Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Locks in the box volume 1.
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Episode.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: 7.
[00:00:10] Speaker C: I was furious.
[00:00:12] Speaker D: You've got played.
[00:00:15] Speaker C: Did I?
[00:00:19] Speaker E: The killing continued as I said, but of a different kind.
[00:00:25] Speaker E: That particular day, I let Yusef lead the group.
So it was Yusef, Tony and me.
[00:00:32] Speaker D: How long did Tony stay with you?
[00:00:34] Speaker E: A while too long if you ask me.
He started getting accustomed to our long walk on the hunt.
Getting accustomed to the killing of animals. And his appetite for tusks kept growing.
[00:00:48] Speaker D: Do you think he knew anything specific about locks?
[00:00:51] Speaker E: I can't say for sure, but I think he saw it.
And I had to do something.
[00:00:59] Speaker D: Saw it?
What?
What do you mean something?
[00:01:03] Speaker E: After another successful track, I pointed to the corpse of an elephant in a box.
[00:01:10] Speaker D: The trap.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: Right?
[00:01:12] Speaker E: Right.
As Youssef got inside the box to check our prey, I saw another one.
[00:01:20] Speaker D: Another elephant.
[00:01:22] Speaker E: I felt his presence is breathing.
Looking at us, observing, watching Tony and I.
[00:01:32] Speaker D: That was the locks.
[00:01:34] Speaker E: Then Tony said.
[00:01:37] Speaker E: Hey, brother, I think.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: There'S another one, brother. Behind these trees.
Look.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Look carefully behind these bushes on your left.
[00:01:48] Speaker E: I saw it especially his huge tusks piercing through the leaves of the dense bushes.
[00:01:58] Speaker E: But I tried to dismiss it as I didn't want him to do anything to it.
In a blink of an eye, Tony on his rifle. Then pointed at it.
In a flash, I interposed myself between the end of Tony's rifle and the bushes.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Hey, what the fuck?
What are you doing, man?
[00:02:20] Speaker C: It's a big bull. Have you seen the footprints?
Twice as big as the one we just got. Your bullet won't do anything, especially if it charges at us right now. You may hurt it, but you won't kill it.
I'm not putting your life, mine and my man's life in danger. Just wait.
[00:02:41] Speaker E: Tony was livid.
He pushed me on the side with the cross of the rifle. Then pointed at it again.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: Move.
[00:02:50] Speaker E: As I fell on the ground, I.
I don't remember what happened next. But I can only recall Yusef asking.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: Hey guys, what's going on?
Are you guys all right up there?
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Bossman.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: Bossman.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Hey, bossman.
[00:03:15] Speaker D: What happened?
[00:03:17] Speaker E: Yusef said.
He said as I was getting up, he said he saw my.
My whole body seemed to be taking over by something.
[00:03:29] Speaker D: Something.
[00:03:31] Speaker E: My eyes turned. They were different, he said.
They looked like elephant's eyes. But smaller, he said.
[00:03:42] Speaker E: From the corner of my eye, I watched Tony's shadow jumping of excitement after firing two rounds of a dozen bullets.
Thinking he got it.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Did he?
[00:03:54] Speaker E: He threw two more bottles of alcohol at Yusuf and gave his expensive watch too.
Tony ran toward the area.
Youssef was silently watching my friend targeting Tony like a laser beam.
He got worried but stayed quiet.
Youssef's gaze slowly went down from my shoulder to my forearm and finally landed on my wrist that held my very sharp machete out of its holster.
I twirled the handle in my palm once, a tick that I usually do before using it.
I then signaled to Youssef to stay behind.
He did what he was told to do.
I ran after Tony.
Once I got closer to him, I lifted my machete high in the air, then abruptly and powerfully, Tony's neck and kept pounding and pounding until the sound of the savannah engulfed every grunting sound.
I.
[00:05:00] Speaker E: I.
[00:05:02] Speaker E: I remember opening my eyes and realizing that Tony was laying down before me.
[00:05:11] Speaker E: All I could really see was a silver crucifix necklace covered by blood and mud.
He got buried into the soft and moist ground unnoticed of anyone.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: A little history here would be necessary.
Please allow me for a minute or two.
The death of a political man has historically been extremely revealing of the state of an entire country, sometimes of an entire continent, especially when it comes to Africa.
It will be useful for the rest of the story.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: I kept asking myself this question.
Why does a group of people, whether they are workers, employees, hunters, standing against the authority, always frighten the power in place?
And I came to the conclusion that knowledge is power and knowing the truth makes you powerful, almost invincible.
