Episode Transcript
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[00:01:46] Speaker B: Hi and welcome to the Politics of Justice. It's me, your host, Amy Austin. Today we're going to continue our deep dive into Cage. So I thought I'd gotten farther or would get farther with that first recording, but I didn't. So here we are in chapter three. It's March 31, I guess there was 31 days in March, sorry, 1999. And it's a Stephanie chapter, so I think I may have mentioned this before. The first one to seven or eight chapters are Stephanie chapters. It was something. It was a choice one to six. Because I really, really, really, really wanted readers to know who Stephanie was before anything happened. I really wanted that background.
I wouldn't normally do this, actually. I don't think I've ever done any other book this way. But for this particular characterization and this particular story, it seemed important.
So we're in chapter three, and Stephanie is.
We're still in the blame denial circle, but Stephanie has decided that being out is better than being in.
So she's about to walk out on a Wednesday night, a school night, and her mom's like, where are you going? She's like, do I have to talk to you about boys? And she gave her a knowing look. And so it's so weird because her mother is sort of giving her that look, as if they have like, a very quote, unquote, normal mother daughter relationship when it comes to dating and boys and all that. But obviously, that ship sailed.
So Stephanie's response is, clark already. Clark already did that. I said, mama put down her food, wiped her hands, and walked upstairs. I took the Liberty of removing $50 from her wallet on my way out the door.
And there's a little note. The note says, a small interaction speaks to the friction that remains when families push abuse under the rug.
There's this great cartoon I came across. There's a festival contest. I don't know. There's a magazine that has a contest every year for artists in Hungary to draw cartoons around a theme. And my favorite cartoon still to this day was from two or three years ago. I may post it, actually, although it's in Hungarian, but it's one of my favorite cartoons, because this little girl says to her parents, you know, what do you do with, like, trauma and bad feelings? And her parents are like, come look. And they're like, you just push it under the rug. And they show this mound and the couch over. And I think it's like, this is what my grandmother does or what we've done for generations.
I will put up the cartoon, but the translation, you're on your own with. So.
So Stephanie's, like, out. And it's her best way of doing that, but unfortunately, her being out is this boyfriend.
And, you know, actually I was talking to somebody about this on a zoom call. Completely different context this week. But I was pointing out that bad boyfriends are, like, the hallmark of, like, a lot of women's criminal behavior.
So she's over at Dion's place, and he says, that's the thing I like about you. You're your own person. You act more grown up than your age. I ain't against family. They're important. But I don't want to weigh our relationship down with weekend barbecues and chicken dinners. So he's doing the thing. He's really good at it. To be frank. He's way better than a lot of other Characters, written a lot of other books. But he's really good at the subtlety of early isolation. You know, he has, like, taken her to, like, this restaurant. He's treated her as if she's more grown up than she is.
And because of what's happened to her, she feels more grown up than she is.
And I don't know if he knows this. Like, you know, you may suspect it, but it's a way to sort of, like, bolster her up. And he's like. Then he becomes the authority on who she is, and she's at a stage in her life where she's.
She's flailing.
So she says, half of me wanted him to meet my mom and Sid. I wanted to show them that somebody nice wanted me, that I could make my own decisions, that I could pick a man who didn't leave me with a couple kids and no support, who didn't mess around with all the females in the family. The other half wanted to keep him all to myself and not to taint him with the crazy. And the note says, grooming is both subtle to the receiver and obvious to nearly everyone else.
Oh, it's so true, and it's so hard. This is such an issue that comes up from time. Well, the issue that comes up and the.
Especially with, like, huge age gap, like, relationships. And everybody wants to say, you're being groomed, but the person being groomed is being groomed. I don't know if it's, like, brainwashed or whatever, but they can't see whatever. Whatever everyone else can see.
So there's another highlight that says he lives in one of those old buildings where the bathroom vent was a window. And so I have feelings about that. Actually, where I live, the bathroom vent is a vent window. So I haven't renovated a bathroom in years, but local building regulations are required. Always required ventilation. Where you have a window, you didn't have to have a fan.
This is true. I've had both a window or a fan or a window and a fan. Personally, I like a window, but I will.
I've had. I have both. It is what it is.
So she's in the bathroom, and she says, I caught a quick flash in my reflection. Dark skin, white teeth. I hated looking. It was always different than I felt on the inside. On the inside, I was like Sid. Light, pretty, and in a floaty kind of way. My voice was soft. My lips shaped like a bow and not like a bubble. I slinked past the reality staring back at me.
