the
serpentine Slovik trumpet. Thus, it was far safer to leave
the past behind and start a new damn. Okay, this
(10:31):
is hella confusing. If y'all would just stop talking, then
maybe I could think. There can't only be two options here,
co Yeah, there was, in fact a third option. Chante
could recover iring. Without the help of Valera, it would
mean she'd have to kill Davon for real this time.
(10:52):
But now she had the strength and training. All she
needed was our planned. You gotta be playing with me.
How am I going to come up with the plan?
I mean, really all by myself. It was at this
moment Shante realized a woman stood across the street staring
at her. She took a closer look and recognized who
(11:12):
it was. Rebecca, the girl who had first saved her
from Davon and who had told her the truth about
Freedom House. Rebecca was also the last person she wanted
to see right now, But something told her this wasn't
a coincidence. In the past, Rebecca's presence always prophesied trouble.
(11:34):
This time would be no different. Seante would need to
leave immediately to avoid additional unwanted drauma. What additional drama?
Hey don't know if you remember me? I Rebecca? No? Oh,
maybe I should call you Laurie. Well, if you knew that,
then why you asked? I just wanted to know your preference. Girl,
(11:57):
Leave me alone, all right, I'm not in the mood
you saw me that night at City Hall with Lenny.
I know you did, so what kick rocks? Okay? Oh
what are your Russian friends? Are gonna chop me up
if I don't? How do you know about that? You know,
when Lenny told me you were an intern, I knew
something was up and my curiosity got the best of me.
(12:18):
And I'm glad you did, because I followed you here
to the city and the rest wasn't hard to put together.
The car you were picked up in at diplomatic plates,
Russian plates at that, and the buff dudes driving you
around definitely looked like a couple of lackeys, so obviously
you struck gold. Damn. Okay, stalker, what are you some
kind of secret agents spy? Now? I was gonna ask
(12:41):
you the same thing. I mean, you're the one hanging
with Russian diplomats and getting internships with the Oakland mayor. Okay, bitch,
So what you're trying to say? So because I'm not Boogie,
I can't be doing big things with my life. Come on, sis,
don't do that. One day you're at Freedom House and
the next day you're at city Hall and it's not
adding up. Okay, you've seen the care a lot about
was going on in my life that means you want something,
(13:02):
So what do you want? Yeah? I do want something
I needed Actually I knew it. What Okay, and make
it quick because I got my own ship to be handled.
All right. Remember the data leak that happened around the
same time as the Freedom House fire, Well, dull, yeah
what Well, as you know, a lot of important people
were implicating in that leak, but there were others well,
(13:26):
others that got away with some really bad shit. So
way you were behind that lead. I mean you could
say that, Hey, look when you were at Freedom House,
did you see this guy? Think? Maybe listen, a lot
of dudes look like him. Yeah, Well he's an FBI agent,
corrupt as hell. We think he was a client at
Freedom House. It might be connected to White burned down
(13:46):
and right now he's trying to deport my friend because
we're close to bringing him down. Listen, I don't know
where you're getting your information from, but I know you're
all the way off. How do you know just because
you showed all your cards doesn't mean I'm to show
my miss lady. As a matter of fact, I gotta go. Yeah,
well he's working with your people. What. Like I said,
(14:08):
we were close to taking this asshole down. We even
trace evidence back to the building you're living in. Now.
It's a crazy coincidence, I know, but it's the true.
Hell No, these people don't have anything to do with
Oh yeah, well, how do you know that? Even if
you're right? Okay, I'm not even in the position to
help you, but I just need you to get me inside,
(14:29):
to take me there. I can handle the rest of
my own. The fact that you think it's that easy
just proves you're crazy. Good buck, come on, chante please,
this is an act of desperation on my part. Girl,
I don't beg Look, haven't you ever wanted to help
a friend? Fine? All right, As a matter of fact,
I do know what that is. Like, I know where
(14:52):
the computers are. Irene has some footage from the Freedom House,
you know, hitting cameras and ship. I never knew why,
but I guess she has her reason. Yes see, that's
exactly what I need. Thank you. Let's go hold up, okay,
miss thing, Let's talk about what you're gonna do for me.
