Bindi Neese

Bindi Neese is a character role-played by soup.

Contents

 * General Description
 * Backstory

General Description
Bindi Alana "Sunshine" "Secret" Neese is a twenty-one year old female living in Los Santos.

Early Childhood
Bindi Alana Neese was born to Alexis and Richard Neese in Dallas, Texas on August 21, 1999. She would then be the youngest child born to the couple, following after her siblings Helix and Anya. Alexis was working as a waitress at Big State Fountain Grill in Irving, Texas, where she would regularly work from open to close. It wasn’t the best paying job, but it was a job she loved. Richard was co-owner of a business where he would do home renovations with Alexis’s father, Josue, who was the other owner of the business. The jobs paid very well, and together Alexis and Richard were able to afford a comfortable lifestyle.

Childhood was nice. Bindi grew up as the light of her parents' eyes, and although they would never admit it, she was definitely the favorite child. She wouldn’t always get whatever she wanted, but the way she was treated definitely left it as no secret. At the age of three she was enrolled into a private preschool, whereas Anya, only being two years older, was left at a daycare while her parents worked. Despite this, Anya and Bindi were extremely close during childhood. Helix, being seven years older than Bindi, noticed the treatment she would get over himself and Anya, and soon began to resent his parents due to this. He would begin to act out in order to get attention from his parents, even if it were to be negative attention. As they aged, Anya began to take after her brother's footsteps. Alexis didn’t approve at all and immediately shut Anya down any time she would even think of throwing a fit or acting out.

Bindi never really took after her brother, even though he was the “cool big brother.” She instead took after her parents, who very obviously had a sense of humor. Alexis would often bring Bindi to work with her, and her manager would even allow Bindi to act as a waitress—with supervision from Alexis, of course. Because of this, she picked up great people skills as well as her mothers sarcasm. She was referred to as a “professional conversationalist” by the diner’s owner by the age of seven, and at that point they had allowed her to take orders from tables on her own. She definitely got her fathers work ethic, as she was an extremely hard worker at such a young age. Bindi just wanted to get to know people, though. Before she was even old enough to realize it, she was learning how to decipher people. The human mind fascinated her, even though she wasn’t old enough to completely comprehend what that meant. She eventually could pick up when someone was upset, and would go out of her way to brighten their day, whether it would be through her just acting silly or giving them a free dessert from the diner. The opportunity to help out at the diner helped to influence her to be extremely compassionate.

As she got older, Bindi focused more on schoolwork. Learning new things was so interesting to her, and she wanted to learn all that she could. To her, there was no limit to knowledge and she yearned for all of it. Her older siblings often picked at Bindi about this, but she ignored them. While they would be getting into some form of trouble, she would be found with her nose in a book. She eventually took up writing and at the age of ten, she submitted her first short story to a local competition where she took fourth place. Writing soon became one of her passions.

An Unexpected Turn
Richard and Josue had a falling out and eventually the business they had together fell apart. Josue had spread nasty rumors about Richard to their clients, and due to this no one would even consider Richard for renovations. It had a massive impact on the Neese family, including Alexis eventually cutting off her own father due to his toxicity towards her husband. Richard would pick up small jobs where he could, but the small jobs and Alexis’s income were not enough to support the family of five. Helix was now eighteen and working, but he was saving to move out with his girlfriend and wasn’t helping with the costs. That didn’t bother Alexis or Richard, since they had firm beliefs that he was their child and they should be taking care of him until he left their home. Anya and Bindi were too young to work, being thirteen and eleven year olds. They both saw the stress it put on their parents, and one night Bindi brought up the idea of taking food from grocery stores to Anya. Anya tore down the idea immediately. She was not going to risk taking a fall because her parents couldn’t provide for them. Bindi didn’t blame her older sister for not wanting to, she knew it was a bold idea. Eventually she talked herself out of it as well, it was a dumb idea. They had ramen noodles at least, and that was good enough. They weren’t starving by any means, and Bindi decided that would be fine.

Surprise Visitor
That was until Alexis and Richard sat the three down and informed them that Alexis was expecting another child, and that their Aunt Allison was coming to live with them for a few months until she was able to find another job. Bindi’s thoughts began to spin, she wasn’t upset with no longer being the youngest, but the idea of bringing not only one but two more people into the household was extremely ridiculous to her. They could barely feed the five at home now, why did they think they could just bring more people in? And then to have a baby added? Bindi thought the idea was ridiculous.

