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- [00:04]
Advertisement Voice
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- [01:10]
Jack Wagner
Welcome to Other World. I'm your host Jack Wagner. This episode is genuinely unlike anything we've done on the show before. The story comes from a guy named Danny. It turns out he actually owns a little Cuban cafe down the street from where I record. But that is not how the story came to me. The story got submitted and I remember reading it and thinking, wow, this one is really far out there. Definitely not the type of story that I'd typically put on Otherworld. And I moved on, ignored it. Basically. Later on one of my friends asked me about it because he knows this guy. He asked me what I thought and I told him the exact same thing. It's interesting, but I don't know if it's right for Otherworld. He said, dude, I've heard this guy tell me the story before. I know it sounds really weird, but just interview him. Give it a shot. I think once you hear him tell it, you'll understand. Just trust me. So that's exactly what I did. And it turns out I ended up really liking it. I am not entirely sure how to categorize this one. You know, I say on the show that Otherworld covers the paranormal, supernatural and unexplained. This one definitely leans more towards the unexplained side of things. But honestly, the main reason that I love this story is is that to me it's kind of like a modern American myth. The story partially takes place in MacArthur Park. This is a park in Los Angeles that is basically an open air drug market. There is really no way I could exaggerate how bad it is. In 1990 alone, there were 30 murders at MacArthur Park. And when they drained the lake in 1973 and again in 1978, they found hundreds of handguns and other firearms. I first learned about this place by the nickname Fake ID park, because you can buy fake IDs and all other types of fake documents from people that you'd meet just walking around the park. Basically, there are a lot of things you can acquire and do in MacArthur Park. Pretty much none of these things include having a picnic or tossing around a football or anything that you do in a typical park. This is not a place most people would go to on purpose, especially teenagers. But that is exactly where Danny ended up going in this story. This episode is called the Devil's Errand, and you're listening to Otherworld.
- [04:01]
Danny Harunji
Hello, is this Bobby? Yes.
- [04:03]
Jack Wagner
It is, at its core, the science you can't argue with.
- [04:06]
Advertisement Voice
I'm so worried about all of a sudd the sky.
- [04:09]
Jack Wagner
It's almost frustrating that it's happening.
- [04:10]
Danny Harunji
I'm. I'm going to die. Limbs were just, like, wrong. It's just. Just. Everybody moves back into the light, even.
- [04:17]
Jack Wagner
If it takes them a minute.
- [04:43]
Danny Harunji
My name is Danny Harunji. I'm in Mount Washington, Los Angeles. I own Cafe Tropical in Silver Lake, which is a little Cuban cafe restaurant that's been there since 1975. I was born in Kiev, I guess Chernobyl happened when I was about six months old and my grandma had to get me out of where the nuclear waste was being brought in by wind. You know, we were, like, privileged. My grandpa was a Ukrainian author, so we were, like, allowed by the government to have a car, and we had, like, a vacation home, and we had, like, we had a few things. But being born there and then growing up here was a very big change. Moved to West Hollywood. Not speaking the language, not having the right clothes to wear. My parents would send me to school with a caviar and butter sandwich on rye bread, which, like, looking back at is dope, you know, but not when you're 8 years old and, like, getting clowned by everybody in school for not having a peanut butter and jelly. I remember my first time going to McDonald's. My dad took me. He was like, we're going to go and we're going to have American food, you know, because I grew up eating, like, gefelte fish and fucking borscht and holodette, and it's like a savory jello dish that has, like, carrots and shredded chicken and stuff. That's what I grew up eating. And my dad was like, we're going to go and we're going to have American food, you know, and he took me to McDonald's and got me a Happy meal. And I remember eating that happy meal and like getting a toy with the fucking meal. Like that had never happened to me before, you know, I couldn't wait to eat this every day for the rest of my life. My parents, like, you know, they did the best they can. They got, you know, they worked really hard to get us here. We had an uncle that moved here in the 80s, so he like, he sponsored our immigration here. So we moved to West Hollywood with other Russian Ukrainians. And right away I got thrown into to an English speaking school. And this used to be one of my least favorite stories, but I think it'll be a good like icebreaker. So I landed this school, Laurel elementary. And there's only one other Russian kid in my class, you know, or one other kid that speaks Russian. And I really got to use the bathroom, you know, and, and I ask him how do I say bathroom, you know. And he taps. I tap him on the shoulder and he whispers something in my ear. And I raise my hand and the teacher calls on me and I say you to the teacher because that's what he told me to say. What did she say? She sent me to detention. I did not yet. Probably peed my pants, you know, I don't really remember. I was seven. But like that's kind of how my life went. That was like the narrative in my life, you know, he. I mean he got me, he got me really good. I mean, looking back at it now, like maybe not at the time, I was bummed growing up, you know, I was like I, I didn't fit in. I know I didn't know the language, you know, and kind of like the way that, the way that I got to make friends was by being like the class clown and by messing around, by getting in trouble, you know, and kids like that. When you're, when you could get in trouble and you can make poke fun of yourself, then. Then you get other kids hanging out with around you. So I started getting into trouble at a pretty young age. Like nothing too crazy, you know, but just like throwing rocks at cars and like lighting bags of dog doo doo on fire at our like the neighbor's house, you know, like stuff like that. And right when I got into high school, my parents were like, oh, we're gonna send you to a nice magnet school. And they sent me to Palisades, to Pali High. And I started getting into trouble there pretty early too. And it was like a very nice school. They would take us surfing in the morning, which was like amazing. For instead of pe, you could take surf class, you know. Sick. I don't think I ever got in the water once, but it was, like, amazing to get to go to the beach and hang out rather than go to class. I think I lasted there maybe, like, a year and a half. And then I got kicked out of Pali and went to. I went to a continuation school, and then I got kicked out of that continuation school and I got sent to my, like, district or my school zone, which was Fairfax High, which is on the corner of Fairfax and Melrose. And I grew up, like, doing. I grew up, like, doing graffiti and, like, hanging out with kids, you know, that was like, kind of like my. My crowd. I started doing graffiti. I started. I didn't really, like, start partying at a young age, you know, but I kind of like. Like that was where I found my people, was we would go and we would, like, vandalize stuff, and that's how we would connect. And we would go to punk rock shows and, like, do fun stuff like that. And right when I got to Fairfax High, I started smoking