(15:13):
All right, You're a smart cookie. Whatever you need, I
got you. It's Irene. Okay. That fake asked him and
his mama took her I've got to get her back
before her crazy uncle finds out that she's even missing.
Why would you want to help a woman who ran
a brothel and exploited girls like you? Rebecca had a point,
(15:34):
but Shante considered all the things Irene had done on
her bath. She couldn't bring herself to be disloyal without Irene.
Her life belonged to that bio patriarchal voice who haunted
her every move. For now, she still needed her mentor
you don't know her? Okay, She's the reason I'm even
(15:56):
still alive. So it's either we have a deal or don't.
It's not negotiable. All right, Fine, I'll help you find
her in worry about my conscience later, but we gotta
get the evidence first. Okay, great, let's go. Now, hold on,
hold on, I need to call my take guy. What girl?
(16:19):
I know you didn't think I was gonna hack this
computer myself. Five minutes later, Chante and Rebecca were joined
by an odd fellow called Ernie. As it turned out,
Rebecca's friend was something of an unhumorous court jester. He
also happened to be quite meloderous, like many other trees
in his dissidence calling themselves activists. Ernie's bathing habits were
(16:43):
questionable at best. As they entered the elevator of the condominium,
Shanta held her breath to avoid inhaling his foul aroma.
When they finally arrived at the top floor, she burst
through the elevator doors, gasping for a breath of fresh air.
Y'all need to be quick, m yes, ma'am, quick as
my middle name. And you're sure there's no security? I
(17:04):
don't want any surprises. Naturally, Shante did not admit that
she had drugged the guards the night before. Furthermore, Irene
assured her that it had been taken care of. Nah, okay,
they had the day off. Though she said this with confidence,
she couldn't know with certainty the whereabouts of the men.
For all she knew, they could be waiting for her
(17:27):
when she opened the door. Would you just shut the
hell up already? Damn? Who's she talking to? I don't
know you? Okay, Yes, I'm fine, Okay, it's just this
man in my head. But don't worry about that. Listen,
this is our place. When they entered the apartment, both
Rebecca and earning gas sunlight from the massive floor to
(17:51):
ceiling windows filled the elegant room. It was stunning. Shante
had become accustomed to the remarkable refinery of her home
and did not understand why the others. Hesitated, and she
looked at the faces. It struck her how far she
had come and how much she had to lose. Wow, okay, nice,
(18:14):
come up? How much is a place like this go for? Three?
Four milk? Do it look like I know? Okay, I'm
not the one that paid for it. Now, look, are
you gonna keep staring or you're gonna get the ship
out of the computer staying on desk? I like it?
Show me the way. She brought them into Irene's bedroom
and opened the closet door. There was a large fireproof
(18:35):
safe inside. She punched in a code and opened it.
Several laptops, boxes, and trinkets were inside. Shanty took out
the laptop she recognized from the Halfway House and handed
it to Ernie. All right, so here it is. This
is her old laptop from Freedom House. I don't know
the password. Don't worry, I got it from here. We'll
(18:59):
just be a few minutes. Okay, great, listen, I'm just
gonna be right out here until you all the day.
But hey, do you have any orange juice? No coffee?
Do I look like room service to you? Ernie quite taking.
Shante waited anxiously in the living room, Unable to sit still.
She looked out the windows and double check that the
halls were clear. No matter what she did, she couldn't
(19:22):
shake the nagging feeling of uncertainty. That's when she got
a terrifying message from Davon. Yo, case you forgot, I
still got your little friend over here, looks say, Hie,
you better tell that uncle yours that we won't have
an infitty if you hurt my mama. Two cash poor
(19:48):
the on come midnight, No motherfucking games, Because I won't
hesitate you to shoot this bench on the spot, then
I'm wna find your ass next to leave that Seante
was out of her but it was not too late
to undo the damage. She could still leave this mess
behind and save herself. The door to her escape was
but a few feet away, if only she would seize
(20:11):
the chants I thought, I've told you to shut up. Listen,
just shut up already, No more of your dumb ass opinions.
