Post by Hubert Smalls on Mar 31, 2017 8:21:41 GMT -5
03/25/2017
Valley Stream, NY
(On-Camera)
Venturing inside the condo, Hubert had retrieved his iPad from the end table next to the couch. With the assistance of the two members of the AWE film crew, Skype had been quickly installed for some much needed face time between Hubert Smalls and Bindy Trent.
After some back and forth conferencing between their phones, Bindy was finally able to get her wish and speak to Hubert directly. Staring back at him from the small screen in his hands was Miss Trent, who had sat down somewhere, wherever she was for this conversation. Her face, which was uncharacteristically dour brightened immediately when on her end she could see his face.
"Hubert! I was starting to think I'd never get a chance to talk to you again!"
Smalls, despite his confusion, allows a grin to spread across his face. However, a lingering cloud still floats over his head in the shape of a question mark.
“I know Bindy. I reckon I don’t know what done happened but my phone had you blocked on it,” he explains. “I don’t even know how to go and do that! Must have mashed sumptin I reckon I ain’t know I was mashin’.”
Bindy’s eyelids lower to form two glasses half-empty filled with hazel and white. She sighs, shaking her head. “Hubie, do you have a password on your phone?”
Hubert’s brow furrows as he bites his lower lip. “I ain’t know you can do that either.”
“Well,” she affirms, “I believe you. I know you didn’t block me, but…”
“Wait,” Smalls interrupts, the confusion cumulus slowly shape-shifting into the form of a 40-watt bulb, “you don’t reckon someone done got on my phone and did it, do you?”
Bindy nods.
“Bu...but...who would do that to me?”
His naivety, while at times charming, was definitely unwelcome in this circumstance. Nonetheless, Bindy expressed a knack for being sensitive towards the condition.
“I don't know who did it,” she lies. Using keen judgment, Bindy felt that just flat out blaming Gen Now of the crime would only send Hubert deeper into a spiral of confusion. “But,” she pressed on, “you know when it's close to Christmas and your grandmother would get you presents?”
“Uh-huh,” Hubert responds. “Them’s the presents Sanna don't bring.”
“Yes!” Bindy exclaimed with an eggnog-like sweetness. “Well, I'm sure you knew that she didn't go out and buy those presents on Christmas Eve, right?”
The Cat Daddy nods. “She'd get ‘em a couple weeks before,” he recalls.
Bindy grins, uttering her next words with a playfully accusatory tone. “And how did you know when she bought them?”
“Um…”
Hubert begins to turn a light shade of pink in the cheeks.
“She’d hide ‘em in her closet on the top shelf under a big ol’ blanket.”
“Ah, so you went PEEKING, huh?” Detective Trent had solved the case.
“Y-yeah,” he admits. “One time I done asked Granny to get me one of them little fanger skate boards for Christmas ‘cause I forgot to put it in my letter to Sanna Claus. So when she weren't home one day, I went in the closet and saw a tiny ‘ol box done wrapped under the blanket,” he recalls.
“So I got it down and tore a little piece off of it to see if it was my skate board. But it was socks! So I done had to put tape back on it. And guess what?”
“What?” Bindy responds, playing along.
“She ain't never know I did it!” Hubert proudly boasts, exuding confidence in his sneakiness.
Bindy chuckles, however rapidly blinking to clear the water out of her eyes. It was safe to say that while she enjoyed these enthusiastic childlike revelations that Hubert often had, the falling anvil of reality never just resulted in only a few cartoon birds flying over her head. He was mentally sick: and for someone with so much potential coupled with the kindness of a nun, it was frustrating to realize he would never experience a broader range of emotional experiences. It was a lot to prevent her from tears at times.
“Well, don't worry,” she adds. “I did the same thing. But I wasn't as good at wrapping it back as you were. I got busted the very next day.
“Anyway, the reason I brought that up,” she continues. “Hubie, there are people out there who still go into places they don't belong. And whoever it was that got on your phone: they’ll try to do it again. So you have to…”
Bindy had been cut off mid-sentence by the sound of an opening door and a pleasant chirp of a feminine voice entering the room.
“Hey Hubie! I brought home some Yoo-Hooo...oh, whoops!”
The camera shifts to reveal the presence of a middle-aged blonde woman. Known only by the persistent mentioning of her name from Hubert, the AWE is given their first on-camera appearance of the woman who had adopted the unofficial title of caregiver.
“Hey, Miss Lane!”
“I'm so sorry,” she apologizes, slightly embarrassed. “I didn't realize you were filming the interview in here! I'll step back out…”
Hubert shakes his head. “Naw Miss Lane, we ain't interviewin’. I'm just talkin’ to Bindy on the Snipe. Come over here and say hey!”
Bindy, meanwhile, tries to maintain her best poker face. The realization that their conversation was being filmed for a promo was not something she had wanted, as she knew that Gen Now would only find some way to exploit it.
However, her expression slowly warmed as Hubert’s suggestion to Miss Lane was accepted. This was a person that a few members of the cast and crew of the AWE had been curious to meet, and she would now be afforded that opportunity.
Stefanie Lane scoots next to Hubert on the couch, leaning over slightly to greet Bindy Trent.