weed, you know, and I started smoking weed kind of in the mornings, and we. And we figured out that, like, if I could pull together everybody's money and then I could go and I could smoke weed for free, you know, and I could get everybody together. And. And so we would leave at nutrition and come back for lunch, and we would go and we found a guy, like one of our tagger friends, he had this guy where he was like, hey, there's a. I know some guy that lives kind of over by the MacArthur Park Metro station. So if we take the train down there, we can get a bunch of, you know, we get a bunch of bud and bring it back and we. We smoke for free. You know, we get a little bag and then, like. And then I'm finally getting what I've always wanted to get from all the other kids in my class, which is getting some acceptance and which is like, you know, that I feel a part of at last, you know. So on this one day, it was me and there was these two other kids that, like, you know, they were. They. I tried to get their money to come with me to. To do this, and they were like, no, you're going to try to get over on us. We don't want you to rip us off. We're going to come with you. And I said, okay, cool. We're going to go together. So it was me and these two kids that I didn't really know that well. You know, and at the school we had a really great football team. So there were kids that were like on the football team that were bused in from like Compton or Watts or from. You know, they were like very good kids at sports, but were like terrible at school. And they kind of didn't have to go to school because they were just there to play on the team. So they were like, we're going to come with you, you know, we're coming with you to go to see where you're going. And I was kind of bummed about that because I thought they were going to like blow, you know, blow up my spot. But they went along for the ride. We take the Fairfax bus up to Hollywood and Highland, which at the time wasn't like really a touristy, a big touristy area. There was just the Metro station on the stop and they were, I guess, building them all around there. And there was a guy there as we were getting off that came up to us. Bald guy. He was kind of pale skinned, very like distinct features, you know, I remember him having like bold, dark black eyebrows. And I remember him having very distinct clean cut, like a mustache, goatee kind of look. And other than that, like cleanly shaven, maybe the day before, you know, like a five o' clock shadow kind of thing. He's wearing like a very nice suit, but kind of like draped over his shoulder. He has a tie on, is like dressed very, very well, you know, like almost looks like he's like leaving like a nightclub or a fancy restaurant. And this is about 10 o' clock in the morning on a, on a weekday, you know, so he very out of place where we're at, you know, I didn't know much about clothes back then, you know, but I remember like the creases in his pants. I remember the black shoes, like the black, like nice dress shoes, you know, probably like a loafer of some sort. He tells us that he got into a big fight with his wife. He's down here from San Francisco. He had a jacket kind of like hanging over his shoulder. And he goes, look, she threw a wine glass at me. And he had some blood and wine under his jacket. He was covered up by it. He goes, and I need to get some drugs. Can you guys help me? And we're like, what do you mean, you know? He goes, yeah, I need to get some drugs. He goes, if you guys could help me get drugs for every drug you get me, I will give you guys $100 each, you know, and being like a 15 year old like, we just hit the jackpot. Like, this is the best thing that had ever happened to us, you know, whatever. Whatever you're talking about, we're in and we're like, sure, we know just the place, you know, and the place where we were getting our weed from was a few blocks away from MacArthur Park. Now, MacArthur park is a park that has been known since, I guess, the 80s or the 90s for being like a big open air drug market basically in Los Angeles. You know, you could go there any time of day or night, and there's people that are smoking whatever you. They want to smoke. There's people shooting up. I think now it's worse than it's really ever been. But around that time, like, if you would go there at night, you would think that there was fireflies flying through the park. But it was all the guys, it was everybody basically smoking crack or smoking in the park, all the lighters going off everywhere. So we were like, oh, we know just the place to. Yeah, we know just the place to take you to, you know, And. And right before we get going, right before he goes, do you guys know who I am? And we. I mean, how would. How would we have ever known who he is? You know, we go, who are you? He goes, my name's Anton lavey. And I. And I don't remember if he said he was the founder of the Church of Satan or if he wrote the Satanic Bible or whatever. You know, I'm a 15 year old. This is like pre cell phone, so I can't Google who this guy is, you know, I just know that he told us he's going to give us $100 for every drug that we get. And he looks pretty legit. He's wearing a suit, you know, so the promise of getting a hundred dollars for every drug that we can get, this guy far outweighed the consequence of like, of whatever weird stuff he was saying. So we're like, all right, let's get going. And he goes, hold on, I gotta say bye to somebody at this tattoo shop. And there was a tattoo shop right by where we were at. So we kind of walked like a half block over with him, and the guy came running outside and yelled like, don't ever come back here anymore. You're not welcome here. Like, you're 86. You're 86 for life, you know? And we were like, something. We didn't know what happened, but something went on with this guy, you know, so like the red flag starts showing up pretty. I mean, pretty much from the start. Not that like, oh, I'm the founder of the Church of Satan. Isn't a big red flag to a 15 year old, you know, that just wants to go and get a little bit of weed in between ditching class. And we go, whatever, you know, let's get on the train and get going. So we go down to the Metro red line, which is like from Hollywood and Highland, and takes you almost directly to MacArthur park as we go down there. And we go to buy tickets, because back then you'd have to get a paper ticket to get on the train. And we buy me and the two kids, you know, and they're looking at me like I'm crazy because I'm the one that's like, very into this. They're like, we just wanted to get a bag of weed and get back to school, you know, get back to playing football, you know, and. And we go to get these. These paper tickets. And he goes, oh, I don't need one. They can't see me. And I was like, what? He goes, yeah, I don't need a ticket. They can't see me. Which was like, very. We were. Which we were at that point kind of taken back by like, well, what do you. What do you mean they can't. We can see you. Like, what do you mean they can't see you? You know, so we get tickets, and I go, hey, let me get a ticket. He goes, no, I don't need a ticket. They can't see me. And he was very clear on that. And we go, okay, when we walk down to the train station and as we walk down and we're waiting for the train, he lights up a cigarette, which also this train, like the, The Metro rail station, you cannot smoke inside of a train station. There's basically security, if not police at every station checking tickets. And now you're smoking like, dude, you're gonna get us. And we're ditching, so we don't want to get, like, we're gonna get arrested for ditching school. You're gonna