October Surprise #2 - Horsekiller
Update: 2024-10-19
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//THIS COUNTRY NEEDS STRENGTH
//IT NEEDS MEN, NOT BOYS
//KILL YOUR KINDNESS, AND MORE
The Wrong Station presents another October Surprise
“HORSEKILLER”
--Written by Alexander Saxton, and performed by Anthony Botelho. Support The Wrong Station by subscribing at www.patreon.com/thewrongstation.
The Wrong Station contains explicit content and mature themes. Episode-specific warnings can be found at www.wrongstation.com/c-w.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Hey, everyone.
00:00:01
This is Alexander.
00:00:02
I'm one of the three people who makes wrong station.
00:00:04
And I'd love it if you came and joined us on Patreon.
00:00:06
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00:00:08
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00:00:12
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00:00:17
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00:00:19
We have this show called "Control Tower" where we analyze wrong station episodes.
00:00:23
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00:00:29
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00:00:35
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00:00:37
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00:00:40
Sign up for a free trial.
00:00:41
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00:00:44
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00:00:46
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00:00:47
Once again, that's patreon.com/thorongstation.
00:00:51
Thanks a lot.
00:00:52
*music* You may wish to adjust the dial.
00:01:13
You're currently too busy.
00:01:16
The wrong station.
00:01:19
*music* *music* *music* *music* *music* *music* *music* *music* *music* When I was little,
00:02:28
I lived down the road from a ranch where they raised horses for film shoots and racing and things like that.
00:02:37
That farm was more of a home to me than my real home.
00:02:39
It was where my heart lived.
00:02:43
Whenever things were bad at home or at school, and they usually were, I'd walk the mile and a half down the dirt road to where the ranch fence ended under a handful of pine trees.
00:02:54
I'd climb up onto the fence and sit there, watching the horses run past.
00:02:59
Even though they were inside that fence, they were so free.
00:03:04
After a time I got to know them, there were various personalities.
00:03:07
Some of them were fierce, and some of them were mischievous, and some of them were calm.
00:03:15
But they got to know me, too, and all of them liked me, even though I was poor and I only rarely had a bit of care at her apple to offer them.
00:03:25
I think they liked me because I saw them for what they really were.
00:03:29
They were like me.
00:03:32
One of the horses was named Umber.
00:03:36
She was dark as rich earth, sleek as water.
00:03:40
She ran light as air, and she could sense when you were down.
00:03:44
Anytime I had a bad day and I walked down to the fence, she'd be right there waiting.
00:03:51
She knew that horse was a person.
00:03:55
She had personhood, more wisdom and compassion, more humanity than most human beings I've ever met.
00:04:04
One time, and I never told anyone this, but one time when things were especially bad at home, it was close to the end of the year, and it was cold.
00:04:15
But Umber folded herself up in the long grass and let me lean against her, shivering for the small hours of the morning.
00:04:24
Maybe I wouldn't have died without her, but I meant a lot to have someone to share that night with, to be shown some kindness and comfort.
00:04:38
And not long after that, I was sitting on the fence after school, and the man came walking down from the direction of the farmhouse, on the inside of the side of the fence.
00:04:49
I knew right away he was law enforcement, even though he didn't wear a uniform.
00:04:53
Something about the way he stood, the boxy semi-official cut of his jeans and faded denim shirt.
00:05:00
He looked like Kevin Costner in that old show about the ranch.
00:05:05
Cowboy hat, dark plaid jacket.
00:05:08
And after noon, son, I nodded at him.
00:05:12
My name is Deputy Sheriff Ashton Cody.
00:05:16
I handle build 23 cases for the local department.
00:05:19
He showed me his badge and ID, but I already believed he was, who he said he was.
00:05:26
I'd been afraid someone like him might show up.
00:05:30
Would you mind telling me a little bit about your relationship with this horse?
00:05:35
Umber was leaned up at the fence beside me, and she was eating a handful of oats from my palm.
00:05:42
I don't know what you're talking about, sir.
00:05:45
He went, "Oh, see, I think you do.
00:05:49
Why else are you here all the time, son?"
00:05:53
"I just like to come here and look at the horses," I told him.
00:05:57
"I think it's an inspiring sight."
00:06:02
The deputy hung his head, put his hands on his hips, pushing back the edges of his jacket, a revolver on his right side.
00:06:11
He took a half step forward, shaking his head.
00:06:14
"Ah, see, that's not what I've heard.
00:06:17
Folks round here, he jerked his head back toward the farmhouse, over shoulder toward town.
00:06:25
They say you formed an attachment with this one particular animal.
00:06:29
"Humber, is that right?"
00:06:33
I knew better than to correct him.
00:06:36
Just said nothing.
00:06:38
"Now, son, I want to hear it from you.
00:06:42
These allegations?
00:06:43
Are they correct?"
00:06:45
"No, sir, they are not.
00:06:47
Oh, boy."
00:06:48
Cody looked at the heavens.
00:06:50
"If son, that was a wrong thing to say.
00:06:54
See, now you've called into question the honesty of my witnesses, several of whom are prominent members of this community.
