Pod Insights Spooked Band-Aid Bandit About this episode Maria thinks she’s landed the perfect gig, driving a friendly stranger from downtown Baltimore out to a Park ‘n’ Ride outside of the city. It’s the easiest hundred bucks she’s ever made. But she soon learns that there’s more to this job than she bargained for. Plus, a story about why the chicken really crosses the road.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:05 Glynn Washington? There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name oh. The doggy liked to growl and bite because the farmer said so. The pastor postman and his wife, the plumber roofer all took flight. The neighbors hit by day and night because Bingo bit that ash, yo.
0:36 Glynn Washington? You've crossed over to Spooked. Stay tuned.
0:47 Speaker 01 Why have so many crop circles appeared around Britain? How did thousands of people demonstrate powers of telepathy? Can the dead suck the life from the living? Join me, Tim Harford, for a trip into the paranormal throughout Halloween month on Cautionary Tales. Listen to Cautionary Tales on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:26 Glynn Washington? Just recently, even amid wars, wars and rumours of wars, as we tear each other apart, a miracle of sorts. For the first time in history, humans journeyed further into the dark than anyone has ever gone before.
1:46 Glynn Washington? Four people, the bastards strapped into a tiny craft, and right before the most dangerous, most fraught leg of their trip, as they watch our spinning planet, our Earth, setting over the moon's horizon, cutting them all from communication. On the dark side of the mystery, astronaut Victor Glover says this.
2:13 Glynn Washington? I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries on earth, and that's love.
2:22 Glynn Washington? Christ said it in response to what was the greatest command? That it was to love God with all that you are. And he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it. And that is to love your neighbor as yourself.
2:43 Glynn Washington? And so,
2:46 Glynn Washington? as we prepare to go out of radio communication, we're still able to feel your love from earth and to all of you down there
2:57 Glynn Washington? on earth.
3:00 Glynn Washington? We love you
3:03 Glynn Washington? from the moon.
3:08 Glynn Washington? And then,
3:12 Glynn Washington? they were gone.
3:18 Glynn Washington? Smoke starts
3:21 Glynn Washington? now.
4:05 Glynn Washington? There are many, many different ways to show love. And today, we're going to hear from a young woman whom we'll call Maria. It's the 1990s in downtown Baltimore. And because we're talking about real people, real things happen. So, listeners, please take care. This story references an act of suicide.
4:28 Glynn Washington? Now, Maria is in her early twenties, on her own for the very first time, learning to navigate adult life and working any odd job she can find to stay afloat.
5:27 Speaker 02 I had so many jobs. I did waitressing jobs and I delivered pizza. Just whatever job I could get to make the rent and the bills.
5:40 Speaker 03 What little free time Maria did have between jobs, she spent with a group of friends she'd met in the neighborhood. Her closest friend in the group was a guy named Jeff.
5:51 Speaker 02 And he introduced me to other people he knew. And then we ended up just being friends and hanging out.
5:57 Speaker 02 We were like huge anime fans, so we would hang out at my apartment or Jeff's and watch anime. And honestly, we all talk about how broke we are all the time. I went over to hang, listen to music. I was the only one with a car at the time. So Jeff was like, hey, are you interested in making like a hundred bucks? And I was like, well, yeah. He said, it's kind of a little sketchy. So if you don't want to do it, I totally get it. But I know this guy who needs a ride out to the park and ride. Because in Baltimore, people would drive to the park and ride and then take the train into DC to work or vice versa.
6:40 Speaker 02 The reason he's going to the park and rides is because it's like, like a smorgasbord of cars to steal.
6:54 Speaker 02 I wasn't thinking like, oh, great. That sounds fun.
6:58 Speaker 02 I know that that's not the normal thing that people do, and it's dangerous and illegal.
7:09 Speaker 02 But I definitely want to make a hundred bucks. So I'm like, yeah, sure.
7:17 Speaker 03 So Jeff arranged a time for Maria and this guy to meet one day after Maria was done with work, just so that she'd feel more comfortable.
7:31 Speaker 02 I pulled up in my car and parked.
7:35 Speaker 02 And in Baltimore, there's stoops sitting. People just sit on the stoop and hang out.
