When private equity destroys your hospital
I'm on tour with my new novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW in PHOENIX (Changing Hands, Feb 29) then Tucson (Mar 9-10), San Francisco (Mar 13), and more!
As someone who writes a lot of fiction about corporate crime, I naturally end up spending a lot of time being angry about corporate crime. It's pretty goddamned enraging. But the fiction writer in me is especially upset at how cartoonishly evil the perps are – routinely doing things that I couldn't ever get away with putting in a novel.
Beyond a doubt, the most cartoonishly evil characters are the private equity looters. And the most cartoonishly evil private equity looters are the ones who get involved in health care.
(Buckle up.)
Writing for The American Prospect, Maureen Tcacik details a national scandal: the collapse of PE-backed hospital chain Steward Health, a company that bought and looted hospitals up and down the country, starving them of everything from heart valves to prescription paper, ripping off suppliers, doctors and nurses, and callously exposing patients to deadly risk:
https://prospect.org/health/2024-02-27-scenes-from-bat-cave-steward-health-florida/
Steward occupies a very special place in the private equity looting cycle. Private equity companies arrange themselves on a continuum of indiscriminate depravity. At the start of the continuum are PE funds that buy productive and useful firms (everything from hospitals to car-washes) using "leveraged buyouts." That means that they borrow money to buy the company and use the company itself as collateral: it's like you getting a bank-loan to buy your neighbor's mortgage out from under them, and using your neighbor's house as collateral for that loan.
Once the buyout is done, the PE fund pays itself a "special dividend" (stealing money the business needs to survive) and then starts charging the business a "management fee" for the PE fund's expertise. To pay for all this, the PE bosses start to hack away at the company. Quality declines. So do wages. Prices go up. The company changes suppliers, opting for cheaper alternatives, often stiffing the old company. There are mass layoffs. The remaining employees end up doing three peoples' jobs, for lower wages, with fewer materials of lower quality.
Eventually, that top-feeding PE company finds a more desperate, more ham-fisted PE company to unload the business onto. That middle-feeding company also does a leveraged buyout, pays itself another special dividend, cuts wages, staffing and quality even further. They switch to even worse suppliers and stiff the last batch. Prices go up even higher.
Then – you guessed it – the middle-feeding PE company finds an even more awful PE bottom-feeder to unload the company onto. That bottom feeder does it all again, without even pretending to leave the business in condition to do its job. The company is a shambling zombie at this point, often producing literal garbage in place of the products that made its reputation. Employees' paychecks bounce, or don't show up at all. The company stops bothering to pay the lawyers that have been fending off its creditors. Those lawyers sue the company, too.
That's the kind of PE company Steward Health was, and, as the name suggests, Steward Health is in the business of stripping away the very last residue of value from community hospitals. As you might imagine, this gets pretty fucking ugly.
Steward owns 32 hospitals up and down the country, though its holdings are dwindling as the company walks away from its debt-burdened holdings, after years of neglect that have rendered them unfit for use as health facilities – or for any other purpose. Tcacik's piece offers a snapshot of one such hospital: Florida's Rockledge Regional Medical Center, just eight miles from Cape Canaveral.
Rockledge is a disaster. The fifth floor was, at one point, home to 5,000 bats.
Five.
Thousand.
Bats.
(Rockledge stiffed the exterminators.)
The bats were just the beginning. One of the internal sewage pipes ruptured. Whole sections of the hospital were literally full of shit, oozing out of the walls and ceiling, slopping over medical equipment.
That's an urgent situation for any hospital, but for Rockledge, it's catastrophic, because Rockledge is a hospital without any hospital supplies. Steward has stiffed the companies that supply "heart valves, urology lasers, Impella catheters, cardiac catheterization balloons, slings for lifting heavier patients, blood and urine test reagents, and most recently, prescription paper." Key medical equipment has been repossessed. So have the Pepsi machines. The hospital cafeteria had its supply of cold cuts repossessed:
https://www.reddit.com/r/massachusetts/comments/1agc1j4/comment/kolicqo/
It's not just Steward's nonpayments that reek of impending doom. Its payments also bear the hallmarks of a scam artist on the brink of blowing off the con. The company recently paid off a vendor with five separate checks for $1m, each drawn on "a random hospital in Utah" (Steward recently walked away from its Utah hospitals; its partners there are suing it for stealing $18m on their way out the door).
This company – which owns 32 hospitals! – has resorted to gambits like sending photos of fake checks to doctors it hasn't paid in months as "proof" that the money was coming (the checks arrived 22 days later).
Steward owes so much money to its employees – $1.66m to just one doctors' group. But the medical staff keep doing their jobs, and are reluctant to speak on the record, thanks to Steward's reputation for vicious retaliation. Those health workers keep showing up to take care of patients, even as the hospital crumbles around them. One clinician told Tcacik: "I watched a bed collapse underneath a [patient] who had just undergone hip surgery."
Rockledge has nine elevators, but only five of them work – the other four have been broken for a year. The hospital's fourth floor has been converted to "a graveyard of broken beds." The sinks are clogged, or filled with foul gunk. There's black mold. Nurses have noted on the maintenance tags that the repair service refuses to attend the hospital until their overdue bills are paid. The fifteen-person on-site maintenance team was cut to just two workers.
Steward is just the latest looting owner of Rockledge. After the Great Financial Crisis, private equity consultants helped sell it to Health Management Associates. The hospital's CEO took home a $10m bonus for that sale and exited; Health Management Associates then quickly became embroiled in a Medicare fraud and kickback scandal. Soon after, Rockledge was passed on to Community Health Systems, who then sold it on to Rockledge.
Steward, meanwhile, was at that time owned by an even bigger private equity giant, Cerberus, which then sold Steward off. That deal was performatively complex and hid all kinds of mischief. Prior to Cerberus's sell-off of Steward, they sold off Steward's real-estate. The buyer was Medical Properties Trust, who gave Cerberus $1.25b for the real-estate: three hospitals in Florida and three more in Ohio. Steward then contracted to operate these hospitals on MPT's behalf, and pay MPT rent for the real-estate.
This complex arrangement was key to siphoning value out of the hospital and to keeping angry creditors at bay – if you can't figure out who owes you money, it's a lot harder to collect on the debt. The scheme was masterminded by Steward founder/CEO Ralph de la Torre. De la Torre is notorious for taking a massive dividend out of the company while it owed $1.4b to its creditors. He bought a $40m yacht with the money.
De la Torre was once feted as a business genius who would "disrupt" healthcare. But as Steward's private jet hops around "Corfu, Santorini, St. Maarten and Antigua"
as its hospitals literally crumble, he's becoming less popular. In Massachusetts, politicians have railed against Steward and de la Torre (Governor Healey wants the company to leave the state "as soon as possible").
Florida, by contrast, is much more friendly to Steward. The state Health and Human Services Committee chair Randy Fine is an ardent admirer of hospital privatization and is currently campaigning to sell off the last community hospital in Brevard County. The state inspectors are likewise remarkably tolerant of Steward's little peccadillos. The quasi-governmental agency that inspects hospitals has awarded this shit-and-bat-filled, elevator-free, understaffed rotting hulk "A" grades for quality.
