Timberwood: Short Stories Edition Vol. 4
The Conference
(REAL-LIFE written by Candy Grandpre in late January/early February 2021. But story told AS IF it happened in late May/Early June 2021, & I were to write it in mid-July 2021. Nola Bordelon is my character in this short stories series PLUS the BIG fiction book. Plus, I'm the narrator, but not exactly the MAIN character.)
There was a meeting inside the gym of 1 of the Timberwood cult locations on a Tuesday evening (kind of reminds me of a grade school assembly), & everyone was making plans for an upcoming Spring conference during Memorial Day Weekend. The Timberwood cult leaders brainstormed ideas of recreational & leisure activities to do, for the sake of the kids (& adults, too). They were planning out itineraries & schedules of certain activities to do.
[New Orleans is the author's (who's Candy Grandpre) hometown in real life. Also the narrator's (who's Nola Bordelon). Nola is also a character in the story. The narrator is a character in the story.]
Some of the members protested that it didn't make any sense for the leaders to make a rule that, since we were in New Orleans, (which was a lot of the members'
hometown, including mine), everyone HAD to go to this "mandatory" conference AND book/pay for their OWN hotel rooms in various places near the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The leaders said that this is to ensure that everyone makes the conference meetings on time. If you have to be somewhere at 10 AM sharp, & you make it EXACTLY on time, they call it "Timberwood Time". (Reminds me of when you're 20 minutes late in Costa Rica, they call it "Tico Time".) They penalized you for being late, but gave HUGE incentives for the "obedient" ones.
They had everyone to pick which hotels we wanted to stay in, & write our names on a list on a sheet of paper going around. But I, Nola Bordelon, had a problem. I'm homeless with nowhere to go. When Mr. Earl Price (Teresa's dad) asked, "Any questions?", I got yelled at for trying to ask what to do about me being homeless on the streets, with nowhere to go. I was scared.
I was banned from nearly ALL the hotels on Canal St. (The author was, in real life, too. No, more like banned from 2 or 3 hotels for trying to ask to use the restroom. The author, Candy Grandpre, is actually homeless). Tiffany's cousin, Jessica said, "Girl, we got you". Because NO WAY IN HELL, could I afford to pay for a hotel room for a week with a little above $800/month! SSI & Social Security.
& since I was in the IHM (in-house monitoring) program, my workers (handlers) weren't allowed to pay for anything for me. Taschika, Kristina's half sister, is 1 of the cult favorites & 1 of the handlers. She knows how to "network" & how to slick talk. She's very buddy buddy with both Jessica & Teresa.
Taschika took the initiative to go & ask Mr. Earl about my situation, (& of course he wasn't gonna yell at or be mean to her), & he said that it was OK. That he would make an exception for the sake of the event. He asked in his Southern Black Mississippi country accent, "Who's gon' pay for it? Taschika said, "ME!" Then, he said, "Now, it would be unfair to pay for her & nobody else in the IHM program."
Some of those Timberwood folks got a LOT of money, & others are DIRT poor. You're either/or. They only have a handful of people in the middle. Jessica was trying to ask me which hotel I wanted to stay at. I selected the Hampton Inn Downtown French Quarter area at 226 Carondelet Street in New Orleans. Right on the St. Charles streetcar line. Sucks that they didn't have a pool, but they had free Wi-Fi, fitness room & breakfast. But at least we were supposed to have gone swimming ELSEWHERE until plans got ruined by a bunch of dummies!
People call Rudolf Keebler "retarded", but he's actually smart as hell! It was Rudolf's idea to ask people to pitch in donations to raise for food, transportation, recreation & an additional personal splurge allowance of $250 each for the poor &/or disabled IHM clients. Also, for the "uniforms". Generous, huh? If Mr. Russell was still alive he'd say, "No." But Mr. Earl, the new & current CEO/top leader of Timberwood, normally would say, "No", as well. But because he made the rule of everyone having to stay in hotels, that's why he made that exception. So, he approved of the suggestions.
