This is a transcript from His 7 Deadly Kins Season 1, Episode 1 on The R-N-R Hour podcast. The content is © by U.S. Copyright Office
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Act 1
Episode 1
"Who said the cave has to be your cage?"
As he raised his leg into the air, Sydney graciously twirled to the applause of the crowd. Feeling their unconditional yet frivolous love, Sydney decided to continue his performance. Thinking quickly, he grabbed several eggs from a carton and thought to himself.
"This should keep the audience's attention."
With ease, he was able to juggle a few eggs at first. The audience's cheers grew louder and louder. Sydney increased his speed. Feeling a deep sense of satisfaction, he thought.
"Dude. Everyone is so chill."
Sydney took the time to enjoy this moment. He was genuinely happy to be the source of entertainment and joy. Everything was smooth until he felt an egg directly hit him on the forehead. He fought with all of his might to stay upright but, to no one's surprise, Sydney fell flat on his face. The cheers from the crowd turned to uncontrollable laughter and boos. When he got back on his feet, he was embarrassed. As he brushed the egg off his face, he looked around to discover the culprit. Frank, his prison cellmate, waved at him. Sydney wanted to laugh with the crowd, so he waved back to Frank and said.
"Good joke, Frank!"
Sydney decided to close his eyes, and he joined the crowd at laughing. He wanted to maintain his energy with the flow of the audience. When all of a sudden, the lights in the chow hall miraculously turned off. There was an immediate response from the equipment, and the temporary stage lights turned on and pointed directly at Sydney. The change rattled him, and Sydney froze with fear. Out of nowhere, a scream went across the chow hall.
"Who did that?"
A correctional officer on the second floor turned the lights back on in the chow hall. The lead correctional officer surveyed the room, but he had difficulty finding the culprit. So, he decided to bark standard orders to regain control.
"Everyone! Get on the ground!"
All of the prisoners hit the ground except for Sydney. He was still in shock. The lead correctional officer kept yelling at him, but Sydney did not comply. Frustrated with his disobedience, the lead correctional officer tackled Sydney to the ground and then kneed him in the face.
"You were told to hit the ground. Boy, are you stupid?"
Picking up Sydney by the back of his neck, the lead correctional officer immediately handcuffed him.
"Good job in the talent show. You were the best joke tonight."
Sydney was feeling sorrow. The entire floor was now on lockdown, so he knew the right abuse was coming. Escorting Sydney back to his cell, the lead correctional officer removed his shackles upon arrival at the cell door. He opened it and then shoved Sydney inside to the floor. Before leaving, he told Sydney.
"It is a shame. Nothing works out for you."
As the lead correctional officer shut the cell door, he walked away laughing. Scanning his area, Sydney picked himself up when the coast was clear. He wanted to avoid eye contact with his cellmate, so he walked with his head down and marched directly to his usual resting spot. He shouted.
"At last, I am finally safe."
Sydney did what he would normally do to pass some time. He laid on his soft cushion foam and stared at the wall in his cell. Unfortunately, there were no windows in his cell or throughout the prison. So, Sydney used the mysterious shadows on the wall to create his own short story.
“Let us see. Shadow 1 does not like shadow 3. Shadow 2 secretly despises shadow 1. Does it look like shadows 2 and 3 are teaming up against shadow 1? Ugh. Oh no. I am lost. How do I keep this story going?”
He laughed out loud and nodded his head. A cellmate grumbled behind him.
“Enough is enough.”
The sight of Sydney’s joy made Frank sick to his stomach. In revolt, he shouted.
“Sydney, you ain’t tired of being a pathetic joke? You need to shut up or get out of cell already.”
The entire cell cried with cheers, but Sydney just continued speaking out loud. Sydney was a 6’6” male with even longer hunter green locks. With old, ripped prison clothes, Sydney looked like a homeless man that did not have a bath in years. His cellmates continuously complained about the stench that resonated from his body, but Sydney ignored the complaints. He just tried to stay in his world.