So regarding Mr. Lumumba, I read the following.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: Born July 2, 1925, in Honoluwa, Belgian Congo, Patrice Lumumba was an African nationalist leader, first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
From June to September 1960, he worked tirelessly as a trade union organizer before founding the Mouvement National Congoles, Congo's first nationwide political party, in 1958.
That same year, his militant nationalism at a major Pan African conference in Accra, Ghana, brought him to prominence.
During negotiations in Belgium in 1960, he was asked to form the first independent Congolese government.
His rival, Moais Tshombe, immediately announced the secession of Katanga province. When Belgian troops arrived to sustain the secession, Lumumba appealed first to the UN and then to the Soviet Union. He was dismissed, missed by President Joseph Kasavubu and a short time later, assassinated by Tshombe's loyalists.
His death caused a scandal throughout Africa, where he was looked on as a leader of Pan Africanism.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Ladies and gentlemen, please let's observe a moment of silence for Mr. Patrice Lumumba, a great model in the history of African leadership.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: Sam.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:09:06] Speaker F: I thought you decided to stop the interview or did you.
Did you call the police or the Rangers on me?
[00:09:15] Speaker D: Nar snatch.
Besides, I'm still searching for the logs and the peas, remember?
[00:09:27] Speaker D: So.
[00:09:30] Speaker D: You killed him?
Tony Amendment.
[00:09:35] Speaker F: Are you crying?
[00:09:39] Speaker F: Do you know.
Did you know Tony?
[00:09:44] Speaker D: No.
[00:09:46] Speaker D: I just.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: My.
[00:09:49] Speaker D: My allergies. My allergies start kicking in.
[00:09:54] Speaker D: Oh, my nose. My nose are running. Sorry. I need to blow my nose.
[00:10:00] Speaker F: I see.
Okay. The number you're calling me from is still from Nigeria. Are you calling me from Lagos or Abuja?
[00:10:09] Speaker D: Abuja. Yes.
Sorry about that.
[00:10:13] Speaker D: So please continue.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: So.
[00:10:18] Speaker D: Tony's dead?
[00:10:19] Speaker F: Yes.
I had enough of being another puppet. Another number. You understand?
We are no longer living in the 15th or 16th century. Where foreigners come and get what they want in exchange of alcohol, mirrors and diseases. Yes.
I got sick to my stomach.
I started drinking, smoking, burning through packs and packs of cigarettes. I.
I killed a man.
An innocent man, nonetheless.
Part of his vicious cycle.
[00:10:59] Speaker F: One evening before our monthly meeting, I made a decision.
Union is strength.
We got to unite.
The United States of America wouldn't be the United States without unification.
Europe did it.
They failed. But they tried.
Because there is strength in numbers.
We got to get together and be a union. A force against all who plan to deny our existence, our way of life.
[00:11:32] Speaker D: I don't think killing innocent tourists would be the right way to stand against all that.
[00:11:36] Speaker F: Don't you think I know that?
[00:11:40] Speaker F: I had to send a message.
African countries many source of income rest on tourism. Because any other natural resources that foreigners exploit is mainly a one way transaction.
And we not the beneficiaries. If you know what I mean.
[00:11:59] Speaker D: Do you know if.
[00:12:01] Speaker D: If anyone has asked for the body claimed him?
Tony Ament.
[00:12:10] Speaker F: Yusuf and I buried him in a pit.
[00:12:14] Speaker F: Yusuf and I got a frank conversation about that.
And also about the state of the African hunter.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: I don't get it.
[00:12:24] Speaker F: Why.
[00:12:26] Speaker B: Why we got rid of that buyer?
[00:12:28] Speaker F: I stay quiet for a minute because I had a flashback of a blackout.
If this makes sense.
[00:12:35] Speaker D: Blackout.
[00:12:37] Speaker F: I remember twirling my machete in my hand. Then.
Then I couldn't.
I can't remember.
It went dark.
So I told youcef. The only thing I knew.
[00:12:51] Speaker C: They found the stash.
Are you ready for the meeting?
[00:12:55] Speaker B: The what?
The stash.
Are you sure?
[00:12:59] Speaker F: Bossman.
[00:13:01] Speaker F: Youssef's cell phone buzzed. He quickly glanced at it, then went to the window.
Yousef looked, then came back to me.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: If Burkina Faso stands alone refusing to pay, I will not be here for the next conference.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Come again?
[00:13:21] Speaker C: These were the late Thomas Sankara's last words at the African union conference in 87 in Addis Ababa.
Few months later he got assassinated.
And now history seems to repeat itself with Captain Ibrahim Trauy.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: Sometimes I feel like a lock's in the box.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: Trapped. Ew.
I can't believe it.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: So what's going to happen next?
[00:13:56] Speaker C: A small price compared to what they plan to do.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: Small price?
[00:14:00] Speaker C: Your way of life, Yusef.