These inspectors jointly represent a mismatched assortment of private and public agencies, dominated by a nonprofit called Leapfrog, the brainchild of Harvard public-health prof Lucian Leape, who founded it in 2000. Leapfrog likes to tout its "transparent" assessment criteria, and Steward are experts at hitting those criteria, spending the exact minimum to tick every box that Leapfrog inspectors use as proxies for overall quality and safety.
This is a pretty great example of Goodhart's Law: "every measurement eventually becomes a target, whereupon it ceases to be a good measurement":
https://xkcd.com/2899/
But despite Steward's increasingly furious creditors and its decaying facilities, the company remains bullish on its ability to continue operations. Medical Properties Trust – the real estate investment trust that is nominally a separate company from Steward – recently hosted a conference call to reassure Wall Street investors that it would be a going concern. When a Bank of America analyst asked MPT's CFO how this could possibly be, given the facility's dire condition and Steward's degraded state, the CFO blithely assured him that the company would get bailouts: "We own hospitals no one wants to see closed."
That's the thing about PE and health-care. The looters who buy out every health-care facility in a region understand that this makes them too big to fail: no matter how dangerous the companies they drain become, local governments will continue to prop them up. Look at dialysis, a market that's been cornered by private equity rollups. Today, if you need this lifesaving therapy, there's a good chance that every accessible facility is owned by a private equity fund that has fired all its qualified staff and ceased sterilizing its needles. Otherwise healthy people who visit these clinics sometimes die due to operator error. But they chug along, because no dialysis clinics is worse that "dialysis clinics where unqualified sadists sometimes kill you with dirty needles":
https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-dirty-business-of-clean-blood
The bad news is that private equity has thoroughly colonized the entire medical system. They took hospitals, fired the doctors, then took over the doctors' groups that provided outsource staff to the hospital:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/04/a-mind-forever-voyaging/#prop-bets
It's illegal for private equity companies to own doctors' practices (doctors have to own these), but they obfuscated the crime with a paper-thin pretext that they got away with despite its obvious bullshittery:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/21/profitable-butchers/#looted
The financier who decides whether you live or die depends on an algorithm that literally sets a tolerable level of preventable deaths for the patients trapped in the practice:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/05/any-metric-becomes-a-target/#hca
Private equity also took over emergency rooms and boobytrapped them with "surprise billing" – junk fees that ran to thousands of dollars that you had to pay even if the hospital was in network with your insurer. They made billions from this, and spent a many millions from that booty keeping the scam alive with scare ads:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/21/all-in-it-together/#doctor-patient-unity
The whole health stack is colonized by private equity-backed monopolies. Even your hospital bed!
https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/05/hillrom/#baxter-international
Then there's residential care. Private equity cornered many regional markets on nursing homes and turned them into slaughterhouses, places where you go to die, not live:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/23/acceptable-losses/#disposable-olds
The palliative care sector is also captured by private equity. PE bosses hire vast teams of fast-talking salespeople who con vulnerable older people into entering an end-of-life system before they are ready to die. Thanks to loose regulation, the nation is filled with fake hospices that can rake in millions from Medicare while denying all care to their patients (hospice patients don't get life-extending medication or procedures, by definition):
https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS
If you survive this long enough, Medicare eventually tells the hospice that you're clearly not dying and you get kicked off their rolls. Now you have to go through the lengthy bureaucratic nightmare of convincing the system – which was previously informed that you were at death's door – that you are actually viable and need to start getting care again (good luck with that).
If that kills you, guess what? Private equity has rolled up funeral homes up and down the country, and they will scam your survivors just as hard as the medical system that killed you did:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/09/high-cost-of-dying/#memento-mori
The PE sector spent more than a trillion dollars over the past decade buying up healthcare companies, and it has trillions more in "dry powder" allocated for further medical acquisitions. Why not? As the CFO of Medical Properties Trust told that Bank of America analyst last week, when you "own hospitals no one wants to see closed." you literally can't fail, no matter how many people you murder.
The PE sector is a reminder that the crimes people commit for money far outstrip the crimes they commit for ideology. Even the most ideological killers are horrified by the murders their profit-motivated colleagues commit.
Last year, Tkacic wrote about the history of IG Farben, the German company that built Monowitz, a private slave-labor camp up the road from Auschwitz to make the materiel it was gouging Hitler's Wehrmacht on:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farben
Farben bought the cheapest possible slaves from Auschwitz, preferentially sourcing women and children. These slaves were worked to death at a rate that put Auschwitz's wholesale murder in the shade. Farben's slaves died an average of just three months after starting work at Monowitz. The situation was so abominable, so unconscionable, that the SS officers who provided outsource guard-labor to Monowitz actually wrote to Berlin to complain about the cruelty.
The Nuremberg trials are famous for the Nazi officers who insisted that they were "just following order" but were nonetheless executed for their crimes. 24 Farben executives were also tried at Nuremberg, where they offered a very different defense: "We had a fiduciary duty to our shareholders to maximize our profits." 19 of the 24 were acquitted on that basis.
PE is committed to an ideology that is far worse than any form of racial animus or other bias. As a sector, it is committed to profit above all other values. As a result, its brutality knows no bounds, no decency, no compassion. Even the worst crimes we commit for hate are nothing compared to the crimes we commit for greed.
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/retaliation#charnel-house
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To Be A Good Slut Girl (Mean MDoms!Sukuna & Choso x Black fsub!Reader x msub!Itadori 18+ One Shot)
Pairing: Ryomen Sukuna x Choso x Itadori Yuji x Black!Fem!Reader
Synopsis: In which your boyfriend’s older brothers decide that they don’t like how you’re treating their kid brother (who is too oblivious and in love to realize that you’re using him for his money and his d*ck) and decide to teach you some lessons.
Warnings: Smutty Smut; 18+ (MINORS GTFO); R*pe; Noncon; Bitchy!Reader; Black-Coded!Reader; Mean!MDoms Sukuna & Choso; msub!Itadori; fsub!Reader; Implied Incest (The brothers don't have sex with each other! Only with the reader!); Foursome; Physical Assault; Spit Play; Daddy Kink; Boot Grinding; Collaring; Pet Play; BDSM; Handcuffs; Panty Gag; Choking; Hair-Pulling; Forced Deepthroat; Forced Orgasms; Voyeurism; Orgasm Denial; Sex Toys; Mating Press; Doggystyle; Cum Play; Facial; Some Aftercare
*Important Disclaimer: This work contains depicted acts of r*pe and noncon. PLEASE beware and tread lightly while reading. I personally do not condone any of the acts written in this one shot. It is ONLY a fantasy.
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters mentioned in this fic. However, as this is my writing, I do not give permission for my work to be reposted on any other sites that are not from my own accounts. Thank you!
Writer’s Note: Enjoy & go touch some fucking grass! Luv y’all! -Jazz
********
“Yuji, baby, can I borrow $50 to get my nails done, pleeeease?” you mock-sweetly plea.
“Oh, God, kill me,” Sukuna groans. Choso smirks at the stove, stirring a big pot of ramen broth.
“Sure thing, sweetheart!” Yuji, their sweet, gullible, "golden retriever" ass little brother chirps from the living room. “Anything for my pretty, pretty princess!”
“Please, Choso, just fuckin’ do it,” Sukuna begs, pointing a butter knife to his thick, veiny neck.