get us in trouble. And he lights up a cigarette. And I go, dude, you probably shouldn't do that. You're gonna get us in trouble. And he goes, hey, they can't see me. It's okay. And as this is happening at the other side of the station, we see cops come down to go board a train. And as he's smoking a cigarette and hanging out with three fucking high school kids, the cops don't come anywhere near us, and they stay on their side of the platform, and we're on the way other side, you know, and this is where I'm like, I don't know what's going on, but something weird is. Something really weird is happening here, you know, like, I don't know who this dude is. I don't know what he's talking about. I don't know what you know, but like, there's something. Something was happening there. And as we get on the train and we start riding, he goes, hey, before we get any further, we need to establish a trust. Then we go, what, like, what do you. What do you mean by that? He goes, well, I need to know that I need to make sure that you guys aren't going to try to rob me and you guys aren't trying to get over on me, and you need to make sure that I'm not going to do that same to you. And we go, okay. And he takes out his wallet, right? And it was like a wallet. It was like a foldable wallet, right? And it had so much cash in it that it did not fold. And he takes the wallet and I don't know if I'd ever seen that much money in my life at that, you know, at 15 years old, like, it's probably the most cash I'd ever seen. And he hands a wallet to me and he goes, here, hold this. Now he goes, look through it. I vaguely remember seeing like some form of ID money, maybe some kind of note, you know, from what I remember. Like, and the ID didn't look like a, like, like the kind of ID that I would have, you know, it almost looked like an older, like a vintage kind of id, like something. Everything he had was like, very nice too. It was like a designer suit. The wallet was like, it was designer, but it was like falling to pieces. It was like it was, you know, you could tell it had been through some shit and it's. And I remember looking through and it was all hundreds, the whole thing in there. He goes, now, you know, I'm not bullshitting you, and I'm going to give you $100 for every drug that you get me when we get down to where we're going. He goes, but you can try to run off with that. The doors are going to open and you could try to run off with that at the next stop and get over on me. And I go, okay. And he's sitting like one row behind us, at which point he takes out a switchblade knife and holds it to my neck and he goes, but if you try to run off with it. I could slit your neck, you know? Like, I could still feel, like the shift that happened right then and there, and I go, oh, shit. This is like, whoever this fucking person is, there's some weird shit going on. Like, this isn't a private area. This is on a public train. There's people that are going to work. At that point, you know, I get freaked out. I'm like, dude, this is fucked up. Like, what did we. What did we get into? And then he goes, okay, hand that wallet over to your buddy. You know, because I have the two guys, and he did the same thing to both of them. And I'm like. At this point, I'm shook, you know, I'm like, fuck, we got to like, what are we doing here? You know? Like, the they can't see me part is weird, you know, the fucking cigarette, you know, him smoking cigarettes. There's police at the station, and they're not coming over our way. And, like, he's visibly smoking. I believe he was smoking a Marlboro Light, too, you know? And I, like. I still remember the pack and being like, dude, this is. This is far out. You know? Like, what. What. What is going on here? It was almost like, as all this is happening, it was like we were in our own little bubble, you know? Like, it was like kind of like we were in our own little sphere. And while we were on public transportation with people around us, with people there, you know, it was like the same thing where. Like. Where he smoked a cigarette then, and nobody noticed. It was almost like nobody could see that this was happening to us, which looking back at was very strange. After he does that with all three of us, he goes, okay, now give me back the wallet, you know? And we give him the wallet. He goes, now, you take the knife. And I go, huh? And he goes, yeah, take the knife, he goes, and put it to my neck. And I put it kind of like close to his neck, and he goes, oh, no, closer. And I'll never forget this. The knife touching the stubble on his neck, like, feeling that was so close that it actually. The knife, like this switchblade, had touched his neck. He goes, now you could fucking slip my neck and take all the money and run off. And I was like, whoa. I mean, not like all the other stuff wasn't weird, you know, but at this point, I was like, holy shit. And he goes. And he does the same thing to the two other guys, and he does. You know, and they do it, too, and they're like. And they're looking at me and they're like, dude, what, what kind of wacky shit did this white boy get us into? You know, they're like, what is going? Like this is crazy. You know, he goes, give me the knife. And he puts everything away and he goes, now we've established a trust, we can go on, we can keep moving forward. So we're at this point, it's like we're, you know, we're, we're tripping. Like we're kind of. And we can't talk about it to each other, we can't because he's right there, you know, and like all three of us are kind of looking at each other like, what did we get into? You know, and, and how do we get out of this now? You know, but now we've established a trust with this guy. We're hanging out with him. We don't know who he is, you know, he's just like a weird looking guy that we met at the train station that is now going to give us $100 if we're alive to receive this $100, you know, if we make it out of there. And we were going by a certain stop and I remember I was going to, there was like a stop where it would kind of break off where there would be like a second train that would pick up. And we get to the station and right as we get to like the break off train, there was a purple line and a red line. We stayed on the red. Three officers get on the train and they start checking tickets and we're like, oh, now we're fucked. Now it's really bad. You know, we look over at him and he looks over at us and the cops get on and he kind of does this little move where he just nods his head down and makes it look like he's almost like playing possum, you know, he's kind of like just taking a little nap, you know, and as they come on and they're checking, you know, and they're getting closer and they're checking everybody's little paper tickets, you know, and they're checking everybody, everybody, everybody. And they're coming to us and they're coming to us and they look at the three of us, you know, and, and we shouldn't even be out of school, you know, it's. It's 10 o' clock in the morning on a weekday. We're visible, we're wearing our school uniforms. You know, they ask us for our. If we have our metro tickets and we show it to them and they walk right past and keep going. And like, it's not like if there was a. You know, and like if there's a homeless person, if there's somebody that does that, what they do is they'll shake them and they'll be like, hey, we need to see your ticket. And they walked right past them and got off and got off at the next stop. And once again we were like, dude, what is going on here? Because now it's getting like, you know, like, like it was. Yeah, it was real when we put the knife to his thing. It was real when he was