Mind your piziness talking to that man again no, I'm
talking to myself. Is that a problem? Not at all?
(20:32):
Just had to check anyway, We're done, so that's it
pretty quick, right, That's why they called me the Assange
of Oakland. What Ernie, please, you know Julian Assange? Right,
Wiki leaks. Don't tell me you're not familiar with this work.
I know you're young, but you've got some catching up
to do. Okay, listen, enough of that. Now that you
(20:54):
got what you needed, we need to figure out how
to get Irene. Davon just sent me a video and
he it's not playing. Listen. We need to come up
with the plan and we need to come up with
the plan now. Okay, alright, come on, we'll figure it out,
but not inside here. Let's just not push our Look,
the devious anarchist has spoken too soon for It was
(21:15):
at that very moment Valera entered the apartment with half
a dozen security guards. He was also accompanied by a
young woman from Chante recognized but could not place. Anger
and disappointment was on Valera's face as he took in
the scene before him. Laura, this is how you treat
(21:37):
me after I trusted you. No, no, no, these are
just my friends from work. I invited them over and
guess what they were just leaving. That's a lie. This
is Rebecca Cooper and this is Ernie. I don't know
what his last name is, but he's a hacker and
she's an activist. They're both dangerous. Pela, what is this?
(21:59):
Why are you an ear? I'm not Beulah Savannah? And
it's not so fun to be on the receiving end
of a nasty surprise, is it. That's not it's not
the video sunk. Take their transpensors to they well through
the bed. We're not going anywhere, sweet hard I was
(22:22):
not giving you the option. It's the obvious. Lauren did
not tell you who I am. So I will try
to be patient with you for a while, but you
will go with artum Ilo. They too will be patient,
but if you give them any trouble, they have my
(22:42):
permission to kill you and make your remains into dust.
Do you understand? Yes, sir, hear you loud and clear.
I'll go make sure our guests are treated properly. Traders, bitch,
who are you on the evil twin Fall of Me? Boys?
(23:04):
With Rebecca and Ernie gone, it was now just Chantey
and Valera. He stared her down without saying a word.
She knew he would see through any lie. She could tell,
any detail omitted. This was the moment she'd been dreading,
if only she had run away when she had the opportunity.
I know about you poisoning my man. No, I just
(23:28):
gave him the crap. Y'all told me we're just vitamins.
It's not like they die. Enough of the excuse us.
I will deal with your leader on that matter. Where's
my niece? Um? What, well, there's the problem. So we
were at Alcatraz earlier in she got kidnapped in the bathroom.
(23:49):
More lies my eadie, and I is still strown a
fight to to all out such a thing to help.
But it's true they drugged her. And where were you
when this was happening? Why didn't you help her? I
wanted to, but they were keeping her housage until you
(24:10):
pay them. They said they were going to kill her
if you don't give them two hundred and fifty dollars.
You know, I don't like this they business. Who are
these people? There was nothing left but to tell the truth.
Seante was too afraid not to. She explained how Davon
(24:32):
had survived being stabbed, beat and set on fire. She
went into detail about his mother, Angela and how she
wanted revenge. To her complete surprise, Valera laughed, Irina has
been thinking by common criminals. Unbelievable. She has ruined world leaders,
(24:56):
destroy entire movement, only to be outsmarted by a pair
of pimps. Sometimes in life you must laugh at the
irony of things. Come, let us find this slippery characters,
are you? Are you going to kill them? Why do
(25:18):
you ask? It's the only way. It's the only way
you'll be able to get rid of them. Trust me,
They'll just keep on coming back. I'll take care of
this my way, and I'll be trusting you for nothing.