“Hey,” Miss Lane waves, giving Bindy a sunny-side smile. I'm Stefanie! It's so great to finally get to talk to you! Hubert has had nothing but nice things to say about you.”
Bindy, in turn, shines a few beams of her own in response. “Oh my! Hubert has had nothing but nice things to say about you, but he never told me you were so pretty!”
Miss Lane blushes. “You are so sweet! Listen,” she says, “I'm actually glad to get to talk with you. The thing that happened with the hotel: I was in a meeting and had my phone off, and I'm so glad he has someone like you he can call if I'm out of pocket,” she thanks, rubbing Hubert’s left shoulder.
“That was scary,” Hubert adds, shuddering as he is reminded of the experience.
“I know, sweetheart. I am so sorry about that,” Miss Lane apologizes again.
Bindy, enthralled by the fact that this woman seemed to be exactly as great as Hubert had described, spoke up. “Stefanie, you know I’m more than happy to help if needed! But, it's interesting you mention ‘calling,’ because, well…”
Hubert interrupts. “Miss Lane, somebody done got in my phone and they blocked Bindy’s number. I ain't even know they did it and she'd been trying to call and text me!”
Stefanie’s jaw dropped. “WHAT?”
“It's true,” Bindy adds. “Somebody,” she emphasizes, giving Miss Lane a knowing look, “doesn't want me to converse with Hubert.”
Miss Lane, still in shock, nods. “Those fucking bastards.”
“Oooooooh! You said a cuss word!” Hubert laughs.
“Sorry, bud,” she responds. “But that makes me angry. Hubert, I'm going to the store and I'm getting you a combination lock before you go to South Dakota. And I'll teach you how to work it, because you have GOT to start using it. And listen…”
She turns to Hubert, looking him in the eye. “Bindy is a nice person. And Jessie is a nice person. But those other people? They are NOT nice, do you understand? And I know you like everyone, but that doesn't mean that you need to trust them, OK?”
“OK, Miss Lane. I understand.”
Bindy mutters a sigh of relief under her breath. While it had seemed as though Hubert’s heart had not exactly been within Pandora’s box that prevented anyone from grabbing hold of it, Stefanie Lane appeared to be the mother figure that he would actually believe.
“But Bindy here, you CAN trust. She is a good person, just like you and me. So you listen to her if she tells you something…”
From behind the screen and unbeknownst to the public eye, Bindy Trent’s hands trembled. That statement alone: from someone so close to him, to instill that kind of confidence that she would look out for his best interest…
It was chilling. But in the best of ways.
For the first time in weeks, she knew that everything from here on out would be just fine.
Valley Stream, NY
(On-Camera)
Venturing inside the condo, Hubert had retrieved his iPad from the end table next to the couch. With the assistance of the two members of the AWE film crew, Skype had been quickly installed for some much needed face time between Hubert Smalls and Bindy Trent.
After some back and forth conferencing between their phones, Bindy was finally able to get her wish and speak to Hubert directly. Staring back at him from the small screen in his hands was Miss Trent, who had sat down somewhere, wherever she was for this conversation. Her face, which was uncharacteristically dour brightened immediately when on her end she could see his face.
"Hubert! I was starting to think I'd never get a chance to talk to you again!"
Smalls, despite his confusion, allows a grin to spread across his face. However, a lingering cloud still floats over his head in the shape of a question mark.
“I know Bindy. I reckon I don’t know what done happened but my phone had you blocked on it,” he explains. “I don’t even know how to go and do that! Must have mashed sumptin I reckon I ain’t know I was mashin’.”
Bindy’s eyelids lower to form two glasses half-empty filled with hazel and white. She sighs, shaking her head. “Hubie, do you have a password on your phone?”
Hubert’s brow furrows as he bites his lower lip. “I ain’t know you can do that either.”
“Well,” she affirms, “I believe you. I know you didn’t block me, but…”
“Wait,” Smalls interrupts, the confusion cumulus slowly shape-shifting into the form of a 40-watt bulb, “you don’t reckon someone done got on my phone and did it, do you?”
Bindy nods.
“Bu...but...who would do that to me?”
His naivety, while at times charming, was definitely unwelcome in this circumstance. Nonetheless, Bindy expressed a knack for being sensitive towards the condition.
“I don't know who did it,” she lies. Using keen judgment, Bindy felt that just flat out blaming Gen Now of the crime would only send Hubert deeper into a spiral of confusion. “But,” she pressed on, “you know when it's close to Christmas and your grandmother would get you presents?”
“Uh-huh,” Hubert responds. “Them’s the presents Sanna don't bring.”
“Yes!” Bindy exclaimed with an eggnog-like sweetness. “Well, I'm sure you knew that she didn't go out and buy those presents on Christmas Eve, right?”
The Cat Daddy nods. “She'd get ‘em a couple weeks before,” he recalls.
Bindy grins, uttering her next words with a playfully accusatory tone. “And how did you know when she bought them?”
“Um…”
Hubert begins to turn a light shade of pink in the cheeks.
“She’d hide ‘em in her closet on the top shelf under a big ol’ blanket.”