“Shut the fuck up, man,” Choso chuckles, taking the knife out of his brother's hand. “That’s his girl. He can do what he wants.” From the living room, he can hear you kissing Yuji down, your lip gloss wetly smacking.
“Yeah, but why do it in our faces?" Sukuna huffs, leaning against the counter with his tatted arms crossed. "Every time they talk, it’s about him buying her this and taking her there!” He huffs, rolling his crimson eyes. “It’s like he’s a fuckin’ bank and personal dildo to her.”
“Don't let your twin hear you talkin' 'bout her like that, Choso chastizes him, wagging a wooden spoon in his face. "This is the first real girlfriend he's ever had. Not everyone can hit it and quit it like you."
Sukuna sniffs indifferently at Choso, yanking on one of his black, spiked ponytails. Choso is the oldest of the sibling trio, acting as the dad of the two pink-haired twins. Sukuna is older than Yuji by ten minutes and is different than his little bro in every possible way: he's grumpy, sarcastic, unsociable, and goes through girls like a smoker would a pack of cigs.
Yuji, on the other hand, is sweet and liked by everyone he meets with his fluffy, pink hair, energetic personality, and dumb antics that they're damn near adorable. He trusts everybody...which includes you: his bitchy, manipulative, gold-digging girlfriend.
"Believe me, I don’t like it either," Choso tells a sulking Sukuna, "but we can’t just tell him to stop dating her. Yuji is down bad for this girl.”
Sukuna tsks, looking into the living room at you sitting on Yuji's lap in your tight little top and short, plaid school skirt where he can just see a sliver of thigh. "Unfortunately," he sighs.
It's no secret (except to Yuji) that Choso and Sukuna don't like you. They know what you're up to and they don't like it. You use their brother up until there is nothing left. Anytime you call, it's always to ask Yuji to take you to a new nightclub or buy you a new Fendi bag.
Yuji has a good job, but he's also in college. He doesn't have the funds to keep funding your mani-pedis and get you some new shoes. Not enough to keep running to the bank or the mall. But Yuji does it because he's insane over you. Five months after dating, the man is head over heels, carrying your bags behind you during shopping sprees and practically kissing your feet.
And you don't do a thing. Choso and Sukuna have yet to see you show their brother genuine love and affection. You only kiss him up and coo sweet nothings to him when he says yes to buying you something or giving you money. It boils their blood, but there isn't much they can do if Yuji likes you so damn much.
“Hey, guys!” Yuji says, suddenly skipping into the kitchen. “You guys mind keeping Y/N company? I’m gonna head out and get her some lemon pepper wings.” He gives his older brothers a gigawatt grin despite their confused scowls.
“But I’m fixin’ us ramen,” Choso states, confused. “Why are you pickin' her up food if I’m cooking for her?” He swears he doesn't mean to mention you so harshly, but he can't help it.
“Oh, she doesn’t eat Japanese food,” Yuji laughs. “And it’s no big deal! I bought stuff for me too, so I’ll just pick it up when I get her meal." He gives them a wink before heading out of the kitchen, his car keys in his pocket.
“Hold up, Yuji,” Choso says, turning to face his brother. Yuji turns around, curious and naive. Choso and Sukuna share a look, both knowing that they can't stay silent about this anymore. “So," Choso starts, clearing his throat, "you’ve been with Y/N for a long time, right?”
Yuji practically gets heart eyes at the mention of you. “Yeah,” he dreamily sighs. “Five months of bliss. She’s the best and the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen!"
Choso inhales deeply, mentally preparing to crush his brother's heart. “Listen, don’t take this the wrong way, but….Sukuna and I have noticed some weird things about her.” Yuji blankly blinks at him, confused. “Like what?”
“Like how she’s a gold-digging, fake ass bitch,” Sukuna snaps. Choso harshly nudges him in the side. “What?! I’m just being real!”
Yuji's eyes narrow at his brothers, alarmed at such words being hurled at his pretty, pretty princess. “What do you mean?” he scoffs. “Y/N isn’t at all like that! Sure, she asks me to buy her things and CashApp her money for shoes and makes me hold my orgasms, but that’s all part of being a good boyfriend and—“
“Wait, you said she does what?” Choso asks, gobsmacked.
“Has me buy her shoes?" Yuji questions, blinking cluelessly at them.
“No, no, the last part," Sukuna replies, just as alarmed. "She makes you hold your cum? Like….as a kink thing?” Yuji's cheeks grow pink and he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, I mean...everyone has their thing, I guess. She likes seeing me squirm, she says. Says I look cute when I’m desperate.”
Choso and Sukuna once again share a look that Yuji doesn't pay attention to. “But then she makes you cum afterward, right?” Choso pushes. Yuji suddenly grows shy, his face going beat red. “Uh…”
Sukuna rolls his crimson eyes. “C’mon, Yuji, we’re your brothers. We found your fleshlight in the dryer before, remember? You've caught us havin' sex plenty of times!”
Though still nervous, Yuji knows his brother is right and decides to be honest. “Most of the time, no. She’s usually the one that cums when we have sex.” He must realize how this sounds because he quickly tries to sugarcoat it. “B-But I don’t mind! I love pleasing my princess. She deserves everything.”
He pulls a dreamy, pussy-whipped face that has his brothers worrying even more. Just how bad do you have this boy in your hands?
“Yuji!" you call, strutting into the kitchen with your fresh bundles and Jimmy Choo sandals. Your smile fades when you see Choso and Sukuna looking pissed. “Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?”
Yuji whirls around, looking like a happy dog wagging its tail. “No, my love! What do you need?”
You wave your phone at him. “I got a notification saying that the food is ready. When you get back, can you stop and pick me up some of that strawberry cheesecake carriages for my E-pen?” You snuggle up to him, pressing your tits against his arm.
“Sure, baby girl!" he eagerly replies. "Anything you want!” You happily squeal, pecking him on the lips. “Thank you, baby,” you coo. Your phone dings then, signaling a call. “Oh, that’s my friend! I’ve gotta take this.”
You stroke Yuji's cheek for a brief moment before strutting off, your ass bouncing and swaying enticingly so in your skirt. “Isn’t she so hot?” Yuji sighs to his bros. The two don't answer, instead waving him out the door and telling him they'll save him a bowl.
Once he's out the door, Choso puts the broth on simmer and looks at an equally simmering Sukuna. "Corner the bitch?" he asks.
"Fuck yes," Choso growls. "Hurry, before Yuji gets home." But as they creep upstairs to confront you about how shitty of a girlfriend you are, Choso hears your laughs coming from Yuji's cracked bedroom and coaxes Sukuna to stay quiet as they peek into the room.
You face away from them, twirling your locks around your long nails and chatting away on the phone, unaware that you're being watched.
"Yuji's fine," you say indifferently. "He went to get me some wings. He's such a munch, girl, I swear!" You giggle at the insult to give Yuji and then scoff at whatever your friend says. "Well, yeeeah, technically, we're dating, but I'm not with him for the romance. I'm with him because he gets me whatever I want."
Choso and Sukuna give each other a wide-eyed look. This bitch!
"I'm serious!" you say to your friend. "This boy is so sprung from me and my pussy that he doesn't even care that I'm using him. He's bought me a pink Switch, paid for my makeup and nails, and gives me money for rent all because I ask him...and 'cause I give him such good head."