(25:42):
Chantey couldn't read the expression on Valeria's face as he
said this. He was impenetrable. His words were ambiguous enough
to be both meaningless and fearsome. Unsure of what the
near future held for her, she followed him and his
men out of the apartment. As they entered the freight
elevator and descended into the darkness, Chanty became certain that
(26:07):
only more horror awaited her. In the next chapter of
this unending saga,
Oh wow. Thank you guys. What a great crowd we
have today. Thank you so much, thank you, thank you,
thank you. Okay, oh I love you too. All right, um,
welcome back to the Void. I'm your purgatory host Savannah Rhodes.
(00:24):
Today's show is about a tricky subject, gentrification. It's one
of those huge topics that nobody is neutral on. You
got to have an opinion. We might disagree on the
causes and the solutions, but in my opinion, the question
of its ethics is bineering. So let's test it out.
Play a little game, if you will. It's really simple.
(00:44):
You're gonna hear two different perspectives on gentrification, kindly borrowed
from the Internet, and then you decide who you'd rather
be stuck with in a zombie apocalypse. It's pretty easy. Okay,
there is a hint. There are no wrong answers here, everybody,
but there is a right one. All right, here we go,
you ready. First up, we have stop Moving to Oakland
(01:12):
by anonymous posted on Craigslist August. Stop moving to Oakland.
Our landlords are greedy, unaccountable, and vicious. They take every
chance they can to raise rental costs, and we can't
afford to live here anymore. Maybe you don't understand. Maybe
you just bring all of your money, your privilege, and
(01:35):
resources from New York l a Silicone Valley. We're not
like you. We're blue collar. We're busted. We struggle to
keep our heads above water and healthy food on the table,
roofs over our heads. We're not startups and cafes and
gastro pubs wt of gastro pub We're donuts and churches
(01:56):
and liquor stores. We're community gardens and fried chicken. Yeah,
we know it's pretty here. It wasn't the nineties when
you wouldn't have anything to do with us. So not
hip and so not San Francisco. It was in the
eighties when you were afraid of us. In our dangerous neighborhoods.
We have yards and wide streets, old buildings that look
(02:17):
like ships. You're turning our neighborhoods into Brooklyn and our
freeways into l A. You're replacing our family neighborhoods with
bad over manicure, facial hair and fixed gear bicycles, four
dollar cups of coffee, and high end food trucks. Our
landlords they're not responsible enough to handle your presence, your money,
(02:37):
your ambivalence to how you affect the world around you.
They see dollar signs, dream of becoming powerful real estate moguls,
or at least have no qualms about taking as much
as they can from whoever will give it, and you
give it, you have it to give. You can't seem
to love something for what it is. You need to
leave your mark and possess influence. If you will, we
(03:01):
love what we already are without you. You can have
San Francisco. It's already been destroyed. Please stop moving to Oakland.
Go home, Go back to wherever it is that you
came from. That you already fucked up. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Palazzo,
Go back there, stay there. Damn all right, that's a
(03:30):
tough one to fall off. Our next public opinion is
called how did Oakland get Ghetto? From Oakland MOFO dot
com August M not gonna lie. Some of our listeners
might find this one a bit rough. Oakland actually used
(03:51):
to be full of beautiful Victorian mansions, predominantly white and
middle to upper class. What change was during World War Two?
Kaiser Yes, the Insure Company, built several shipyards around the
Bay Area, including Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco. They set
up shop here, mass producing liberty ships for the war.
African Americans were actually allowed to work in these shipyards
(04:13):
and moved out here in the masses to escape racism
in the South. They were paid more here than they
can get anywhere else, but still face racism and lump
themselves together in communities like West Oakland. This sparked white
flight and all the wealthier, middle to upper class white
people moved out, leaving behind a beautiful Victorian lace neighborhood
(04:33):
that was destroyed and run down by the new residents
over the years, leaving behind the ghetto West Oakland. We
know now some people will argue that red lines forced
the African Americans to live in these areas and would
not allow them to move out to nicer areas like
Piedmont and the Hills, But that does still not change
(04:54):
the fact that the people living in the community they're
trashed it and set the pace for the future. Show.