So I think I rarely talk about this in books. Actually, I don't really think I talk about it at all. But this is like a really big sort of color terrorism issue. That's an issue in many communities of color. But I will only speak to the one familiar with.
So I think about this with this actress now, Lupita. Don't ask me her last name. I'm not gonna be able to pronounce it. Where she was in some movie recently and people are talking about how she's the most beautiful person in the world. And then there's people who are just horrified in the sense that she is out here acting and in. So Stephanie reminds me of her in a way where she's like very clearly has, quote, African features.
And it is the opposite of what in America is considered the standard of beauty. I mean we can debate that and we can have a whole lot of Kardashian conversations, but the standard of beauty in America remains a very European standard of beauty.
And I feel when conversations about colorism come up, I do feel horrible for like dark skinned girls and women who are sort of ashamed of how they are. It's actually, it's. It's coming up now. So there's a. The trash TV I'm watching at the moment is Love is Blind. And there's a woman on there named Wilney and she's to be fine. Like I'm going to say this in no shade, regular black woman. She's got micro locks. This is all I can say about her.
I mean, she will pick me, but that's a different sort of conversation.
But she spends all this time losing blind in her little pod trying to talk down this guy or like prepare him for how she looks. And she's like, don't be surprised about how I look. And I'm like, oh my God, like this doesn't require all this. But clearly she has internalized a lot of that feeling that she is not the attractive one.
So she's spending, she, Stephanie Robeck, is spending all this time with Dion and unfortunately his associate, we'll call him Sledge, is over and he is watching this grooming process and he is sort of taking part in it and he's taking part in it. So he's clearly Dion's boss or superior or whatever in that men hierarchy pecking order.
And Sledge is taking advantage of that because it's sort of clear or implied that Dion will not go against him. So Stephanie's sort of at the whim of hoping that this boy or boyfriend protects her and hoping that Sledge doesn't do damage. So Sledge is sitting on the couch and she says, cushions pull me in, like a hug. So Sledge is like, are you 15 going on 16? You know, you should take a drink.
Sledge asks inappropriate questions about her theoretical sex life.
And she Sledges, like, inappropriate.
He's okay, he's ostensibly inappropriate, but he's doing it in such a low key way that she can't really object because he asked an inappropriate question. She can just say no. He laughs in like a, like a creepy way. And what do you like, how do you object to, like, don't laugh creepily at me.
So she like realizing in the pit of her stomach or somewhere that she's in danger. Especially at this point, I guess. Sledge turns down and pushes me on the couch. His lips slid all over my face and neck. His hand tried to pull my legs apart. And she pushes him off. And because nobody's there, she's clear that Link Tian's not going to protect her. So she pushes him off and she says, I gotta go do my homework. And then, this is awful. I gotta do my homework. Sled to mimic in a fake high voice. I didn't care if he made fun of me as long as I didn't have to see him again.
So Dion doesn't take her home. So she's like, she takes the bus. And she said it was a bus ride full of people in their funk. And she was like, I was never so glad to see that damned house at Clark's.
So she gets to the front door and like throws up. I don't know if because of, like, what could have happened, what did happen, or because she drank too much and she said she wipes her mouth.
I wipe my mouth with my bare arm and unlock the kitchen door. Home safe.
Which is deeply ironic because her home is not necessarily safe. Oh, the note says, such deep irony in those two words. Okay, so apparently I have the same thoughts over and over again. So we're at chapter four. It's April 2nd, which is two days away, and Stephanie's really struggling with school because her best friend transferred. Her best friend, I think was, well, I think I know was gay. And whether he was out or people could sense that it led to a lot, a lot of bullying. So the person who was her best friend, he left the school and they're making fun of her and they're saying things that I can't repeat that are very derogatory about her friends.
And given that he left, she really feels alone There. So now she's getting bullied for being a kid who's not there, and also bullied separately just for being sort of just alone out here without, like, a.
A crew.
So she's, like, trying to leave school. And she was, like, the number 10 buzz came making the choice for me because she was trying to decide if she was going to go to Dion's or go home. She said I'd gone home. Maybe I could start on that civics project on elections, as if voting made a difference. But I'd work on my election project like it did. No teacher wanted to hear from me how my neighbors voted down at a church every November but still had potholes that looked like leaks in the rain. And no police when you need.