00:07:01
And you know lying to police officer is a prisonable offense.
00:07:05
So I'm going to give you another chance to shoot straight with me.
00:07:07
Because otherwise you're going to open one bad book son, one very bad book."
00:07:14
I said nothing.
00:07:15
"Now, he looked me in the eyes as he fist through his pockets for a little spiral pad and a golf pencil.
00:07:23
Let's begin again.
00:07:25
Do you or do you not have a special attachment to this horse?"
00:07:31
Beside me, Umber just looked up calmly and then bent her head to cropply autumn grass.
00:07:39
"Yes, I do."
00:07:41
"Good boy," said Cody.
00:07:43
"Now, would you tell me the nature of your relationship with this animal?"
00:07:49
I felt queasy.
00:07:50
I knew I was being accused of something, but I didn't know exactly what.
00:07:55
The implication of everything he'd said was that I was involved in something disgusting or wrong.
00:08:00
For all that I'd been afraid of a Bill 23 officer showing up.
00:08:04
I hadn't been able to articulate to myself why.
00:08:08
But I did feel caught.
00:08:11
Every time I came to see Umber, there was this faint sense of transgression.
00:08:17
But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what I could possibly be doing wrong.
00:08:20
And now the deputy was here, and I still didn't know.
00:08:26
It all felt surreal.
00:08:28
I don't know.
00:08:29
I told him.
00:08:30
We're friends or something.
00:08:33
I come out here and walk along the fence and she walks with me.
00:08:37
Sometimes I jump over and feed her bits of carrot and sugar and we just...
00:08:43
I don't know.
00:08:45
Hang out.
00:08:46
"Mm-hmm."
00:08:47
Cody, scrolled at his note pad, slowly flipped the page and scrolled some more.
00:08:53
"Would you say this horse is an emotional support for you?"
00:08:59
I didn't know how to answer that.
00:09:02
It seemed like something the school therapist would ask, not a state deputy.
00:09:06
"Simple, yes or no, will do," he said.
00:09:11
Not really.
00:09:12
He looked over the pad at me.
00:09:15
"Son, let me remind you what we just talked about a moment ago.
00:09:20
Be straight with me."
00:09:22
"All right," I said.
00:09:25
"Fine.
00:09:25
Yeah.
00:09:26
She's...
00:09:26
the horse is...
00:09:30
Umber.
00:09:31
I folded my hands in my lap."
00:09:34
"She's the only real friend I have.
00:09:35
She feels like she's the only one in the world who really cares about me."
00:09:40
"Ah."
00:09:42
Cody looked at me sadly for a moment.
00:09:45
Then looked down to the pad, scribbled for a few moments.
00:09:50
"Then, with an air of finality, flipped the spiral notebook shut.
00:09:54
Tucked it away in his jacket-chest pocket."
00:09:58
"Well, then.
00:09:59
Good job, son.
00:10:01
You did the right thing.
00:10:02
And it'd been easy to admit all that."
00:10:06
"Admit it."
00:10:08
"I was starting to feel desperate.
00:10:10
Is there...
00:10:11
have I committed some sort of crime?"
00:10:14
"Well, no.
00:10:15
I'm not in so many words you haven't."
00:10:19
Cody leaned at the fence a few yards away from me, looking out at the yellow hills.
00:10:25
He took off his hat and ran a hand through a sandy hare and signed like a father about to give his boy a talk.
00:10:33
"Well, what's you been doing?"
00:10:35
"Well, I didn't really proper neither.
00:10:38
He spread out his hands, appealing to me."
00:10:43
"You know, we're out here trying to look out for the next generation.
00:10:47
Make sure they're coming up right.
00:10:50
Because this country's going to need good men and women."
00:10:53
"He's your tough times, and they're going to get more tough before they get back to being easy."
00:10:58
"You get me?"
00:11:00
"Okay, but he held out his hand before I could finish my thought.
00:11:04
Respect your elders, kid, and let him finish."
00:11:08
He gestured to Umber, continuing his thought.
00:11:13
"Now, you and his horse.
00:11:15
You've been forming with the law now considers an indecent attachment.
00:11:21
And I think you know what I mean by that, don't you?"
00:11:24
"You've been treating this animal like a human being, and that's a way behavior that runs counter to the natural order of things."
00:11:31
"You know, the Constitution makes it very clear that God made man in his image.
00:11:36
But even set an all-out aside."
00:11:39
He shook his head.
00:11:41
"Son, it's soft behavior.
00:11:44
It's not what we expect from young men in this part of the world.
00:11:47
It's not the behavior or the kind of man we're trying to make."
00:11:50
"Kind this country needs in hard times."
00:11:55
"He looked at me, and there was nothing but compassion and disappointment in those unhealed and blue eyes of his."
00:12:04
"Son, it's the kind of behavior that leads nowhere but to other kinds of deviant behavior, transism, homosexuality.
00:12:14
Trust me, I've seen it all happen before."
00:12:18
"He didn't say this with any malice or anger.
