Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Locks in the Box Volume 1 Episode 4.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: You are curing. What?
I have no word for it, eh boys?
[00:00:18] Speaker C: Go to sleep now, eh?
[00:00:19] Speaker D: We both turned opposite each other and covered our heads with our own light fabrics serving as shit.
[00:00:34] Speaker E: So at that point you still didn't know where the piece was. Correct.
[00:00:39] Speaker D: Correct.
[00:00:40] Speaker F: But the next day my nightmare came true. Your dad arrested first, then murdered after.
[00:00:49] Speaker E: I'm hearing random gunshots sometimes.
Are people hunting?
[00:00:52] Speaker D: 247 hunters are hunted.
[00:00:56] Speaker E: Can the police or the rangers do something about it?
[00:00:59] Speaker F: Unless the police or the rangers are the hunters.
[00:01:02] Speaker E: What do you mean? Why do they hunt?
[00:01:05] Speaker F: Rather, who do they hunt?
And the answer is hunters.
[00:01:10] Speaker E: Oh my.
This environment is unsafe.
[00:01:14] Speaker F: More likely it's an insane one.
[00:01:19] Speaker F: So the night of the arrest, Harris went to see Baba. Not sure if he wanted to talk about what he saw. The young lady, him being drunk, or to talk about the peace.
[00:01:31] Speaker E: Yes, the piece of the tusk.
[00:01:34] Speaker D: Right.
[00:01:36] Speaker F: I feel like you're more interested into the piece of the tusk than my dad's story.
[00:01:40] Speaker E: Well, if all of these lead to the tusks, I'm interested into both.
[00:01:47] Speaker F: Because his story will offer us clues about that piece, about the locks.
[00:01:52] Speaker E: I know that.
Okay, so where were we?
Sorry, just a second, please.
I have to change tapes. Let me call you right back.
[00:02:18] Speaker E: Hello?
It's me again.
[00:02:21] Speaker D: Hello?
[00:02:23] Speaker E: Are you having a second thought?
[00:02:28] Speaker F: Sorry, it's just that reliving those moments are painful.
[00:02:34] Speaker E: I know. I understand.
Believe me.
[00:02:37] Speaker F: Anyway, my brother said that that night he went to Baba's working hut.
It's a place where Baba prepared for his next hunt.
He saw Baba's back sitting on a wooden carved stool he was working on.
[00:03:08] Speaker D: Harris quietly walked toward Baba.
He saw the lantern by Baba's side. With a spear, a bow, some arrows resting on pages of old newspaper on the floor.
He got within fit to Baba.
Baba sensed his footsteps. He raised his head, acknowledging his presence, turned profile. Then he went back to his work.
[00:03:35] Speaker E: Sorry to interrupt, but can we speed this up a little bit?
[00:03:39] Speaker F: I'll be honest with you. I have no idea about how to find the locks. But you questioning me, guiding me through this, and me trying to accurately answer will tremendously help.
[00:03:49] Speaker D: So. Patience.
[00:03:51] Speaker F: I might know where the piece is.
I'm trying. You know, I'm on a crash time as well.
[00:03:57] Speaker D: And this.
[00:03:58] Speaker E: You said you might know where to find it. Now you're changing your story.
What is it?
You've been wasting my time and yours for nothing.
[00:04:08] Speaker F: Have I?
I told you from the beginning that I don't know exactly how to find the locks. My dad was the only one who cut it and cut a piece of this tusk.
[00:04:17] Speaker E: Where is that piece then?
[00:04:18] Speaker F: Somewhere.
[00:04:19] Speaker E: Where? Are you playing games?
[00:04:21] Speaker F: And that's the reason my father didn't want to give us details, just clues.
[00:04:25] Speaker E: $3000.
[00:04:26] Speaker F: What?
[00:04:27] Speaker E: $3000 to see the piece.
[00:04:30] Speaker F: 6000 to see it.
[00:04:32] Speaker E: 6000 total. Your story and the piece.
[00:04:35] Speaker F: $9000 for listening to my dad's story, the clues, my help and I'll tell you about the piece.
[00:04:43] Speaker E: Do you or don't you have the peace, Mr. Claudio?