Mine as well.
[00:14:05] Speaker C: Tell me, how come someone else but us always decide to press our own goods?
[00:14:10] Speaker B: What do you mean?
[00:14:11] Speaker C: Why can't we say enough is enough.
[00:14:15] Speaker F: You said.
Phone burst again.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: They are here.
They are waiting for the signal to come in.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Boss man, have you ever asked yourself why people come here and take everything from us and we gladly give it up?
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Boss, he was black.
[00:14:36] Speaker C: Of course he was.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: So he was a brother too.
[00:14:39] Speaker C: He felt entitled. Not good for business.
Winners write history, not losers. Yousef.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: Are we talking about money or history right now?
[00:14:53] Speaker B: Boss, hear me out.
Everyone knows that Lumumba was killed by his brothers, right?
Maybe orchestrated by whites, but still by his brothers.
Crabs in a barrel, that's all.
Survival, Baba.
[00:15:12] Speaker C: The question is, why is there a barrel?
[00:15:16] Speaker B: Yusef Lumumba denounced the terrible suffering and exploitation of his people in the Congo.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: Why did he denounce it?
[00:15:23] Speaker B: He denounced it.
He denounced it because.
Because. Well, I don't know.
He was fed up.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: A man won't risk his life, his livelihood, for the sake of just risking his life.
He denounced it after the King of Belgium made a speech about how great his uncle and Belgium were the one responsible for the independence of Congo.
Which is a lie.
So he denounced a lie. Yusef, if a colonizer offers you independence and say that you became independent because of his or her gracious will and still demand that you behave like a colonized entity, that is not independence, my brother.
Why was or he she a colonizer in the first place?
Same as us.
People say they come to Africa to help tourism and kill these beautiful animals to help regulate nature.
Why are there big games in the first place?
Why can Africans decide to regulate these big animals for themselves?
[00:16:30] Speaker B: Huh?
[00:16:31] Speaker C: People say we kill elephants to enrich ourselves. But aren't you living the high life?
Where are your big mansions, your big cars?
Where are all the ivory tusks that you've been hiding and selling? Ain't you a hunter or a butcher?
[00:16:47] Speaker B: I.
I ain't got any.
[00:16:49] Speaker C: My actual points.
[00:16:52] Speaker F: Yusuf. Phone goes off once again.
He goes to the window and hastily looks.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: Okay, boss man, let's stop this nonsense and get this meeting started.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: We got to be smart.
Educate Ourselves understand people's agenda.
First we must dream Yousef. We must dream big.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: You mean wife, kids and such?
[00:17:18] Speaker B: It costs money isn't it? The reason why we do what we do.
[00:17:23] Speaker C: What we do here is just surviving.
That is not living.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Okay?
[00:17:30] Speaker C: Second, Lumumba was right. The independence of a country is not enough.
One way to change people's mind about our goods is to tell them our goods are available only when we say so. Or else ultimately all deals are made with their money which results and will always result in them having the upper end.
We got to educate ourselves and unite and triple, possibly quadruple our price.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Are you serious?
Then what?
The rangers will never will lose all our clients.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Boss.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: So you're not coming to the meeting?
[00:18:12] Speaker C: That's why we need to have one voice, one price set by us hunters all over the continent.
I'm going to see Sharpteef. He's egoistic I give you that. But he is a successful businessman and he'll understand numbers.
I just hope he still have a little dignity left.
I'm leaving tonight.
You got this Youssef, give them the news.
[00:18:40] Speaker F: Youssef stayed quiet not believing what he just heard.
His phone buzzed again waking him up from his deep thoughts.
I myself stood up, grabbed two valves of boomsling spit, put them in my pocket and left through the back door.
[00:19:00] Speaker D: So you left Nigeria And Youssef he.
[00:19:04] Speaker F: From what he told me, he took the lead at a meeting.
I put him in a very precarious position but I had to leave.
This took place at our usual place away from the rangers.
I think Yusef was dying to be in charge and this was a great opportunity. So.
[00:19:26] Speaker F: The usual setting. Three African hunters sitting around a wooden table.
On that same table a huge map of Africa with each individual first initial in the center of an assigned territory.
[00:19:42] Speaker F: Each has a bodyguard by the side.
Except Kadi.
African woman in her 20s. She suggests bodyguards.
[00:19:53] Speaker F: We see the grip of a gun bursting out, her belt resting on her thick hips around her tight waist.
[00:20:01] Speaker G: Now how are you going to be sitting at this table knowing that the war in your territory has decimated all your lock stocks, huh?
[00:20:11] Speaker G: You have no say in this meeting.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: Oliao bodyguard took out his machete instantly. Kadi put her hand on the grip of her gun.
