Nate Danger (provenate) wrote in remains_freenet, @ 2015-11-16 10:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2018 [11] november, # interview, # username: dogeatdog, # username: slapinthefarce |
Interview
The interview is taking place in the Dog King’s castle itself. He’s been let in and Sweet Melissa sits watching. Her expressive face is laid on her paws but her eyes follow Nate around as he sets up the camera and what light he can get inside the wood paneled interior. Rodeo has continued to be as gracious a host as he has been all along and had poured the interviewer a mug of Jack Daniels. A drink that Nate is sipping casually as he plugs wires and adjusts the tripod to get the best capture of Rodeo since he’d made it out of Huntsville all those months ago. When everything is good to go, he calls Rodeo over with a Ready? and gestures to the chair. He goes over that Rodeo needn’t look at the camera but to treat the interview as a conversation and to look at the Scotsman rather than the camera itself. When the instructions are done and Rodeo is settled in the chair, Nate starts.] OFF CAMERA: Can you state your full name? [Rodeo has taken the edge off his nerves with the whiskey in front of him. He keeps his fingers wrapped around the chintzy mug, partially covering the image of a babe straddling a Harley as he keeps hold of his liquid courage. He still manages to look easy and confident despite his apprehension over being on camera, even with a split lip and bruised cheek. He’s not a nervous man, just a private one.] James Hawkins. [Nate doesn’t feel like James is nervous about the interview itself. Maybe about the repercussions - the aftermath and what people will think or respond. There are no words he can offer that can take that edge off. All there is to do it to keep going.] OFF CAMERA: You’re known by a few other names - to your friends and to your enemies. What are they? Can you elaborate? [Rodeo chuckles, nodding in assent.] Yeah. I mostly go by Rodeo, that’s what my friends been callin’ me since small times back in Tennessee. But I guess ‘round this town, most folks know me as Dog King. [The camera pulls back a little, more of a portrait of Rodeo in his castle- the trailer] OFF CAMERA: Where did your friends pick that name - Rodeo? How long have you been going by that? The Dog King title’s not something you picked for yourself either.[Nate takes a sip of whiskey from his cup - a cup that he’ll film and edit in later] Rodeo, well, that came from my friends back home. Tennessee, that is. When I was fifteen I got caught stealin’ a car and seein’ as I was underage, the judge ordered I spend three months in this program they got where they send troubled kids to work on a ranch. The one I was sent to, they ran a rodeo circuit and I got to ridin’ for some o’ the shows. When I got back my buddies all reckoned it a riot and started callin’ me Rodeo, just stuck ever since. [Rodeo pauses to drink from his cup, a ring on his finger with a snarling wolf head glinting dully in the narrow light.] As for the other one, it was APD started callin’ me Dog King back when we first took the patches. They didn’t have no names for us, guess they needed somethin’ to call me by and you know cops-- they got real wild imaginations, don’t they? So you don’t fancy yourself a king? [Although Nate doesn’t say anything, trying to remain a neutral but encouraging presence, he smiles despite himself - because his opinion of cops is very much in line with his Brother and his brothers.. It’s all off camera and he doesn’t see the harm.] Patches. What’s that mean? Taking a patch? [Rodeo laughs over the question, shaking his head and glancing down at his cup in a way that might seem bashful if not for the smirk on his lips.] I got a tendency to rise to the top, but no, I don’t reckon I’ll be set up on a throne or wearin’ a crown any time soon. I wasn’t lookin’ for subjects when we started up, I was just lookin’ for friends. The patch-- well, takin’ the patch means getting the wolf head for the back of your cut. These days folks gotta earn that patch, but back when we started, I had my friend put this wolf patch on my leather and the next thing I knew the men I was ridin’ with, they had her put it on their backs too. With us, there wasn’t an election to pick the man in charge or nothin’, just my crew puttin’ that patch on their cuts like it was their way of tellin’ me they’d follow my lead [Nate enjoys when a person talks, tells their story. He likes discovering too. He always has a follow up question. When Rodeo’s done speaking he asks one] What does one have to do to earn this patch? [Rodeo sits back and squares his shoulders.] You prove yourself. This crew, no matter what idea anybody’s got about us, it ain’t about greed or power, ain’t about violence or mayhem, it ain’t even about survival. It’s about family. Loyalty. Autonomy. It’s about having something to live for. When you get that, you get the patch. [Nate leans forward, crossing his legs in that Euro-style that’s not taken as effeminate across the pond] That’s all, you prove your loyalty? That you’re for autonomy and you’re in. As simple as that? You mentioned that your