[00:04:46] Speaker F: What's in it for you anyway?
For some journalists you are very impatient to find out about the truth.
[00:04:57] Speaker D: So Harris got near Baba and said.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: Baba, what are you doing?
[00:05:03] Speaker D: Harris.
[00:05:05] Speaker D: Which is our father's profile.
[00:05:09] Speaker D: And sees now what he was doing.
Baba was surgically dipping the still sharp end of an arrow in a very long dark glass container.
He took the arrow out of the container, the pointy end fully covered with a dark slimy substance.
He put the wet arrow on some old newspapers on the floor.
Baba repeated his same action with a second arrow.
When he came to the third time, Baba paused for a second, then extended the arrow to Harris and said.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: Here you go, son.
[00:05:50] Speaker C: Do you want to talk about the other night?
[00:05:54] Speaker D: Harris hesitated.
Baba kept his hand holding the arrow extended toward him. Without looking at him.
Baba was ashamed.
Eris and Cher grabbed the arrow.
The spear of the third arrow pointed up with two small sharp ends at the bottom of the spear.
Harris, hesitant of how to hold the stem of the arrow, trembled, then let the stem slide down between his thumb and and index fingers.
[00:06:26] Speaker E: Ouch.
[00:06:27] Speaker D: He accidentally wounded his index finger with a sharp cut. He immediately let the arrow fall on the floor and avidly sucked on his index finger and spitted out the blood.
[00:06:40] Speaker D: Baba smiled.
Baba lifted the arrow that Harris let down from the floor.
Baba then took one of the other arrows that was set on the newspaper. With his other hand, he firmly held both arrows and presented them to Harris. One arrow fully covered with the slimy substance and the other arrow that cut Harris completely dry.
[00:07:06] Speaker D: Baba smiled again.
Then his smile instantly disappeared from his face as he noticed Harry's shadow running away.
[00:07:17] Speaker D: Baba sighed, shook his head, his eyes fixated on the ground.
[00:07:25] Speaker D: I interrupted his fixation.
We shared the look.
Baba nodded at me. As he was about to repeat the same gesture, presenting the errors to me, we heard a strange noise in the background through the window.
[00:07:43] Speaker D: We then heard a long growling sound of an animal.
Everything tremble vibrates in Baba's hut.
[00:07:54] Speaker E: Is it?
[00:07:55] Speaker D: Baba stared at the Dark through the window before him.
He tried to make something out of his strange noise.
[00:08:04] Speaker C: Do not be worried.
It's.
It's.
[00:08:11] Speaker D: I was afraid.
He abruptly stood and unnoticeably knocked the bottle containing boomslang spit.
He still looked at the dark through the window.
We finally saw it.
The shadow of his enormous elephant head.
The locks.
With one cheap tusk.
[00:08:32] Speaker E: You saw it? The locks. You saw it too?
[00:08:37] Speaker D: Its shadow? Yes, I saw it.
And the tusks.
Its shadow looked back at us, getting closer and closer. Through the window.
Baba gasped.
Then a distant gunshot abruptly interrupted our focus.
[00:08:57] Speaker D: Baba snappishly looked toward the sound of the gunshot opposite from the window and ordered me to duck under the table.
I did. Then.
[00:09:09] Speaker C: Single gunshot.
Hunter down.
[00:09:12] Speaker D: Baba starred back at the window.
But the locks was now gone.
We only saw the dark.
[00:09:31] Speaker D: Baba returned to his work to find out that the long bottle has fallen and half of the content spilled on the ground.
[00:09:38] Speaker C: Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no.
[00:09:40] Speaker D: Baba tries to save what was left of it.
[00:09:43] Speaker C: Boomslang spit got wasted.
That stuff is expensive.
[00:09:48] Speaker E: Boomslang spit from sharp teeth.
[00:09:51] Speaker D: Correct.
Talking about generational wealth.
Sharpteef's grandfather, who found out first about boomslang spit, was also a great hunter.
But his grandson vowed to commercialize the venom instead of carrying on the hunter tradition.
He got very successful at doing it, though, even against his grandfather's last will.