smoking. But now it's like the police just walked right past him. Nobody said anything. Nobody's like, hey, are you kids okay? Why are you hanging out with this weird dude? Like, you know, he looked pretty. I mean, he looked weird, you know, he looked like a weird, like a weird looking dude. Especially hanging out with 15 year old children, you know, like looking back at it now, like, I would be like, hey, are you guys okay? You know, if I saw some kids hanging out like that. Then we get to MacArthur park and we get out and we go up there and he goes, okay. He goes, now here I. Now I'm going to tell you guys what I need, you know, he goes, I need crack, I need black, I need speed and I need coke. He goes in, for every one of those that you get me, I will give you each $100. And the strange thing was it was like, why couldn't you just go get it for yourself? You know, like you're here now, you're in this, like literally like this open air drug market. Like, you know, and, and we're 15, we don't know what we're doing. I've never done any of these drugs, you know, I just know that growing up in Los Angeles, that's where like that was like the drug addict park, you know, that was like the skid row of whatever. So the, the train station is kind of across the street from the park. And what we would do is we would walk over, he would wait. There was an elevator behind the train station. And what he would do is he would say, hey, go get me this, or go find somebody that has this. And we would bring it back and bring the drugs to him where he would wait for the people to come. He would then pay them, and he would pay them, he would pay us each the $100. And he was very specific that we were the ones that had to like, you have to get this for me. Once again. 15 year old kids in their school uniforms. You know, we walk up and we'd say, hey, we need to get some crack for, you know, for whatever. And he would say, how much? You know, how much you need? And we would walk back to him and he'd say, how much do they have? And he would just buy out anything that they had, you know, just as much as they would have. And he would give us every, you know, and the first one I think he did was the crack, you know, and he gave us each a hundred dollars right on the spot. And he goes, okay, before we need you, before we keep going, I'm gonna need to smoke some of this. And he smoked it. And then he goes, and you need to take a hit too. And I was like, dude, you know, but at this point, like, we're. This is the same guy that just put a knife to our throat. This is the same guy, you know, so we go, okay, you know, And I remember taking, you know, smoking, taking a hit of the pipe with him, you know, and the other two kids, and they're looking at me like, dude, what are we doing here? We literally just came down here to ditch school and buy a little bit of weed and like, what the fuck are we. Did we get into? And I don't know if it was like a part of this trust establishing, ritual thing that we were doing or what it was, you know, but he was like, very like, the way his candor and the way that he presented it was like we didn't have an option to not do it. He was like, oh, and now we're doing this. There was no, like, oh, hey, sorry, we're not. We sorry. We just say no, you know, like, there was none of that shit. It was like, oh, no, this is what we're doing, dude. I was like, this is. This is insane. This is crazy. But it was almost like I couldn't not do it. I mean, I was scared for my life. I was scared that I was like doing this thing that, you know, everything that I had learned prior to that moment was like, you don't do this. This is like the worst. Drug addicts, the guys that you see on the street, you know, like, that's their crackhead, you know, I remember, like, then having this numbness take over my, like, mouth, you know, and my lips and my whole tongue. Everything went numb after, after smoking that first hit and being like, oh my God, you know, And I definitely remember the feeling. I remember seeing the two guys look at me like, oh, my God, what are you doing? And then seeing the two of them do it right after that. And the next one was. Was heroin. And he went, and he bought out all of this guy, you know, all these balloons. And he goes, okay, here's a hundred dollars. He goes, and here's a balloon for you. You each. You know. And he gave us each some of that heroin to take with us. We didn't like, shoot up with him. We didn't end nothing like that. But he was like, here, take this for later, you know, gave us a hundred dollars. You know, we kept moving and it's like. And it's. And it takes a little bit of time. Every one of these stops that we're taking, you know, takes 15, 20 minutes. We would go somewhere, they tell us to wait here. The guy would leave, he would come back, you know, and we're like sweating bricks at this point, you know, we're like, dude, what? Like what. How do we get out of here? You know, how do. Like, how do we get in here? We. Now we've got some money from him. Like, how do we. How the fuck do we get away from this guy as quickly as possible? He got some meth, you know, where he was like, oh, I need some crystal. And we found somebody that had that. He gave us $100. So now we each have $300 in $100 bills from him. We smoke the crack with him. We have a heroin balloon. He goes, we're gonna. We're gonna snort some of this meth now. All we wanted to do was ditch school and get a little bit of weed, you know, and like, now we're like hanging out with this freak down in MacArthur Park. We're like high out of our mind on drugs. We don't know who the he is, you know, he's like, he's got this insane amount of money. All this weird shit's happening where he's saying people can't see him, whatever that's going on, you know. So he goes, we have to do this, you know, and he, like. I don't remember if he. I think he chopped up like a little. He chopped up a little line. And we each snorted like a. Just a tiny bit, just enough to be able to like, connect with him on that, you know? And he goes, okay, before we keep going, before we get out of here, I need to find some. Some white, you know. He goes, I need to find some powder. And I was like, what? He goes, cocaine? And at that point, I was like, you could find, like, the cocaine wasn't A big street drug there in MacArthur Park. So I remember going and asking people, and they were like, good luck. Good luck. Like, you're not going to find it here. And the. The other thing that they're kind of looking back at, like, we. At this point, like, we would leave him for periods of time and then come back to him, you know, like, we could have at some point just ran off, you know, and, like, gone our separate way and. But there was like. There was almost like a draw that kept pulling us back to going to. To. To this man, you know? And we found one guy that was like, hey, I can get cocaine, but you guys can't all be coming with me. And he was like, you guys are kids. Like, I can't bring you with me. Like, you know, like, hey. He's like, he comes with me. You guys stay here, you know? And he looks at us and he goes, okay, I'm going with him. You guys wait for me right here. Or else we're like, or else what? You know? And he goes, I'm going to. I will be right back, you know? And as he leaves, we kind of look at each other and we're like, dude, this is our chance to get out of here. You know, Whatever. Like, whatever fucking weird shit's going on, we've made. We've each made $300 at this point. We're now high, like, very high from whatever combination of the. The drugs that we had done, you know, and all we want to do is get our little bit of weed and come back and get out of there.