That's my politics coming out. Let's see what it says. The note says, when politicians show up into poor neighborhoods for photo ops, they seem to marvel at the cynicism around voting, even when the evidence of the results of dozens of election cycles staring them right in the face.
We're having an election here in Los Angeles. You gotta look like candidates. They're like, look at this.
You know, you're in charge, right?
Anyway, just. It always makes me laugh. They're like, you know, I can't believe the homeless in potholes. I'm like, so your job is in city hall, and my job is here writing books, and yet you looking at me like I should be out here fixing potholes and homelessness.
So, anyway, sorry. So Stephanie's home, and the new man is there.
And, like, it's just clear that her mom's gonna again, hand over everything to a new guy.
And it's really discombobulating because a place that should feel safe for her doesn't because it's occupied by somebody who's gonna have imposed new rules. And she doesn't know what those rules are yet, so.
So she. They're. They're having a scene in the kitchen, and she talks about how the guy's going to move in to help with the bills and drop some shifts and maybe finish up her rn. I believe her mother's not.
She's not a registered nurse. I think she's a certified nurse assistant.
But if she finishes and becomes a registered nurse, obviously there's an increase in pay, so.
And responsibility. I mean, it's a different job.
But Stephanie's like, here we go again.
And she was like, so she sort of gives up the idea. Like, she had for a moment, she was like, I'm going to work on schoolwork. And be on the straight and narrow, because out there lies danger. But she decides to leave because at home lies potential danger. And so she gets. She gets dressed, and her sister says, where are you going now? Sydney asks, watching me tie my sneakers.
And Stephanie says, somewhere, no one's trying to be my daddy.
Gotta feel for her. Okay, so we're. Chapter five. It's April 2nd. So she said, Tyson. This is the guy's name. When Tyson's carrying a suitcase in one door, I was running out of the other, and not one of them would miss me. Sid would be busy getting her clothes to sleep. I'm busy locked in a room, getting the new man situated.
And that situating was probably going to involve a lot of screaming and headboard banging against the wall that we shared. I could do without that tonight.
So, I mean, she's.
Well, adults have sex, but she's sort of exposed to.
I don't want to say inappropriate, but just too much. Just too much. And doesn't then have a sense of safety or belonging because everybody's concerned with themselves and no one is concerned with her.
So she takes the bus to Diane, and she calls. Well, she takes the bus. Well, first she gets on payphone, and she got a little payphone, but I don't. I actually. I haven't seen a payphone in a long time. I just saw, like, an effort to get rid of, like, some remaining ones because homeless people were using them, so. For shelter or nefarious deeds, I guess.
So she calls. She pages. Oh, my God. She pages Dion.
And he's like, what do you need? She's being kind of a needy person. Not that needing is bad, but she sort of is going to the wrong place for it right now. And he says, I'm working.
No offer to give me a key. Didn't tell me to wait. She said, I didn't want to have to beg.
I didn't want to have to sound like a whining, pouting child. Can you pick me up? I won't get in the way. I could stay in the car.
So he eventually comes. He pulls up, but Sledge and a woman are in the back seat.
And she.
She believes he's not a drug dealer, but she doesn't know what's going on. But she knows what's going on. It's probably not great.
So she's like. She latches her seatbelt, and she said, didn't ask where I was going. She's like, I'd have to. She. I'd ride around in the car all night if it meant I didn't have to go home right now, I could face them all again tomorrow. So they're driving, like, through the Cleveland suburbs, and her curiosity gets the best of her because they drive down.
The first woman in the back gets out. They drive to another house, and then a different woman gets in.
She said, like in one of those stupid cable horror movies. A woman ran down the walkway in her highest heels ever seen.
I looked up from the shoes to the clothes. She was dressed like one of those movies, too. Too tight. Skirt, shirt half opened. I tried not to shiver, half expected Jason to jump from the shadows and slash her. But there's nothing deadlier than the mist out there. Sledge opened the door, and the woman hopped in the car.
She's like, so she doesn't want anything to have to do with Sledge, because clearly he's, like, inappropriate. But her curiosity gets the better of her, and she turns around to see the woman pulling, like, a lot of bills out of her bra, giving it to Sledge. He counts it and then jams it into his pocket.
And then she's at the kick in the seat. Deanna looked up and then got the car to park and drove again.