You giggle again, cocky. "And not only does he do that," you boast. "He's got a mouth and a dick on him! He will eat me out for days and let me ride him till I cum...and I haven't made him cum once." You toss your head back and laugh, the sound irritating Yuji's bros.
"He's my personal black card and dildo!" you laugh. "Such a dumb boy, but so, so cute!"
Choso and Sukuna can't hear anymore so they slink away from the door and back downstairs. "That bitch!" Sukuna growls, seething. "Who the fuck she think she is? I'm goin' back up there to–"
"Wait!" Choso whispers, putting a hand on his bro's chest to stop him. "I have a better idea of how to handle this." Sukuna narrows his red eyes at him. "Instead of puttin' this slut out on the street where she belongs?" he scoffs.
"You know that Yuji will never forgive us if we do that," Choso reasons. "So I have another way on how we can confront her." Sukuna blinks at him, confused yet intrigued.
"We wait till Yuji comes home and then we give her some lessons on how to be a good girlfriend for our brother." A malevolent smirk grows on Choso's lips. "We'll make it so she'll regret ever using him."
Like a lightbulb flickering on, Sukuna catches Choso's drift and returns his evil smirk. "If this idea is what I think it is, I love it already," he cackles. "That bitch won't know what hit her."
And you don't. It all happens so fast: Yuji comes home with the food and your E-pen cartridges; you take him into his bedroom to "reward"; you're on your knees with his pants down when Choso and Sukuna suddenly walk in.
You gasp and jump behind Yuji's bed. "What the fuck?!" you shriek. "Do y'all know how to knock?!" Choso smirks while Sukuna gives you a glare that could kill millions. "Oh, we do," he replies. "But sluts don't deserve privacy. 'Specially gold-digging ones like you."
You glare at Yuji's twin, angered. "Excuse me?" you hiss. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Yuji's very angry twin," Sukuna growls. "And the younger brother to our even angrier older bro." He nods at Choso who shuts the door behind him before crossing his tatted arms over his buff chest. "Yuji!" you snap, yanking at your boy toy's pant leg. "Don't let them talk to me like that!"
But Yuji just stands there, unmoving and silent. "Yuji!" you hiss, yanking on him again. "What's wrong with you?! What are you, a pussy?"
You gasp when Sukuna suddenly grabs a lockful of your hair, wrenching your head back. You didn't even notice him walking up to you from the door. "Hey, now," he tsks, "that ain't no way to talk to our kid brother. You should apologize to him."
"Yuji, go sit over there," Choso demands, nodding at the chair across the room. Yuji does so, leaving you with his two older brothers who have begun to corner you. You shake and shiver under Sukuna's fist still curled in your hair, begging Yuji for help.
"Aw, look, Choso!" Sukuna cackles. "She's scared! She should be. Fuckin' little slut." Just for fun, he yanks your hair back, emitting a pained gasp from you.
Choso kneels down in front of you, his aura intimidating and his eyes firm. "You wanna know why you're here?" he asks and you nod, tears prickling your eyes. "We overheard your little convo with your bestie, talkin' 'bout how our brother is nothin' but a personal dildo for you. How you're only usin' him for his money and his dick."
Your eyes tick to Yuji who sits sulkingly in front of the door, looking like a kicked puppy. You are then roughly snatched back by Choso, his hand gripping your chin. "Don't you fuckin' look away from me," he demands. "And don't lie either. We heard everything you said and we told Yuji too."
"And all this time he was thinkin' about how he can be a better boyfriend to your triflin' ass," Sukuna sighs. "Tragic. He should've dumped your slutty ass months ago, but nooo, he was so concerned that his pretty princess get those shoes or bag she so desperately wanted."
"That kind of behavior don't fly with us, baby," Choso adds. "So we're gonna give you some lessons on how to be a good girl for our little bro. When you walk outta here tonight, all you're gonna be thinkin' about is how you can be a good girlfriend."
"And how much we ruined you," Sukuna laughs. "And Yuji's gonna watch! After all, he needs to be taught how to put you in your place."
He wrenches your hair back hard, making your scalp sting, and bends down so he's an inch away from your face. "And if you even think about tryna escape, you won't like what happens next," he growls.
"You're gonna do everything we say if you wanna leave here tonight," Choso demands. "Do you understand?" You nod despite Sukuna's hold on your hair, but a slap to the face makes you realize your mistake. "Words," Choso growls. "Gimme words, brat."
"Y-Yes!" you whimper.
"Yes, who?" Choso prompts, still in your grill. Swallowing harshly, your brain scrambles for an answer. "Yes...Daddies," you answer, your voice wavering with fear. That must be the golden answer because Sukuna and Choso finally release you, but they still tower over you while Yuji blocks the door.
You've never been so scared in your life than now, stuck in this room and forced to face the consequences of your actions. You don’t know what they’ll do to you if you refuse.
So when Sukuna demands that you take off your top and bra, you do. The skirt and heels stay on.
When Choso orders you to put your hands behind your back, you do it.
You begin to sob when he clips on some handcuffs and Sukuna snaps a collar with a leash around your neck. You feel so much like a pet. A tool to be used.
Tears stain your pretty face and ruin your makeup, much to the brothers’ liking. “Stop fuckin’ cryin’,” Choso cooly says, his voice like ice. “You did this to yourself. You’ve got nobody to blame but you.”
Sukuna laughs, wrapping his fist around the leather strap connected to your collar. “She’s cryin’?” he cackles. “Damn, it only took this to make you break, huh, slut? Mmm, you look so cute with ruined makeup, y’know. Can’t wait to see my cum on this mug.”
He forces your chin up, getting a good look at your wet face. “Now let’s get you stretched out,” he chuckles. Your glassy eyes widen in fear. What does he mean by that? You get your answer when Choso presents you with a bottle of strawberry-flavored lube and a butt plug: small, silver, and shaped like a bedazzled heart.
The two smirk down at you, unfeeling and menacing. It’s enough to make you pee yourself. You don’t fight them when they force you onto your knees, your wrists cuffed behind your back. You bend over in your little skirt, presenting your ass to the brother trio, your thong stuck between your asscheeks.
“Look at this,” Choso sharply exhales, giving your ass a harsh smack. The sound ricochets against the walls, making Yuji squirm in his seat.
“Oh, a thong, huh?” Sukuna tsks. “Such a fuckin’ whore. Prancin’ around in public like this on my kid brother’s arm? I bet you were hopin’ for someone like us to bend you over and ruin you.” He then yanks down your panties and rips them off of your legs, the sound of fabric ripping making you flinch. “You won’t be needin’ that shit no more,” he chuckles.
Your body trembles and shakes like a leaf in autumn when Choso squirts some lube on his fingers and begins tracing your asshole, gently probing the little hole. At the same time, Sukuna spits on his fingers and plays with your pussy. “This is as gentle as I’m gonna be with you, so enjoy it, slut,” he whispers in your ear.
You moan and whimper like a pathetic little whore against Sukuna’s skillful, black-painted fingers, little electric shocks of pleasure coursing through you. It causes your pussy to drip and your asshole to eventually stretch around Choso’s finger. “Damn, you’re tight here,” he hisses. “I bet that cunt is even tighter.”
