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A quick warning 11 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: before we begin. Today's episode contains a discussion of addiction 12 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: and suicidal ideations, so please take care in listening. Last thing, um, 13 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: just briefly, it's four so um the drug that she 14 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: was taking. You mentioned it. This is one of the 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: first conversations I had with my producer, Austin. I'm about 16 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: to tell him about one of the most pivotal moments 17 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: in my life with my mom. I was nineteen and 18 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: she was in a really bad way, the most down 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: the rabbit hole of drinking. I thought it was just 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: drinking at that point. It was very, very very dark. 21 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: My whole upbringing. My mom would have these gnarly outbursts. 22 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: But I had always thought she just couldn't handle alcohol. 23 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: She would have one glass of wine and fly off 24 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 1: the handle. So one day my mom, for the first 25 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: time in many years, left town and I was there 26 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: with this friend of mine. Uh. We decided to clean 27 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: and we were cleaning, and I lifted up her mattress 28 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: of all cliche things, and there was a pillbottle under 29 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: her mattress. I remember time kind of slowing down and 30 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: being like aware, just kind of kinetically aware that I 31 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: had stumbled upon something that was going to change the 32 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: course of my life. And it said it was a 33 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: prescription for a drug called the oxen. And I went 34 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: and I searched what is the oxen? And it basically 35 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: said that it was a emphetamine, and it said, uh, 36 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: should never be mixed with alcohol because it produces psychotic behavior. 37 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, cool, Okay, you know she's 38 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: on speed. That's what this has been. And it's really 39 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: hard to explain the sensation. It's it's like the butterfly 40 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: emerging from the cocoon. These moments in your life when 41 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: you're forced out of childhood into adulthood, all of a sudden, 42 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: I had grown up thinking that my mom was crazy, 43 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: and there's a loneliness that's inherent to that, and isolation 44 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: and terror and pain. And in that moment, I realized, 45 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: it's not because she's fucking crazy, it's because she's been 46 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: on this drug, and it shifted everything. My dad told 47 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: me that the Saxon had been billy a drug. So 48 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: I then started digging into Billy, trying to understand the 49 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: house of grief that I was born into. Today on 50 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: the show My Life with my Mom, how it fell 51 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: apart and came back together again from Crimetown, I'm io 52 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: till it right, And this is the ballad of Billy ball. 53 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: If somebody who you thought was your life partner, your protector, 54 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: you're like soulmate, is viciously murdered, your grief is of 55 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: a different nature. It's ray jing grief. It's like slaughter. 56 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: Everybody grief. I grew up entirely at the mercy of 57 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: somebody else's moods, who was simultaneously my greatest protector and 58 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: my greatest antagonist. I'm a little worried that we're going 59 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: into family. Should I not worry about this because it's 60 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: your show? But I mean, this is very difficult, very 61 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: complex stuff. Chapter ten, something bigger than me. Why don't 62 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: we just start? Tell me who you are. So my 63 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: name is Cora, and we grew up together. I mean 64 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: we really grew up together. Core's five years older than 65 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: I am, and her dad and my dad were best friends, 66 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: So we spent a lot of time together as kids. 67 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: You were so um, spunky and scrappy and fiercely intelligent. 68 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: But you were also like physically small and and and 69 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: wispy and beautiful and delicate. You know, you were immediately 70 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: my sibling. Yeah, I was really special. I mean we 71 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 1: spent a lot of time together, listening to music and 72 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: bullshitting all day long, and eating snacks because we were 73 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: always hungry, and walking around in the summer and getting 74 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: ices and just being around the city. You know, it 75 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: was not a place for children. I mean it was 76 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: an adult world. There were parties all the time. There 77 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: were shooting galleries where people would go cop drugs, shoot up. 78 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: I have a memory of being six years old and 79 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: walking to your father's house with my dad and on 80 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: the way stopping in a building because you know, he 81 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: just had to make a quick stop. You know, there 82 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: was a lot of poverty, and there was a lot 83 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: of drugs. So I kind of inherently had these feelings 84 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,119 Speaker 1: of and wanting to just protect you a lot because 