Allison pulled up in the driveway the next morning, and Bindi eagerly looked out the curtains. She hadn’t seen her cousin in years due to her living in Arkansas, and she missed her. She watched impatiently as Allison stepped out of the car, but she was alone. She didn’t look like the woman that Bindi remembered, either. She looked broken. Her long brown hair was thrown up in a messy bun that looked like it hadn’t been taken care of in days, her amber eyes were bloodshot and brimmed with tears—what happened that Bindi didn’t know of? Alexis helped her older sister bring all of her things inside.

Bindi and Anya moved into the same room to make room for Allison. A few weeks after Allison had arrived, Bindi decided to find out what happened to her aunt. Bindi sat on the edge of her aunt’s bed and stared at a framed photo of Mabel LouAnn with a bundle, a huge smile on Mabel LouAnn’s face. She asked about the bundle in the photo, and Allison fell apart. Bindi soon learned of everything that had happened and made it her goal to comfort her aunt. When her aunt would break down out of regret, Bindi was there to let her cry on her shoulder. She couldn’t comprehend fully what all her aunt was feeling, but she definitely did her best. No one should feel completely alone and broken, and she made it her goal to make sure Allison didn’t ever feel that way.

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
Several months later, Sawyer Neese was born. Alexis was out of work for months afterwards, Allison still hadn’t been able to get her previous job at the hospital back, and Richard’s small jobs were not bringing in enough money. Though they would never talk about their financial struggles in front of the children, Bindi could sense panic and stress in each of their voices. She never really considered doing anything until one day the cupboards were completely empty of actual food and ingredients. There were packets of seasonings and bottles of spices, condiments, but no food. It was completely bare alone with the fridge. Bindi brought the idea back up to Anya, to which Anya completely shut it down again. Bindi had enough of watching her family stress over food.

She grabbed the biggest backpack she had and began her trek towards the Albertsons down the road. People would walk by the aisles, and Bindi began to get nervous. She was dedicated, though. If it meant getting in trouble to feed her family, so be it. She quickly stuffed her backpack with packets of noodles before throwing it back onto her shoulders and leaving the store. She headed across the street to a Dollar General and grabbed a few things from there, then to another small grocery store nearby. Two hours later she returned home and hid the backpack in her room until the night came. She then went into the kitchen and put up the things that she had taken earlier that day. She only took enough packs of noodles for each of them to have one, a box with packs of fruit snacks, a container of baby formula, and a jar of pickles. She quickly and quietly went back to her bedroom and went to sleep.

It became a recurring thing when the cupboards would go empty. Bindi would sneak out, steal food, come back and stock it up. Of course her parents weren’t stupid, but they were too desperate to actually say anything to her. One night she was caught while stealing from Walmart, and to say she was terrified would not even cover how she felt. She spoke to an officer by the name of Officer Lewis, and explained the situation to him. Officer Lewis seemed like he was unswayed by what he thought were excuses, but to Bindi’s surprise, he would end up paying for the groceries and taking her to her home. She admired the police after this, and hoped to one day work in a field where she would be able to show the same compassion to struggling people. Eventually Alexis was able to return to work, and Allison would take care of Sawyer while Bindi and Anya were at school.

Better Times Lie Ahead
Bindi never gave up writing, and at the age of fourteen she took first place in a national short story writing competition. She was awarded five hundred dollars, which she immediately took to the grocery store. She stocked up the cupboards and fridge with enough perishable food to last at least a month, and she bought clothes and diapers for her younger brother. He was growing quickly, and he was barely fitting into the clothes he had. She bought a few outfits for his current size, and a few outfits a size up. He deserved a good childhood, and she would do whatever she could to make him as comfortable as she was growing up.

When Bindi turned fifteen, Anya ran away from home. She left a note for Bindi saying that she would be in contact, but she was upset with their parents. Bindi didn’t have contact with her sister after that, and their bond faded. The only children left at home were Bindi and Sawyer, and Allison had finally moved out. Bindi continued writing and eventually got a job as an intern editor for a news website. She spent a majority of her free time writing and editing. Multiple stories of hers were published as children's books, while other young adult novels were being sent out for revision and editing. She had decided that writing was what she wanted to do in life, whether as an author or a journalist.