“Where did I last stop. Yep. I got it. Shadow 1 deserves it, so shadow 2 and 3 need to take him out.”
When he saw discontent on his cellmate’s face, Sydney decided to ask a random question to calm his cellmates.
“Everyone. On the wall, does anyone know where these shadows come from?”
According to one of his cellmates, the shadows came from a level directly above them. But they could not say the exact location. Another cellmate said.
“Maybe you should find the source for yourself…you, freaking moron.”
The entire cell once again let out a huge cheer. Sydney ignored the cheers and continued to use the shadows as a distraction. When he grew tired of the shadows, he would try to joke with his favorite cellmate.
“Awe Frank, the shadows are my one-way ticket out of this hell hole. I mean seriously, Frank. We should think about it! What if the shadows are…?”
Interrupting Sydney in mid-sentence, Frank punched the cell wall.
“Shut the hell up, Sydney!”
Frank’s frustration was a typical response in their one-sided conservations.
“I am tired of your crap. The shadows are just shadows. It has nothing to do with you. No need to think of anything special.”
The morbid summers in Texas made everyone delirious and agitated. For the prisoners, it was difficult to do anything in the cell but take quick power naps and stay quiet for the sake of peace. It was incredibly difficult for today, with the 110֯ F weather and 85% humidity, a record high for that date. When Sydney tried to fall asleep for the 7th time, a loud bang at the cell door woke him back.
“Hey, prisoner!”
Sydney stayed still with a look of disgust in his eyes.
“Hey, prisoner, get over here.”
Sydney continued his silent rebellion. The correctional officer chuckled and said.
“Look, prisoner. You are getting out tomorrow.”
Sydney jumped up with a wild, deranged look in his eyes.
“You said what? How is that possible? I got 20 years left on my sentence.”
The correction officer politely responded.
“Well, prisoner. If you did not know, we got a pandemic on our hands. You got to go out on parole. I am sorry, but you do not have a choice.”
Sydney jaw dropped when he heard the correctional officer, but he could not help but grin.
“Alright, prisoner. Stop grinning. You are as ugly as hell.”
Before the correctional officer walked off, he told Sydney to start preparing for tomorrow’s departure. He was supposed to leave in the early morning, but the correctional officer made sure to say before leaving.
“I just want to slap the ugly off you and beat you with the truth. But not yet. I got to wait for you.”
Sydney, as usual, ignored the correctional officers’ comments. However, it never came to Sydney. Why am I leaving, and is everyone staying? But he did not care. He was happy about the potential of normalcy in the civilian world. The prison conditions made it easy to leave. There were not enough cell rooms in prison, so Sydney had to sleep on a soft cushion foam next to the toilet bowl. He also received the least amount of food when it was time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He felt utterly trapped in his cell. Sydney’s cellmates always laughed at his predicament. In this situation, the elderly prisoner playfully said.
“You are going to lay on that piece of crap? If it were me, I would be making heads roll. But I always forget. We are talking about you, Sydney.”
The elder prisoner paused with a smile.
“I got a joke for you. You had a crappy life on the outside. You now got to live near a bunch of crap on the inside. You are in a doxa, my boy! What a life!”
Sydney would just shrug his shoulders and address the entire cell.
“It’s fine, guys. There is no need for space if you cannot hear the room!”
Sydney threw up his hands and twiddled his fingers. Frank jumped at the chance to respond.
“Was that a joke? Awe man. That was terrible!”
The entire cell roared in cheers, so Sydney tried to avoid his failure by changing the topic.
“Can anyone tell me what is a doxa?”
Sydney looked at everyone with a sad drooping face, but Frank made sure to remind him.
“Doxa has no relevance to you, so what are you talking about, knucklehead?”
The elder prisoner interjected and told Sydney.