85 00:06:54,160 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: I sensed that there was danger. And I remember, you know, 86 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,600 Speaker 1: sleeping over at your house for example. And you know, Rebecca, 87 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: your mom had a boyfriend, Bernardo, for a long time, 88 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: you know, and it was a small apartment and I remember, 89 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: you know, I remember them having sex in the middle 90 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: of the night. It's not that, you know, sex is 91 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: so indecent or whatever, but there was something like really 92 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: primal going on and there was no privacy, and it 93 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: just was not okay. It kind of just like held you. 94 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: We were like lying in the bed and I just 95 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: pretended I was sleeping, and you kind of woke up 96 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: for a second and looked at me, and I just 97 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: was like, it's okay, and I just kind of held you. 98 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: I didn't feel like you were in a safe environment. 99 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:52,239 Speaker 1: And I never questioned that you were loved. Your parents 100 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: love you extremely, but I felt that your mom was 101 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: really going through some ship on a soul level. That's 102 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: something had happened that had shifted her consciousness. Did you 103 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: ever hear anything about Billy. I don't remember hearing about 104 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: Billy It's okay. If not, I don't remember. She's also 105 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: very cagy. I don't know what was your understanding then 106 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: of what was going on with her. She's just your 107 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: mom is wild, you know, your mom is wild. And 108 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: I felt like the poverty did not help, you know, 109 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: being super broke all the time and taking care of 110 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:39,599 Speaker 1: a kid. It's it's traumatic, you know, but there was 111 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: there was always a sense of IO can totally take 112 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 1: care of IO. You were scheming and like hustling. Always. 113 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: You were like figuring out the way to get what 114 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: you needed or wanted that your parents couldn't provide. You know, 115 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: most kids can't go home and or do homework or whatever. 116 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: And I'd be like, okay, how do I get quarters. 117 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: I'm showing Austin my go to hustle spot in front 118 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: of a McDonald's on Broadway, and this McDonald's right here 119 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: was like my like north Star. If I could get 120 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: enough money to get a happy meal, I was like, 121 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: it was a good day. How would you get money? 122 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: I made like ghosts out of tissues and sold them, 123 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: and ghosts like Halloween ghosts, like you bawl up a 124 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: tissue and then you take another tissue and you put 125 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:35,599 Speaker 1: it over the top, and then you put like a 126 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: rubber band for the neck, and then you draw a 127 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: little face on it. And I would walk around and 128 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: sell those. I was a cute little kid, being like, 129 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: you know, give me a dollar, and people be like, damn, 130 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: a dollar would be like two dollars, and like damn, 131 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: people would buy my like weird dumb ship. I look 132 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: at the world as like a Rubik's cube, where I'm like, 133 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 1: all right, so I'm nine, I can't get a job. 134 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: I've got seventy five cents. I need to make it 135 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: to tomorrow, and I need to eat. Okay, So when 136 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:04,199 Speaker 1: this piece goes there and that piece goes there, and 137 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: I know I can call it this person for that 138 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: and maybe I can eat the scraps over there, It's 139 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: just like a riddle. You know. On the one hand, 140 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: she was really rough, and on the other hand, I 141 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: got this sense that, like anything that I came up 142 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: with was a valid Your parents and my parents as well, 143 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: you know, never questioned our creativity, are intelligence or self sufficiency. 144 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: You would come to school in army fatigues, and you 145 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:42,079 Speaker 1: were so adamantly and clearly, very very sure that you 146 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:46,839 Speaker 1: were a boy. You were a boy. You presented as 147 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: a boy. There was no distinguishing feature that would mark 148 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: you or gender you as a girl. You were very 149 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 1: clear in your communication that I am a boy, period, 150 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: full stop, and don't fucking ask me. And your dad 151 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: in particular, was just like, yeah, that's yo. You know, 152 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: Iowa was io. You declared it to me. It wasn't 153 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: like I had to You just declared it to me. 154 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: You said, I'm a boy. I told this to my 155 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: dad when I was really little. You know, we were 156 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: just walking through Central Park and you went to join 157 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 1: some kids to play baseball, and they said you couldn't 158 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: play because you were a girl. And you marched up 159 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: to me and said, from now on, dad, I'm a boy. 160 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: I'm your son. You will refer to me as he, 161 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: and that's it. Do you understand? And I just accepted it. 162 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: So I went home and I said, hey, Rebecca, I says, 163 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: I says, she's a boy. Rebecca's like great, fine. She 164 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: gave things that were totally above and beyond, like accepting 165 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: me for who I was. Right. She fostered my imagination 166 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: and she like read to me a ton and like 167 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,559 Speaker 1: there was always books and music and always always always 168 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: music and dance and culture and like fostering my imagination. 