And so she's trying to figure out what's going on because she's like, her mother gives her money to any man who comes in. She's like, but Mommy didn't wear really high heels and have her clothes.
She usually wore scrubs, fill money from her pay envelope after she cashed it at a place on the corner.
And Sledger's got a gun. And she's like, so no guy's ever bought a gun in the house? Not that she knew. So she's looking at Dion. She wants to ask a question, but he gave her a look that tells her to shut up.
So they do it again. And another woman knocks on the window. So before thinking, she pushes the window down. The woman starts to hand money and realize this, it's not Sledge.
And she said, how much you get? She asked me.
And she. Stephanie's still clueless. She's like, yeah, I'm Dion's girlfriend.
I'm in the back. Sledge yelled. I hadn't realized I was taking up his seat. I can listen in the back. I added quickly. He didn't seem like the kind of guy I wanted to be on the wrong side of. Get in the damn car. Sledge order. The woman yanked over the back door and got it. I didn't turn my head this time.
And then she's realizing that whatever is going on is not the best for her.
She starts to get that feeling again where sledge is just so inappropriate in doing clearly nefarious deeds that she just wants to go home, Especially because they're driving around some part of Cleveland that she doesn't recognize.
So she eventually asked them.
She's like, I'm going to get out of the car.
And Dion's like, we only got a few more stops.
And he continues driving fast when the light turns green. And she's like, no, no, no. I need to go. I told my mom I was going, because she knows that.
Okay, Though she really knows that her mother probably doesn't care that deeply about where she is. She knows that if she were to, like, call the police or something or whatever, that sledge also doesn't want people to know what he's doing. So she's using this little bit of leverage to get out of the car. So she gets out of the car, and she's just standing there, waiting at a bus stop. And fortunately.
So she's a monthly pass that she. That she uses to get around town.
And this woman's like, are you planning to work this area?
And she's like, look, I'm just waiting for the bus. And, like, fortunately, she's like, an empty city bus roars up, and some guy's like, well, you better catch a bus then.
So she gets. She runs into the bus.
The driver's an old black man, probably somebody's grandpa.
And he says, damn, girls get younger by the week. Ought to clean up this trap. He muttered, insulted, though I couldn't quite place why. I asked, what's the last top? And he says, towered city. So she's like, fine. Because Cleveland, for the most part, is a hub and spoke system. So you go downtown to go to ticket another bus or train or whatever or light rail to go back to where you want to go. So she's like, I leave the East 80s in Wade Park. And he was like, look, you can cut the strip short. You can switch in a different place, and it'll take you home faster. And he says he'll let you know.
So she said it was like she sat in an empty seat, like she was on the bus by herself. And it was a long time before the bus driver said anything. And he's this girl with the green jacket. This is where your stop.
So she said there was nobody at the second bus stop. She was like, I was tired of men today. If I saw another one, it wouldn't be Too soon.
And she heads home.
And this is so sad. So she gets home and she gets her civics book out and starts actually working on her, who knows freshman civic government project.
And she's like, maybe I can make heads and tails of the Constitution.
And she finds some dinner, and then she looks in the fridge. So this new guy, Tyson, I guess, drinks. And so she says, alcohol appeared like clockwork. And another daddy moved in. I took a beer, dared anyone to accuse me. Full and relaxed. A half hour later, I decided to draw a map of states that needed the Voting Rights act most times. Being able to draw could get me close to an A all by itself. I didn't think I'd be sleepy for a long time, so maybe I could write a good essay besides.
So that's the end of chapter five. So I think we're getting a sense that Stephanie is.
So Stephanie is.
At the end of chapter five, there's some sense that Stephanie could be safe. She has had an opportunity to see what Dionne's up to. And even if she can't compute the whole thing, she knows that generally it's probably no good. And so even though things at home aren't great, she maybe can stick it out there. And that's what we think until we get to chapter six.
So chapter six is one of those chapters that's really hard to write and really hard to think about.
So it's April 11, so it's like 10 something days later than the last time she got home and was working on her civics project.
And two pics with the phone and you ain't called. Dion's voice came from the receiver. I was shocked as shit when the phone rang and it was for me. First of all, ain't no boy ever called me called here for me except Antoine, and that didn't count. Second of all, Dion didn't call. I paged him. If the phone rang twice and stopped, I could come over.
That's how things worked.