After the war was over, the shipyard ghetto had a
higher unemployment rate, but that is no excuse to ruin
a beautiful neighborhood. I mean, when I'm unemployed I don't
go out trashing my city. I take the time to
work on this site and show love for my city.
(05:17):
The only people to blame for the ugly, beat up
housing now are the current and in some cases old residents.
They made Oakland ugly no one, but then it's not
Oakland's job to stay ghetto, business list, poor and ugly
so that a few people who aren't doing anything for
themselves can live here. Instead of crying that, people are
(05:39):
chipping in and provide security because they're tired of being robbed.
Maybe you should start a campaign and chipping for what
you want, schools, after school programs, whatever you think will
fix it, do it yourselves, take action like the new
residents are. I am pro gentrification, whatever that means, and
(05:59):
I want my need to improve, expand and get better update.
Moving out of Lokaland was the best thing I ever did.
I can't believe I spent my whole life there. I
guess I just didn't know any better. See what I mean,
(06:28):
You either care about other people or you don't. Simple
as that, as a society, we're out of crossroads. There's
a poem that says, each age is a dream that
is dying or one that is coming to birth. You
sense it, don't you. Blind faith in our politicians, our leaders,
and our media has vanished. Cynicism and mistrust have replaced hope.
(06:50):
As we watched the rats jump off the sinking ship.
It's the dying dream. So where do we go from here? Well,
we could continue down the road of less expansion, self preservation,
every person for themselves. Like in all you can Eat buffet,
we each get the equal opportunity to take everything we
can pile into our plates. Don't bother worrying about the
(07:12):
other person behind you. More food is on the way.
But in real life, no one replaces that tray of
lukewarm mashed potatoes. When it's gone. It's gone. Yeah, that's
an oversimplification, but you get my point. What we've created
in this world of ours is unsustainable. When we can
look at another person struggling and think, well, he's reaping
(07:34):
what he's sewed, that's not just a moral failure. It's
a sign that things are not going to get better
anytime soon. So I'm going to suggest the second option,
complete overhaul. Let's start over in the lies, exploitation, inequity,
and social indifference. Let's start something new. How I mean,
in history there's always an inciting act that jump starts
(07:57):
a movement, ignites a change and consciousness, or even a rebellion.
The window to act is narrowing. Maybe you're thinking, Savannah,
you're in a coma, How the hell are you going
to do anything? Well, you're right. In my current state,
I can't dismantle anything, but I know someone who can.
(08:19):
She might not think like me, but she sure does
look like me. John was at a cross Robes. So
far two hours had passed since Irene was taken by
Davon and Angela. She sat at a park bench, paralyzed
(08:40):
by the choices before her. Right now she was free,
and it was Irene who was being held hostage. She
could leave the city, even the state, if she wanted to.
If the last six months had taught her anything, it
was that she had the skill set to make it
on her own. But the world was a dangerous place
(09:01):
where a team girl with no friends and family. Chanty
had already learned that the hard way, the rational choice
would be to do. If she was instructed, go to Valera,
get him to pay the ransom for Ring, and finally
be rid of Devon. Forever. However, going to Valera would
(09:22):
mean returning herself to captivity, or perhaps worse. After all,
he was under the impression that she had actually killed Davon.
Chante and Irene failed to inform Valera that the pimp
escaped the fire and only the body of a woman,
most likely one of his girls, was recovered. This failure
would undoubtedly be seen as a lie of omission. Though
(09:48):
it was true Valeria had no patience for lies, it
was surely a safer option than spending her life on
the run from a man with eyes and ears everywhere,
and another who was fueled by dingens. That version of
freedom would be no freedom at all. Yes, Davon would
never forgive her for the egregious part she played in
(10:10):
naming him, nor would Valera understand her lack of honesty.
Their fury would not end at the return of the
serpentine Slovik trumpet. Thus, it was far safer to leave
the past behind and start a new damn. Okay, this
(10:31):
is hella confusing. If y'all would just stop talking, then
maybe I could think. There can't only be two options here,
co Yeah, there was, in fact a third option. Chante
could recover iring. Without the help of Valera, it would
mean she'd have to kill Davon for real this time.