169 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: Around this time, my dad left for Europe, he says, 170 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: to try to get clean, leaving me alone with my mom. 171 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: I think the thing is my mom didn't realize that 172 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,680 Speaker 1: she was an unsafe place for me. She applied the 173 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:28,599 Speaker 1: same like dieting standards to me that she applied to herself. 174 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: And she applied the same professional expectations of me as 175 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: an eight year old as she did of herself as 176 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: a thirty eight year old. You know, but thinking back 177 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: when she was with Billy, it seems like they lived 178 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: that way too, you know, like that was accepted back then, 179 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: and as the world changed around her, she stayed the same. 180 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: There was definitely like a disconnect for her about like 181 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: what a child needs. So we're down here. This is 182 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: like this is the City Hall area, very kind of 183 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: epic architecture. I took Austin downtown to a place where 184 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: I made a drastic move to change my life. Is 185 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: this the way? Oh? This is it is? Yeah, this 186 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: is the building. I'll never forget these columns ever, So 187 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: the New York County Family Court. It all started when 188 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: I arrived at a new school for seventh grade, and 189 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 1: I had huge dark bag circles under my eyes and 190 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: I was really really pale and really really skinny. And 191 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: at that school they had an actual gym that was 192 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: gender segregated, and so the first gym class, they sent 193 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: me down and we're like, okay, go change in the 194 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: locker rooms. And I was like, like, I can't go 195 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: in the girls. I can't go in the boys, like 196 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: and I had this gender meltdown, and they were just 197 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: like okay, Like you need to talk to the school psychologist, 198 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: like what's going on. He asked me what my home 199 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: life was like. I was like, uh, because I was 200 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: not supposed to talk to people of authority because my 201 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: mom's love of her life had been killed by the police. 202 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: Authority was bad. And I told her. I told her 203 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: that our fridge had no food in it, which barely 204 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: mattered because the power was off half the time. Anyway, 205 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: I told her that I stole most of my meals, 206 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: but I didn't go to doctors. I didn't sleep enough, 207 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: and my mom and I would scream at each other 208 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: like banshees. I told her that I was hungry and 209 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: scared and that I hated my life. So one day, 210 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: this woman shows up at my school the middle of 211 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: the day and this woman is standing in the hall 212 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: and she's like are you I I'm like yeah, and 213 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: she was like Hi, I'm so and so I'm your 214 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: social worker and I'm here to take you away. And 215 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: I was like, I need to call my mom and 216 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: she's like, you're not allowed to. And I was like, 217 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: I don't give a funk, like I'm calling my mom, 218 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 1: like I will fight you physically. You don't want that scene. 219 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 1: Just let me call my mother and tell her what's happening, 220 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: because I'm not doing that to her where I'm just 221 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: gonna vanish off the face of the earth. My mom 222 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: was like, don't go with anybody. Don't go with anybody. 223 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: I'm gonna kill your guidance counselor. So I was like, 224 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: it wasn't her, it was me, And I'm okay, and 225 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: I'm gonna be in touch with you when I can. 226 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: I gotta go. So I left, I got my coat, 227 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: went and got outside, went outside and got in a 228 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: van with this woman and they drove us right down 229 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: here the New York City Family Court Building and they 230 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: took me upstairs and we went into an office and 231 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: they basically were like, all right, well here it is 232 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: like this is the moment. You now get to decide 233 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: what you want to do with your future. And I 234 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: was like, holy sh it, give me a minute. I 235 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: need to think about it. And I went this room 236 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: and they got me some French fries, and then my 237 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: mom showed up and started screaming in the next room 238 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: about how I was a liar. I had told them 239 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: that I hadn't really been to the dentist, and she 240 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: was like, I listed the dentist all the time, and 241 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: she's calling me she and I heard it through the wall, 242 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,600 Speaker 1: and I was like, nah, fuck this, like my mom 243 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: is calling me a liar. I'm not going home. I 244 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: told them I wanted to live with my dad in Germany. 