7:42 Speaker 02 So Jeff and this guy are sitting on the stoop of the apartment building. And I get out of the car and I go sit on the stoop.
7:50 Speaker 02 He's average height, average build. He had like dirty blond hair. And he's like, KMP, nice to meet you. And I assumed Jeff told you what I'm asking for. And I was like, yeah. He's like, are you good with this? I'm like, you sure you're willing to pay that much money? And he's like, absolutely.
8:13 Speaker 02 I was just a little wary, on guard a little bit, because, you know, I'm aware that it's maybe not the most kosher thing to do. But he was super normal and not at all scary in any way. Like, just really normal, nice guy, easygoing.
8:36 Speaker 02 He wasn't nervous, you know? So he just put me totally at ease.
8:42 Speaker 02 And he said, so if we can go on whatever day? And I'm like, sure, that sounds good. And he's like, all right, I'll meet you here. And I was like, OK. It was kind of brief. And then I left and they stayed on the stoop.
9:01 Speaker 03 A few days later, Maria pulled back up in front of that same apartment building. This time, it was just the guy waiting for her on the stoop. No Jeff. He got in the car and they started driving toward the park and ride.
9:17 Speaker 02 He was really easy to talk to. The conversation was just kind of natural. There was no uncomfortable feeling at all. He told me about this woman that he was dating. And I didn't know her, know her, but I had heard about her. And he was like really, really in love with her. It was kind of sweet. Like he, he was so like she can do no wrong. And she's just this light of my life. And I'm thinking, is this the same one that I know? But I didn't say any of that out loud. I just, you know, I'm just driving you, so I'll be sportive.
10:00 Speaker 02 And I had just broken up with this guy I was dating forever. And so I'd be like, yeah, no, I'm going through this. We'd get there, I pull in and then just slowly drive through. And occasionally he'd be like, hold on a second. And I would stop and he would get out and like go check something out. And then he would get back in and say like, just drive up there a little farther. And so, once he decides that he's got what he wants, he said, I'm all set, thank you so much. And gives me a hundred dollar bill. And I was thrilled. And I was like, no problem. You know, call me if you need me again.
10:45 Speaker 02 And he said, thank you again so much. Have a great day. And I just left. Honestly, it was like the most fun hundred dollars I ever made. I just get to drive somebody and chat and hang out. So I thought I was great.
11:04 Speaker 03 How many times did you do this with him?
11:06 Speaker 02 Maybe three, four, somewhere in there. He would page Jeff and then Jeff would call me.
11:16 Speaker 03 Was there anything about doing this that felt exciting?
11:21 Speaker 02 I guess there was a small element where, you know, you're feeling like kind of a rebel, you know, I'm going out, I'm gonna go do something I'm not supposed to do. But I didn't really feel uncomfortable. Somebody else might have been more nervous or thinking like, oh, is there somebody watching me? But it felt like just as if I was taking a friend to go pick up their car and they were like, is that my car? Oh, no, let's keep going.
11:54 Speaker 03 That said, Maria was pretty careful to never bring up what they were doing during those long drives.
12:00 Speaker 02 I had that mentality, like, your place is to just hang out and not ask questions. So I just sort of avoided the topic.
12:13 Speaker 03 Which is why it caught her off guard when he brought it up.
12:19 Speaker 02 I think he said something like, you know, so you're not gonna ask the obvious question?
12:25 Speaker 02 And I was like, well, you know, I don't want you to say anything you don't want to talk about or whatever. And he's like, no, I don't care. What questions you have?
12:36 Speaker 02 I said, don't you feel kind of bad? Like that these people are gonna come out of work and like not have a car? And he's like, actually, I do feel bad. He said, I always make sure to fill it with gas.
12:52 Speaker 02 And I remember asking, why do you do this? And he's like, well, I just don't have any other options.
13:01 Speaker 02 And so I feel sorry for him.
13:13 Speaker 02 It would have been at least several months since I had seen him.
13:20 Speaker 02 I came home from work one day and it's still daylight.