“Oh, it is,” Sukuna comments, his middle finger sinking into your pussy. “Little bitch is just so hungry to be fucked by anything at this point.” While he continues to finger you and nudge your clit, Choso then pushes the butt plug into your asshole, making your jaw go slack and a whine escape your lips. You can feel it stretching you out, making your toes curl and muscles tense.
“Relax, mama,” Choso whispers. “Just relax.” You manage to do so, inhaling and exhaling until your body unclenches and the plug sinks all the way home inside. “Show your boyfriend that little hole, pet,” Sukuna demands, smacking your ass. “Ain’t she look cute, Yuji? Like a proper slut.”
Yuji has now unzipped his pants and has his hard dick in his hands, stroking away at the sight of you. To you see you look so slutty and submissive on your knees with your handcuffed and the bedazzled heart nestled snuggly between your soft, jiggly asscheeks under your skirt is enough to make him bust.
You hear his soft moans and look back at your boyfriend to see him jerking off at the sight of you, a blush as pink as his hair on his cheeks and his hand gripping his long, fat cock. You’re horrified. How is he getting off to this?!
“How’s that feel, baby?” Choso asks. “You feelin’ full?” You nod, feeling like you’re stuffed to the brim.
“You ain’t felt nothin’ yet,” he chuckles. “But first thing’s first…” Choso tugs on your leash, forcing you to sit up on your knees. Looking down at you like you’re nothing more than a bug, he nods down at his shoe. “You wanna use somethin’ to get yourself off, use this,” he says. “C’mon, show your boo how good of a bitch you can be for his brothers.”
You stare down at his shoe, confused. You then feel a sharp pain in your scalp as Sukuna yanks your hair back, nearly taking a track out. “What, you deaf?” he growls. “Did you fuckin’ hear what my brother said?” His hand comes down onto your ass hard, leaving a horrible sting in its wake. “Ow!” you whine. “P-Please stop!”
“Then get that pussy on Choso’s boot or the next one is markin’ up that pretty face of yours.” You do as they both say, shimmying yourself onto the toe of Choso’s shoe. You begin to roll your hips as you grind your pussy down onto the solid surface of his shoe, feeling humiliated yet blinded by the pleasure.
“Watch her, Yuji,” Sukuna sniggers. “Watch your bitch get off like the slut she is. This is how she should be treated for runnin’ through your pockets, don’t you agree?”
Yuji doesn’t deny or admit to it, but he doesn’t have to. He continues to pump at his thick, leaking cock, his hand a blur as he strokes it fast. “Fuck,” he whispers. He can’t believe you–a woman who has treated him as a servant for so many months–is on her knees getting treated as a toy. And it’s so, so hot to see!
“Ain’t that right, baby doll?” Sukuna asks you. “Shouldn’t you be treated like this for bein’ such a money-hungry slut?” You know better than to say no. “Y-Yes, Daddy,” you whimper. “I’m sorry.”
Zzzzip. Sukuna and Choso’s zippers come down and suddenly, you’re looking at two big, thick cocks that hang in your face. Sukuna’s is much girthier and has an angry, red tip while Choso’s has a hook in it and a silver stud jutting out of his dickhead.
“Oh, you will be soon,” Sukuna says, smirking down at you. “Now open that mouth up, bitch.” You obediently do so, leading Choso and Sukuna to spit in your mouth. The sight of it makes Yuji groan.
“You wanna use that mouth so much then you can use it somewhere else,” his twin spits. He takes a handful of his cock, stroking it while Choso makes his bob hypnotizingly, smirking at the look on your face. “Spit that shit back on our cocks, baby doll,” he orders you.
“You don’t get a choice in this either,” Sukuna grunts. “You’re gonna take this shit and like it.” You obediently spit their saliva back onto their cocks, a string of spit connected from Choso’s dick to your bottom lip. So he goes first. They both fuck your mouth at the same fast, rough, merciless tempo, but they are still vastly different in the way they do it.
As the first one to have your throat all to himself, Choso uses your mouth as his own personal fuck toy, yes, but he keeps a light hand on your leash and sweet talks you, showering you with praise AND degradation as he watches you forcefully swallow his dick while Sukuna fucks your hand. “Such a big girl, takin’ two big dicks at the same time, baby,” Choso coos. “I bet you like it like this, hm? Bet you love gettin’ that slutty throat used up like it should be.”
He pulls away somewhat to slide his dick out of your mouth, giving you a chance to breathe and lick on the tip where his piercing is. The sounds of moans and filthy words fill the air, making you grind down on Choso and Sukuna’s shoes to relieve the throb of your cunt.
Meanwhile, Sukuna is rough. Hard. Brutal. He puts your ass through the wringer with the way he grips your leash and fucks your throat, filling it up at a breakneck pace. The copious amounts of saliva that drip from your mouth and chin only make your mouth sloppier and easier to fuck. The pink-haired twin grunts and groans as he pumps in and out of your throat, using you, breaking you.
“Look at your bitch, Yuji,” he cackles through his moans. “Look at all of that spit while she takes my cock. Does she do it like this for you?” He smacks your cheek, giving it a short sting as he fills your mouth to the brim with his cock. “You got the nerve to not make my brother cum?” he growls. “We’ll see how you like it. Keep grindin’ on my boot, but don’t you dare cum.” You do so, whimpering at the ache of your jaw and the tingling of your clit.
Choso is loving the view as he fucks your hand, endeared by the way your nails look wrapped around his thick cock. “C’mon, baby girl, show me those eyes,” he coos. You do so though all you see is a blurry version of his face because your eyes have begun tearing up. At some point, Sukuna goes too deep and you begin to gag around his cock.
With a groan, he releases you, allowing you to swallow down some air. “Please!” you gasp. “I can’t breathe!” Sukuna barely acknowledges this and plunges himself back into your sobbing, wet mouth. “Shut yo’ ass up,” he snarls. “Breathing is only for good girls. You ain’t earn that yet, slut. Now shut that mouth and keep suckin’ these dicks.”
And you do. You don’t have a choice. The brothers keep switching turns, each one using your mouth up until spit is dripping down your naked chest and your mind is going blank. Yujii is about at his limit. He lets out the sluttiest moans as he jerks his dick to the sight of his brothers ruining you, his release quickly peaking. “S-Shit,” he whines. “Guys, I-I’m close!”
“Ah-ah, little bro,” Sukuna laughs. “Nooot yeeet. We haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.” He pulls his dick out of your mouth with a moan and roughly yanks on your leash. “On your back, bitch. Legs spread.”
Though your makeup is fucked, your jaw is burning, and you haven’t cum yet, they don’t care. They only care about one thing. So you get on your back and spread your legs wide, exposing your dripping, wet pussy to Yuji. He groans almost in anguish at the sight of your glistening, brown lips and throbbing clit.
“Look at how wet she is!” Sukuna guffaws. “Dumb, horny little bitch can’t help herself! Why don’t you give her what she wants, bro?” He smirks at Choso who is looking at you like you’re a platter he wants to devour for himself.
“Watch closely, Yuji,” he says, looking back at Yuji with a smirk. “This is how you fuck a slut.” He pulls his pants down farther and takes off his top to reveal his toned body, pierced nipples, and tatted skin. Then he’s mounting you and tossing your legs over his shoulders.
