Timberwood: Short Stories Edition - Vol. 28
Written 12-31/2022 - 01/01/2023
**REMINDER - This is me using a fictionalized illustration EXPOSING the kind of wickedness that possibly occurs in cults. NOT condoning or endorsing! This is used to help people learn the truth & think twice before joining. I grew up in a cult.
Antonia is very pumped up for the New Year for 2023. She saw an ad in the "GIGS" section" on Craigslist for what she thought would be a new job opportunity. A guy, named Marcus (from the cult), was the one responsible for putting up Craigslist ads. The ad was written like this.
[Title in bold letters: "Come One, Come All."
Looking for fresh, new faces. No skills or talents necessary. Want a better life? We got it 4 ya! More money? We got it 4 ya! A solution to all of your problems? We got it 4 ya! You've come to the RIGHT place! We're HERE 4 ya! Check us out. Give us a try. We'll give you a high that's better than weed. We're only 1 phone call away. You won't regret it. What are you waiting for? Talk to a recruiter ASAP!
Oh, & make sure you bring your pops, granny, uncles, cousins & friends. Heck! Bring your enemies, too. No cap!]
Antonia told her friend, Debbie, to look at the ad. Debbie was skeptical & suspected that was 1 of the usual scams in the GIGS section. Antonia told her, "Well, if it DOES turn out to be a scam, then I can always switch my mind & reject it, right? Can't knock it 'til you try it. You might wanna get at this side hustle, too."
Debbie said, "That's the thing, though. You never know WHAT you'd be in for! You don't know what you're playing with. What if those recruiters might be baiting you in for trafficking, & you can't ever leave? Girrrrrrl! Be careful! I'll say a prayer for you. I respect your decision, but I'm not touching Timberwood with a 10-foot pole. Let me know how it goes. If it works out successfully for you, then I'll try it. Until then, hayyyyyyol 2 da NIZZZZZO! I think you're playing with fire."
Antonia thought that Debbie was just jealous & hating. She thought Debbie was just trying to keep her down & stop her from outshining her. As usual, the cult baits in weak, desperate people who are financially struggling.
Antonia's rent increased because of inflation. Her children are grown & have moved out of state. She was on the verge of eviction. Her husband, Roger, got fired because his job required both the flu shot & the COVID shot. They both refused to get those shots. They wanted to remain pure bloods.
Timberwood cult members didn't seem like they were requiring the shots. Antonia felt like, since she believes that it's a gig or a side hustle, maybe Timberwood wouldn't require them. Roger also wanted to join. They thought it was a "Work when you want & quit when you want" type of gig.
Antonia called the number, & the recruiter, Darius Adams (Sabrina's brother), answered the phone. He was ELATED & ENTHUSIASTIC about her & Roger's interest in joining. He brought them in for an intake & an interview. He even offered a communal housing living situation for them. He told them that it was free & no charge. He lied to them & told them that they would always be protected & safe. (NOT!)
The couple sat there & just LET themselves get evicted! Darius promised them that Timberwood would eventually get the eviction off of their record. He told them, "Just hang tight & let the magic do it's work."
Antonia & Roger moved into the communal home on 8276 Jaguar Avenue. The street is the same name as the cult's mascot. Timberwood Jaguars. The house is owned by Shane Russell, the former CEO's son. Shane is never there, but the house is packed like sardines. Overcrowded. It's NO WONDER there's always drama, distraction & fighting!
It's a 5-bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2-story house with 1 of the bathrooms being in the master bedroom. That bathroom has a (jacuzzi/hot tub/spa/whirlpool - whatever you wanna call it!). The hot tub is closed off to everyone, but the members residing in that master bedroom only use the bathroom & wash their hands in there. They have to use the hallway bathroom to shower. Shane decided to close off the hot tub, due to the drama & fighting over it. Plus, despite the cult making a lot of money, the narcissistic leaders are cheapskates. They try to keep the bills as low as possible. There would've been a 6th bedroom, but it was converted to a fitness room. The fitness room has old, raggedy, broken equipment. It looks like an indoor junkyard. Shane is too lazy to do something about that room, which is also off limits.