13:26 Speaker 02 I parked the car, I get out and I look up and he's standing under this tree, which is maybe a car lengths away, having a cigarette. And he's got like one leg crossed over the other one, just leaning on the tree and looking at me.
13:44 Speaker 02 And it took me a minute to register that it's him. And I'm like, what the hell is he doing here? But after like a couple of seconds, I realized he wasn't as solid as a normal person.
14:02 Speaker 02 He wasn't transparent, but he wasn't completely solid.
14:10 Speaker 02 My brain is trying to process that this is actually happening.
14:16 Speaker 02 And then he waves at me, just sort of indicating like, see ya, kind of thing. And then he literally disappeared.
14:28 Speaker 02 He just is there and then he's not there.
14:32 Speaker 02 It was just very surrealistic.
14:38 Speaker 02 I felt shaky and my heart's racing and it just sort of set my whole nervous system like crazy.
14:49 Speaker 02 And so I just sort of ran to my apartment, closed the door, just breathe for a few minutes until my heart rate slows.
15:00 Speaker 02 And then I felt this sadness because he can't be alive and also show up here as a not really solid being. But I feel like I need to know, so I called Jeff and say, like, have you heard from Pete? And he goes, oh, my gosh, so I just heard that this happened.
15:29 Speaker 02 He found out that the marshals or whatever were chasing him had found him in this hotel room. And they surrounded him and he shot himself. And he's gone.
15:49 Speaker 02 A few days later, I don't remember where I was going, but I see Jeff across the street. And so I go over and he has this article about this guy, who I thought was Pete, but it turned out his name was like Edward Brown and that he was known as the Band-Aid Bandit.
16:13 Speaker 03 The Band-Aid Bandit did not seem like the open, easygoing guy that Maria had been giving rides to. According to the article, he'd escaped from prison and had been robbing banks while running from the cops. He'd been on America's Most Wanted three times.
16:31 Speaker 04 Mr. Brown attempted to disguise his appearance by placing a Band-Aid on his upper left chin, trying to obscure a positive identification of him by bank's surveillance cameras.
16:50 Speaker 02 It was kind of eye opening, I guess. Seeing it in print did make it so that I could see more realistically how the rest of the world saw him. But it didn't necessarily change my experience with him because that wasn't the person that I remember driving.
17:16 Speaker 02 Yeah, okay, yes, he should not be robbing banks. But the world isn't set up black and white. Like, you know, a lot of people grow up in situations where they don't see another way out.
17:30 Speaker 02 And maybe that's why he showed up? Because I had a normal conversation with him.
17:39 Speaker 02 That's probably a better reason than any other I could come up with.
17:46 Speaker 02 Maybe he just really needed that. You know, somebody that's just another human being that he can talk to, that's gonna treat him like anybody else instead of like this fugitive from the law.
18:03 Speaker 02 He really needed to be normal.
18:18 Glynn Washington? Thank you, Maria, for sharing your story with Spooked. That story was scouted by Ashley Nicoleany. The original score was by Yari Bundy. It was produced by Zoe Frigno.
18:58 Glynn Washington? Now, for our next story. It's summer in New Jersey. It's time to meet up with friends and family, enjoy the sunshine, right? Right, well, let's meet Ivana. Ivana's in elementary school, and like every year, she's headed to spend the break with her cousins in Pennsylvania. Her Uncle John always drives her. Sometimes they stop for snacks along the way. But this summer, the stop they make now.
19:27 Glynn Washington? This is Spooked.
20:08 Speaker 05 I come from school around 2:30 and I wait for my uncle to pick me up so he can bring me to Pennsylvania.
20:18 Speaker 05 I really liked my Uncle John. He was definitely one of my favorite family members growing up. He was the uncle that basically let you do whatever you want. If you want something, he would get it for you. So I was extremely excited.
20:40 Speaker 05 Finally, Uncle John comes. I get my bags, I put it in the car, and we start driving.
20:52 Speaker 05 The ride is pretty quiet, aside from the occasional "How's school? How's life?" It was very weird.
21:03 Speaker 05 Usually Uncle John is very jovial, but today he was very, very serious. He was very off, very strange, very quiet.
21:15 Speaker 05 But I didn't think anything of it. I just thought maybe he was having a bad day or something.