So she says to him, you know, I've been busy with school. She got an A in our civics project, she said. But she had been avoiding Dion because that hadn't felt good.
But she'd also been busy avoiding Tyson because he didn't seem to have any kind of job to speak of. He said he worked nights in the restaurants, but he made me up with Mama in her room more nights than not.
And so she's like.
And she said her last bra had broken. I was working up the nerve to ask Mama to go shopping with me, but I had to see her to ask her first.
So you know that Stephanie, despite the fact that she's decided to spend more time at home, is still feeling isolated and unloved and unparented.
So Dion's like, oh, I need to see you. I miss you.
And she was like, wait, nobody's ever missed me.
Which is sad. And so her stomach's, like, fluttering, which we know, like, now is anxiety and probably should be heated, but also sometimes term it butterflies. And so she's like, oh, I can come over now, Tyson.
Tyson wouldn't notice. He was busy. Her mom wasn't there.
And he's like, I can't wait to see you. I'll pick you up where I parked that first time.
And she's, like, calculating how long it's taking her to get to the park because she's suddenly excited that, like, somebody misses her and she's gonna see somebody who wants to see her and who isn't just tolerating her.
So she's like. She runs up the stairs. She's, like, looking in her closet. She was like, she doesn't have any clothes.
So she's, like, in the hamper, like, looking through her mother's clothes and picks out something, and she picks up something that she thinks is appealing to a boy.
She said, you know, she's like, girls were all that makeup inside clothes. And one of my boys was always up in their business. I shook my head. I think maybe I kind of wanted this boy up in my business. Well, I wasn't entirely sure about that. But Mama kept a man around by keeping him in the bed.
So she's taken and internalized this idea that that's what she's going to need to keep him around.
So she's like, if I want Diana to stick around for more than a minute, I have to make a light little trade.
And then the flutters in the stomach rolled into a ball of queasiness, but I pushed away the thoughts of Clark. Maybe if you like the person, the touching would feel good.
So she is. She steals her mother's clothes, puts on some perfume, and hopes. She takes, like, a stain out of the shirt she found in the hamper. And she's just like.
She's like, I modeled in the mirror. Arms on hips, cheeks sucked in. Not half bad most days. I hated being dark, but with the white shirt, I looked good.
And then she's, like, gross. I know. She dug around for, like, a pair of flared jeans.
And so since at this point, she's, like, long past getting into Trouble if her mom finds out that she's wearing her clothes and she just like. She just like, decides to go out because, like, clearly she shouldn't be out, but if she's going to be in trouble, she's going to be in trouble, so she might as well go the whole route.
So she walks to the park and unfortunately it's raining, so her shirt gets wet, her hair gets wet, and she looks more like a drowned rat.
Plus she doesn't have a bra because she doesn't have one that fits. And she's wearing this white polo.
So she's like. She's so happy to see him on the street that she nearly cries.
And he's like, oh, you look good.
And she gets really self conscious. And so they're driving around and she asks him to turn up the heat.
And they get to his place and he does like, he hands her hot chocolate that burns her tongue in two ways. First on the hot, second on the booze. And she's like, what's in here? And he says, it's Bailey's. And she says, it's really good. You got new marshmallows. Poor thing. And she says, the look he gave me made me regret asking the question. Marshmallows were for kids. I guessed I should have known that. Dan put on some music and went to make phone calls. Probably work. I finished the cocoa.
You want another? And she's like, I'm good. And he's like, let's go for a ride.
And he has like a long sigh. And she's like, okay, I'd rather hang out here. And he's like, I can't always hang out. Sledge needs me to do some work today.
And she said, the chocolate milk and alcohol solidified in my belly like a fried chicken joint. Buttermilk biscuit was in there.
Can I ask you a question? I whispered. And he says, what do you need to know? Spit it out. And she says, are you slinging? Because we're back to the drugs. Because she's like, what are you doing?
And he says, damn, girl, I ain't slinging. He' I don't want to f around with those dealers.
And she was just so relieved to know that, like, riding around in his car, he's not going to get pulled over for like, some kind of like, felony drug conviction.
And so they get in the car and unfortunately she says this with every year I lived here, Cleveland grew darker at night. More houses stood empty, more businesses closed, more vacant lots popped up. Street leaks broke and never got fixed. And this is 99. Before.
Before it got bad. Like in 2007. 8, 9. It was worse.
The highlight says, in school there was so much talk about big cities having built this country. Steal this coal vat.