“W-Wait!” you protest, but he is already sliding himself home inside of your tight, wet, gushing pussy. Him pushing himself inside of you somehow makes your asshole clench around the butt plug still nestled between your cheeks. A loud moan escapes your quivering lips as your eyes roll back.
Choso pistons inside of you immediately, slamming his cock inside of your gushing cunt. “Nice, hard, and deep,” he gasps, each word punctuated by a thrust. “Hold her down. Make her take it.” He instructs this by holding you down by your throat as he fucks you into the floor, causing lewd, sloshing sounds of his cock repeatedly plunging into your sloppy cunt over and over and over again.
Yuji watches his older brother spread you out and fuck you silly, his hand moving rapidly against his hard dick. “Oh, God,” he moans. “She looks so fuckin’ good.” His cock throbs and strains to feel one your holes squeezing around him and stroking him dry.
Sukuna looks back at him, standing over you as he watches Choso fuck you. “Yeah?” he laughs. “You’ll get her soon, little bro. We’re just makin’ sure you know the basics.” He suddenly taps Choso’s shoulder and with a resistant groan, the oldest brother slides out of you despite your pussy clamping down to stop him.
“Lemme get her this time,” Sukuna growls. Like a basketball player who has been sitting on the sidelines for too long, he gets and turns the game out…the “game” being your pussy. He settles between your legs and tosses one over his shoulder before shoving his cock inside of you and fucking you silly. His hips slap against yours, the sound mingling with your breathless moans and his guttural grunts of pleasure.
You’ve never been fucked like this before: so hard; so rough; so animalistic. His fingers dig into the meaty flesh of your ass and thighs, using them as leverage to fuck himself even deeper inside of you. Your pussy flutters like a butterfly’s wings around his dick, ready to burst…but then he stops.
And then it’s Choso’s turn again. He scoops you up and places you into his lap with him underneath you. With his thighs spread, his cock bobs impatiently beneath you which he slides you onto like you’re no more than a sex doll. Your mouth goes slack as he stretches you out even more in this position.
“C’mon, Choso,” Sukuna urges, pumping his cock in your face. “I wanna see that bitch bounce. Fuck her up.”
And so Choso does. He grabs your hips with an iron grip and proceeds to fuck up into you as fast as a jackhammer, his balls slapping against your clit. “F-Fuck!” you scream. “T-Too much! Please, please slow down!”
Sukuna rolls his crimson eyes at your constant, annoying screeching. “You talk way too much,” he sighs. “Guess it can’t be helped for a bratty bitch like you.” Next thing you know, his cock is in your mouth while Choso greedily fucks your pussy off of its hinges.
“How’s this, hm?” Sukuna laughs. “You like gettin’ both these slutty holes fucked? I bet you ain’t never had it like this.” And you haven’t. You’ve never been so filled like this before! It’s so overwhelming. So humiliating. So degrading.
And yet so good.
“Take it, mama,” Choso huffs into your ear, slamming himself up into you again and again. “You can’t run from this shit, so you’d better take all of me.” Like you have a choice! You’re forced to take his cock that you can feel throbbing and swelling inside of you, beating up your pussy to the point where you can feel your end coming…or cumming.
Sukuna’s cock slips out of your mouth, allowing you to breathe and warn Choso of your peak. “Gonna cum!” you whine, near tears. “I’m close!” Sukuna sighs, looking disappointed. “You’re still talking?” he grumbles.
But Choso is enjoying it, red in the face and quickly losing composure. “I-I thinks she’s close, Sukuna,” he grunts. “God, she’s squeezin’ that pussy around me so tight!”
Sukuna squeezes your cheeks together, mushing your lips in the shape of a fish’s. He gets close to you, stopping an inch away from your nose. “Don’t you fuckin’ dare cum,” he demands. “You don’t have permission yet. You better hold that shit if you know what’s good for you.”
You whine in protest, tears dripping down your face coated in ruined makeup. Luckily, you don’t have to wait for too long because Choso is about ready to bust, loud, slutty moans leaving his lips. “I’m gonna cum!” he warns. “Gonna fill you up! Take my cum, baby girl!” And with one groan in your ear, his warm cum shoots inside of you, triggering your own orgasm.
He holds you down as you both cum together, your sounds of release mingling into one as he fills you up with him. You feel warm and wet, much of his nut dripping down your thighs. You squeeze your eyes shut at the sight of the twins watching you. “Wow,” Yui gasps, in awe. “There’s so much leaking out of her!”
“And there’s gonna be more in a minute,” Sukuna huffs. Choso pulls his softened dick out of you while Sukuna grips you up by your hair. With a squeal of pain, you’re tossed to the ground onto your knees and he points at Choso’s cum-covered cock. “Clean his cock up, you messy slut. You don’t get to get away with makin’ a mess like that.”
Weakly, you do so, licking and lapping up Choso’s nut mixed with your cum. You lick from his balls to his shaft to the tip, earning soft moans and headstrokes in return. Finally, you finish, the taste of him heavy on your tongue. “Nicely done,” he sighs, giving you a tired smile. “But you’ve still got another dick to take.”
And unlike Choso, Sukuna doesn’t give you any sort of tenderness. He takes what he wants and doesn’t let you off without getting it.
He puts you on your knees–face down, ass up–and rails you into the floor. You feel his cock pump in and out of you, never once pausing or breaking that fast pace that makes you feel space behind your eyelids.
“Yeah, bitch? Ya like that?” he asks, his words breathless and punctuated by grunts. You can’t even speak, your mouth filled with cotton
Someone is wailing and it takes you a moment after brief deliriousness to realize that it’s you. “Damn, you can’t be quiet, can you?” he huffs. “Choso, shut this slut up so she doesn’t bust my eardrums before I can bust my nut.”
Choso kneels before you, your panties dangling from his hand. He smirks at your horrified reaction. “Open up, mama,” he says and pushes your thong into your mouth. Sukuna groans as he drills your shit harder, turned on by the panty gag. “God, that shit is so fuckin’ hot,” he growls. “Makes me wanna fill this tight little pussy up.”
“M-Me too,” Yuji whines from his spot in the corner. “I can’t hold back anymore, guys! I need to cum soon!” His entire body twitches and his back arches as he fucks his fist faster, wishing it was you.
“Yeah, little Yuji?” Sukuna teasingly asks. “You wanna cum all over this whore, dontcha?” His twin eagerly nods, still pumping away at his cock dribbling in precum. With a groan, Sukuna pulls his thick cock out of you, slapping you on the ass with it. “I’ve got the perfect idea then on how we can really make our time with this cumslut count.”
He and Choso coax Yuji over closer to you. He does so, bringing his chair and his aching cock with him. Sukuna then forces you higher up into your knees so your head is in Yuji’s lap.
Choso kneels at your side, stroking your hair away from your mouth of ruined lipgloss, spit, and cum. “Now you wanna be a good girl for our Yuji, right, baby girl?” he asks. “You wanna show that you’re so sorry for the way you treated him?”
You stare up at Yuji and into his desperate eyes, suddenly flooded with guilt for your previous behavior towards him before all of this. “Y-Yes, Daddy,” you weakly answer his oldest brother. Choso then takes a fistful of your hair and shives your mouth down into his kid brother’s cock. “Then open that throat and suck on his cock ‘cause we’re gonna fuckin’ cover you.”