Hey, HE'S the one who made everything difficult for everyone! 🤷♀️😂 People could've EASILY stayed at the homes of some of these New Orleanians. Isn't that what New Orleans hospitality is for? Numerous people from across the world, associated with this Timberwood cult, came to travel to New Orleans for this long-awaited, week long conference. Some of the New Orleans natives, during the conference week (actually 8 days), would sneak off, away from their PAID FOR hotel rooms, & go invite tourist guests to their homes, without the leaders' knowledge. They would cook & have parties every night at their private homes, until the cult leaders performed the nightly hotel room checks with the curfews.
Curfew was 10 PM, & room checks was at 10:15. The leaders requireded everyone to get a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP, so that everyone can be there at the Convention Center on time. They wanted everyone there 2 hours before each workshop or meeting. Also, they wanted MEET & GREETS & people familiarizing themselves with other cult members.
The day came, where it was day 1 of the conference, which was the following Tuesday after the initial meeting. The Conference ended the Wednesday after Memorial Day. 2 days later. On day 1, everyone had to meet up at Timberwood headquarters at 4 in the morning sharp! Mrs. Jackie, Toury's sister, who is usually 1 of the van drivers, was assigned to drive 1 of the Timberwood tour buses. She would always wear sunglasses, driving those vans. 😂🤣. Strangely, she didn't wear any glasses to drive the tour bus. She usually alternates between sunglasses & eyeglasses. People used to make fun of her about wearing the sunglasses & driving the van all the time. Taschika was also 1 of the tour bus drivers, & all the pervy, flirty men tried to tell her that she looks sexy driving the tour bus. The women & men glorified her as 1 of the best drivers. 🙄 & she was the youngest. All the other drivers were older.
Mrs. Jackie was mean, & unfortunately, I was forced to ride on HER tour bus. They had 20 tour buses to drive us STRAIGHT to the Convention Center, & the 1st conference workshop was at 9 AM. We had to walk SO long. A lot of walking in that Convention Center. Smh! We had to go ALL THE WAY TO THE END! Go all the way down to the BIG Ballroom. That room where they usually do the big Thanksgiving dinners. The La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom. All 3 sections were used every day, on the days that we had conference workshops.
They gave us free time off, for the Memorial Day 3 day weekend. We weren't allowed to wander alone, & the buddy system was ENFORCED! Also, those fake, stupid masks, social distancing, etc. were required. That's why they had so many tour buses & multiple trips. Otherwise, they would've used 10 buses. Many members broke a lot of the rules & just didn't care. Some of the members (of many races, nationalities & skin colors) acted like house negro snitches.
At 9 AM, everyone was applauded for making the first workshop on time. As a result, we all got free Creole Cuisine gift cards. A generous $30 worth. The 1st day was only 1 workshop that was 6 hours long (with a 2 hour lunch break included, so 4 hours), & then everyone retired to their hotel rooms at 3 PM, which is the standard hotel room check-in.
The first workshop, it was COLD in that big ballroom, so the cult leaders made us do a (socially distanced) meet & greet before 9, & then after 9, the meeting started. They decided to make us do some exercise for 2 hours. Some of us were obese & out of shape. So, from 9 to 11, they made everyone jog in a big circle for 2 hours. Yes, 2 hours! They gave us plenty of ice cold water to drink. They would whistle to us, whenever they wanted to make us start or stop. They did this for 2 hours. Seems like they made us start & stop every 10 minutes. Start for 10 minutes, take a break for another 10, & then start again, stop again, according to the commands of the blowing whistles. (Reminds me of senseless cult mind control repetition). We could jog at our own pace, but during jogging time, we weren't allowed to take a break, unless to stop & drink water. During the 10 minute break intervals, that's when we were allowed to sit down & rest.
11 AM came around, & they told us to save the gift cards for dinner later on that evening. They instructed us to go to the Riverwalk & have a lunch break, but be back at 1 PM sharp. They weren't playing! They expected us to eat STRICTLY at the Riverwalk food court.
In the midst of that BIG crowd, Jessica found me, & she told me what the plan was. She had me hang out with her, according to the buddy system. She hung out with a lot of other people. I was the awkward, weird loner. I'm surprised that she was cool & nice. Taschika (a narcissistic abuser, who's HIGHLY narcissistic) told Jessica to not let me wander off & disappear out of her sight.