Roger joked that you might as well call it, "Long term couch surfing". All the bunk beds were full. The sofas were also occupied. The couple had to choose between a sleeping bag, a cot, a blowup mattress & the floor, to sleep in. They bundled up in the sleeping bag because it was cold, & the house didn't have extra pillows or blankets.
There are 4 tiny houses/sheds out in the backyard, along with the outdoor pool, garden & fruit trees. There's an 8-vehicle garage next to the kitchen. The laundry washer & dryer are in the kitchen, & not the garage (for some odd reason). It's amazing! It's a futuristic style, luxury 2-in-1 washer & dryer where you don't even have to manually remove clothes from the washer & put them in the dryer. The machine automatically transfers the clothes from the washer to the dryer for you.
In one way, they felt spoiled; but in another way, they felt like they were suffering. They were still trying to get the feel of the cult. They questioned the inconsistencies of everything. They wondered how Shane claimed he couldn't afford to have the indoor hot tub & outdoor pool + jacuzzi operating, & was always bitching about frugality with the electricity & water; yet, he always had the money to send in 3 catered meals + catered desserts & snacks every day from various restaurants that do catering.
Roger got in BIG trouble for questioning the backwardsness, hypocrisy & inconsistencies of how the communal home was run. He was forced to sleep outside in the backyard for a week, as a form of punishment, like as if he was a little child or a dog or something. He still rubbed his hands together, waiting around for the money & the final outcome of all this. They (he & his wife) didn't know what they were in for.
After his punishment week was over, he was still trying to make sense of everything. He & Antonia were brutally taunted, bullied & harassed because of the punishment.
The obedient cult members were saying stuff like, "Uh, huh! I betcha you learned your lesson! Didn't you?"
"Hopefully, your ditzy wife wouldn't make the same mistake that you did!"
"Y'all just got here, & y'all are a nuisance already!"
The couple both looked at each other & then put their heads down in sorrow. Debbie was right, afterall.
Antonia called Debbie, shaking & sobbing profusely. Roger was too ashamed to even open his mouth. He fainted. Debbie apologized. She also told them, "Even though y'all made a mistake, I got y'all back! Don't let the devil scare y'all. Y'all can still get out of that cult & leave. What they gon' do?"
Timberwood told them that there's no turning back, & that they're in it forever. Shane reminded them that this was a lifetime membership that they signed up for. What? In their vague, confusing wording with the "job's" fake onboarding process? They were lectured & reminded about that being a legally binding contract. Timberwood is nothing but a scam! There was NOTHING in the contract about being a lifetime membership. They just used mind control, manipulation & fear to prevent them from leaving the cult.
The abuse, harassment, gaslighting & stress was so bad that Roger died of a MASSIVE heart attack after they attempted to leave the cult. He also had an acute stroke & pneumonia. It was really sad! Antonia & Debbie were both devastated. Debbie was trying to convince Antonia that Roger was covertly murdered the same way as celebrities, but Antonia stubbornly didn't want to believe that it was the CULT that had him murdered off.
Timberwood even controlled Roger's funeral & prevented his family from having any say-so. That ended up being a big fight. Antonia wanted to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the doctors, but she was given the runaround. Timberwood was the mastermind behind all of that, too. She ended up having what looked like an MK Ultra style breakdown, the same way celebrities do. After that, Timberwood had her in THEIR secret mental institution against her will & put her on both "suicide watch" & "elopement risk". She was just sad, confused & grieving. She wasn't ANYWHERE NEAR a suicide threat! But they kept trying to push her over the edge & provoke her. She felt like she was in LITERAL hell on earth!
She had daily emotional support & prayer sessions over the phone with Debbie. Debbie would read her comforting & healing scriptures from the KJV Holy Bible. Timberwood had a problem with that, so they tried to restrict Antonia's phone privileges. Eventually, she made a way out. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Once Antonia got out, she went on TikTok to tell her story in bits & pieces. She said, "Don't let this happen to you. Don't become another victim. Don't be another statistic." She kept on researching & researching, hoping see other people's experiences. She stumbled upon Trenise's TikTok videos, & they collaborated. They were doing Livestreams, duets & stitch videos. Antonia felt like Trenise was an angel sent from God. She couldn't bring her husband back, but she was finally able to be on the road to healing & closure.
THE END