As soon as your hot, wet mouth wraps around Yuji’s cock, he begins fucking it, grabbing your face to use it as a cock sleeve. Sukuna slides inside of you and resumes fucking you, nudging you closer to Yuji which causes him to sink deeper down your throat. “C’mon, Yuji, fuck her up,” he encouragingly grunts as he fucks you from behind. “Make her sorry that she ever treated you so bad.”
And Yuji does. Letting out the sluttiest moans you’ve ever heard out of him, he fucks your throat until you’re gagging and slobbering all over his dick, all of your senses filled with him. “God, you’re such a good little slut!” he moans. “Gonna make me cum so hard!”
Choso moans in agreement from beside you, his cock just inches away from your cheek as he fucks his fist at the sight of you. “Mmm, me too,” he sighs. “Just watchin’ her holes get fucked like that is doin’ all kinds of shit to me.”
You can feel yourself about to burst too. As your pussy squeezes around Sukuna’s cock, your body aches, your knees and wrists burn, and your jaw feels as if it’s about to fall off. “Oooh, someone’s tightenin’ up,” he chuckles. He yanks on your leash, restricting your breath for a moment. “You wanna cum too, sweetness? Does that poor pussy wanna cream around this cock, hm?”
“Mmm-hmm!” you pathetically whine around Yuji’s dick. Sukuna nods, pleased with this eager response. “Then I think you’ve got somethin’ you need to tell our brother here. And you’d better mean it if you wanna cum.” He and Choso nod at Yuji and the youngest brother lets his cock slip out of your mouth.
You use every ounce of your breath to babble apologies as Sukuna nails your shit harder and harder: “Sorry!” you gasp. “I-I’m so, so sorry, Yuji! I’m such a bad girlfriend! I was such a bitch and I’m sorry!”
A twinkle appears in Yuji’s widening eyes, his cheeks flushed pink. “Ya mean it?” he asks. “You’re never gonna ask me for shit again? Or ask me to send you money? Or fuck me and not make me cum?”
“No!” you practically scream. “No, I’ll never do that to you again, Yuji, I promise!”
The sibling trio smiles at each other. They finally broke you. “Good girl,” all three siblings say in unison.
“Now take all of this cum,” Choso demands. “You deserve this. This is what you get.”
In a snap, Yuji sinks his cock back into your mouth and with a whine of your name, cums deep down your throat. Choso explodes all over your tits while Sukuna cums deep inside of you, sinking his nails into your asscheeks as he fills you up. The sound of their moans of release triggers your own orgasm. With a wordless moan that turns into a broken scream, you clench your pussy around Sukuna and cum your brains out, your orgasm nearly knocking you unconscious with its strength.
“That’s it, slutty girl,” Sukuna laughs, tugging on your leash. “Cum for us. Cum all over that dick.” You keep cumming until your body twitches and bucks as the aftershocks hit you. But as soon as they come, they fade, and the siblings commence to freeing you.
Sukuna slowly pulls out of you and takes off your collar while Choso unlocks your handcuffs. Yuji holds you up before you fall, placing your head in his lap. You are completely covered from head to toe in cum: on your ass and titties; on your pussy where Sukuna’s drips out of you and down your thighs; on your face where your tears have ruined your makeup.
“Now that’s a pretty ass sight,” Sukuna breathlessly laughs. “Now, you gonna be a good girl for our little brother now?” Weakly, you look up at the two older siblings and nod. But they make a disapproving face
“Don’t tell us,” Choso orders. “Tell him.”
Yuji looks down at you, fixing your ruined hair for you. “You gonna be my good girl from now on, princess?” he asks, using his thumb to caress your bottom lip. Swallowing harshly, you slowly nod. “Yes, Daddy,” you croak. “I promise.”
Sukuna and Choso smile proudly at their work, happy to see your change. “Our work here is done then,” Choso sighs with satisfaction. “Now let’s eat.”
THE END.
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today we lost the great Efeso Collins, during a charity event to raise funds for clean drinking water for children in the pacific. here is his incredible parliamentary maiden speech from just last week (transcript below). i encourage you to listen, and if you can, donate to childfund's water fund here
Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Mai i ngā hau o Ōtāhuhu-nui-a-Rangi, o Maungarei, o Motukaroa; mai i ngā awa o Hikuwaru, o Tāmaki e rere ki te Waitematā, kei te Mānukanuka-o-Hoturoa, ko Kaiwhare, ko Taramainuku kua tau, kua tau ki ngā whenua o Ngāti Toa Rangatira, o Taranaki Whānui ki Te Ūpoko o Te Ika. Tēnā anō tatou.
[From the winds of Ōtāhuhu, of Mount Wellington, of Hamlin's Hill; from the rivers of Hikuwaru, of Tāmaki flowing to the Waitematā, to the Mānukau Harbour; Kaiwhare and Taramainuku have arrived, have arrived to the lands of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, of Taranaki Whānui in the Wellington region. Greetings to us all.]
E fakatālofa atu ki te māmālu o koutou na tamāna ma na mātua, vena foki na uho ma tuafāfine kua mafai ke fakatahi i te po nei. Vikia te Atua ko tātou kua mafai ke fakatahi venei. Mālo ma fakafetai.
Fai mai ina ua teʻi ae Iakopo i le mea sa moe ai, ona ia fai ane lea, e moni lava e i ai Ieova i le mea nei. E moni lava e i ai Ieova i le mea nei. Faafetai le Atua aua e le faaitiitia lou viiga. Ua ifo i ati malie tuʻumoega o le taeao le sa tafa i vanu tafaoga o manu sisina, ae sa faalepa le au pea, sa fili ma le manoa le fetu taʻimatagi, ae sei faalaolao le puli matagi aua ua nofoia vao tutuʻi i le malumalu ma nuʻu malumau o le maota.
Ou te le fagota la i le sao aua ua uma ona fili le utu ma uu le vao fofou. Fai mai le matematega nai tumua, ua pei o se iʻa e moemauga o le atuolo, o foliga matagofie ia ma le maualuga, maualuga lava o lenei aso aisea, ae a lea ua malutaueʻe le tiʻa sa maluʻia, ua tapu lalaga foʻi le vaʻa o le Tuimanʻua mamana ua atoa laʻau i fogaʻa.
Faafetai le Atua le Tama, le Alo ma le Agaga Sa, aua sa tu i Fagalilo tapaau o le alataua, ae sa matemate foʻi aiga sa Tagaloa pe tua ma ni a lenei aso. Ae faafetai i le Atua, aua ua tepa i ula, tagaʻi i ula, foʻi atu lou viiga e faavavau. Faafetai i le tapuaʻiga a oʻu matua ma oʻu aiga, faafetai tele i matua o si oʻu toʻalua ma ona aiga, i le latou lagolago aemaise talosaga molia. Faafetai i uo ma e masani, aemaise o le paʻia o le aufaigaluega totofi a le Atua, i soʻo se fata faitaulaga—Faafetai tatalo. Ae faapitoaugafa saʻu faafetai i si oʻu toalua Finevasa Fia aemaise si aʻu fanau pele Tapuiela ma Asalemo faafetai tatalo, malo le onosaʻi. Ae tapuaʻi maia ma le manuia.