Jessica was SUPER nice! She had a wild side, though. She asked me which place in the Riverwalk I wanted to go eat at, & she told me, "Girl, I got you". She still had that pre-Katrina leniency about herself. She told me to keep the $250 extra spending money (Our workers aren't allowed to spend money on us, remember?) She asked me if I wanted to eat Raising Canes. I said, "No, thank you". I told her that I wanted Mandarin Express. She was like, "Girl, don't be shy. Ain't nobody lookin'. Lemme spurl ya!" (Some New Orleans Black &/or Creole people say "spurl", instead of "spoil".)
I wanted to go CRAZY & get me some Cafe' Du Monde beignets, Smoothie King AND Haagen Dazs, in addition to the Chinese food. But I didn't have the space in my belly or the time for that. Plus, I wanted to be careful about the sin of gluttony, & I also didn't want people calling me "greedy". I wanted Haagen Dazs SO badly! So, I settled with the Chinese food & ice cream. I feared that I was "greedy" already. Jessica didn't mind. I didn't take advantage of that opportunity to go overboard. I also was scared to be thought of as "covetous". Taschika called me "greedy" & lectured me ANYWAY! I got the smaller plate of food & 1 scoop of ice cream, & STILL got called "greedy"! I told Kristina about it, & she softly whispered, "I'm sorry, Nola". I was feeling panicky & kept asking people for reassurance on whether or not I REALLY WAS being "greedy". Everybody calling everybody "greedy", during Timberwood cult group meals. Smh!
At first, I thought Jessica was trying to hit on me, but she knows she's now allowed to do anything sexual with me, because of the IHM program rules. Come to find out, I'm glad she didn't sexually want me. She's just cool. But she's bisexual, like a lot of (but not all) Timberwood cult members. I'm heterosexual.
1 PM came by, & the other half of the workshop consisted of us being forced to do light yoga & progressive muscle relaxation, since we just got done eating. I was against it because it's evil, Satanic & New Age. They forced me to participate, anyway! They forced us to run earlier, with a mask on, & now force us to do all this, WITH A MASK! I told them that I can't breathe with a mask. Everyone else was compliant & obedient, without complaining. It was made to look like I was the only crazy "fool" to create trouble. Everyone wanted me to shut up, stop arguing back & follow the rules. They thought I was trying to hold everybody up.
The leaders kept threatening to put me in their secret prison, telling me that the prison was worse. They kept trying to guilt-trip me into being "grateful" for this experience & a temporary PAID FOR roof over my head, food, showers, etc. & they forced me (before going to the hotel) to go to Walgreens on Canal St. after the workshop, WITH a mask on!, & buy a notebook & pen, & write 10 things a day, that I was grateful for, on the trip.
We FINALLY got to our hotel rooms, & I had the bed next to the window, & Jessica had the bed next to the bathroom. Taschika was in our room a lot, because she was Jessica's friend. Taschika was in a different, more expensive, fancier hotel. Taschika was keeping tabs on me, making SURE I was writing the 10 things I'm grateful for. Then, I took a nap. They PURPOSELY put us in room 609!
Dinner came, & me, Jessica, Taschika & the clique ate at Cafe' Maspero, using the gift card. We had to walk over there. After dinner, we walked around. More like up & down Canal St. We're natives, so we knew better than to go in the French Quarter or on Bourbon St. So many men were trying to hit on Taschika left & right, because she's "attractive", young, light-skinned & mixed. Jessica was light-skinned & mixed, too, but she was overweight with short hair. Jessica was in her mid-40's, & Taschika was 31.
I got yelled at by 1 of the White male cult leaders for having a conversation with a dark-skinned, Black female. I was trying to pass out fliers of my homemade Christian gospel tracts. I didn't know what I did wrong. I got yelled at for talking to that "dark-skinned" girl. He yelled at me & emphasized DARK-SKINNED!