When did they become small towns again?
And the note says, I remember this change. During the years I lived in Cleveland, the population also decreased by nearly 100,000.
It was so hard to live in a shrinking city after coming from New York, then moving to Los Angeles, both of which are busting at the seams.
They are. I can't believe the population increased for New York. I do think it's like below 4 million in Los Angeles and is decreasing. So anyway, they get to where he's taking her and he says, we're here. And she's like, where's here? Because she thought that they were going to be at the restaurant and she doesn't know how much booze had been in the hot chocolate because she's saying she feels like she had three drinks instead of the one. So when she says, where's here? He says, the Sleepy Time Motel, the sign read, even though the L and the P were missing.
Heat rushed up my back, under my arms, prickled my scalp. I'd have been more comfortable doing it in his place. It was familiar, at least. But maybe I wasn't good enough for his place. But I had a nice looking girlfriend his age who he was with in that bed. So she already.
She sort of knows that she probably can't really be his girlfriend and he maybe has somebody else, but she was willing to take whatever scrap she had and now she's feeling even less loved because he's not willing to, like, spend time with her in his home.
So Dion laid a hand on my arm. You'll have a great time. Don't worry. I sighed deep. If I wanted to get out of Mama's house, I needed to grow up and learn to do this. At least I know what was going to happen.
Then she says, but I get canceled. I wrote that out loud. So she. So he takes her into a room and this room, blue door with the numbers 142.
And he slips a card slot in the. You know, the hotel card slot thing. And she's like, I'd never been to a motel before. The biggest thing in the room was the bed. My eyes were pinwheeled around, looking for something else. A cube of television sat atop a rickety dresser. That was all. I sat on the bed and looked down at my canvas sneakers. Couldn't think of anything else to do. The carpet was stained. I tried not to think what could have made the puke green and reddish ground in circles.
So Dion sat next to me and he says, just remember, I'm here. Everything's going to be okay.
I kept my eyes on the plastic that was flaking from the ends of my shoelaces. After a time, I nodded, met his eyes. Okay.
And then the note says, out of horrible experiences, people remember the little things.
So he patted my thigh. I'll be right back. And she was like, where's he going to do. Get dinner, condoms, whatever.
And when he comes back, well, she's okay. So she's trying to decide, I guess, if she's gonna, like, shower, what she should do.
And there's no hot water. Who knows?
So she takes off her shoes. And she was like, maybe I'll tell him I want to go home. I don't want to be there, especially at home. But I didn't want to be here either.
So the handle turned under her hand because she was expecting to go out and see him. And she says, I stepped back and Sledge walked in. Dion was behind him. Then five different guys came in behind them.
And she's like, dion, I want to go home, she said. I didn't care that my voice sounded like a whine. This wasn't fun anymore.
He didn't look at me. Sledge closed the door behind everyone and stood guard. Weren't no way I would get behind him. I need to pee, I said.
The guys passed a 40.
Like a malt liquor bottle, I guess. Back and forth, drinking and laughing. I ran to the bathroom and closed the door.
And she said I had to sit in the tub before I wet my pants further. She's like, if I stayed in there, maybe I wouldn't have to deal what was out there. The sweet smell of weed trickled under the door. I heard a new bottle being open, the top twisting, letting out the fizz. Come on out here, girl. Sledge called.
And so he has a joint. He says, take a hit. And she did.
And she's like, my lungs burned. My eyes wanted to explode. Only coughing made it better. The guys all laughed. Great, like I was a kid trying to hang with grownups. When one guy passed me 40, I took it and drank greedily. Yeah, girl, drink up, said another. It tipped against my mouth. It spilled all over my shirt.
So it goes downhill from there. But let me just say that, as we know from what's going on in current News, men in a hotel with a woman who is incapacitated does not go well in the last line, as I close my eyes and wish myself any place but the Sleepytime Motel. No one was planning to let me sleep tonight.
So that is the end of what are the first six chapters and what we learn about Stephanie, which is home life isn't great. Boyfriend is a groomer, boyfriend with quotes is a groomer. And at the end it's not going well.
He'd probably not probably he had sold her to the highest bidder, to her boss.
So with that, we end this particular video talking about Cage.
We will pick up in chapter seven, which is a chapter from Sledge's point of view, and we'll find out if is there there's any justice to be had for Stephanie? Because honestly, it's not going.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: To.