- [28:04]
Jack Wagner
All right, we'll be right back after this.
- [28:10]
Danny Harunji
Foreign.
- [28:18]
Jack Wagner
This show is brought to you by BetterHelp. October 10th is World Mental Health Day, and this year, BetterHelp is saying thank you to the people who make such a huge difference. Therapists. Behind every small win in therapy, every breakthrough moment, there's a therapist who showed up and helped someone move forward. BetterHelp has connected over 5 million people worldwide with licensed therapists. And with more than 12 years of experience, they're really good at matching you with the right person. You just answer a short questionnaire, and they'll connect you with someone who fits your needs. With over 30,000 therapists on the platform and an average client rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars, there's a good chance they'll get it right the first time. And if not, you can switch anytime. This World Mental Health Day, we're celebrating the therapists who have helped millions of people take a step forward. If you're ready to find the right therapist for you. BetterHelp can help you start your journey. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com otherworld that's better. H E L p.com/otherworld.
- [29:16]
Danny Harunji
Are you looking for a podcast about pro football that doesn't put you to sleep with an avalanche of analytics or insult your fandom with brainless hot takes? Well, hi, I'm Dan Hansas.
- [29:25]
Jack Wagner
And I'm Mark Sessler.
- [29:27]
Danny Harunji
Oh, hi, Mark. And we're the hosts of Heed the Call, the NFL podcast you've been waiting your whole life for.
- [29:32]
Jack Wagner
He the Call covers every game, every storyline, everything that matters, and we do it all with a touch of mirth.
- [29:38]
Danny Harunji
Football is fun. Why shouldn't your football podcast be the same?
- [29:41]
Jack Wagner
Follow and listen to Heed the Call NFL Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
- [29:47]
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Danny Harunji
Love that chicken from Popeyes.
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- [30:03]
Danny Harunji
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- [31:10]
Danny Harunji
So we run off and we go to, you know, up the street to get to the weed guy. You know, we're like, tripping about it. We're like, dude, what the fuck was that? How you. And it's the first time that we could really talk about everything that had happened. You know, we're like, dude, how did they not see him on the train? Like, they walked right past him. He was smoking at the train station. You know, like, what do you mean they can't see him? The knife, the wallet, all of it. You know, all of it. We're like, we just fucking tried. Like, we just smoked crack, you know, like, that was not our. That Was not on my bingo card for, you know, 10th grade in Fairfax High, you know, it was like, what. At which point did like, how did this all happen? You know, and we went over to the guy and we got our weed and we took the bus back to school. I don't think we went back to class. I think it was like, it kind of became such an ordeal. You know, we usually. We would leave in nutrition and try to come back for lunch. That was like kind of our plan, you know, and it didn't quite go according to plan that day. So I think by the time we got back there, school was just about getting out, you know. And I remember inviting everybody over to my parents house to have like a kickback after because we had all this weed that we brought, brought home and like telling him this story and then being like, dude, what are you? Like, like, they were. They couldn't believe it, you know, I remember telling my girlfriend at the time that this happened, and she was like, dude, what's wrong with you? Like, and you did that? You know, she was like, so ashamed that I had done that, you know, and it was almost like we didn't have a choice. We couldn't at this. By the time we got down there, we didn't have a choice to not do that. And we were walking back home, we got. I got into a fight with her about it where I was like, look, but I got us all this weed or whatever. And she goes, I don't care. Like, you're. You're a. You know. And it was like this thing where it was like. And we had always gotten along really well, and it was like, we kind of got into this big blowout fight. And I showed my friend Kevin. I remember showing him. I was like, dude, look, here's the. Here's this balloon that the guy gave us. Here's a heroin balloon, you know. And he was like, dude, why the fuck did you keep that? Like, what's wrong with you? And he took it and he threw it away. He was like, get that out of here.
- [33:04]
Jack Wagner
What's weird about this story? I mean, it sounds so unbelievable and I believe you, by the way, but I can imagine it being hard to explain to your classmates and everything. I mean, part of me is like, did they just do a bunch of weird MacArthur park drugs and hallucinate all this? But how could. I mean, how could at 15 years old, could you guys have gotten this money to buy all this stuff? I mean, like, there had to be a guy. There was a guy that's like, the thing. There had to be a guy.