(10:52):
But now she had the strength and training. All she
needed was our planned. You gotta be playing with me.
How am I going to come up with the plan?
I mean, really all by myself. It was at this
moment Shante realized a woman stood across the street staring
at her. She took a closer look and recognized who
(11:12):
it was. Rebecca, the girl who had first saved her
from Davon and who had told her the truth about
Freedom House. Rebecca was also the last person she wanted
to see right now, But something told her this wasn't
a coincidence. In the past, Rebecca's presence always prophesied trouble.
(11:34):
This time would be no different. Seante would need to
leave immediately to avoid additional unwanted drauma. What additional drama?
Hey don't know if you remember me? I Rebecca? No? Oh,
maybe I should call you Laurie. Well, if you knew that,
then why you asked? I just wanted to know your preference. Girl,
(11:57):
Leave me alone, all right, I'm not in the mood
you saw me that night at City Hall with Lenny.
I know you did, so what kick rocks? Okay? Oh
what are your Russian friends? Are gonna chop me up
if I don't? How do you know about that? You know,
when Lenny told me you were an intern, I knew
something was up and my curiosity got the best of me.
(12:18):
And I'm glad you did, because I followed you here
to the city and the rest wasn't hard to put together.
The car you were picked up in at diplomatic plates,
Russian plates at that, and the buff dudes driving you
around definitely looked like a couple of lackeys, so obviously
you struck gold. Damn. Okay, stalker, what are you some
kind of secret agents spy? Now? I was gonna ask
(12:41):
you the same thing. I mean, you're the one hanging
with Russian diplomats and getting internships with the Oakland mayor. Okay, bitch,
So what you're trying to say? So because I'm not Boogie,
I can't be doing big things with my life. Come on, sis,
don't do that. One day you're at Freedom House and
the next day you're at city Hall and it's not
adding up. Okay, you've seen the care a lot about
was going on in my life that means you want something,
(13:02):
So what do you want? Yeah? I do want something
I needed Actually I knew it. What Okay, and make
it quick because I got my own ship to be handled.
All right. Remember the data leak that happened around the
same time as the Freedom House fire, Well, dull, yeah
what Well, as you know, a lot of important people
were implicating in that leak, but there were others well,
(13:26):
others that got away with some really bad shit. So
way you were behind that lead. I mean you could
say that, Hey, look when you were at Freedom House,
did you see this guy? Think? Maybe listen, a lot
of dudes look like him. Yeah, Well he's an FBI agent,
corrupt as hell. We think he was a client at
Freedom House. It might be connected to White burned down
(13:46):
and right now he's trying to deport my friend because
we're close to bringing him down. Listen, I don't know
where you're getting your information from, but I know you're
all the way off. How do you know just because
you showed all your cards doesn't mean I'm to show
my miss lady. As a matter of fact, I gotta go. Yeah,
well he's working with your people. What. Like I said,
(14:08):
we were close to taking this asshole down. We even
trace evidence back to the building you're living in. Now.
It's a crazy coincidence, I know, but it's the true.
Hell No, these people don't have anything to do with
Oh yeah, well, how do you know that? Even if
you're right? Okay, I'm not even in the position to
help you, but I just need you to get me inside,
(14:29):
to take me there. I can handle the rest of
my own. The fact that you think it's that easy
just proves you're crazy. Good buck, come on, chante please,
this is an act of desperation on my part. Girl,
I don't beg Look, haven't you ever wanted to help
a friend? Fine? All right, As a matter of fact,
I do know what that is. Like, I know where
(14:52):
the computers are. Irene has some footage from the Freedom House,
you know, hitting cameras and ship. I never knew why,
but I guess she has her reason. Yes see, that's
exactly what I need. Thank you. Let's go hold up, okay,
miss thing, Let's talk about what you're gonna do for me.