245 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: I just got a call from New York that you 246 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: were in the custody of the city and that you 247 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: had brought about your removal from the house. And I 248 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: got the next plain to New York and then began 249 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: this long battle of me trying to win custody. And 250 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: I made the mistake in the first interview with your attorneys, 251 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: because the city assigned your attorneys of being a little 252 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: bit protective of Rebecca because they were trying to characterize 253 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 1: her as a kind of monster, and I was saying, no, no, no, 254 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: Rebecca is not a monster. You don't understand. And I 255 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: was just saying, Rebecca, can you just stop back off. 256 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: I wants to live with me. Let I live with me. 257 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: Stop fighting this, and then we don't have to go 258 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 1: through this whole court thing, and I can just you know, 259 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 1: it's time to move on. Okay, Rebecca, You've come to 260 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: the end of your rope on this thing. You know, 261 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: my lawyer said to me, if you speak to her again, 262 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: I'm no longer your lawyer. She is the opponent. We 263 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: have to win. Don't be a pussy like that's how 264 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: they talk. The custody battle lasted three months. The courtroom 265 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: wasn't a place where my mom shined. It was very 266 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,719 Speaker 1: sad for me to see Rebecca funk it up um 267 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: and come in with a black eye, come in with 268 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: a lawyer who was half an hour late and couldn't 269 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,439 Speaker 1: get his tie straight, and and then say stupid things 270 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: like she has a vast knowledge of the human body, 271 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: and that's why you didn't go to see the dentist. 272 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: When I watched her say these things, and the judge 273 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: kept looking up at me like we were looking at 274 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: each other silently, going like, oh boy, you know, um 275 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,239 Speaker 1: it was very painful. Actually, Rebecca defeated herself. Do you 276 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,880 Speaker 1: remember the phone call when you called me to tell me. 277 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: I don't recall anything except we won and you were delighted. 278 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: I don't remember. I think your first words, where can 279 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: we go? My first question was as my mom monkay ah, right, 280 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: that's true. Yeah, of course you were very defensive of 281 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: your mom. You're from the very beginning you were worried 282 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: about her condition. You made the move to defend yourself, 283 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: but you were very worried about it. Of course you were. 284 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: After it was over, during mandated welfare checks, I saw 285 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:35,920 Speaker 1: my mom for the first time since she lost the case. 286 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: The first time we showed up, my mom showed up 287 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,679 Speaker 1: with a big black eye. The second time we showed up, 288 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 1: she showed up with like a bag of ice over 289 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: her other eye and it was bleeding. When she said 290 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,440 Speaker 1: that her boyfriend had thrown a bell and it had 291 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 1: accidentally skewered her eyeball, and just all this bullshit, you know, 292 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: because she had a fucked up, monstrous boyfriend, and I 293 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: know that I've like just destroyed her, and she's like 294 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,919 Speaker 1: bleeding from the eyes like some kind of biblical matriarch. 295 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: And I was just like, I can't fucking handle this. 296 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: I think I came outside and threw up or something. 297 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: She had to go to the hospital. She almost lost 298 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: her eye. M just fucked up, fucked up things happened 299 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: here after the break Germany. I lived in a beautiful, 300 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: small university city in Germany called and you were plunged 301 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: into a kind of better than normal circumstance, like a 302 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: wonderful circumstance to which you were completely unaccustomed. I stepped 303 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: off the plane in Germany and it was like the 304 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: Twilight Zone. People got mad when you jay walked, and 305 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: the error was chris so clear. Everybody thought I knew 306 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: jay Z because I was from New York. And everybody 307 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: was nice to each other. And I had a wonderful 308 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 1: kind of nineteenth century apartment with many rooms and bedrooms 309 