00:12:21
Just said it as if it was a sad truth, and he was offering a way back up to the light."
00:12:28
"I folded my arms and looked away.
00:12:31
I just feed her an apple from time to time.
00:12:33
He gave a little laugh of disbelief and raised his hands in a shrug.
00:12:39
It's not the apple, son.
00:12:40
It's the attitude."
00:12:43
"Now you can disbelieve it if you like, but the science is on my side.
00:12:46
There's been numerous studies with the results all clear.
00:12:50
Soft societies breed womanish men, and you only need to look at New York and California to see that in effect."
00:12:57
"And I don't have a problem with that.
00:13:00
Let them go live there.
00:13:02
But it's not what we're trying to do here."
00:13:06
"At this point, I was humiliated, red in the face, staring at the ground.
00:13:11
"I take back what I said," I told him.
00:13:15
"It's nothing like that.
00:13:16
The horse is just a horse.
00:13:17
I just come out here to be alone."
00:13:20
"But Cody shook his head and slowly pushed away from the fence, resting one hand on his hip again to show the six-gun as waste.
00:13:28
"Son, it's too late for that."
00:13:32
"Now, I want to be clear.
00:13:33
I'm not calling you homosexual or anything insulting.
00:13:37
I'm not here to make you feel bad.
00:13:39
What I'm saying is that this kind of behavior leaves you at risk of becoming homosexualized."
00:13:46
"And that's what the Sheriff's Department has sent me here to set right.
00:13:50
To intervene before things get too far.
00:13:53
To nip any kind of deviant..."
00:13:56
"Anything right here in the bud?"
00:14:00
"And I ask for this horse."
00:14:02
"Well, it's clear to any reasonable person what's at stake."
00:14:08
"All this time, number had just been standing at the breeze in her mane, slowly cropping grass, peaceful as the autumn breeze."
00:14:18
"Cody grew with the gun.
00:14:19
No, but as I jumped down from the fence, Cody wheeled the wagon calmly in my direction."
00:14:26
"Easy, boy.
00:14:27
I'd calm down if I was you.
00:14:28
You know, I'm well within my legal rights to wing you if it comes to it.
00:14:34
Please don't do this."
00:14:36
"I wasn't crying.
00:14:37
I was using everything in my power to keep from crying.
00:14:39
I knew crying was the furthest thing from what would convince him."
00:14:44
"But my face was red, and in spite of all I could do, a bead of scalding water gathered at the corner of my eye."
00:14:52
"Please don't shoot her.
00:14:54
It's nothing to do with her.
00:14:56
I'm the one that's wrong.
00:14:58
It's not her fault."
00:15:00
"He just looked at me for a long moment.
00:15:04
Infinite patience and sadness on his face."
00:15:08
"Son, I wish it worked like that.
00:15:11
I really do.
00:15:12
He wheeled the gun toward Umber's head.
00:15:16
And I wish it wasn't my job to make you see this."
00:15:20
"But if you're gonna turn out right, and somebody has to step in, that's somebody's me.
00:15:28
Please.
00:15:29
No."
00:15:30
"But I was helpless.
00:15:32
He thumbed the hammer back."
00:15:36
Umber raised her head at last and looked him in the eye.
00:15:42
"He hesitated.
00:15:44
Even him.
00:15:45
Even he hesitated for a moment.
00:15:50
Her eyes.
00:15:51
So human.
00:15:52
The power of her soul so great."
00:15:56
She wasn't afraid.
00:15:57
Even if she stared down that steel barrel, knowing I am completely certain exactly what the weapon meant.
00:16:08
Knowing.
00:16:12
In that moment I learned so much about how to be human.
00:16:18
Then he pulled the trigger and blew her head away.
00:16:24
Primary Source #12 Recovered from a cache of partially destroyed Department of Homeland Security documents, the following internal memo regarding immigration and customs enforcement grey sites,
00:16:36
is here presented without comment by the editors of this collection.
00:16:40
As ever, please be sure to assess this primary source for bias, using the reference questions provided at the beginning of this chapter.
00:16:48
The wrong station is made possible with the generous support of our listeners on Patreon.
00:17:04
Visit today at patreon.com/thewrongstation.
00:17:08
You can also support us by leaving a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever it is you tune into the show.
00:17:14
This surprise episode, "Horse Killin", was written by Alexander Saxton, and performed by Anthony Batella.
00:17:22
Thank you to Ryan Kelly, Melissa Eisner, Brantley Drep, Brian Savage, Sean Twig, Chaos Elephant, Daniel T.
00:17:30
Gunning, and Kathleen Donahy for helping us keep the lights.
00:17:34
Well, off.
00:17:38
The wrong station is co-produced by Alexander Saxton, Anthony Batella, and Jacob Duarte Shpile, with news composed and performed by Lon Citron, and arranged from Viola and performed by Viola Schmidt.
00:17:48
You can follow the wrong station on social media, at thewrongstation, and email us at thewrongstation@gmail.com.
00:17:56
And until next time, thank you for listening.
00:18:00
[Music]
00:18:18