(15:13):
All right, You're a smart cookie. Whatever you need, I
got you. It's Irene. Okay. That fake asked him and
his mama took her I've got to get her back
before her crazy uncle finds out that she's even missing.
Why would you want to help a woman who ran
a brothel and exploited girls like you? Rebecca had a point,
(15:34):
but Shante considered all the things Irene had done on
her bath. She couldn't bring herself to be disloyal without Irene.
Her life belonged to that bio patriarchal voice who haunted
her every move. For now, she still needed her mentor
you don't know her? Okay, She's the reason I'm even
(15:56):
still alive. So it's either we have a deal or don't.
It's not negotiable. All right, Fine, I'll help you find
her in worry about my conscience later, but we gotta
get the evidence first. Okay, great, let's go. Now, hold on,
hold on, I need to call my take guy. What girl?
(16:19):
I know you didn't think I was gonna hack this
computer myself. Five minutes later, Chante and Rebecca were joined
by an odd fellow called Ernie. As it turned out,
Rebecca's friend was something of an unhumorous court jester. He
also happened to be quite meloderous, like many other trees
in his dissidence calling themselves activists. Ernie's bathing habits were
(16:43):
questionable at best. As they entered the elevator of the condominium,
Shanta held her breath to avoid inhaling his foul aroma.
When they finally arrived at the top floor, she burst
through the elevator doors, gasping for a breath of fresh air.
Y'all need to be quick, m yes, ma'am, quick as
my middle name. And you're sure there's no security? I
(17:04):
don't want any surprises. Naturally, Shante did not admit that
she had drugged the guards the night before. Furthermore, Irene
assured her that it had been taken care of. Nah, okay,
they had the day off. Though she said this with confidence,
she couldn't know with certainty the whereabouts of the men.
For all she knew, they could be waiting for her
(17:27):
when she opened the door. Would you just shut the
hell up already? Damn? Who's she talking to? I don't
know you? Okay, Yes, I'm fine, Okay, it's just this
man in my head. But don't worry about that. Listen,
this is our place. When they entered the apartment, both
Rebecca and earning gas sunlight from the massive floor to
(17:51):
ceiling windows filled the elegant room. It was stunning. Shante
had become accustomed to the remarkable refinery of her home
and did not understand why the others. Hesitated, and she
looked at the faces. It struck her how far she
had come and how much she had to lose. Wow, okay, nice,
(18:14):
come up? How much is a place like this go for? Three?
Four milk? Do it look like I know? Okay, I'm
not the one that paid for it. Now, look, are
you gonna keep staring or you're gonna get the ship
out of the computer staying on desk? I like it?
Show me the way. She brought them into Irene's bedroom
and opened the closet door. There was a large fireproof
(18:35):
safe inside. She punched in a code and opened it.
Several laptops, boxes, and trinkets were inside. Shanty took out
the laptop she recognized from the Halfway House and handed
it to Ernie. All right, so here it is. This
is her old laptop from Freedom House. I don't know
the password. Don't worry, I got it from here. We'll
(18:59):
just be a few minutes. Okay, great, listen, I'm just
gonna be right out here until you all the day.
But hey, do you have any orange juice? No coffee?
Do I look like room service to you? Ernie quite taking.
Shante waited anxiously in the living room, Unable to sit still.
She looked out the windows and double check that the
halls were clear. No matter what she did, she couldn't
(19:22):
shake the nagging feeling of uncertainty. That's when she got
a terrifying message from Davon. Yo, case you forgot, I
still got your little friend over here, looks say, Hie,
you better tell that uncle yours that we won't have
an infitty if you hurt my mama. Two cash poor
(19:48):
the on come midnight, No motherfucking games, Because I won't
hesitate you to shoot this bench on the spot, then
I'm wna find your ass next to leave that Seante
was out of her but it was not too late
to undo the damage. She could still leave this mess
behind and save herself. The door to her escape was
but a few feet away, if only she would seize
(20:11):
the chants I thought, I've told you to shut up. Listen,
just shut up already, No more of your dumb ass opinions.