Mr Speaker, it is an indescribable feeling to stand up and address this House. As a son of Samoan immigrants who made the mighty Ōtara 274—Southside hard—their home, I am well aware of the giants whose shoulders I stand on and the masters whose feet I learnt at. The courage, foresight, entrepreneurial spirit, and hope of our ancestors who journeyed thousands of years ago through the vast waters of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa brings me here today.
My parents arrived in New Zealand in the early 1960s, told that this was the land of milk and honey. Dad started off as a taxi driver with South Auckland Taxis, and mum on the factory floor at New Zealand Forest Products in Penrose. We lived in a four-bedroom State house on Preston Road in Ōtara, and I attended local schools: East Tāmaki Primary, Ferguson Intermediate, and the great Tangaroa College. We're forever grateful for the State house that was our home for around 20 years, and the quality public education we received from our local State schools.
I did try my hand for a short period at a decile 10 school outside of Ōtara, but that experiment lasted only two weeks. It was during the time in the late 1980s, when families from poorer areas were being discouraged from going to local schools because they weren't considered up to scratch. I'm glad we changed course and decided to high school it in Ōtara, where the motto of our school was "Waiho i te tokā tu Moana"—"Steadfast like a rock in the sea".
Later, at university, I went on to write my Master's dissertation on brown flight, critiquing the Picot reforms that have wreaked havoc on our public schooling system. That period was also a challenging time for my family because we were being told by our teachers to stop speaking Samoan at home and only to speak English. My parents didn't want us to fail at school, so we were allowed to speak English at home and over time we stopped speaking Samoan altogether. In the end, I lost my language. I struggled, I was embarrassed, and I felt incomplete. Even speaking to you in Samoan this evening gives me major tremors.
There's a saying in Samoan: "E le tu fa'amauga se tagata"—no one stands alone, no one succeeds alone—and, for me, no one suffers alone. Over the past years, with the support of my family and friends, I've taken to trying to converse again in Samoan, reading more texts in Samoan, praying in Samoan, and sending our youngest to a local Samoan early childhood centre. Our beautiful language, Gagana Samoa, has returned to our home and is helping to overcome the inadequacy that had taken root in my soul.
As I speak this evening, I'm mindful of the many young people who are navigating these at times treacherous and unsettled waters in life, filled with so much potential, energy, and hope, yet too often misunderstood. In my time as a youth worker in South Auckland, I've spoken with hundreds of young people with massive dreams for the future. We need youth workers, we need social workers, and we need mentors to walk alongside our young people, and, yes, we want our youth to be responsible and caring and considerate. So it's our job in this House to resource the people and organisations who will model the behaviour to them that we expect, but who also won't give up on them and won't come with a saviour mentality.
Many of our societal challenges are driven by poverty. We can achieve greater social cohesion and lift our sense of belonging by addressing poverty. I've been honoured to run youth mentoring programmes for nearly 25 years—that's about how old I am—and to this day I mentor young people. When we undertook and published research on youth gangs some years ago, the youth we spoke to had the solutions and just needed the means to make it happen. Too many of our young people are filling our prisons, and it is wasted human potential. Give them the tools, the resources, and the means to make a meaningful contribution to the world, and they will. I was at a conference recently about the threats to democracy and an attendee spoke about their work in developing nations and used the familiar retort, "You can't eat democracy." And I couldn't agree more. This House, this centre of democracy, needs to do more to engage our people, all of our people, so that they can see this House is not just relevant but an essential part of their lives.
The greatest challenge facing our generation is climate change. The Pacific Islands nations are among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world. The world's continued reliance on fossil fuels, loss of coral reefs, rising sea levels, and increasing severe weather patterns means that our extended whānau in the Pacific are in immediate danger. We, as a collective, must do all we can to do as we say out south "flip the script". Truth is, those who've done the least to create this predicament are being the hardest hit. Our challenges, whether ecological, geopolitical, or cultural, are diverse, but we're bonded by the inextricable ties we have to our lands and our oceans. We've inherited philosophies, knowledge systems, and profound ecological wisdom that holds the answers and drives our collective resilience—from West Papua to Hawai'i. Our fight for a climate resilient, nuclear-free and independent Pacific remains as strong as ever. We are not drowning; we are fighting.
I haven't come to Parliament to learn—learning happens as a matter of course through reflection. I've come to this House to help. Helping is a deliberate act. I'm here to help this Government govern for all of New Zealand, and I'm here to open the door, enabling our communities to connect better with this House. During the election campaign, I spoke to people frustrated about their lot in life, scared for their and their children's futures, and feeling their dreams were slipping away. The people I spoke to expect the Government to do more and move faster. And I know that there are some in this House who believe Government is not the answer to these challenges and that less Government is better. But here's the thing: the Government cannot be a bystander to people suffering confusion and disenfranchisement. New Zealand must close the divide between those who have and those who have not, because the reality for my community is that those who have more money often wield more power, more health, more housing, more justice, more access, more canopy cover, more lobbyists with swipe cards, and more time. And the opposite is true for those who have fewer resources.
It's hard to be poor, it's expensive to be poor, and moreover, public discourse is making it socially unacceptable to be poor. Whether it's bashing on beneficiaries, dragging our feet towards a living wage, throwing shade on school breakfast programmes, or restricting people's ability to collectively bargain for fairer working conditions, we must do better to lift aspirations and the lived realities of all our people. To that end, I want to say to this House with complete surety that the neoliberal experiment of the 1980s has failed. The economics of creating unemployment to manage inflation is farcical when domestic inflation in New Zealand has been driven by big corporates making excessive profits. It's time to draw a line in the sand, and alongside my colleagues here in Te Pāti Kākāriki, we've come as the pallbearers of neoliberalism, to bury these shallow, insufferable ideas once and for all. And this, sir, is our act of love.
Paolo Freire, in his seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, said love is an act of courage, not fear; love is a commitment to others. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is a commitment to their cause, the cause of liberation. The most recent election campaign left many in our Māori communities bruised and targeted for the perceived privileges supposedly bestowed upon them. Shared governance is a rich concept about how we include those who've been excluded for far too long in the work of this House and the democratic institutions that are fundamental to our collective wellbeing. We are Tangata Tiriti and we have nothing to fear. As a New Zealand-born Samoan living in South Auckland, I've experienced, written about, and spoken about racism in this country. I've also been on a well-publicised journey in understanding the needs and views of our rainbow communities, and I have a long way to go. And my message to whānau who often experience the sharp end of discrimination—disabled, ethnic, rainbow, brown, seniors, and neurodiverse—is thank you for trusting us with the responsibility of facilitating a new discussion on how we move forward together and make possible what was once deemed impossible.
The American civil rights activist James Baldwin said, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." We commit to working across this House as a nation and with each other irrespective of our post code, income bracket, skin colour, or level of qualification attained. But, in order for that work, we must come with humility, the desire to listen, and dare I say it, maybe speaking last. If I was to inspire anyone by getting to this House and my work over the next three years, I hope that it's the square pegs, the misfits, the forgotten, the unloved, the invisible—it's the dreamers who want more, expect more, are impatient for change, and have this uncanny ability to stretch us further.
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