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,159 Speaker 1: and dining rooms and balcony. My dad lived with his 310 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: girlfriend in a big apartment. I learned how to use 311 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: a fork and knife. I had a computer and a 312 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 1: full refrigerator, both powered by electricity, but I wasn't an 313 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: easy kid. You actually just wanted me to be your 314 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: dad and leave any other circumstance. And that was your 315 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: declaration to me. You know, I didn't escape that fucking 316 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,680 Speaker 1: jail for you to have a girlfriend and a career 317 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 1: and a life in the theater. I'm here, now, let's go. 318 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: I was impossible. I had never had any dishes to wash, 319 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: and I resented having to take out the trash. I 320 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: hated having to share my dad, and I was coming 321 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: to grips with something huge that I couldn't identify yet. 322 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: When you hit puberty, you just announced made another announcement. 323 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 1: You just kind of came to me and said, I'm 324 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: going to be a girl now. I had never tried 325 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: to be a girl before, and being in a safe 326 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: environment made me long for acceptance and friends. So I 327 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: thought I'd try it. I grew my hair out and 328 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:29,120 Speaker 1: got tighter jeans, but I had a real problem with authority. 329 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,200 Speaker 1: I got kicked out of two German schools and then 330 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: a boarding school in England. You were a nightmare. You 331 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: were determined to like burn the world down. I mean 332 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: when you went away to boarding school in Europe. He 333 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: went to this progressive this is my friend Cora again. 334 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 1: And I was afraid that you were going to live 335 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,479 Speaker 1: in Europe for the rest of your life and I 336 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: wasn't going to see you, um. But I didn't live 337 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: in Europe for the rest of my life. When I 338 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,959 Speaker 1: was sixteen, I got kicked out of that boarding school 339 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: and my dad's heroin addiction had escalated, so I had 340 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: nowhere else to go but the place that I had 341 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: fought so hard to escape, that New York City apartment 342 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: with my mom. But I just remember there being a 343 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: very sharp disconnect between the years that you were with 344 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: seven the years that you were living with your mom. Um. 345 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: And I remember one night this is so anecdotal, and 346 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: again I wasn't there, so it's like third person bullshit, 347 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: But your mom was in a state, and all I 348 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: remember really from the story was that the ambulance was called, 349 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: and I think she was having like a psychotic episode. Basically, 350 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,400 Speaker 1: there was a lot of concern. Maybe you can fill 351 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: me in. Sure. It was the night before I was 352 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: taking my final exams graduate high school, so I was seventeen. 353 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: It was also the night before my mom's birthday. She 354 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: came home really really really drunk and really upset that 355 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: I hadn't taken her out for her birthday. That hadn't 356 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: happened yet. She was obliterated and was saying that I 357 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,199 Speaker 1: was a horrible child because I hadn't done anything for 358 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: her birthday. And I went in and I was like, Mom, 359 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: your birthday tomorrow, would take out to dinner. And she 360 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: was so upset and so convinced that I was a 361 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: horrible spawn that she was started talking about getting on 362 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: the six train and riding into the end of the 363 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: line and getting out and walking. I was scared my 364 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,719 Speaker 1: mom was going to hurt herself. I didn't know what 365 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: to do, so I called the cops. Then they showed 366 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: up with an ambulance, and I was in my pajama 367 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: pants and had no shoes on, and had nothing in 368 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: my pockets about my cell phone and my keys. And 369 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: they knocked on the door, and I just like freaked 370 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: out because I was so I was like, I can't 371 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: and I like I went downstairs to the second floor 372 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: and stayed at the other end of the hall while 373 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: they went in and effectively arrested her. And when they 374 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: passed by me to take her into the ambulance, she 375 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:23,119 Speaker 1: looked at me with this just betrayal and terror and fear, 376 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: and was just like burning her eyes through me of like, 377 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:35,960 Speaker 1: how could you invite the police into our home? And 378 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,400 Speaker 1: I went to the officer and I was like, can 379 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: I please just get in the ambulance with her for 380 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: a second and explain to her that this is for 381 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 1: her safety? And he was like sure. So I jumped 382 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: in the ambulance and sat down and was like, mom, 383 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: this happened because I don't want you to hurt yourself, 384 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,719 Speaker 1: and of course she just spewed violence at me and 385 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: we immediately started f eating and the fucking e MT 386 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: sitting across from muscos are you inebriated? And I was 387 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: like what, and she was like, your pupils are dilated. 