“Ah, so you went PEEKING, huh?” Detective Trent had solved the case.
“Y-yeah,” he admits. “One time I done asked Granny to get me one of them little fanger skate boards for Christmas ‘cause I forgot to put it in my letter to Sanna Claus. So when she weren't home one day, I went in the closet and saw a tiny ‘ol box done wrapped under the blanket,” he recalls.
“So I got it down and tore a little piece off of it to see if it was my skate board. But it was socks! So I done had to put tape back on it. And guess what?”
“What?” Bindy responds, playing along.
“She ain't never know I did it!” Hubert proudly boasts, exuding confidence in his sneakiness.
Bindy chuckles, however rapidly blinking to clear the water out of her eyes. It was safe to say that while she enjoyed these enthusiastic childlike revelations that Hubert often had, the falling anvil of reality never just resulted in only a few cartoon birds flying over her head. He was mentally sick: and for someone with so much potential coupled with the kindness of a nun, it was frustrating to realize he would never experience a broader range of emotional experiences. It was a lot to prevent her from tears at times.
“Well, don't worry,” she adds. “I did the same thing. But I wasn't as good at wrapping it back as you were. I got busted the very next day.
“Anyway, the reason I brought that up,” she continues. “Hubie, there are people out there who still go into places they don't belong. And whoever it was that got on your phone: they’ll try to do it again. So you have to…”
Bindy had been cut off mid-sentence by the sound of an opening door and a pleasant chirp of a feminine voice entering the room.
“Hey Hubie! I brought home some Yoo-Hooo...oh, whoops!”
The camera shifts to reveal the presence of a middle-aged blonde woman. Known only by the persistent mentioning of her name from Hubert, the AWE is given their first on-camera appearance of the woman who had adopted the unofficial title of caregiver.
“Hey, Miss Lane!”
“I'm so sorry,” she apologizes, slightly embarrassed. “I didn't realize you were filming the interview in here! I'll step back out…”
Hubert shakes his head. “Naw Miss Lane, we ain't interviewin’. I'm just talkin’ to Bindy on the Snipe. Come over here and say hey!”
Bindy, meanwhile, tries to maintain her best poker face. The realization that their conversation was being filmed for a promo was not something she had wanted, as she knew that Gen Now would only find some way to exploit it.
However, her expression slowly warmed as Hubert’s suggestion to Miss Lane was accepted. This was a person that a few members of the cast and crew of the AWE had been curious to meet, and she would now be afforded that opportunity.
Stefanie Lane scoots next to Hubert on the couch, leaning over slightly to greet Bindy Trent.
“Hey,” Miss Lane waves, giving Bindy a sunny-side smile. I'm Stefanie! It's so great to finally get to talk to you! Hubert has had nothing but nice things to say about you.”
Bindy, in turn, shines a few beams of her own in response. “Oh my! Hubert has had nothing but nice things to say about you, but he never told me you were so pretty!”
Miss Lane blushes. “You are so sweet! Listen,” she says, “I'm actually glad to get to talk with you. The thing that happened with the hotel: I was in a meeting and had my phone off, and I'm so glad he has someone like you he can call if I'm out of pocket,” she thanks, rubbing Hubert’s left shoulder.
“That was scary,” Hubert adds, shuddering as he is reminded of the experience.
“I know, sweetheart. I am so sorry about that,” Miss Lane apologizes again.
Bindy, enthralled by the fact that this woman seemed to be exactly as great as Hubert had described, spoke up. “Stefanie, you know I’m more than happy to help if needed! But, it's interesting you mention ‘calling,’ because, well…”
Hubert interrupts. “Miss Lane, somebody done got in my phone and they blocked Bindy’s number. I ain't even know they did it and she'd been trying to call and text me!”
Stefanie’s jaw dropped. “WHAT?”
“It's true,” Bindy adds. “Somebody,” she emphasizes, giving Miss Lane a knowing look, “doesn't want me to converse with Hubert.”
Miss Lane, still in shock, nods. “Those fucking bastards.”
“Oooooooh! You said a cuss word!” Hubert laughs.
“Sorry, bud,” she responds. “But that makes me angry. Hubert, I'm going to the store and I'm getting you a combination lock before you go to South Dakota. And I'll teach you how to work it, because you have GOT to start using it. And listen…”
She turns to Hubert, looking him in the eye. “Bindy is a nice person. And Jessie is a nice person. But those other people? They are NOT nice, do you understand? And I know you like everyone, but that doesn't mean that you need to trust them, OK?”
“OK, Miss Lane. I understand.”
Bindy mutters a sigh of relief under her breath. While it had seemed as though Hubert’s heart had not exactly been within Pandora’s box that prevented anyone from grabbing hold of it, Stefanie Lane appeared to be the mother figure that he would actually believe.
“But Bindy here, you CAN trust. She is a good person, just like you and me. So you listen to her if she tells you something…”
From behind the screen and unbeknownst to the public eye, Bindy Trent’s hands trembled. That statement alone: from someone so close to him, to instill that kind of confidence that she would look out for his best interest…
It was chilling. But in the best of ways.
For the first time in weeks, she knew that everything from here on out would be just fine.