friends, your crew asked her to sew the wolf’s head on their back. So, this is a co-ed crew. Many people will be surprised by that. What do you say to them? [Rodeo nods, lifting his cup for a drink.] Yeah. Women got important roles around here. Everyone in camp contributes, but the thing that works for us is lettin’ folks decide for themselves where they belong. If you’re good at something, if you got an idea or a useful skill, you make it your thing and you do it. Guess we kinda operate like a commune that way. Everybody finds their place. It don’t matter if a man or woman figures themselves most useful with a patch and a Harley, or if they can contribute best on the homefront, long as they’re finding a role that fulfills ‘em. ‘Cause that-- it makes for a real productive society, y’know? When you find where you belong, you’re gonna be your best. It’s all that Maslow self-actualization bullshit, right? [Nate nods, and follows suite by taking another drink from his cup] But do you really think it’s bullshit? So why have Patched in members at all? What’s the point of some being patched and others not? Is there a Hierarchy? Or is everyone truly free to be? There is a hierarchy. This crew began with seven members, seven men, most of ‘em havin’ backgrounds in MC’s before the world went to hell. It came natural to us, to do things the way we always had-- you know, patches, hierarchy, pack mentality, all of that. Mindin’ your rank, that’s how we maintain order. But it’s not meant to disrespect or devalue the folks who ain’t got an officer’s patch, or who ain’t got a patch at all. Everyone’s important. But if everyone’s got equal pull, who do you follow? Who makes the calls, who decides what the next move is? Without a hierarchy, you get anarchy. So there is rank, and the ones with patches come up on top. We built the wall that guards this camp. We shed our blood to defend and provide for it. That demands respect and obedience. [The camera zooms in on Rodeo for the next question. Nate’s voice is in the reel but it’s not the focus. All the focus is on Rodeo] You shed blood defending it from who? Where do your provisions come from? [Rodeo doesn’t flinch away from the question. He is unwavering.] Truth is, we have very few allies in this city. When we first came on the scene here, we got our provisions scavenging just like anybody else, lookin’ for food, water, medicine. Wasn’t long ‘fore we ran into trouble. It came to my attention pretty quick that there was an imbalance of power in this city. We didn’t start by raiding resource trucks, not by a long shot. We were just raiding grocery stores and malls. I mean sure, we weren’t payin’ for what we was takin’, but it weren’t like there were clerks at the registers. Now, ‘bout a month into this we ran into some of them men in black. The patrolmen. Military guys. They informed us that was we were doin’ was stealing, and that if we wanted food to eat and water to drink we could head on down to one of the shelters. This didn’t sit right with me. I don’t reckon it’s anybody’s right to deny us basic necessities because we choose not to live under their roof. I didn’t think that was fair, so my crew and I, we kept doin’ it the way we had been. Wasn’t easy, and the first thing we ran out of out here was water. So we reached out. We heard the library was tradin’ resources for water, and we offered to do the same. The man downtown, he wouldn’t have it. He said the same thing his pigs did, told us we could join a shelter or we could drink from the gutters. Now if you’re askin’ me, that ain’t an establishment that values human lives. That’s an establishment that values power. I got the feeling the Mayor meant to use the resources he has to control the people who need ‘em. And guys like us, we ain’t meant to be controlled. Most of the folks here didn’t fit into the margins of society in the first place, and we weren’t interested in movin’ into the shelters. That’s what got us started hittin’ the supply trucks. People reckon we’re doin’ it to prey on the shelters, but that was never the point. Our problem ain’t with the shelters or the people in ‘em. If we feel like we’re bein’ pushed, we push back. That’s all we know. Far as I’m concerned, what’s going on here ain’t right and I ain’t gonna fall in line with it. Who elected this regime? Who told ‘em they could make decisions for us all? Our problem ain’t with the law. We understand that society needs laws, hell, we even got laws of our own. The problem we got is with how the Mayor and Council have selectively applied, enforced, and manipulated the law to front their own dishonorable intentions. It’s with the fact that we’ve been denied basic life-saving resources because we won’t agree to bein’ fingerprinted and caged into Capitol-approved shelters. You wanna know what we’re defending ourselves against, brother? Oppression. Plain and simple. [Nate takes another sip of whiskey, sees he’s finished it and sets the cup down instead. The camera is still focused on Rodeo. He’s in the frame center.] People are afraid of you. To many in this city, you and your Officers, your Patched crew are outlaws. To them you’re killers. Thieves. Are you saying you’re