388 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: Are you intoxicated? And I was like, my pupils are 389 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: fucking dilated because it's four in the morning and I 390 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 1: am terrified and my mother is strapped into an ambulance 391 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,679 Speaker 1: right now. And she was like, that's it, you're intoxicated 392 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: to your coming with us, lam traps me into the seat. 393 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: I was in disbelief as they drove us to the 394 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 1: hospital and then they locked us in separate rooms. Oh 395 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:45,639 Speaker 1: my god. I but then I made my escape. I 396 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: basically convinced this like young guard dude to like let 397 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: me use the bathroom down the hall And as I 398 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 1: was going to the bathroom, I saw an exit sign 399 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: down the hallway and I just fucking ran and I 400 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: took off in my socks, and like the sun was 401 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: starting to come up, and I ran all the way 402 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 1: back to the apartment and I fell asleep. Then she 403 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 1: came home, and she threw everything in the house at 404 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,760 Speaker 1: my door and tried to beat it down with my 405 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: own baseball bat, tried to bust it down with the body. 406 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,119 Speaker 1: I don't know how that piece of ship in section 407 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 1: eight housing door held up, but it did. And eventually 408 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:39,240 Speaker 1: she passed out. I woke up that morning, you know whatever, 409 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: an hour of tormented non sleep later, and I went 410 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:49,920 Speaker 1: to high school and somehow passed my exams. Goddamn, it's 411 00:26:49,960 --> 00:27:01,160 Speaker 1: a miracle. Huhm. I was a bad one. This went 412 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: on for years. We fought brutally all the time. Eventually 413 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,400 Speaker 1: I found that bottle of desks and under her mattress. 414 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: I was furious. I couldn't believe everything she'd put me through. 415 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:17,240 Speaker 1: Because she'd been high. I wanted nothing to do with her, 416 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: and when I was twenty two, I moved out for 417 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: good and then I met Katie. Hi, Hi, I'm recording you. 418 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: Oh my, how did we meet Katie? Well, I was 419 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:45,399 Speaker 1: really embodying my grungy coffee girl Harry armpitted lesbian self, 420 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: and Um, one of our mutual friends introduced us. And 421 00:27:52,840 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: then you swooped up real stylish, like in your piel Mercedes. 422 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: And we went to the Googgenheim because where I'd seen 423 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: New Yorkers and at our first date non date, which 424 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: was not a date but was definitely a date. Um, 425 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:17,520 Speaker 1: what happened at the Guggenheim, Well, they have individual bathroom 426 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: stalls at the Guggenheim. Shout out to the Guggenheim for 427 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: their romantic design. And I think you said, like, I 428 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,400 Speaker 1: have to go to the bathroom, and UM, I said, 429 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: I'm coming with you. And I walked into the bathroom 430 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: with you, and I really hope you use this for 431 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: your podcast because this is really funny and I and 432 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: I said I wish that I could straddle you right now, 433 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: and he said, why can't you? And then I came 434 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: over and straddled you, and we basically hooked up for 435 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: the first time in the Gugenheim bathroom with people like 436 00:28:52,200 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: pounding on the wall, M and Co. And then you 437 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: invited me over your apartment in which you had just 438 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:05,479 Speaker 1: recently moved and had one box on the floor and 439 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 1: we had our like first romantic dinner on a cardboard 440 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 1: box on the floor with no furniture. Katie and I 441 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: were together for the next few years, and during that 442 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: time she got to know my mom. In terms of Rebecca, 443 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: I mean, she's wild and she's I don't want to say, 444 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: I'm not the most integrated, grounded person that you'll ever meet. 445 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: When your mom was either immersed in being intoxicated and 446 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: consumed by her own depth of pain, there was no 447 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: room for you, um, and that you were immersed in 448 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: her pain, um involuntarily and without really comprehension of what 449 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,680 Speaker 1: was going on. What what is your understanding of where 450 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 1: her pain came from? I mean, I think a lot 451 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: of it has to do with Billy Um, whom she 452 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,959 Speaker 1: has always talked about a lot, this saga of losing 453 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: the love of her life and the unresolved story and 454 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: history of that and living in the past and um 455 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: that being an open wound. Katie and I broke up, 456 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,959 Speaker 1: and I started doing some pretty self destructive things of 457 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: my own. I was a workaholic and drinking too much 458 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: to try and manage the anxiety that was surfacing. I 459 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: was insistent that I was not a victim and that 460 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 1: everything was fine, but inside I was a disaster. When 461 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: I was twenty seven, I went to California for work 462 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: and the bottom fell out. You called me and we're like, 463 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: I need your help. I need you to come here 464 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: right away. It was urgent, everything called very urgent um 465 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: and I got on a plane as quick as I could. 