Mind your piziness talking to that man again no, I'm
talking to myself. Is that a problem? Not at all?
(20:32):
Just had to check anyway, We're done, so that's it
pretty quick, right, That's why they called me the Assange
of Oakland. What Ernie, please, you know Julian Assange? Right,
Wiki leaks. Don't tell me you're not familiar with this work.
I know you're young, but you've got some catching up
to do. Okay, listen, enough of that. Now that you
(20:54):
got what you needed, we need to figure out how
to get Irene. Davon just sent me a video and
he it's not playing. Listen. We need to come up
with the plan and we need to come up with
the plan now. Okay, alright, come on, we'll figure it out,
but not inside here. Let's just not push our Look,
the devious anarchist has spoken too soon for It was
(21:15):
at that very moment Valera entered the apartment with half
a dozen security guards. He was also accompanied by a
young woman from Chante recognized but could not place. Anger
and disappointment was on Valera's face as he took in
the scene before him. Laura, this is how you treat
(21:37):
me after I trusted you. No, no, no, these are
just my friends from work. I invited them over and
guess what they were just leaving. That's a lie. This
is Rebecca Cooper and this is Ernie. I don't know
what his last name is, but he's a hacker and
she's an activist. They're both dangerous. Pela, what is this?
(21:59):
Why are you an ear? I'm not Beulah Savannah? And
it's not so fun to be on the receiving end
of a nasty surprise, is it. That's not it's not
the video sunk. Take their transpensors to they well through
the bed. We're not going anywhere, sweet hard I was
(22:22):
not giving you the option. It's the obvious. Lauren did
not tell you who I am. So I will try
to be patient with you for a while, but you
will go with artum Ilo. They too will be patient,
but if you give them any trouble, they have my
(22:42):
permission to kill you and make your remains into dust.
Do you understand? Yes, sir, hear you loud and clear.
I'll go make sure our guests are treated properly. Traders, bitch,
who are you on the evil twin Fall of Me? Boys?
(23:04):
With Rebecca and Ernie gone, it was now just Chantey
and Valera. He stared her down without saying a word.
She knew he would see through any lie. She could tell,
any detail omitted. This was the moment she'd been dreading,
if only she had run away when she had the opportunity.
I know about you poisoning my man. No, I just
(23:28):
gave him the crap. Y'all told me we're just vitamins.
It's not like they die. Enough of the excuse us.
I will deal with your leader on that matter. Where's
my niece? Um? What, well, there's the problem. So we
were at Alcatraz earlier in she got kidnapped in the bathroom.
(23:49):
More lies my eadie, and I is still strown a
fight to to all out such a thing to help.
But it's true they drugged her. And where were you
when this was happening? Why didn't you help her? I
wanted to, but they were keeping her housage until you
(24:10):
pay them. They said they were going to kill her
if you don't give them two hundred and fifty dollars.
You know, I don't like this they business. Who are
these people? There was nothing left but to tell the truth.
Seante was too afraid not to. She explained how Davon
(24:32):
had survived being stabbed, beat and set on fire. She
went into detail about his mother, Angela and how she
wanted revenge. To her complete surprise, Valera laughed, Irina has
been thinking by common criminals. Unbelievable. She has ruined world leaders,
(24:56):
destroy entire movement, only to be outsmarted by a pair
of pimps. Sometimes in life you must laugh at the
irony of things. Come, let us find this slippery characters,
are you? Are you going to kill them? Why do
(25:18):
you ask? It's the only way. It's the only way
you'll be able to get rid of them. Trust me,
They'll just keep on coming back. I'll take care of
this my way, and I'll be trusting you for nothing.
(25:42):
Chantey couldn't read the expression on Valeria's face as he
said this. He was impenetrable. His words were ambiguous enough
to be both meaningless and fearsome. Unsure of what the
near future held for her, she followed him and his
men out of the apartment. As they entered the freight
elevator and descended into the darkness, Chanty became certain that
(26:07):
only more horror awaited her. In the next chapter of
this unending saga,
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