Timberwood had been HEAVILY rumored to be racist, but cover up by being "colorstruck", so as to make their racism less obvious. It's a sad fact that in New Orleans culture & other environments, cities, states & countries &, for example, the Hollywood entertainment industry, so many Black people have to face colorism. Favoritism in New Orleans towards the light-skinned, "pretty" mixed Creoles. This also ties in to New World Order illuminati eugenics.
Many of the guys walking down Canal St. kept asking for Taschika's phone number, wanting to hook up. She self-righteously said, "Nah. I'm tryna be a good girl tonight. Plus, I'm tired." Jessica was kind of mad, because she didn't get to go out & drink, like she wanted to. Timberwood DEMANDED that we stay sober & alcohol/drug-free at all times, & also refrain from smoking anything. Men were trying to hit on Jessica, too. I'm brown-skinned, ugly & fat with short hair. None of the men were interested in me. I had a silent crush on many of the men in Timberwood. They wanted everyone to look hot & attractive, according to the standards of the leaders.
It was 9:47 PM, & we all panicked & rushed to our rooms. We beat curfew by 2 minutes! Then there was room check time. Folks didn't care who they snuck into their rooms, after hours. 1 of the rules was that we weren't allowed to have any children who didn't belong to us in our rooms. Also, no people of the opposite gender, & no people outside of Timberwood inside of our hotel rooms. Jessica didn't care. She was sneaking men in our room, who weren't from Timberwood. I told you. She was WILD!
Some Timberwood cult members said that if they paid for the room with their own money, then they should be free to let whatever guests they wanted. But the leaders didn't feel that way. They had silly, nonsensical rules of control, just like other cults.
I usually suffer sleep deprivation, but I was surprised that I was able to nod off quickly. Maybe it was because of the food that I ate. Jessica waited until after it was confirmed that I was asleep, to sneak a guy in. She hurried up & nicely kicked him out by 5 AM, before 6 AM wakeup call.
Day 2, on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Supposedly Lunar Eclipse that day.
We got to rest a little longer. We ate breakfast, & we had an afternoon workshop from 2-6 PM. That way, we could eat lunch before. Taschika (Tah-SHEE-kuh) demanded today & yesterday's "10 things I'm grateful for" list, & she yelled at me for having yesterday's, but not today's. Shucks! The day just started. They singled me out & looked for just any & every excuse to punish me.
Afternoon workshop. They made us do this silly assignment/game, where we were forced, with a mask over our noses & mouths, PLUS blindfolded, to walk & wander around the ballroom, while loud, hypnotizing music was playing. They had us start off in a socially distanced circle, & then wander off. The music hurt my hypersensitive ears. It sounded like some demonic metal music. Nobody in the Timberwood cult really listens to that. & they made us do this for 30 minutes, & then keep track of, & count how many times we bumped into each other. None of us had an ACCURATE count of how many times we bumped into each other.
After 2:30, we had an hour-long discussion, where certain people volunteered to tell their experience, & what "lesson" they learned. Also, how many times they THINK they counted that they bumped into another person.
At 3:30, they forced us to visualize ourselves resting our foreheads on invisible baseball bats & then close our eyes & spin around as fast as we could, like DIZZY IZZY. They had us do this for 15 minutes. My clumsy ass accidentally bumped into a Pakistani elderly woman, & she fell. I got chewed out BIG TIME, & falsely accused of doing it, on purpose "because I didn't want to be there". I wasn't allowed to try to convince them otherwise. It was purely unexpected & unintentional.
At 4 PM, they forced us to sit across from someone, & try our best, to draw & color (or paint) a picture of the face of the person. & the person across, draw, color or paint us. & then we had to draw, color & paint ANOTHER picture of how we WISH that person looked. I suck at art. After that, everyone chilled out until 6 PM.
At 6, we had to hurry up & go to our hotel rooms, shower, put on dress clothes, etc. & then get ready to come back to the Convention Center for the socially distanced buffet-style "Lunar Eclipse Dinner Banquet". That was some REALLY good catered food! They spoiled us. They had jambalaya, gumbo, fried oysters, crawfish, crab legs, a BIG roasted pig, cornbread, collard greens, alligator meat, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes & gravy, salad, vegetable casserole, more mixed vegetables, macaroni & cheese, King's Hawaiian bread rolls, red beans & rice, beignets, ice cream, brownies, cookies, cake, spaghetti & meatballs, tacos, hot dogs, hamburgers, & a choice of water, tea, lemonade &/or grape punch. They had food EVERYWHERE! Again. At group functions involving food, the old, tired ass "Everybody calling everybody GREEDY"!
