Black Cake
Wednesdays on HuluEleanor Bennett Quotes
B and B, there is a small black cake in the freezer for you. Don't throw it out, sit down and share it together when the time is right. You'll know when.
B and B, I don't know how you will feel after hearing everything I've had to say. You may be upset. You may be asking yourselves if you could ever really know who I am, and this is what I need you to hear. You have always known who I am. Who I am is your mother.
I had grown accustomed to pretending. Pretending I was a girl raised by my grandmother in the mountains. Pretending that I was an orphan nurse. And now, I would pretend that I was the same person who walked into that home for unwed mothers, a young woman, unwilling and unfit to be a mother. But I knew something Sister Madeline did not. I knew that love was enough to make me a fit parent that I was enough. I just had to wait until the right moment to prove it.
The world can be a scary place for Black boys.
It was always my intention to protect her, but I failed her just like I failed you, Benedetta. When I left the island, Bunny had to fend for herself. I can't imagine how hard it must've been to keep hiding to feel like there was no other way, just like Bunny, you had to ask yourself, what am I willing to do to fit in, to feel love, and to survive. You did what you had to do, and I hope you won't be afraid to make the same type of choice again. to walk away, to refuse to hide.
I tried to forget, B & B, lord knows I tried, but somewhere out there is the little girl who made me a mother, and how could I forget about that? The ache that the firstborn child had left in my heart grew bigger while my world grew smaller and lonelier. You asked me before, Byron, about that day on the beach, and you were right; it wasn't an accident.
I wish now that I had listened to your father. Maybe if I had shared my secrets, Benny, it could've brought us closer. Maybe it would've kept you away from flying away that Thanksgiving.
Eleanor Voiceover
I walked away from my father, and my mother walked away from me. Betrayal is a powerful thing, and I'd rather suffer in silence than risk losing our children.
I wish I had the courage to share with you sooner because it's what all three of my children deserve.
Eleanor is not my real name, B and B. There are people who have spent their entire lives wondering what happened to the girl I used to be. And when this is over, after you have heard the truth in full, I want you to find those people and tell them.
Gibbs saw me for who I really was and who I wanted to be. If I had known I would spend the rest of my life hiding the girl he loved, I would've stayed on that farm with him forever.
Eleanor: Pa's lucky streak may have ended, not mine. I had been given a second chance and a new story to tell. B and B this is how I really became your ma, the woman you know as...
Covey: Eleanor.