21:23 Speaker 05 At one point, I tell him that I didn't eat and I would love to stop for food.
21:30 Speaker 05 I was very hungry. I wanted a cheeseburger and some french fries, specifically from McDonald's, because I loved McDonald's as a kid.
21:41 Speaker 05 All of a sudden, I noticed we're not taking our usual route to PA. I am not familiar with this road at all.
21:51 Speaker 05 You know, I asked him, I said, Uncle John, where are we going? Why are we not taking our regular route? He's like, oh, well, I have to go back to Long Island to get something at my place. So I'm like, listen, I'm hungry. And he's like, oh, you know, I'll get you food on the way. It's gonna be cheaper if I get it in this place, that place.
22:17 Speaker 05 I'm just like, whatever, as long as we stop by McDonald's or something, that's all I'd care about.
22:26 Speaker 05 Finally, we arrived to Long Island. And I know we're in his neighborhood because I start recognizing the houses, the street names.
22:37 Speaker 05 We are approaching his house. And I'm thinking, yes, hopefully I'll get some food. But then he makes a left turn.
22:49 Speaker 05 And I am thoroughly confused because we just passed the house. I literally tell him like, hey, we just passed the house.
22:59 Speaker 05 But it's like he doesn't even hear what I'm saying. He just goes up the block.
23:06 Speaker 05 We're not going wherever we're supposed to be going.
23:13 Speaker 05 After some time, I realized that he had just circled the block. We're coming up on the house again.
23:21 Speaker 05 So I'm like, okay, now I could finally get out of the car, stretch my legs, get some food. But no.
23:31 Speaker 05 He passes by the house again.
23:38 Speaker 05 As I'm telling him like, "Hey, you missed the house. Hey, you missed the house." He was like, "Oh, wait. Wait, what?"
23:46 Speaker 05 And I'm like, "Yeah, like you passed the house like twice."
23:51 Speaker 05 And he's like, "Oh, oh, oh, okay. Um, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
23:59 Speaker 05 At this point, we are a few blocks away from his house. And we approach a stop sign.
24:12 Speaker 05 I'm very quiet in the car because when I'm hungry, I get hangry.
24:19 Speaker 05 All of a sudden, I look out the front. And I see a row of maybe five or six brown and black chickens crossing the street.
24:35 Speaker 05 And they're on fire. Literally from their wings to their head, just chilling. They're calm. It's not like they're running on fire. They're just crossing, waddling the street like
24:55 Speaker 05 just on fire.
25:00 Speaker 05 It was just strange. I kind of just froze. Nine, 10, 11-year-old me is thinking, "Okay, the chickens escaped the farm or the slaughterhouse." That's the only thing that would make sense because why are they on fire? Maybe they're trying to cook them and they ran away. I really thought something like that.
25:21 Speaker 05 I'm the one that points them out. I was like, "Huh, how do chickens walk around with flames?"
25:29 Speaker 05 And he's like, "What chickens?"
25:33 Speaker 05 And he looks, he's like, "Oh, no, no. You could say, oh, no." Something's clearly wrong. My uncle is freaking out. And then he just does a complete
25:54 Speaker 05 He's looking at me like, "Oh my God, oh my God, we gotta get out of here." "We have to get out." I said, "I told you, your house is up the street." He said, "No, we're too far now, we're too far." And I'm like, "Can we walk?" "No, no, no, no, we can't get out of the car." "Did you see the burning chickens?" And I'm like, "Okay."
26:13 Speaker 05 He's probably going 45 in the suburbs at this point.
26:20 Speaker 05 All of a sudden, he pulls his phone out, and he's making so many different phone calls.
26:28 Speaker 05 I didn't know who he was talking to. But I can tell whoever he's calling, he's talking to people in Haiti, because he's speaking and swearing in gray all. "This is absolutely crazy, I can't believe her. How dare she say anything after me." He's asking like, "Please do something, I have to bring my niece to Pennsylvania now." Like, "This, like, this cannot be happening."
26:58 Speaker 05 After maybe 30 minutes more of circling around, he finally decides to get to the house. We park in front of the house, and he bolts right out of the car and into the house.