The News Never Rests
The producer of the news channel she was working for eventually took her under his wing, and would show her the ropes of editing. She was introduced to another thing which would soon become a passion. She was so thankful that there were people who realized her potential and her drive who would help her as she followed her chosen career path. Working in news was something she would want to pursue, and now, with her newfound editing skills, the doors seemed to open wider.

At the age of sixteen, Bindi got her driver’s license and had saved up enough to buy a junk car. She was so proud of her ugly car, it was hers and she had paid for it all by herself. It was a necessity anyways, she was getting a ride to the news station every day after school and it seemed as though it was more of a burden on other people. She wanted to be as independent as possible as she chased her dreams.

Spiraling Downward
On a Thursday night driving back home from the news station, Bindi noticed a car speeding past her. The car was swerving in and out of lanes, and Bindi slowed down out of fear for her safety. Her eyes widened and a hand went over her mouth as the vehicle slammed into the one next to it, causing a domino effect across four lanes of traffic. She slammed on the brake and her car came to a screeching halt, luckily there wasn’t a car close behind her. She wasn’t thinking about her own safety at this point, though. After parking her car on the right shoulder, she hastily jumped out and ran to the car nearest to her. It had been the initial vehicle the speeding driver hit, and the front end was basically nonexistent. “Hey! Are you guys alive?” She yelled as she ran towards the car. A faint mumble came from the car, and Bindi got on her knees and looked inside. A man and a woman were trapped, crushed under the weight of the car. “It’s a miracle you guys are alive, I need you to stay with me though, okay?” She spoke, getting back up to her feet. Her heart was pounding, but her compassion for others kept her level-headed.

There was no way she would be able to get them out of the vehicle. It was crushed inwards, and whatever was pushing against them was keeping them from bleeding out. Making her way back to the driver side, she let out a sigh. “Well, looks like we gotta wait until the fire department is here to help you guys out.” Her voice quivered. The woman in the passenger seat reached out for Bindi’s hand.

“It h-hurts. I don’t want to die.” Tears escaped from the woman's eyes. Bindi nodded and reached out for the woman's hand through the broken glass. She grabbed the man's hand as well, though he was in worse shape than the woman beside him. “H-he’s okay, right?” The woman asked. Bindi held back tears and nodded, “He’s going to be okay. Just stay with me.” The man then shouted in pain, exclaiming that his back was hurting and something was stabbing his legs. He grasped at Bindi and tried to use her as a way to pull himself out, and in result she cut herself on a shard of broken glass from the window. He only made it worse for himself, and the color was draining from his face quickly. He began to sob as it seemed he was realizing what was happening. The motion from his movement also must’ve loosened something that was keeping them alive, because the woman’s face was also draining of color.

Bindi clutched each of their hands in her own two. “Stay with me, please.” The tears fell from her eyes as both had gone nearly unresponsive. She began to softly sing, her voice shaking as she tried to maintain her composure. The man's hand went limp in Bindi’s, and shortly after the woman’s hand went limp as well. She tried to keep singing, hoping that somehow they would come back to her. But she knew they weren’t coming back. She felt the moment they each lost their life. About fifteen minutes later, the first responders arrived on scene. It felt like an eternity. Bindi clutched to the dead couple's hands, still quickly singing. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, there were no tears. No emotion behind her eyes.

“Ma’am, please get away from the vehicle.” An officer instructed her. She ignored him, staring into nothingness. Mindlessly singing to herself. His voice spoke again, this time closer. He reached down and pulled her up to her feet. Bindi snapped back to reality and met his gaze, but anger overtook her. “You fucker, if you had shown up earlier they’d still be alive!” She yelled, punching the man in the jaw. She didn’t stop. She had to be pulled away by two officers, and they only managed to pull her away after she had broken the man's nose. The cold metal of handcuffs went around her wrists and she was taken away.

She spent two years in prison before she was taken to a mental hospital, where she was treated and released after a year. After the incident, her voice was left monotone. She still feels the weight of their dead hands in hers, even after nearly four years. Something inside of her mind flipped after that day, and she was left with a thread of sanity, threatening to break at any moment. Every day is a struggle to keep herself connected with reality, but each day she also gets closer to losing her grip on sanity.