- [33:32]
Danny Harunji
There was a guy, them looking at me. And the look that my friends had when they saw it, me being like, whoa, like, something. Some. Something's not right, you know, like. And there was definitely a bit of shame where it's that thing where it's like, you tell yourself, I'm not going to do this, you know, Like, I remember having my dare officer, like, sign my yearbook in elementary school. That's how cool I thought he was, you know, like. And here I am X amount of years later with this happening, you know, so there was definitely a big, like, shame and there was a big. Yeah, like, I can't believe, like, how did I get here? Kind of feeling. You know, I. I clearly remember being like, I don't want to turn out like, those people that, like, that I learned about and dare those kids that they were like, oh, you don't want to, you know, like, don't be like them. Like, they're. They're trouble. They're. They're, you know, you know, you don't want to be the bad kids, you know, And I then later, you know, when I turned about 19 or 20, I got into doing drugs, you know, and I got into doing hard drugs and did some of the stuff, you know, like, ended up doing the drugs that this guy had then introduced me to five years earlier. Some of my friends, so, you know, we started partying. We would go to raves and we would go to. We go to raves and concerts and do, you know, like, like, party drugs and, you know, mushrooms, ecstasy and whatever, you know, just like, whatever, like, fun party drugs that we would do acid and. And then something happened where it was, like, a bunch of my friends stopped doing that, you know, and they were like, oh, they started going to college and they started getting their lives together and getting careers and, like, going to law school and getting engaged and doing stuff, you know. And then there was, like, there was me and, like, two and like, two of my other friends kind of separately, all kind of started going towards this, like, darker area of doing drugs. I got really into opiates for a while. I was really like, you know, I was like. I was dependent on opiates for about seven to eight years. That's another funny way that I got introduced to opiates. It was New Year's Eve, and we were partying, and there was a guy who came to, like, drop off some blow to me, and he was like, hey, man, I got some opium. He was. I got some opium. You want to smoke it? And he had like a cool looking opium pipe, you know. And I was like, oh, that's rad. Like, I've never tried smoking opium before, you know, it's like, it sounds very cool, you know. So smoked some opium with this guy who was my like coke dealer at the time, an ecstasy dealer. And a few of us smoked and I remember like we threw up after smoking. We're like, dude, that was messed up, you know, and we went and we partied and the next day we were like, hey, we should see if what's his name has any of that opium stuff. And we called him and he was like. And I was like, hey, can you come over? I want to get some that opium from you. And he goes, opium? He goes, what are you talking about? I go do that stuff. We were smoking out of the little pipe. And he was like, oh, that was black tar heroin. And I was like, excuse me, you know, and he's like, yeah, that was black tar heroin we smoked. And I was like, no, you said it was opium. He goes, oh, it's the same thing, you know. And I was like, I'm pretty sure it's not the same thing. I think you're, you know. And we were like, hey, you know what? We'll get, get your ass over here and bring over some of that black tar heroin. Because now, like, once again, this door had been open. I kind of had it like on, somewhat under control. I worked in animation for years. I had a, I had an edible company where I was in. I would made edibles and sold them to the dispensaries like before. It was a, before the, the whole like dispensary boom thing happened. So I did well enough to where I was like able to support myself financially and still like use opiates and these like hard drugs regularly for about seven years. For about seven years straight. And when my dad, my dad passed away when I was 27 and right after the time my dad passed away was that it was like where I couldn't really keep controlling it anymore. Where I kind of got to the place where like, I was like, I kind of like went off the deep end. One of the things that I'd like promised myself when I was really young is that I would never use IV drugs and I never like, would use a needle. And right after my dad passed away, shortly after that, I started doing IV drugs, meth and heroin. And I did that for about three years. You, you think about it. You, you know, I mean, at least I Thought about it where I was like, how did I end up here? You draw these invisible lines and you say, I'm never going to cross that line and I'm never going to go there. And then right when you're on the other side of it, you're like, oh, well, I'm already here, you know, and it's like you draw these invisible lines and you go, I'm never going to do. For me, it was like. That was like the. I'm not going to be the IV drug guy, you know, and then. And then here you. Here I am right then. And, you know, like. And then you look back at it, you go, well, I've already done this. You know, I've already done this, so I might as well keep going. You know, all that stuff that I tried back and, you know, when I was 15 years old with. With whoever that person or entity or whatever it was, you know, that I met that day was. I was now doing on a regular basis. I was, you know, I was on and off the street. You know, I was in and out of treatment centers. I did a pretty deep dive into drugs. And they. They ruled my life. I was living out of motels and stuff. I would go to meetings and I would try to get sober. I went to like, two detoxes and I would put together, I'd get sober and I'd get out and I'd start smoking weed again. And then, like, when I'd smoke weed, then I'd then, like, I would get cottonmouth, and then I would need a beer, because that goes great with the cotton mouth. And then after the beer, after a few beers, I'd want to do a little bit of blow. And then, like, I'd be up all night. So then I, hey, you know, like, what's going to bring me down is a little opium again, or opium quote, unquote again, you know, And. And it was kind of like this vicious cycle, you know, And. And I remember going to a meeting when I was younger and there was this old. There was this old, like an old timer there, like the guy that had been around for a while, and he was like, hey, youngster, it's good that you're here when you're young. He goes, because if you don't get it, then you're going to be coming back 30 trying to get this thing. If you don't get it, then you're going to be coming 40 when trying to get this thing. If you don't get it, then you're going to be 50 try to get this thing. He goes, and if you don't get it, then you're going to be like this guy. And there was like a guy that was like at the methadone clinic that was like in his 70s. It was like coming back again, unable to get sober or clean or whatever, you know, and. And that really stuck with me, you know, And I literally, on June 30, 2015, I turned 30 and I remembered that guy telling me that, you know, And I remember like that dude saying, like, oh, you're gonna. If you don't get it, then you're gonna be 30. And I was like, oh, they're going my entire 20s. And on July 9, 2015, I had a friend who. I had a friend who had gotten sober a little bit before me, and he kind of like never gave up on me. He would always reach out, like, see if I needed help and he would like, take me to meetings and like, get me some food. And I actually helped. I was like, when he was homeless, I would like let him stay at my house and help him out. And his family was all mad at me because they're like, you're not letting him hit his bottom and whatever, you know, his. His uncle used to post on. Post on my Facebook that like, there were some. There were smoking heroin together, you know, like, dude, on my Facebook, where I have family members and stuff. And he got sober and then he came back and he helped get me into treatment, you know. And on July 9, 2015, I was. I was like separated from alcohol and drugs and I've been sober ever since. And I just celebrated 10 years literally a week ago.