Wuliao promptly waves at his bodyguard to halt his action under my sharp and annoyed gaze.
[00:20:26] Speaker H: You are going to let him talk to me like I'm nobody?
[00:20:29] Speaker B: I stayed silent thinking about what to say.
[00:20:34] Speaker C: Youssef.
[00:20:35] Speaker H: Youssef.
Where is Kwame?
I thought he was the One organizing this meeting.
I don't talk number twos. I definitely don't talk to kid in wannabe.
[00:20:46] Speaker B: Ah.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: I'm the boss. Noun.
Does anyone hear me?
[00:20:54] Speaker B: I look around and waved at my bodyguard to bring me something.
The bodyguard brought three bags that he placed in the middle of the table.
I threw a bag at each boss and kept one for myself.
They each opened it.
They each saw a lot of cash in each bag.
[00:21:14] Speaker C: Suggest.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Keep your mouth shut.
Uliawa is right.
I like your energy.
But you're young.
You still have a lot to learn.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Ulayao Tages is right.
We have been fair enough on this badge. The next one. You have to find a way to maintain the quota. Or.
Or else.
[00:21:37] Speaker H: Or else?
How are you going to talk to me like I don't know what I'm doing?
I created this hunter's organization with my bare hands.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:21:48] Speaker H: I did it with Kwame by demanding respect first.
A lot of you kids were not even born yet.
I have no power over these silly people in the government chasing war.
[00:22:01] Speaker G: And yes, you are correct.
You have no power. That's it.
[00:22:10] Speaker H: You save one more word from this vow child and I will leave.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: Silence.
Silence.
Everyone. Chill.
We have business to discuss.
No time to waste.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Kwame is on an important project that I cannot disclose right now. For my safety and yours. Because the rangers are listening and are watching our every move.
But.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: I know it's not in your best interest to beg Sharp Teeth for his territory.
You have very little left on your territory.
[00:22:55] Speaker E: Big.
[00:22:56] Speaker H: You want me to.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: Big, listen.
This is just a suggestion to help you.
[00:23:03] Speaker B: I have one good news and one bad news. The bad news is the rangers found the cabin stash.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: Quiet.
Quiet, guys.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: The good news is they don't know what we now know.
We know their plans, and that information is priceless.
[00:23:25] Speaker H: What are their plans?
[00:23:28] Speaker B: They're using customers to fish out and to find out about all our supply locations.
[00:23:34] Speaker G: You call that good news?
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Really?
[00:23:38] Speaker G: What exactly is the good news?
[00:23:39] Speaker B: We're jacking up the price.
If buyers do want to buy in Africa, they better find other places. Sure.
[00:23:47] Speaker G: We have the best quality in Africa.
I don't know about Zone three, though.
I've seen the females.
They've got teeny, itty bitty tusks. And the bulls are tuskless.
[00:23:58] Speaker B: Juliao.
Julia. Come on, brother.
[00:24:01] Speaker H: I will not let a child disrespect me like that.
Let me know when Kwame comes back.
By the way, I'll be using his office at Baobab for paperwork tonight.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: It's fine, you can use it. But Julia, Julia.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Enough.
Enough. Now suggest keep the price high.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: Do you hear me?
[00:24:36] Speaker G: Consider it done. Youssef New boss, huh?
It suits you well, but the pricing sounds more like Kwame's idea.
Take more initiatives and everyone will respect you.
[00:24:52] Speaker G: Give me a call, we talk new boss.
[00:25:01] Speaker I: You have been listening to Locks in the Box Volume 1A Patrick Castle Wendy Caberty Presents Production Box in the Box has been created, written and produced by Patrick and Wendy Caberty.
Recorded at Soundbox la West Hollywood, California.
Executive Producer Wendy Cabertee Original sounds by Pixabay and upbeat IO Edited by Miguel Sol at Soundbox LA Casting by Patrick Caberdy Directed by Patrick Caberty.
[00:25:37] Speaker I: Starring Kirk Taylor as the Priest J Teddy Garces as Young Baba Baba and Tony Joanima Diaby as Harris Frances Edda Moby as Youssef Shanglimar Garba as Mother Fatima Young Woman and Katalia Emma Garba as Young Kwame Omri Caberty as Young Harris Mel Uche as Sharpteeth and Hu Liao AJ Lupskin as Suggest.
[00:26:13] Speaker I: Charlotte Chang as Zhao Patrick Caberty as Kwame and narrated by Patrick Caberty.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: Credits read by Sydney and Omri Caberty.
Special thanks to Tim, Michelle and Miguel at Sandbox la, West Hollywood, California.
Box in the box is a Patrick Cavarty Presents production.
For a full cast list, go to patrickcarty presents.com 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.
