WOMAN: Hello?[AUTOMATED VOICE EXPLAINING PROTOCOL]EBRON: Hello?WOMAN: [unintelligible]EBRON: That was weird, you answered it and it was on for a minute.WOMAN: Huh?EBRON: I said when you first answered it you picked up - you were like, 'hello?', and it was on for a minute. But it didn't...WOMAN: Mhm.EBRON: You couldn't hear me. What's up? What are you doing?WOMAN: Nothing.EBRON: Mm.WOMAN & EBRON: [unintelligible](NOTE: This is clearly very awkward for both of them)5 SECONDS OF SILENCE - NOISE IN THE BACKGROUND (probably TV)EBRON: Hello?WOMAN: (to someone else) Yup!EBRON: What are you, at home?WOMAN: Nah, I'm at my sister's.EBRON: Uhm. (sigh) Why - uh - I mean, why now tell me all this stuff and when I was right there in your face and kept asking you and kept asking you and kept asking - you didn't want to tell me.4 SECONDS OF SILENCEWOMAN: I don't know. (then, to someone else) Hey! Brianna and Chase - inside!EBRON: Hello?WOMAN: Hm?EBRON: Did you hear what I said?WOMAN: I heard what you said. ... Cause it was - there was to say.EBRON: So, what -WOMAN: (cutting Ebron off) - You - because of the choices that you made. I have begged you and pleaded with you to get out of the strip clubs. You didn't stop. You kept going.EBRON: I - I really did -WOMAN: (cutting Ebron off) - No. No, Ruben, you didn't.EBRON: (sigh)WOMAN: You still wanted to live how you wanted to live. And it was your choices. EBROn: I hear you. But that's not the case, 'cause I did stop going there. And, I don't know. I just, I kept telling you and kept telling you and you just finally like, you know, go ahead and move on.WOMAN: Yeah! 'Cause I was over it!EBRON: Okay, so, why earlier you get on the phone and feel you gotta, you know, vent about stuff, you know, when we had already said that it was over. Why go back on it now?WOMAN: It's not going back on it, Ruben. It's like, the choices that you make in your life... don't affect you.EBRON: Okay.WOMAN: Me and the kids...EBRON: Listen here, when I begged and pleaded for you to answer the phone, to bring them over, to anything - and you just sat there and ignored me. (laughs) I mean, what the [expletive] am I supposed to do?WOMAN: Tell her that you want to marry her? Like that really changes anything?EBRON: What the [expletive] are you talk - I'm talking to you now. When I -WOMAN: (loudly) Yeah! You're talking to me but the thing was, Ruben, you have been, you're telling a whole 'nother story.EBRON: When I told you to bring the kids over - that's what I just said - the kids. When I kept telling you to bring them over. You know, kept trying to call you, talk to you, whatever. Nothing. You wouldn't even -WOMAN: (cutting Ebron off) - Yeah! And you know why, Ruben? Because of what you did!EBRON: (sigh)WOMAN: And you want to sit there and deny that [expletive] and make her think that I'm lying.EBRON: Listen.WOMAN: It's like, you know, you never fess up to anything and you're like -EBRON: (sighs) And you - oh, man. I'm not gonna do that no more.WOMAN: I'm not trying to talk about it on the phone. But.EBRON: Yet you keep doing that.WOMAN: Well... I'm just trying to say that you need to start taking responsibility for your actions. Don't put it on me.EBRON: Who's putting this - I ain't putting [expletive] on you, but when I'm sitting there calling you time and time again and you want to sit there and ignore me and not bring the kids over, not anything, but get on with her and talk to her. I got on the phone with her one time and then she started telling me that I was lying and -EBRON: - I don't care about that -WOMAN: - blah, blah, blah. So, no, I didn't want to talk to her either.EBRON: (laughs) But then you say right now this is affecting the kids. What was it just a month ago? Just cause I was out, it wasn't affecting the kids? No, it was still affecting kids - no matter what, I've never kept the kids from you, never. And that's one thing about you that you do time and time again - is you use them against me. WOMAN: I don't use them against you, Ruben. When your -EBRON: [unintelligible]WOMAN: - Your state of mind, I don't know where -EBRON: (cutting her off) - Listen here, when you were locked up for a year, was my state of mind [expletive] up then? It was the same it's always been. And I was sitting there walking from bus stop to bus stop with the kids to come and see you. But it wasn't a problem then. I guess it's just when you were out then you said my state of mind's [expletive] up then - no! When you were locked up for a whole [expletive] year, who - who did that? WOMAN: (loudly) Yeah! Yeah, and you know what? When you had - and you finally got - a job, you started getting your life together and then what?EBRON: Everything [unitelliglbe]WOMAN: (cutting Ebron off) - I don't know the person that you became, Ruben. Because this - this was you, yeah we've had our ups and downs.EBRON: Mhm.WOMAN: But, I don't know who you are anymore. I really don't, I thought you know, once bad things happen you find out a little more and more about somebody. ... And that's what hurt. And it's not - yeah - the reason why I was 'over' you is because you moved her in so shortly and you kept lying to me about her being there. That's what gets me, you lied -EBRON: - You move -WOMAN: - You were lying! EBRON: You told me that you were through and I - I -WOMAN: [unintelligible]EBRON: Listen, I asked you time and time again, you said you were through, so I left it at that. When you kept asking about her honestly I knew how you felt still somewhat, you know, and I didn't want to [expletive] put that out there like that. So, yeah, I did say 'no, you know whatever.'WOMAN: (loudly) But it was lying to me!EBRON: I didn't want you -WOMAN: - Well I found out anyways, Ruben, so it didn't matter it was going to come out one way or the other.EBRON: Yeah, but why keep asking about it? We already moved on. Why keep asking about it?