George Dawes Green: The Shotgun Party

Summary

Summary of "George Dawes Green: The Shotgun Party" from The Moth Podcast

Introduction

In the November 9, 2009 episode of The Moth podcast titled "George Dawes Green: The Shotgun Party," author and founder of The Moth, George Dawes Green, shares a gripping true story from his youth. Recorded live on The Moth’s main stage under the theme "Dial M for Moth Thriller Stories," Green recounts a tumultuous experience that delves into themes of friendship, revenge, and unintended consequences.

Background

George Dawes Green begins his story at the age of 19, living in a white wooden frame house on the serene yet isolating St. Simon's Island, Georgia. Despite the picturesque setting, Green describes his life as one of misery and alienation. Dropping out of high school, he works monotonously at a fish factory in Brunswick, enduring grueling conditions:

"I worked at the fish factory in Brunswick in the freezer, throwing boxes of shrimp onto wooden pallets all day long. And sweating so much that I had sweat on my eyebrows that turned into icicles" (04:10).

Living with a roommate, Sean Kitchen, exacerbates Green’s sense of discomfort. Sean embodies the stereotypical "cracker redneck," involved in unethical activities like breeding pit bulls for dog fights. Sean frequently shares his disturbing methods:

“What you do is you pick out the meanest some bitch in the litter and when the time comes you mate him with his mama and then whatever she will, you make that with her too until you get something really twisted” (06:15).

The Conflict with Sean Kitchens

Green's animosity toward Sean deepens as Sean encourages toxic masculinity and aggressive behavior. Despite Sean’s abrasive nature, Green finds solace in his neighbor, Bill Pike, a Yale graduate and beloved history teacher. Pike becomes Green’s confidant:

"George, you know what we need to do? We need to do what my granddaddy would have done. We need to have a shotgun party for Sean Kitchen" (12:45).

The Plan: The Shotgun Party

Inspired by Pike’s suggestion, Green devises a plan to confront Sean’s domineering behavior. The concept of a "shotgun party" is introduced as a theatrical act of revenge, masquerading as a prank:

“We're going to have a shotgun party for Sean Kitchen. We tell him that there's a drug smuggler bringing cocaine from the shrimp boat, and this smuggler has a daughter whose body is like the temptations of Jesus” (13:30).

Green meticulously orchestrates the event, borrowing a shotgun and selecting a dilapidated cottage as the setting. He partners with Pike and gathers three friends to execute the prank, aiming to intimidate Sean into change.

Execution and Outcome

On the night of the shotgun party, the group navigates the eerie landscape of the north end of the island, under a canopy of live oaks and Spanish moss illuminated by countless fireflies. As they approach the designated spot, the tension mounts:

"Sean was getting spooked, and he whispered, are you sure that the drug smuggler is not at home? And I said, yeah, I'm pretty sure" (16:10).

Reaching the field, the prank reaches its climax when one of the conspirators emerges with the shotgun, delivering the scripted threat. However, the situation spirals out of control when Sean, anticipating deceit, retaliates violently:

“Bang, bang, bang. And everybody froze... Sean Kitchens dropped down to one knee and raised his pants leg and pulled out a .22 pistol and very coolly aimed it and fired. Bang, bang, bang” (17:20).

Realizing the gravity of his actions, Green attempts to diffuse the situation, but Sean’s mistrust culminates in a tense standoff:

“He looked up at me and said, I thought, she's about to be your bitch. And I said, Sean, I think she's her own bitch...” (17:45).

The prank intended as psychological warfare transforms into a harrowing encounter, leaving Green with profound feelings of regret and the sobering realization of the consequences of his actions.

Reflections and Conclusion

Green reflects on the complexities of human relationships and the fine line between jest and genuine harm. The story serves as a powerful narrative on the repercussions of revenge and the importance of understanding and empathy. Through vivid storytelling and emotional depth, Green provides listeners with an unforgettable insight into a pivotal moment in his life.

Closing Remarks

Following Green’s story, host Dan Kennedy offers additional context about Green's contributions to The Moth and his literary achievements, encouraging listeners to support the nonprofit organization. The episode concludes with a reminder to listeners to engage with The Moth’s offerings and support their mission of sharing authentic, live-told stories.

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This detailed summary captures the essence of George Dawes Green’s compelling narrative on The Moth podcast, highlighting key moments and emotional beats that define the story of "The Shotgun Party."