466 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,959 Speaker 1: What did you find when you got there? You were reallyish, 467 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 1: shell of yourself um, you a feeling of being really 468 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 1: hollow um and your face like barely had any color 469 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 1: in it, and you were crying kind of consistently, but 470 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: frantically and randomly. You couldn't sleep. You would wake up 471 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: in terror, literal terror, like shaking and and yelling and 472 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: feeling like you were going to die. And it was 473 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:43,200 Speaker 1: really scary. Do you think I thought that I was 474 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: going crazy? Yes? I mean definitely you expressed that you 475 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:50,040 Speaker 1: thought you were going crazy. I was having a mental breakdown. 476 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: I started calling Katie and my dad constantly to not 477 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: be alone. You were having panic attacks, and you were 478 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: having um great disturbances of the spirit. It was like, oh, 479 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: a black cloud is moving over my head from behind me, 480 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: and I everything is dune and I have to die. 481 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: The pain and stress were building, and I didn't know 482 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: where they were coming from. Something bigger than me was 483 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: overtaking my mind, and I was terrified. And I remember 484 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,960 Speaker 1: there was a particular day when I went to the 485 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: beach and it was a big, blazing, beautiful blue day, 486 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: and I sat on the beach, wrapped in a towel 487 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 1: and everything was black and it disturbed me so much. 488 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 1: I got into my car and I was sobbing so 489 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 1: hard I could almost not drive. It was all coming 490 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,959 Speaker 1: to an unbearable head. And I called my dad. At 491 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: the end of my rope, I got back to my 492 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: friend's house I was staying at, and I called you, saying, 493 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,160 Speaker 1: I want to get off this planet, holding a end 494 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: of mine's gun in my hand. I didn't know that. 495 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: And you said to me, if you kill yourself, you 496 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: will take me with you. Oh, I probably did. Yeah, 497 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: that's probably true. It is Yeah, that would be unacceptable. 498 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: So I didn't and at that point I was faced 499 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: with Okay, if it's not blue pill, then what does 500 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: red pill look like? And for me, it was to 501 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:49,320 Speaker 1: embark on a quest for understanding. I decided to live, 502 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: but to change everything. If I was going to make it, 503 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:55,479 Speaker 1: I was going to have to rip the plant out 504 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: of the ground and repot it in entirely new soil. 505 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 1: I started exercising, going to a twelve step program for 506 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: the loved ones of addicts. I stopped drinking and went 507 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: to therapy twice a week, and I started writing a 508 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: book about my childhood. You discovered agency you were digging, 509 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:21,759 Speaker 1: you were looking, you were managing the information you were discovering. 510 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,840 Speaker 1: It wasn't happening to you. You were actually taking charge 511 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: of experience. So that's a very important thing to do. Eventually, 512 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:38,280 Speaker 1: I was diagnosed with PTSD, which explained the mental breakdown, 513 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: and I realized that I had been denying something I 514 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 1: knew clearly when I was a kid. I'm transgender. I'm 515 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: a man in a female body, which was a massive 516 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 1: thing to unravel of its own. It took me nine 517 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:58,399 Speaker 1: months to get back on my feet, but when I did, 518 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:02,360 Speaker 1: I threw myself headlo into my new life. Tonight, we 519 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:05,880 Speaker 1: hear from artist Io till it Right, whose photography projects 520 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: have sparked a dial is an artist, activist, writer of 521 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 1: the new memoir Darling Days Bout Darling Days. I moved 522 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: to California full time and set up shop in the desert. 