{8:13} WOMAN: Because my thing was Ruben, is you never tell the truth.EBRON: I do. I'm sitting there -WOMAN: - You didn't -EBRON: - had to try to tell you [expletive] what was up with her from the jump. I - and then you get mad, I mean, it's just like [expletive], it's like I can't be straight up with you because you're just going to [expletive] trip about. You tell me to move on and when I do, you get mad. It, it doesn't -WOMAN: (cutting Ebron off) I wasn't mad about you moving on, Ruben, I was mad you kept lying to me. That's what you don't see -EBRON: Every time you came in the house you'd look for something new to be [expletive] -WOMAN: (cutting Ebron off, loudly) Because she was there and you try to lie to me about it - that was the whole point.EBRON: Chill that [expletive] You shouldn't even have been asking about it, it was pointless, it was irrelevant.WOMAN: It wasn't pointless. I do think beacuses I wanted to see if you were going to tell the truth or not, that's how you trust somebody and how can I trust somebody if they're gonna lie to me all the time.EBRON: We moved on, that was it man, it was just that - we moved on. What the [expletive] was the big fuss?WOMAN: You know what, because sometimes whenever we separate...EBRON: Mhm.WOMAN: Sometimes when you separate with somebody and you tell them to do something, you want to see if they're going to do it or if they're actually going to change and get their [expletive] together.EBRON: You know what? When you told me to move on and I kept begging and pleading that I wanted to make it work for the family, at that point, I was like I'm never going to get into something like this again and not have it work. And honestly, at that point, I was just like whatever, me and Lonna had a little something going - you know, been had something, whatever - and I was like I'm not going to let this, you know, this fail. You know [expletive] 12 years down the drain. It was like I'm not going to let that [expletive] happen again. It wasn't a good feeling, you know.WOMAN: Yeah.EBRON: [expletive] I didn't want that [expletive] to happen again.WOMAN: All right, well, enough about us and our past because there's-EBRON: Listen here man, (sigh) I need to talk to you in person.WOMAN: What?EBRON: I said I need to talk to you in person about everything and I just - WOMAN: I can't hear you.{10:30} EBRON: I said about everything man, I need to talk to you in person.10 SECONDS OF SILENCEEBRON: Please.7 SECONDS OF SILENCEWOMAN: I just...EBRON: What?WOMAN: This whole situation has me disgusted. I really feel like... you are... ... ... I don't know. Your life is in their hands right now.EBRON: I know.WOMAN: But I just wish that if you (laughs) if you're covering or if you know something - you need to [expletive] say it, 'cause our kids - no matter if you get time - you're gonna do time - but it shows the kind of person that you are and it'll show your kids that 'my dad really does care for me.'EBRON: Come up here and visit me.WOMAN: What?EBRON: I need - I need to see you in person. WOMAN: I hear you.EBRON: Don't say 'I hear you,' 'cause that's the [expletive] I say - (laughs) - and it - it goes in one ear and out the other.7 SECONDS OF SILENCEWOMAN: You need to stop.EBRON: Listen, come up here, and see me and -WOMAN: (loudly) What?EBRON: Come see me in person.17 SECONDS OF SILENCEEBRON: I really need to see you and talk to you in person.WOMAN: Yep.EBRON: When is your next off day?WOMAN: What?EBRON: When's your next off day?WOMAN: I don't have any work.EBRON: You don't have any work? ... They let you go? ... Hello? ... Hello? ... Hello! WOMAN: Yeah?EBRON: What's up?WOMAN: Nothing.{13:06} EBRON: Why are you so quiet?WOMAN: Because - accepting these collect calls, I'm probably gonna get in trouble now.EBRON: (sighs)WOMAN: So -EBRON: How do you not have any work? They let you go?WOMAN: No. I had to take time off because of this [expletive]EBRON: Yeah.8 SECONDS OF SILENCE{13:32} WOMAN: But, now I'm probably going to get in trouble for answering these calls, Ruben.EBRON: I thought it was just - WOMAN: - no. -EBRON: - no violent contact or something.WOMAN: Nope.EBRON: I didn't know it was anything else. They took my paper right when I signed it.WOMAN: Huh?EBRON: I said they took the paper right when I signed it. I never got to read that [expletive]. I thought it was just no violent contact or I thought he said if I was to get out then he was to put certain stipulations to it, but I don't know (hiccup)WOMAN: No, we have the non-violent.{14:20} EBROn: Okay. Are you gonna and see me?WOMAN: I can't.EBRON: Why?WOMAN: I'm not - I can't - not yet.EBRON: Why, are you trying to get some of the stuff taken off?WOMAN: What?EBRON: You trying to get some of the stuff taken off?WOMAN: I don't know, Ruben, but (sigh)EBRON: Put it this way - if you, if you contact the (laughs) the same person my mom has been contacting, they'll let you come in.WOMAN: Yep.[AUTOMATED VOICE GIVING THEM 60 SECONDS ON THE CALL]EBRON: At this point, I don't know (voice breaking) who else.WOMAN: What?EBRON: I said at this point, I don't know who else to turn to. I need to see you. (possibly crying)WOMAN: I know that.12 SECONDS OF SILENCEEBRON: Just give the kids some kisses and stuff for me, all right? You hear me?14 SECONDS OF SILENCEEBRON: Why do you keep doing that?[AUTOMATED VOICE SAYING THEY HAVE 10 SECONDS]END CALL