27:16 Speaker 05 Nobody was in the house at the time, it was just me and him.
27:25 Speaker 05 I head to the kitchen, trying to find some food, but there's nothing. No leftovers, nothing I can make, nothing. So I just go sit back down.
27:38 Speaker 05 After he makes a few phone calls, he seemed less afraid. And, you know, he just said, "Hey, okay, let's go."
27:48 Speaker 05 So, we are finally about to head out. Uncle John opens the door. And he just starts screaming.
28:00 Speaker 05 I look through the screen door and I see these burning chickens again.
28:10 Speaker 05 Some way, somehow, they found us. They were next to the car. They're like, kind of guarding the car so that we couldn't leave.
28:22 Speaker 05 Uncle John is screaming. He is upset. He just throws me behind him and shuts the door.
28:32 Speaker 05 He closed every shade, every blind. At this point, I was scared. It was like, oh my god. He's making it seem like we're gonna die.
28:43 Speaker 05 He's like, "You have to stay here. You can't go outside." I'm like, "They're just chickens." Like, just, I don't know. Like, "Could we cook one of them so I can eat them? Because you have no food."
28:58 Speaker 05 All of a sudden, I hear a large, loud banging at the door.
29:07 Speaker 05 And screaming.
29:11 Speaker 05 It's a woman who starts cussing out John. And I realize, it's Christine. My uncle's girlfriend.
29:24 Speaker 05 And she was very upset.
29:28 Speaker 05 "I can't believe you. How dare you? You left me with no choice. I've really had to get my spirits on you. How dare you reverse my magic?"
29:42 Speaker 05 When she said that, I start to put two and two together. Many people have told me, especially in my family, that Christine had dibbled and dabbled in black magic. She was a voodoo practitioner.
29:58 Speaker 05 So she more than likely did something to Uncle John because he was doing something bad.
30:40 Speaker 05 Eventually Christine breaks down the door. And she just starts going crazy on him.
30:49 Speaker 05 "I know you're cheating. I know you've been with other women. Do you think I'm stupid?
30:56 Speaker 05 If I have to, I'll send those chickens again."
31:02 Speaker 05 I'm just sitting there like, okay. Lady, I'm trying to get out of here. Betty, do you have food? Like, I'm just thinking like, this is like, this is nothing to do with me.
31:15 Speaker 05 After her cursing out whatever for like five minutes, she ends up leaving. I didn't ask any questions. I was so tired, so hungry, so annoyed. I sat there for a while, like I almost fell asleep, until we were finally able to leave and we head back out.
31:35 Speaker 05 There weren't any burning chickens at this point. They had left.
31:44 Speaker 05 Uncle John, he doesn't say anything. It was a very silent car ride.
31:52 Speaker 05 We eventually made it to PA.
31:56 Speaker 05 And my cousin's father, aka Uncle John's brother, got us some Wendy's. I mean, it's not McDonald's, but it's something. And that was probably the best Wendy's I had in my entire life.
32:14 Speaker 05 I locked the story away in my head, never spoke about it with anyone, until maybe a year or so ago. I was with a friend. And we started having a lot of conversation around spiritual things. Haitian voodoo, black magic, hoodoo, centaria. I told him the story and they were like, "Oh yeah, the burning animals thing?" Like, "Yeah, you never want to see that because that means somebody's trying to kill you." And I'm like, "Wait, what?"
32:47 Speaker 05 He explains to me that when it comes to Haitian voodoo or black magic, many of the spirits manifest themselves through animals. Depending on the spirit, it could be a message and it could also be a straight-up attack. It can be burning goats, burning frogs, or just random animals. Like, if you are in Times Square and you see a cow, not a good one. Because something more than likely is targeting you.
33:18 Speaker 05 So my friend was like, "Yeah, like, you're not supposed to see that. Like, you can actually die." And I'm like, "Oh, oh snap." If the chickens were meant for my uncle, then why could I see them? And he's like, "Oh, maybe you saw the chickens because you were born with a veil."