[00:10:16] Speaker E: I get it. He's a businessman.
All right. Go on, please.
[00:10:22] Speaker D: My dad finally gathered himself, looked at me.
I was still in a fidal position under the table all this time, especially after the gunshot.
He then made the ultimate decision.
[00:10:38] Speaker C: It's okay. Come on. Come closer.
I have two sons, but only one is going to take after me.
[00:10:44] Speaker D: Unsure of myself, I walked slowly toward him.
[00:10:48] Speaker C: Come, son. Don't be afraid.
Take a moment and look.
What do you see?
[00:10:55] Speaker D: I scanned the floor, saw my father's bows, the bottle containing the boomstrang spit. With my father pointing an arrow toward the place he was working.
[00:11:05] Speaker C: Do you see it?
Do you?
[00:11:08] Speaker D: He asks.
I saw the steel end of the arrow held by my father, still pointed toward an area of the table he was working on.
[00:11:20] Speaker D: See what, Baba? I said.
[00:11:22] Speaker C: Look.
It's hidden in plain sight.
Look carefully.
[00:11:29] Speaker D: As I got closer to my father's work area, I noticed the strange shape of one arrow.
He looked concave, distorted.
My eyes widened.
I was about to touch the arrow when.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: Go on, touch it.
Hold it.
You might need both hands.
[00:11:52] Speaker D: Something transparent.
Translucently between my shaky hand and that concave arrow appeared.
My dad pulled the other arrow he had in his hand hand away from the working area and brought the lantern closer.
[00:12:11] Speaker D: Is it?
I asked.
This is so big I couldn't see through it a second ago. And now it looks mighty bright. Like a normal ivory tusk.
Yes.
[00:12:26] Speaker C: When you hold a weapon of any kind near it, something metallic closer to.
[00:12:33] Speaker C: Senses it and disappears.
But this is just a piece of it.
[00:12:39] Speaker E: Peace. Did you catch it?
[00:12:41] Speaker D: I started asking my dad about the locks.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: No.
It caught me off guard.
I thought I was tracking it for weeks.
It was the other way around.
I was the prey and it was the hunter.
When I led into the box, I thought it was chasing me.
It wasn't.
I accidentally fell into it. And somehow it came and looked down at me.
Trapped inside my own trap, I was.
It lowered its huge task.
At first I got scared, thought it wanted to impale me.
So I aggressively and purposely waved my machete.
That's how I heard a.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: Sound and broke a piece of his tusk.
Fear would make you do crazy things.
Because I couldn't see its tusk. I mean, look at it.
Can you see?
[00:13:56] Speaker C: Was so strange.
[00:13:59] Speaker C: As I waved my machete, its toss kept vanishing.
[00:14:05] Speaker C: After a while, I sat in the trap, put my weapon into the sheath and waited and waited.
[00:14:18] Speaker C: The night seemed endless.
I could see the stars in the sky.
No one would hear me if I yelled. At this hour, I said to myself, I felt all alone.
That's when I heard its song. Soft growling it came back and looked over me.
Looked me in the eye as if it looked into my soul.
[00:14:53] Speaker C: Our breathing became one.
If no one tail, then its tasks reappear.
[00:15:02] Speaker C: I hung on to wind and it lifted me up.
[00:15:08] Speaker C: It then left.
[00:15:12] Speaker C: I stayed frozen, laying on the ground, watching this shape disappear in the darkest of the night.
[00:15:23] Speaker C: Our goal, son, Our mission.
It's not to catch it nor to kill it.
Our goal is to protect it.
If a wild animal spared my life, why do I need to kill it?
When miracle happened, Isn't it? For a reason.
[00:15:46] Speaker C: We should.
[00:15:49] Speaker C: I should learn something here.
[00:15:53] Speaker D: Listen.
[00:15:53] Speaker C: Soon you must swear to me. Swear to me. No matter what.
Never ever reveal to anyone how to catch it. Do you hear me?
Swear to me right now, boy.
[00:16:08] Speaker E: Yes, Baba. I swear.
How to catch it?
[00:16:13] Speaker C: Didn't I just tell you not to, eh?