Transcript

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[Dan Kennedy]

Hello and welcome to the Mother welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. The Moth is all about true stories told live on stage and they are told without notes. We take the stories from our events in New York City, Los Angeles, also in Chicago and Detroit now, and all across the country from when we go on tour. Check out the site for more information. Themoth.org and we are just a mere week away from the Mothball, which is our huge formal event that we have every year. It's how we raise money to keep going. We're going to have it in New York City November 17th. Garrison Keillor and Jonathan Ames will be hosting this year. Anna Deavere Smith will accept the 2009 Moth Award. You should try to come out for this. It's a great way to support the Moth. It's an incredible evening and we still have a few tickets on sale, so there's a chance you can be a part of it. Hit the website themoth.org the story that you're gonna hear today is actually from the Moth founder George Dawes Green. It was recorded live on the Moth main stage last summer and the theme of the evening was Dial M for Moth Thriller Stories.

[George Dawes Green]

Well, when I was 19 years old, I went to a shotgun party and I didn't just attend it, I was the master of ceremonies. And I was living in those days in a white wooden frame house on the beach on St. Simon's Island, Georgia, just off the coast. And you all might think it would be a great dream to live in a beach house when you're 19 years old. But I have to tell you that I was plunged into misery. I had been living in Georgia since I was 12 years old, but I still felt out of place. And I was high school dropout and I worked at the fish factory in Brunswick in the freezer, throwing boxes of shrimp onto wooden pallets all day long. And sweating so much that I had sweat on my eyebrows that turned into icicles. And it was like the morgue in there, it was so gray. And by the time I got out of there the sun would be going down and I would be stinking a fish. And my roommate who also worked at the fish plant would drive me home. His name was Sean Kitchen. And he was what you think of as a bit of a cracker redneck rooster. And he had a part time job. He worked for a man who raised pit bulls for dog fights. And he used to tell me the secrets of breeding pit bulls as he drove me across the causeway to St. Simon's Island. He'd say, well, what you do is you pick out the meanest some bitch in the litter and when the time come you mate him with his mama and then whatever she wilt, you made that with her too until you got something really twisted. And I have to confess that I was really uncomfortable. And Sean knew that I was really uncomfortable. And you know, he'd laugh at me and he'd say, you know, you gotta realize that this is what life is all about. You gotta be a man, you want a woman, you're going to have to be dangerous like me. You're going to have to get crazy, chief. And I didn't have a woman in these days. There had been this girl named Alice who I was in love with. And she used to come by the beach house and she was an English major from Hollands College. So I would read to her the poetry of George Herbert, the 17th century poet priest. And I thought that this was really sexy. But I think Alice was bored to death. And also I was thinking of fish. And she didn't come around anymore. And I was desperately lonely. And the only creature in the world that loved me was this stray dog that lived downstairs underneath the stoop. And it was a little beagle mutt. And whenever I'd come home and come wriggling and wriggle, its whole body and happiness to see me and clouds of dust and fleas coming up and the dog's name was prope mortuis, which was Latin for nearly dear, which was how he is. When we had found it, and Sean used to give me a hard time and say, why the hell are you feeding that sack of shit? What is your point, chief? I hated Sean Kitchens. I lived in a little one room apartment on the top of this beach house with him and about 3 million palmetto bugs. And they wouldn't run from me because they knew that I would never squash them, because palmetto bugs are so disgusting when you squash them. But Sean Kitchens would happily pick them off the wall and squeeze them between his thumb and forefinger and then wipe his hand on his pants and have a beer. And when I couldn't take Sean Kitchens anymore, I would then go downstairs to visit my downstairs neighbor, Bill pike, who was an entirely different kind of person. Bill was a Yale graduate, and he'd just come to Brunswick for a few years to teach history in the high school while he said he prepared himself for the world of power. And he was brilliant, and he had this iron jaw, and everybody loved him. And I loved him, too. And I told him one day about how much I hated my roommate, Shawn Kitchens. And he said, george, you know what we need to do? We need to do what my granddaddy would have done. We need to have a shotgun party for Sean Kitchen. And I said, what's a shotgun party? And he said, well, it's anytime there's some cracker peacock who thinks he's invincible and thinks he's irresistible to women, and what you do is you tell him that there's a moonshiner who lives up in the woods, but let's update that and make it a drug smuggler bringing in cocaine from the shrimp boat. And this drug smuggler has a daughter whose body is like the temptations of Jesus. And we tell Sean, we say, shawn, this girl is horny and she needs a real man, but a real man. And. And there's only you, Sean. And we tell her, shawn, this woman, the inside of her mouth is like a million little feathers, and they're covered in swan oil. And we get them all. We get Shawn Kitchens like we get him frothing like a stallion, and then we take him into the woods. But one of us has gone on ahead with a big floppy hat and a shotgun. And at the right moment, he comes jumping