“Here. I got an example for you. Do you want to know why we treat you like crap? Just look at yourself, bud. We all see the same thing on you. Wait, I think. That is a decent explanation of a doxa…”
Before the elder cellmate could finish, everyone started laughing at Sydney. He knew, after a few minutes, the entire cell would begin to focus on someone else or their own lives. To absorb the verbal blows, Sydney curled into a ball with his head on his knees. However, he knew what the truth was. This punishment was valid. When he wanted to take his mind off his fellow cellmates, Sydney reminisced what got him into prison in the first place. He remembered the incident like it was yesterday. It was a regular morning, and the two siblings kissed their mother goodbye. Sydney’s younger brother was a lifeguard for the city pool and a musical genius with a full ride to a performing arts college, so Sydney decided to drive him to work for the last time. Sydney could see in his memories. When his brother would smile, you could see a crystal-like sparkle in the corner of his right eye. People would always say.
“Say what you want about him. I just feel love every time I see him.”
The memory made Sydney smile because he always admired and respected his younger brother. With the last week until the spring semester, the brothers felt good about their last bit of time together. Sydney’s younger brother smiled and punched him on his right shoulder and said.
“Let’s go see our oldest cuz!”
Sydney felt uneasy about his request. He did not want his younger brother to see the other side of him. Sydney was trafficking guns for his older cousin, and he did not want his younger brother to find out. Sydney replied in hesitation.
“Come on, man. Just go to your job, and we can see cuz at a later time.”
Sydney’s younger brother shrugged and said.
“My job can wait. Bro timing is everything. I may not see him again.”
Sydney knew in his heart to follow the plan, but he wanted to make his brother happy. So, he took the nearest exit on the freeway and rerouted course to their cousin’s house. The drive was smooth for the next 2 miles until a car came barreling out of an entrance ramp. Sydney’s younger brother screamed.
“Watch out, bro!”
With all of his might, Sydney jammed the steering wheel to the left altogether, avoiding the oncoming car. But the harsh jerk spun the car out of control until they hit the divider. The impact left both siblings unconscious. Sydney woke up, and everything was dark. It took him a couple of minutes to gain composure when he started to smell gasoline and the car going up into flames. Sydney jumped out of his seat and pushed his brother.
“We got to get out.”
His younger brother was not responding. Sydney pushed open the driver's side door and ran to the passenger side. When he got to his brother’s side, flames were slowly rising from the engine. Sydney tried with all of his might, but the passenger door would not open. As the fire began to engulf the car, Sydney took one look at his brother. He could see the sparkle in his brother’s right eye start to fade. Also, Sydney’s brother's head was on the dashboard. So, Sydney could see his brother’s blood spreading all through the car. Sydney felt utterly helpless, and he froze. When the flames became too large to stand around, he ran as far as possible until he heard the engine explode. The sight of the fire gave Sydney the worst feeling in his stomach. He looked utterly lifeless as he remembered the incident, when all of a sudden, a correctional officer walked up to the cell’s door.
“Hey prisoner 331, come on. Make your last phone call, so you are ready for tomorrow morning.”
Luckily for Sydney, his cell was right next to the prison phone. Sydney knew his mom refilled his commissary, so he decided to call his mom to inform her of the good news. He wanted to let her know to expect a second call for his exact location of pick up, a few hours after his phone call. Civilian clothes were ready for Sydney, and the correctional officer gave Sydney two pairs of khakis and a black T-shirt with one pair of black boots. Sydney’s cellmates were jealous of his sudden change of fortune. Frank abruptly said in the exchange between the correctional officer and Sydney.
“You are still nothing. You will be right back here with me. You can count on it, boy. Losers are born losers, and you will die a loser.”
Sydney had no idea what Frank’s statement meant, but the entire cell cheered with agreement anyways. He ignored the cheers, and Sydney wanted to take a quick power nap. Sydney could not sleep because Frank kept snickering in the background and repeatedly said.
“Don’t go to sleep, boy. You may not wake up.”
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