Before the banquet ended, to mock & gang stalk (or perp) me, they had 10 people volunteer to stand up to tell everyone 10 things that happened FOR THE DAY, that they were grateful for. Then, we all went to our rooms. This time, we got in our rooms by 10:08 PM, but we didn't get in trouble because it was before the curfew roll call of the night got around to us.
Day 3. I woke up the next morning, & Tharen's unfaithful, cheating ass, was in the room, hanging out with Taschika & Jessica. Doing who knows what. His wife Kristina knew about him cheating. The cult doesn't allow divorce, unless THEY authorize it.
This day's conference was a mixture of both a health fair & a job fair from 10 AM- 6 PM. This was also mandatory for the current members. The health fair preyed on the disabled, poor &/or homeless, the elderly, etc. Their job fair consisted of non-Timberwood people being recruited for different SLAVE positions in the cult. They also had military recruiters for ALL branches there, plus also booths/tables of both Order of the Eastern Star &/or Freemasonry recruitment. They even had a booth for Gang Stalking recruitment (surveillance roleplayers)! So many people didn't know the truth, & were blinded by the money & illusion of perks. I say "illusion", because anything you get, is controlled. Including the money that you "make". You're not free to buy whatever house you want. The leaders control how you dress, how you wear your hair, who you date, etc. & the leaders have control over your bank account, so they can come at any given time, to wipe ALL of your money out. Even if you're new & didn't know you broke 1 of their inconsistent, ever-changing & secret, unwritten/unspoken rules. The fair also had, what seemed like, leftover food from the banquet from the night before (but the non-Timberwood attendees or potential recruits wouldn't know the difference). They even had US (already members) to "dress for success". Then after that, bedtime.
Day 4. That FRIDAY, at the Convention Center in the ballroom, there was a 3-hour mental health workshop from 8-11 AM. Everyone was forced to listen to a presentation about mental health. Psychiatric brainwashing. The presentation manipulated everyone to think that they have a mental problem if they try to disobey or leave the Timberwood cult. (Look up DRAPETOMANIA. Runaway slave.) Also, trying to leave the somewhat militarized Timberwood cult, you're treated like how actual military people get treated when they go AWOL.
After that, they had us eat whatever food vending at the Convention Center. We weren't allowed to leave the building. Then, there was a 2-hour lunch break. From 1-5 PM, they had us take turns talking about what we liked about the trip so far, how we can improve for the next year (IF there's a NEXT year!) etc., & our plans for the weekend. They told us that they BETTER NOT catch anyone (natives) going back to their houses or anyone else going out of town, during the 3-day Memorial Day Weekend. Some people secretly were planning, anyway, to sneak off to Pensacola to the beach or (locals/natives in the cult) have parties at their houses. & some people took that risk & did it anyway, behind the leaders' backs. They were smart enough to just make it back to their hotel rooms by 10 PM every night.
From 6:30-9:30 PM, there was a MANDATORY "dance" to go to. Professional pictures & everything. Reminiscent of our high school dances back in the 90's. Except for NO "DJ Jubilee" (Google him. He worked at the author's high school. West Jefferson High School)! & the music was mainly today's mindless TRASH! I don't see how people were jamming to it, loving it. STRATEGICALLY, they only threw in 1 song from the 60's, 1 from the 70's, 1 from 80's, then 90's, 00's, you get it. & then the rest, today's mumble rap nonsense. With a 30-minute kid's talent show. Whoever won, got a free cruise to Jamaica for their whole family. & also, sporadically throughout the dance event, there were raffle tickets for the adults for 3 prizes.
1 raffle ticket was a free week of PAID vacation for whichever employee who won. The 2nd was a pair of expensive, fancy unisex winter boots, & 3rd was a gift certificate for a spa treatment.