523 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: My mom and I started to connect again. Our relationship 524 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:28,560 Speaker 1: works a lot better three thousand miles apart. Hey, I listen, 525 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: are you coming back across the country? Can't you bring 526 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:45,279 Speaker 1: me a tumbleweed growing? Tumbleweed called me back by so. 527 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 1: Understanding that my mom wasn't just choosing to be an 528 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:52,759 Speaker 1: asshole was a really big thing, And that then led 529 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 1: me to wondering about what caused all of the pain 530 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,480 Speaker 1: that she was trying to medicate away. How did she 531 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:02,959 Speaker 1: get there? How did she get to the point where 532 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,799 Speaker 1: like she could make choices that would imperil her kid 533 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:14,360 Speaker 1: and not know Billy all right is this same recording. 534 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:22,879 Speaker 1: It's February six, two thousand and sixteen, and we are 535 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:27,319 Speaker 1: sitting in Williamsburg, and for the first time, we're having 536 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 1: a sit down interview session for what will become the 537 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:37,759 Speaker 1: Ballad of Billy Balls and his baby Girl. Here's my mama. Yeah, 538 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,239 Speaker 1: Billy knew it at Harvard School. If I don't move 539 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,919 Speaker 1: past my anger and she doesn't move past her grief, 540 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 1: we're not going to ever be able to have a 541 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,440 Speaker 1: functional relationship with each other. And I'm trying to change 542 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: it because I don't want to be angry at her forever. Okay, obvious, 543 00:36:53,840 --> 00:37:00,320 Speaker 1: so much love, be so much on but man, goal 544 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:04,040 Speaker 1: in arms, but all the things that Billy didn't want 545 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,839 Speaker 1: to show her she doesn't want to see. I need 546 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,759 Speaker 1: to know that stuff. She just needs to know where 547 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 1: he is. I want to find Billy's bodies so that 548 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: she can say goodbye to him and maybe have a 549 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:43,640 Speaker 1: happier life. We're gonna find that, Okay, Okay, and you 550 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 1: know what, I did find him. That's in two weeks. 551 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,520 Speaker 1: If you or someone you know is having suicidal ideations, 552 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:08,680 Speaker 1: please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at to seven, 553 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:14,320 Speaker 1: three eight to five. This lifeline provides free and confidential support. 554 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 1: If you're queer and needs support, you can call the 555 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:24,279 Speaker 1: Trevor Project also seven at one eight six six four 556 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:28,479 Speaker 1: eight eight seven three eight six. I called them during 557 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: my darkest moments and they saved my life. Use it. 558 00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:45,240 Speaker 1: Crimetown is Zack Stewart Pontier and Mark Smirling. The Ballad 559 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:48,000 Speaker 1: of Billie Balls is hosted by me Io Till It 560 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:52,000 Speaker 1: Right and made in partnership with Cadence thirteen. You can 561 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,960 Speaker 1: find me on the internet. I'm Io loves you on everything, 562 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:57,760 Speaker 1: and if you want to know more about my story, 563 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:04,160 Speaker 1: pick up my memoir Darling Day. We also want to 564 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:06,480 Speaker 1: hear from you. We have a voicemail set up and 565 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,560 Speaker 1: I love it when you call. Here's Casey from Dallas. 566 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: I had kids, young have two kids, being a mom 567 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:15,000 Speaker 1: with such a hard job, and I screwed up so 568 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:18,440 Speaker 1: many times. I wish my kids could listen to this 569 00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:21,719 Speaker 1: and have the same kind of compassion and understanding that 570 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 1: you have for your mom and your dad, because it's 571 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: the hardest job to love someone so much and have 572 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:30,919 Speaker 1: so much power over the way their life turns out 573 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,560 Speaker 1: while just being a human being and trying to figure 574 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:41,239 Speaker 1: life out for yourself. If there's something on your mind, thoughts, feelings, complaints, 575 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:44,080 Speaker 1: call us and leave us a voicemail at five seven 576 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:49,239 Speaker 1: oh three nine too. Especially if today brought stuff up 577 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:51,040 Speaker 1: for you, just call us and tell us about it. 578 00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:54,480 Speaker 1: You can also get into our discussion forum on our website. 579 00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 1: The Ballad of Billy Balls dot Com. This show is 580 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:04,240 Speaker 1: produced by Me, Kevin Sheppard and Ryan Swigert. Our senior 581 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:09,240 Speaker 1: producers Austin Mitchell, editing by Zach Stewart Pontier and Mark Smirling. 582 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,960 Speaker 1: Fact checking by Jennifer Blackman. This episode was mixed by 583 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:18,920 Speaker 1: Kenny Qcak. Music and sound design by Kenny Qcak. Our 584 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:23,480 Speaker 1: title track is Dark Allies by Light Asylum. Archival researched 585 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:28,200 Speaker 1: by Brennan Reats. Thanks to Daniella Aria, Rachel Lee Wright, 586 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:34,120 Speaker 1: Emily Wiedermann, Green Card Pictures, Alessandro Sentauro, Bill Clegg, Ben Davis, 587 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:39,120 Speaker 1: Oran Rosenbaum and the team at Cadence thirteen. Special thanks 588 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:44,800 Speaker 1: to Sophie Martinez, Cora Fisher Andrea Frank's, Sarah Driver, Seth Tillott, 589 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:50,160 Speaker 1: Katie Atherton, Nicole Rauscher, Lena Tillott, Leslie Wright, d D Tillott, 590 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:55,200 Speaker 1: Brunetta Robinson and Jones Stockhammer and Amber and Johnny for 591 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,759 Speaker 1: taking me in when I needed it the most, and 592 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:02,279 Speaker 1: of course, my Mom, without whom none of this would 593 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:02,920 Speaker 1: be possible