Transcript
Sam Mullins (0:00)
How does a guy working for a fire department go out and snuff out a fucking mobster in front of 300 people and go home the next morning and feel good about himself? Well, you gotta understand this people. All you civilians out there. These people are evil garbage. The world is a better place without them. You have no idea what these people have done and will continue to fucking do. Not unless their lives are snatched from them. So did I feel bad? No. Not one bit. It was just a normal kill. That's all. Because I really believe I did the world a favor. I don't know what else to tell you. And if you can't live with that, grow the up.
Tammy McDougal Ryder (0:51)
Welcome to Crook County.
Sam Mullins (0:53)
Available now listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever.
Tammy McDougal Ryder (0:58)
You get your podcasts.
Sam Mullins (1:02)
What is.
Tammy McDougal Ryder (1:02)
What do you want me to say?
Sam Mullins (1:04)
You have found Chameleon Season three Wild Boys, a production of Campside Media. Oh.
Tammy McDougal Ryder (1:14)
A heads up, this show contains discussions of an eating disorder. If you or someone you know is struggling with eating disorders, please listen with care.
Sam Mullins (1:27)
In the summer of 2003, I was a teenager living in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, the town that I was born in. I was working full time at a video rental place, which at the time was a line of work that existed that summer. I was learning how to drive stick. I just got the cartilage pierced in my ear, and every morning upon waking up, I put on exactly three necklaces, a shark's tooth, a hemp, and a puca shell. For sartorial reference, it's helpful to note that this was the same summer that the OC went on the air. One night after a shift at the video place, I met up with a friend at Kalamelka General Store, which is sort of the center of the teenage universe in Vernon. How we set up this rendezvous before either of us had cell phones is a complete mystery to me. Did we email a day earlier? Call each other's parents landlines? My imagination fails. But we managed it. She showed up, I showed up. We bought slushies and potato wedges and crossed the street to the beach. We cooled off in the water and sat in the sand in our bathing suits, basking in the last bit of sun before it ducked behind the mountain. It was golden hour, so most of the families were packing up to head home. And I remember it was rec volleyball night, so the volleyball courts were kicking up all this dust that made it seem like the light was glowing around us. And that's when I saw them. There were these Two boys walking through the orange haze along the shoreline who I'd never seen before. They looked to be around my age and they stood out for two reasons. One, Vernon is a small enough town where if you don't recognize someone your age, that's remarkable on its own. And two, you couldn't not notice how skinny these boys were, especially the younger one. He was about as tall as me, around six feet, but he looked to be under £100. They weren't doing anything shady or nefarious. They were just walking by. But it was enough to trip this alarm within me that rang out, something is up. I watched them slink by and continue down the beach. I didn't see them again until a few months later, this time in the newspaper. I came down for breakfast and my mom was eating toast and reading the paper and she pointed to the page. Have you heard about them? It was a photo of the boys from the beach. No, what about them? She said, these boys came from the woods. I'm Sam Mullins from Campside Media. This is Chameleon. Wild Boys Part 1 Arrival the boys couldn't have known it, but they showed up in the right place at the right time. In a sense, this only could have happened in Vernon. You need to know about my hometown. Vernon's located in the Okanagan, a region in the interior of British Columbia, sort of halfway between Vancouver and Calgary. Historically, it's been a middle class place, but the whole region has sort of been transformed into an outdoor playground for the wealthy. The Okanagan is known for its vineyards, golf courses, ski resorts, its lakes, and the mythological beast, the Ogopogo, who lives in one of said lakes. Allegedly, Vernon's a white town. It's a hockey town. There's lots of churches, there's lots of retired folks. There's a winter carnival parade every year. And the city has never once held a gay pride parade. The crown jewel of Vernon, and in my opinion, the whole Okanagan is Kalamalka Lake. It deserves a Google image search. Seriously, do that now. So Kal Lake is home to Kal beach. And it's the beach in a town filled with beaches. And right across the street from the beach is the hallowed Cal General Store. If I could distill the vibe of Cal Store into one transaction, it'd be a teenager in a bathing suit buying a slushie and then paying with a wet five dollar bill. And then when the cashier's back is turned, they steal a lighter. That kind of place. And in the summer of 2000. Three strange things were afoot at Cal's store. The boys from the beach seemed to make the store their home base. And people were talking.