Guess what. There was MORE leftover food from that banquet, & then people got mad because all the food ran out! Some people in the cult got mad & acted like fake wannabe gangstas & thugs, & tried to get ghetto & make a big scene & fight each other over the last of the food. But this was all planned & no accident. All for a problem, reaction, solution attempt by the leaders to punish & control the members even more, while kicking back & laughing at the excrement show. I mean, the food was good. But c'mon! Y'all have the money to go by the hundreds of nearby restaurants to get FRESH food! Why is everyone fighting over "free" leftovers?
The argument got bad enough that the people in the cult were talking about meeting outside. They went close by the area where the aquarium was, to go over there & fight. It was a BIG, nasty brawl. They didn't even care if they had kids. They abandoned their kids to fight over a meal. The kids were traumatized. So sad! Then, outsiders, who were unaffiliated with Timberwood, took advantage of the "opportunity" to start shooting & killing some of the cult members who were fighting. What a shame! (The author would NEVER condone anything like this, but I'm just illustrating & exposing the manipulation of the mind-controlled, crazy behavior that happens, or COULD HAPPEN, in cults. I'm pretty sure that the leaders & some of the members do witchcraft to achieve all this madness!)
The power-hungry Timberwood cult leaders wanted the conference to continue to go on, as usual. That Saturday, everyone's plans were ruined. Plans to either have a party at home or sneak off to the beach in Pensacola. Mr. Earl Price, Sr., called for a MANDATORY meeting at 11 AM SHARP, at the EXACT same area where the fight happened! & he did roll call. He gave us a 4-hour lecture with NO break! None of us were allowed to ask to use the restroom, either. He was FURIOUS! Many people were crying. Most of us had nothing to do with the crazy, ghetto fighting! He told EVERYONE off.
That Sunday, May 30, the members weren't allowed to go to church, if they wanted to. The day was spent by the leaders forcing everyone to stay inside of their hotel rooms, & some of them coming to our rooms to whip us with an old-fashioned switch. People of ALL ages (more like, 2 & up), got whipped with the switch, & we weren't allowed to defend ourselves or fight back. All because of what happened that Friday night. Stuff that we had nothing to do with. Everyone was treated like a child & whipped/beaten the old-fashioned way. & we were forced to stay in our hotel rooms for the entire day. & if we wanted to eat, we had to order through Uber Eats, Doordash, Waitr, Grubhub, Postmates, Instacart, Domino's, Jimmy John's, etc.
The same was for Memorial Day. Everyone forced to stay in their hotel rooms like children, & order food.
That Tuesday, June 1, 2021, instead of a workshop/conference, everyone had to still go to the Convention Center. The "workshop" consisted of everyone sitting in the big ballroom, QUIET, & being issued pen & paper. We all had to write an essay, & keep writing for 8 hours. 9 AM-5 PM. We people who were old enough, were forced to write for 8 hours, what "lesson" we learned from Friday night. Plus, the leaders forced us to sign non-disclosure agreements, & they threatened us & DARED us to go to the news, the media, lawyers, the police, etc. They wanted to make sure this WHOLE conference situation (anything negative) was covered up & swept under the rug. Then, we see Timberwood plastered all over the TV news, online & in the newspapers, how "great" the conference was, & only talked about the "positive" stuff, & anything to make Timberwood look good. At the same time, still trying to recruit even MORE members. AKA more souls to damn to hell!
Only the kids under 18 were allowed to have a lunch break for 30 minutes. Then, back to more writing, for the ones old enough. Kids from 3rd grade on up.
On Wednesday, June 2, everyone had to check out of the hotel by 11AM, & everyone was glad to go back home! I, Nola Bordelon, had nowhere else to go. So, my crazy ass went back to Pensacola, FL (where I was before the conference), to go sleep on the streets where the cops don't bother you for being downtown.
It wasn't until AFTER I got back to Pensacola, that I, as a Christian bible believer, realized that I got suckered into a cult & was STILL being Gang Stalked! How could I have been so blind? Kristina called me up & told me that she thinks that Timberwood is a weird cult, & she didn't care. She declared that she & her children are NO LONGER MEMBERS! Her husband, Tharen, didn't want to leave.
The End