33:41 Speaker 05 It wasn't until this very moment that I understood exactly what that meant. My family have always told me "Muita aqua", which is Haitian translation for "you're born with a veil". That's when the baby is born fully intact in their mother's amniotic sac.
34:00 Speaker 05 This friend starts to tell me that veil babies are born with a special gift. They're able to see spirits, communicate with spirits, feel spirits. This is something I've dealt with my entire life, but I never understood why.
34:17 Speaker 05 My friend is like, "Also, veil babies are protected. If you or someone around you is being spiritually attacked, they have to get through you first. And nine times out of 10, they won't touch you because you're a veil baby."
34:36 Speaker 05 So, your veil saved you and your uncle.
34:44 Speaker 05 I'm just like, "Wow, that explains a lot."
34:55 Speaker 05 Having a veil has been very useful in my life. I've been able to help friends, other family, and I will say I'm very grateful for that. But I'm gonna tell you one thing, having a veil is useless. When you're hungry.
35:23 Glynn Washington? Thank you Ivana for sharing your story with Spooked. Now Ivana, she's a dancer, a singer, a storyteller. You can find more Haitian hoodoo and magic stories on our YouTube channel, Chronicles of Azoe. Leave the link in the description.
35:42 Glynn Washington? That story was scouted by Paulina Kriki, scored by Nicholas Marks, and produced by Eric Yanez.
35:58 Glynn Washington? Now, if you wander into the woods off a very particular shadow path, you may find an old forgotten well.
36:13 Glynn Washington? If you push back the rock covering the mouth of this well, you may look down, scream into the hole and wait for the echo, examine your rope, check your anchor, and you may even climb into the shaft of darkness. And when you do, dear listener, you may discover that no matter how long your rope happens to be, no matter how poorly your meager flashlight penetrates the gloom, travel as far as you dare, you will still not touch water.
36:45 Glynn Washington? But know this,
36:49 Glynn Washington? one breath past where fear makes you turn back, there lies Spooked. Tethered to KQUD in San Francisco, please retreat immediately back to the path, back to the daylight, to the warm breezes and happy thoughts. Never seek to find it, lest it seek to find you. But if you have a story from the Shadowland before you scurry back to safety, I would love to hear it. Let me know. Spooked at snapjudgment.org. Because there's nothing better than a Spooked story from a Spooked listener.
37:29 Glynn Washington? If you see a creature with glowing eyes, slightly jerky motions pretending to be just like us, tell it that no Snap Studio content may be used for training, testing, or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written permission.
37:45 Glynn Washington? On Team Spooked, the union represented producers, artists, editors, and engineers, are members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIOL Local 51. Spooked is brought to you by the team that doesn't trust that easy money. Except for Mark Ristich, who swears he's got the line on a guaranteed crypto wellness, abundance mindset, Alex Jones treasure map.
38:11 Glynn Washington? I'm skeptical.
38:14 Glynn Washington? This is David Kim, Zoe Frigno, Eric Yanis, Marissa Dodge, Regina Berriaco, Miles Lassie, Teo Decot, Paulina Kriki, Elizabeth Z. Pardue, Lethia Matu, Nunu Jemima, Doug Stewart, Nicholas Marks. The spook theme song is by Pat Massey-Billar. My name is from Washington.
38:41 Glynn Washington? And as the Artemis II astronauts rocketed into the darkness on the far side of the moon, which radio silence, while the world waited, hoping, hoping, fearing, hoping, for almost forty full minutes.
39:01 Glynn Washington? And a voice cut through the static.
39:09 Glynn Washington? Christina Koe, as the ship emerged from shadow, she said, "We will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other."
39:25 Glynn Washington? And she said it, I think, I imagine, because she saw it.
39:31 Glynn Washington? This tiny, completely impossible, fragile blue speck surrounded by the sea of darkness. She, further away than any human has ever been. We will always choose Earth.
39:48 Glynn Washington? We will always choose each other.
39:53 Glynn Washington? And I wonder if we must fly far, far away to finally understand where it is.
40:05 Glynn Washington? We belong.
40:12 Glynn Washington? Never, ever, never, ever, never, never!
40:21 Glynn Washington? Turn out!
40:25 Glynn Washington? Blunt!
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