not? Should they be afraid of you? [Rodeo smirks, picking up the bottle of Jack to refill Nate’s cup. His eyes are on the liquor as he pours.] Only if they’re against us. [His tone is only halfway joking. He tops off his cup and sets the bottle back down on the table.] It’s easy to label our actions as wanton acts of violence if you look at us without understanding our motivations. The fact of the matter is that we feel our rights are bein’ infringed upon. We believe the Mayor and Council are an oppressive administration attempting to use the needs of the people in the city to subjugate and control them. Anyone working towards that end is an enemy to us. You can say they’re just innocent people doing their job, but when their job involves denying resources to half the city’s population, I don’t consider ‘em innocent. Following orders blindly don’t make you blameless. [Nate takes a big gulp of Whisky. Because the next question is a punch. It has to be done. His other interviews have made it inevitable] In my other interviews I’ve talked with people that aren’t part of the machine. The Washers. Those stuck on Prax? They named the Hellhounds as the cause. That you were the ones giving it out to them. Why? [At this, Rodeo finally pauses. He sits back, taking a breath and glancing down at his hands before he speaks.] That’s how we dealt with another enemy. The folks down in the subway, they were followin’ a man called Sister Slaughter back in the beginning. The Sister and I, we didn’t see eye to eye. He kept steppin’ on our toes, cuttin’ into our territory. Back then we were still in the city, we had no walls to keep us safe, so a threat like that... we took it real seriously. Now, we realized the people he was takin’ in were all addicted to something. When we found the wash, we knew it was what his crew was fucked up on. So we took it, and we used it as a weapon. Folks might think that’s wrong, but I can tell you we annihilated our enemies without losing any of our own by distributing that rat poison. After a while Sister Slaughter made an attempt on my life, so I killed him, but we kept dishin’ out the wash to keep our teeth in the throat of the underground. To be honest, I didn’t feel guilty about what we were doin’ up until recently. I knew people were dyin’, but I didn’t consider myself culpable. But Emilie, she was dealin’ for me for a while, and I... well, she opened my eyes. Made me realize what I was really destroying, who I was really hurting. She’s just a lil’ girl, y’know? I’m watching this shit kill her, and I know if she goes down I’m responsible. I won’t deal no more, but... I ain’t the only one with the goods now. Shouldn’t have taken me caring about one of these washers to realize what I was doin’ is wrong, but I ain’t askin’ for forgiveness anyway. I don’t believe I deserve it. [Nate can’t answer, can’t give him what he’s after but he can offer support and he does so with a nod of a head, never straying with his eye contact. He is here with Rodeo, not to the side, not anywhere but smack dab in the middle of it. That has to account for something, even while he struggles to be neutral - at least during the interview] Where did you get the Prax? What will you do with it if you don’t deal it any more? We found the Praxacaterol in a warehouse staffed by Department of Resources personnel. It belonged to the Capitol, before we got a hold of it. Now, I heard rumors that they was developin’ this drug as a cure for the geek disease, so maybe that’s why they had it, but I can’t say I trust a guy like the Mayor with a drug like this. I mean, it ain’t like I been usin’ it for good myself, but least I never gave it to no one that didn’t come lookin’ for it. I wasn’t recruitin’ any customers, anyhow. Far as takin’ it off his hands, I don’t regret that. But I shoulda destroyed it. This shit, it’ll turn masters into slaves. It’s powerful, and whatever’s left of this world will be better off when it’s gone. Look, I got a little nephew that’s gotta grow up into this madness. I can’t do nothin’ bout the virus, I mean, I ain’t the CDC. I can’t get rid of the gas. Can’t make the plants grow or the fast food joints open back up. But I can wipe this shit off the face of the planet, or at least out of Austin. I can crush its source and end it for good. One less thing killin’ folks out here. That’s my focus right now. [Nate’s eyebrow rises. He’s thinking. His hands wrap around the mug he’s holding. He glances in the viewfinder, but it needs no adjustment.] Who delivered it? Manufactured it. How do you know they don’t have more? Could it be that you were doing their work for them? [Rodeo glances down, reaching beside him to pick up a worn file folder. He opens it up on the table, taking out the sliced-off square of cardboard from one of the cases of Praxacaterol.] That’s something that’s been of interest to me since we got the stuff. See, the gas was dumped on Austin in August of 2016, right? According to everything we been told, the gas was a righteous bitch, and she fucked us hard-- burned up power lines and cell towers, scorched holes in the ozone, whatever. All I know is that they been sayin’ they got no clue what’s goin’ on out there, but it’s seemin’ to me like that ain’t the whole truth. ‘Cause this stuff, this wash, it was manufactured at Merck Pharmaceuticals in Springfield, New Jersey, a whole three months after that gas came down. The date on these labels on the cases, it reads November 2016. Now, we got our hands on this stuff in April of 2017. We were stakin’ out resource trucks hopin’ for water, and when we saw one overheated on the shoulder of the highway we approached with intent to take it. Drivers pulled out M14’s and fired on us. Didn’t seem like the average firepower they got protecting resource trucks, so we got real curious ‘bout it. Looked inside and this is what we found. [Rodeo unfolds the map tucked into the folder.] Now, we took this map outta the cab, and it marks out a route down from Virginia, all the way to the warehouse where we found the rest o’ the wash. Honestly, I got no clue what the Capitol was meanin’ to do with this stuff. I find it real interesting that they had it in the first place-- I mean, it’s the middle o’ the end o’ the world, why’s the man wastin’ time and personnel on keepin’ a warehouse full of the most addictive opiate in human history? But whatever we’re doin’, I don’t reckon it’s what he was plannin’ to do. He wouldn’t be tryin’ so goddamn hard to get it back if I was doin’ his work for him. I do happen to know that they got more of their own now, though. Or at least, that’s what I been told by some o’ Ollie’s own men in black. [Nate zooms out and focuses in on the map in Rodeo’s hand. Then back to Rodeo.] Is that why your wanted poster has been posted all over the city? [Rodeo sits back again with a shrug, lifting his hands off the map to take a pack of cigarettes from a pocket inside his cut. He pauses to light a cigarette-- Lucky Strike-- before he continues.] There are a lot o’ reasons why I’m wanted. That’s one of ‘em. But I’d be remiss not to account for my own actions. Truth is, I been provoking Olinger since the moment his trained pigs tried tellin’ me what to do in that grocery store. Now if folks take issue with the way I gone about it, that’s justified. No tellin’ how many good soldiers been lost on their side and ours. But provoking him, it’s given me a real unique perspective. See, me and mine, we only ever gone after Olinger’s soldiers. The folks he sends out to carry his currency to the shelters he deems obedient enough to deserve life-saving resources. The patrolmen who carry out a corrupt leader’s corrupt commands, or the police who enforce his self-servin’ martial laws. We never targeted nobody who wasn’t part of this fight in some way, and we sure as hell never tortured any of ‘em or made ‘em suffer for some kind of perceived sin. But the Mayor, he’s shown me his true colors. He let his patrolmen rape and torture a woman from my camp for close to a year tryin’ to get her to give up information about us. He imprisoned my little sister and her baby without any crime to charge ‘em with, without any evidence she done any harm aside from bein’ my blood. Hell, his patrolmen even came across me ‘n my sweetheart on a date and earned ‘emselves bloody death for the way went threatenin’ and mishandlin’ the lady while holdin’ me by a Glock to the dome. Folks might reckon me a monster. They might be right. But I sure as hell ain’t the worst one in this city. [Nate wants to direct him, show something more than just politics and anger] Your sister? You have a nephew. What’s that like? [The question makes Rodeo smile instantly, crinkling the corners of his blue eyes. Where cool, righteous anger had possessed him previously, warmth floods in.] Yeah-- my sister’s baby boy. He’s amazing. [Rodeo glances down, as if slightly embarrassed by his gushing.] To tell you true, he changed everything. Just like my sister did when she was born. She-- she saved me. She saved my life. And so did her son. Without them, I’m just... I’m just a broken heart fulla wrath. My sister is my soul. She’s the sun in my sky and the whole goddamn firmament too. Havin’ them here... Feels like a dream sometimes. Feels like I’m gonna wake up in a cell waitin’ to die. Feels like they’re too good to be true. But whenever I got doubts, I hold that baby boy tight, and he smells just the same as my sister did when she was small, and I know it’s true. [He takes a deep breath.] I’d do anything for them. They’re with you now? You got them out of prison. What’s life like in the Dog Park? Were you proud to bring them back? Proud of what you’d accomplished? [Nate takes a sip of his drink. He’ll have to have a cigarette after. It would be too distracting on film for him to light up.] I was proud to bring ‘em back, but not necessarily proud o’ what I had to do. It took a lot o’ schemin’ to get to ‘em in there. I don’t feel great about all that, but it was worth it. They’re with me now, stayin’ in my place here with me. Life here, for them-- I reckon it’s sweet for them as it is for me. Folks were real welcoming when they came, but for us it’s just good to be together. We spent a lotta years real far apart. Long before there was just a city fulla geeks between us. I’m just lookin’ to make sure nothin’ keeps us apart again. |