- [40:05]
Jack Wagner
Congratulations. That's amazing.
- [40:07]
Danny Harunji
Thank you. Yeah, thank you. I remember talking to somebody and telling them this story. I have another friend that passed away who he actually, he played in a band called Urge Overkill and he was. They toured with Nirvana. And he told me about going to this place called Toll. Do you know about Tow or to Kansas. And it's where it's like a. It's like a famous devil worshiping town, you know. And he, he told me, he's like, when he went there with. When he went there with Kurt, they went and they shot their album cover. And he goes, there was all these devil worshipers that lived in this town. He goes. And he goes. And everybody told us not to go there. And we went there and we like messed around with what they were doing. He goes. And from that day forth, he goes. Everything had changed for us, know. He goes, Everything. Like it was almost like, that moment, like, us going there changed our lives, you know, he goes, that night was the first time that Kurt Cobain overdosed on stage, you know, or overdosed at one of his shows and didn't make it. So he goes, and my friend Black Onassis, he was the guy that. That told me his story after I told him mine, you know, was like, dude. He goes, I think we had opened some kind of portal or went somewhere in doing that that day that, like, to kind of change the trajectory that our lives were on. And I was like, fuck, man. Absolutely. So years after this all happens, I'm telling. You know, I've been. Because it's. This is a story that, like. I mean, it kind of changed the whole. You know, it changed my whole life, you know, this happening, this. This instance, meeting this guy, all of it, you know, all of this. This going on. I don't know what happened to the two other kids from my school. You know, I don't know where. Where. Where it took them to. I don't know if they had, you know, a life of drugs or whatnot. But I was telling somebody the story, and I was telling somebody that, you know, and I mentioned the name. I mentioned the name Anton lavey to him, and I was like, oh, the guy's name was Anton lavey that this happened with. And he said he was the founder of the Church of Satan or wrote the Satanic Bible or whatever, you know, he claimed to do. And they were like, wait, have you. Is. Was it him? You know? And I was like, I don't know. I've never looked him up. And as. As I went online and I found a photo of him and looked up Anton lavey, I saw that it was to a T, the exact guy that, you know, the same. I mean, like, it was 100% the man that we had met that day. Now, where the story really takes a twist is I did not start high school until 1999. I was at Pali. I didn't move to Fairfax until about 2001, at which point he would have been dead for a year. He was dead for years.
- [42:22]
Jack Wagner
So what do you think of this? Do you think it was actually him, or what do you think this was.
- [42:27]
Danny Harunji
Even thinking about even you asking me right now? I got chills just thinking about that. I wish I had an answer. I wish I had a better answer for what I thought it was. I don't know. I don't think it was a human. If it was just, like, somebody that was, like, following in his footsteps, you Know, why would he be, like, taking. You know, wouldn't he just go and, like, get some drugs himself? If it was like. If it wasn't, you know, I don't know. Why didn't the cops stop him from smoking a cigarette at the train station? Why didn't they ask him to see his ticket? Why is it that when this guy was sitting there with three kids on the train, fucking holding a knife to our necks with other people on the train, nobody was like, yo, what. What's going on here? You know? I'd never looked into Anton lavey's, like, drug history, you know, and what his stance was on drugs. And I think I read a quote of his that he said, drugs are good for the slaves, but not for the masters, you know, which I believe was, like, a quote that he said, which then really opened my eyes up, and I was like, you know, I think it was some kind of dark lower power that should. That appeared for us on that morning and kind of, like, put me on this trajectory that my life took. You know, I've been sober now for a little bit over 10 years, you know, and, like, we rely on the. On this higher power, right? This, like, something greater than us that, like, you know, to guide us to, like, to run the show, to, like, to protect me from. From drinking and using. You know, there's like a. And I get in touch with this thing by, like, by working the steps and doing this. This work that we do, you know? And if there's a higher power, then I believe there's a lower power, some kind of spirit that. That appeared, that came to try to lure us into that world, into that way of life, you know, I mean, my parents brought me here from Ukraine when I. You know, to, like, to give me a life beyond my wildest dreams, for me to be able to work whatever career I could want to work, like, from the fucking Soviet Union, you know, and so I could go to whatever school I could go to. I could dress how I wanted to, you know, and I could. I could, like, live freely. And then this thing appears, and looking back at it, it's like. I mean, it changed the. You know, that. I think that moment changed the entire trajectory of my life.
- [44:22]
Jack Wagner
You know, I can imagine somebody hearing this and thinking, oh, this is some guy that was hallucinating all of this on drugs. But you eventually went on to do a lot of these drugs. I'm sure. You know, the difference between what type of strange things these drugs can do and the experience you had as a kid. In the story, what are those differences? And how do you know that this was different?