[00:16:17] Speaker C: It hides in plain sight.
[00:16:21] Speaker D: And that night I learned the truth about the locks.
What it means to my dad, my family, my community, my African culture at large.
[00:16:33] Speaker E: So this complicates our deal then?
[00:16:36] Speaker F: I don't think so.
My father's story is not over yet.
[00:16:42] Speaker E: We got the first clue.
Sure. What else?
[00:16:48] Speaker D: There was a man outside our hut the following night.
From our bedroom window I could see him.
A man in khaki uniform, an African Ranger, savoring every puff of smoke.
[00:17:03] Speaker D: Smoking a cigarette.
His vehicle was parked in front of the house.
Then I saw the back of an officer, also in castle uniform, holding and leading Baba outside her hut.
He was in handcuffs and he was being escorted toward the ranger.
The entire scene seemed in slow motion.
[00:17:27] Speaker D: I couldn't believe what was happening.
I was scared, speechless.
As they both got to the door, the stationary ranger took a look at my Baba, smirked, then nodded at the officer to take him in the car.
Seconds later, I saw Harris avidly walking toward the ranger.
[00:17:51] Speaker D: His work was somewhat difficult as he carried a heavy bag, too heavy for his age.
[00:17:59] Speaker D: Harris also handed him a faulty 30 small pieces of paper with the bag.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Here you go, Commander.
[00:18:06] Speaker D: The ranger slowly opened it up, took another puff of smoke, surgically read the piece of paper, looked at the inside of the bag, then high fived Harris.
Harris was proud of his deed.
Baba wore a frustrated frown at first, then a sad face.
[00:18:29] Speaker D: The Ranger, with his cigarette in hand, pointed to someone else. Behind Harris in a shadow, standing by the door.
The ranger spit it on the floor, then got in his car.
That someone else was me.
I was paralyzed, frustrated, tight fist, ready to punch my brother.
Baba looked at me for a few seconds from the back window of the car. I was disarmed, almost as if he was telling me to let go, to forgive.
[00:19:06] Speaker D: Meanwhile, Harry's pal of his deed stood there beside the car.
[00:19:12] Speaker D: Harry spied on us and heard everything my dad said that night. The piece, the tracking map of the locks, everything.
[00:19:22] Speaker D: Aris had only eyes for the ranger, who now shut the car door.
Moments later, the car disappeared in the night, leaving a cloud of dust, while the cicadas returned to the nocturnal chant.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: I told you I'd be the best African Ranger, didn't I?
[00:19:40] Speaker D: Since our mother's death, my brother had been acting strange.
He gave the ranger a secret map depicting the lark's route.
He betrayed his own dad, betrayed me. As if our lives were nothing before his own ambition.
[00:20:00] Speaker E: So your brother definitely has the peace now? Correct.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: You have been listening to Locks in the Box Volume 1. It a Patrick Cavarty Presents Production Locks in the Box has been created, written and produced by Patrick and Wendy Cavarty recorded at Soundbox LA West Hollywood, CA executive producer Wendy Caberty Original sounds by Pixabay and upbeat IO edited by Miguel Sol at Soundbox LA Casting by Patrick Caberdy Directed by Patrick Caberty Starring Kirk Taylor as the priest, J. Teddy Garces as Young Baba Baba and Tony Joanima Diaby as Harris Frances Eddimoby as Youssef Shailimar Garba as Mother Fatima yes young woman in Catalia Emma Garba as Young Kwame, Omri Caberty as Young Harris Mel Uche as Sharpteeth and Juliao AJ Lupskin as Suggest.
[00:21:19] Speaker B: Charlotte Chang as Zhao Patrick Caberti as Kwame and narrated by Patrick Cavarty.
[00:21:30] Speaker A: Credits read by Sydney and Omri Cavartee.
Special thanks to Tim, Michelle and Miguel at Sandbox la West Hollywood, California.
Fox in the Box is a Patrick Cavarty Presents production.
For a full cast list, go to Patrick Cavarty Presents and listen to the next episode.
Follow us on Social Media thank you for supporting Patrick Cavarty Presents production. And thank you for listening to Locks in the Box.