out and he yells, you think you're gonna fuck my daughter? You'll die here. And blam. Blam. And Sean Kitchens will be running on his little two feet as fast as he can go and we'll be howling. But I didn't think. I didn't think that this was a good idea, because I knew my roommate and I knew that he was crazy. And he would. I worked with him all day loading and unloading shrimp in that freezer. And he would talk to me about those pit bulls all day long. One time he said to me, he said, you know what the best kind of dog is? It's the kind of dog that'll tear the dick off the other dog. And I said. I said, really? I said, that really doesn't sound very efficient. Wouldn't it be more efficient to tear the throat out? And he said, oh, no, no. You get yourself a dick dog, you got a champion. Now at this time, the only creatures that I loved were dogs. There was Prope Montuis with his clouds of dust and his fleas. And there was this other dog who was rust colored and looked like a fox. And we called her the Jackal. And she lived out on the beach, and she ate, you know, what the sunbathers had left. And she managed to elude the dog catcher, and she eluded us as well. The only time you ever saw her was in the distance staring at you with these incredible yellow irises. But sometimes when she thought that we weren't around or we were asleep, then she would come up to the house and lie down beside Prope Mortuis before, because she loved him. They were lovers. And I would sometimes be taking a moonlight walk on the beach, and I would come home and see them curled up together, and it was so moving. And then the Jackal would get wind of me and take off like a bullet. There was one time when I was taking my moonlight walks and I came home and I saw a car parked outside of our beach house. And I was pretty excited because it was the car that belonged to that girl that I was in love with, Alice. And I thought she'd come to visit me. And then I realized that she had actually come to visit Bill pike, my downstairs neighbor. And when I went up close to the house, I could hear them having sex. And I went upstairs and my roommate, Sean Kitchens, was drinking beer and watching wrestling. And he looked up at me and said, I thought, she's about to be your bitch. And I said, sean, I think she's her own bitch. And he said, well, if I were you, I would go crazy on that fuck. And about a month passed, and one day when Sean didn't go to work with me, it was his day off. And I came home from work. And Sean wasn't there, and neither were the dogs. Propit mortuus was gone, and the jackal was gone. And I knew what had happened to them. I went to the pound and checked, but I knew that Sean had taken them for the pit bulls to practice on their art of killing. And I was so grieving and so lonely, and I had so much rage that I went right to Bill pike and I said, bill, it's time. Let's have a shotgun party. And that very night, I talked to Sean, and I sold him on the idea. He swallowed the whole story about the cocaine smuggler's daughter, and he was drooling by the time I got to Swan Oil. And then I'd never done anything like this before. I'd never orchestrated anything. But I just became like a whirlwind. I was an impresario. And I went and borrowed a shotgun, and I went to the thrift store and bought a big floppy hat. And I went up to the north end of the island and found the perfect cottage that was all falling down to be this smuggler's house. And then on Saturday night, I brought Bill pike up there and gave him the hat and the shotgun and left him there to wait. And I went down and picked up Shawn kitchen the and three friends. We went up to the north end, parked the car, and walked down this oyster shell drive underneath the moonlight and the live oaks and the Spanish moss and about a million fireflies. And Sean was getting a little spooked, and he whispered to me. He said, I like how that music comes in on cue. And Sean was getting spooked, and he whispered, are you sure that the drug smuggler is not at home? And I said, yeah, I'm pretty sure. Then we came to a big field of palmettos, and you could see the shack on the other side of the field. And we started across and we got closer and closer, and then all of a sudden, next to the shack, this figure rose up with his floppy hat and the shotgun, and he shouted, you think you're gonna fuck my daughter? You're gonna die here. And boom. And boom. And then Sean Kitchens dropped down to one knee and raised his pants leg and pulled out a.22 pistol and very coolly aimed it and fired. Bang, bang, bang. And everybody froze. My three friends froze. And Bill pike froze. And I realized that I had taken this too far. And I said, somehow. I said, stop. It's all a prank. And Shaun Kitchens turned to me slowly and stared at me with the gun still in his hand and he said, you crazy Chief.

[Dan Kennedy]

George Dawes Green founded the Moth in 1997. He's the author of three novels, the Edgar Award winning Caveman's Valentine, the Juror and the just published Ravens, which is receiving rave reviews around the globe right now. As you know, the Moth is a non profit organization. You've certainly heard me saying that in your ipod headphones a few times by now. But consider getting involved with us and supporting the free podcast that you're listening to and maybe even becoming a Moth member. Learn more about all those things at our website themoth.org and now you can also download the Moth podcast directly to your smartphone and listen on the go. Visit stitcher.com and you can download the free application there today.

[George Dawes Green]

Our podcast host, Dan Kennedy is the.

[Dan Kennedy]

Author of the recently published book Rock An Office Power Ballad. Learn [e-mail] thanks to all of you for listening. We hope you have a story worthy week. Podcast Audio production by Paul Ruest at the Argo Network Podcast hosting by PRX Public Radio Exchange helping make public radio more [e-mail].