- [44:46]
Danny Harunji
This whole experience had happened before I'd ever done any of the hard drugs. You know, it's something that had happened where it was like, I didn't hallucinate this person, and I didn't even know who Anton lavey was until years, years, years after, you know, And I. And I've done many psychedelics, and I've done many different drugs, and I've never, ever, like, had an entire person appear who had, like, taken me on this journey to go get them substances and like, had taken me around town, you know, I think it was the experience of that happening and having that moment with him that then ended up opening the door for me, being able to really dive into these drugs when I got a little older. And I think that it really, like, it took me 10 years to get out of that world, to get out of being stuck in that. And I look back at it, and it's really. I mean, it's one of these moments where it's like, you know, what if we didn't ditch that day? You know, what would have happened? What if we would have missed that bus that got us there and we wouldn't have met that guy? You know? What if we would have said, hey, you know what? No, you're just like some creepy fucking older dude, you know? Then, like, where would my life have gone today? That's like. Those are the. Those are more the questions that I asked myself. But I'm like, you know, as sure as I am that, like, that I'm. That I'm sitting here with you today, I'm as sure as that I met Anton lavey that day and spent those few hours with him, hanging out, getting him whatever substances that we got, you know, and he was the first one that introduced me to these hard drugs. I don't like looking at photos of him because anytime I look him up, there's zero doubt in my mind that that's the person that I met that day.
- [46:17]
Jack Wagner
Whatever happened to the guys you were with in this story? Have you talked to them since? Do we know whatever happened to them?
- [46:24]
Danny Harunji
No. No. Yeah. No. No clue what happened to them.
- [46:27]
Jack Wagner
You know, this was such a crazy, pivotal moment of your life. I hope they're doing okay.
- [46:32]
Danny Harunji
Yeah. I don't even know how I would be able to go back and, like, figure out how, you know, it was like we had this. Yeah, we had this experience that we bonded on, you know, that we trauma bonded on, you know, and, like, to go our separate ways and, like, live through that is. Is really something else. And for years, it was something that I, like, had shame attached to, you know, and for years it was something that I was like, oh, man, I can't believe that, you know, from that moment, from that happening it had made, you know, like, maybe it opened this door and like, it opened this door for addiction for me or this life that I'd lived. Would I take it back if I was able to, like, if I was able to see where my life is today and be like, well, I want to undo that? I don't know. I don't think I would. Because it's. I am who I am today because of that and because of, you know, because of my addiction and my alcoholism and where I've been. I have this life that I have is a direct result of all of that. And I'm able to. To help other people that. That, you know, that walk from the same place that I come from.
- [47:28]
Jack Wagner
You know, what's weird that I keep thinking about is that he said, or else. Do you ever think about that? Like, what that meant?
- [47:37]
Danny Harunji
Yeah, I've thought about. We're like, what. What could the or else mean? You know, it was like, because we did the or else, you know, we left. We left his ass down there. And then my life ended up taking this turn, you know, years later. I don't know. Could it be that. That. That that was what, like, opened up this door for. For this life of. Of like, drug addiction for me or, you know, I don't know. I don't know.
- [48:06]
Jack Wagner
Thank you so much to Danny for sharing the story. This was mentioned in the episode, but I want to be very clear that I am not, nor is Danny putting this story out, saying that this was literally the ghost of Anton Lavey himself paying these teens watts of cash to procure drugs. In fact, Anton lavey was quite clear on his stance against drugs, and all intoxicating substances, for that matter. I just want to make a clear disclaimer because the last thing I need is a bunch of Leveen Satanists mad at me. He was quoted saying, drugs are great for slaves, but no good for the masters. One of his associates was also quoted in a magazine we found. It reads, the Satanists disapprove of drugs for other reasons too, said an associate of lavey's. We feel very strongly that drug abuse is the major cause of present day irresponsibility and lack of ambition and order apparent in a large percentage of the under 30 set. If people persist in their use of drugs, we will be more than willing to utilize them as slaves, since their drone like existence warrants no further consideration than that. So with that being said, I'm not exactly sure what this man was or what purpose he had in doing all of this. I will say that I have heard in other submissions, including one that's coming up, instances where some sort of entity kind of identifies itself as a modern day evil figure or intimidating figure in an attempt to scare somebody, essentially taking on the source of a person's fears. The thing I keep coming back to is the fact that people seem to not be able to see this guy in the train, including police. I mean, this guy is holding a knife to teenagers throats. Teenagers in school uniforms, mind you. The police walk by. I don't know, it's just really, really weird. You would think they would do something about that, especially given the fact that these kids are clearly playing hooky on a school day. Obviously drug use was involved in this story and I'm sure Danny would have even questioned his own recollection on things if it weren't for the fact that they really were given this huge sum of money by this guy and various drugs on top of that. The whole thing is just so strange. Like I said in the beginning, this story to me is like a modern American myth. It reminds me a little bit of the legend of Robert Johnson making a deal with the devil at the crossroads. No matter what you take from this story, I know that for Danny it was a pivotal moment in his life and something that he looks back on as a thing that completely changed the trajectory of things for him. And I think that's what makes the story so interesting to me. By the way, Danny mentions two high schools in his story. Funny enough, there are Otherworld episodes that take place at both of these schools. Those episodes are the Birthing Tent and Face to Face. Although those stories take place at different times, so there's no crossover, but I thought that was very interesting. This episode was called the Devil's Errand and you've been listening to Otherworld. Otherworld is executive produced and hosted by myself, Jack Wagner. Our theme song is by Cobra Man. The soundtrack of this episode is by Juice, Jackal and North Americans. This episode was edited by Theo Krantz and engineered by Theo Schaeffer. Our associate producers are Nikki Kate Delgado and Haley Pearson. Our artwork is by Cul de Sac Studios. If you want to hear bonus episodes of Otherworld, you could become a patron@patreon.com Otherworld Please show us your support by subscribing, leaving a five star review, and telling your friends about the show. Our social media is otherworldpod. Thank you to the team at Odysee. Leah Reese, Dennis, Rob Mirandi, Eric Donnelly, Maura Curran, Kate Rose, Colin Gaynor, Michael lavey, Josephina Francis, and Hilary Shuff. Follow and listen to Otherworld now for free on the Odysee app or wherever you get your podcasts. And finally, if you or somebody you know has experienced something paranormal, supernatural or unexplained, you can send us your story@storiesotherworldpod.com.