The Babysitter-A Short Story

Part I

She wore her heart on her sleeve: An exposed bloody mass of entangled emotions that clung to each fiber in order to save its life and Eve was aware of it. She felt like a circus side-show. “Come and see the girl whose heart decided to leave!” She tried desperately to fit in and could not understand why the universe didn’t allow one to choose their parents. She didn’t like hers at all. They yelled a lot. They fought a lot. They smoked too much and they never seemed to have enough money. Why didn’t they get a divorce already?

Some days it was easier to talk to her self in the bathroom and rehearse conversations with those she may come in contact with. While other days, she lost herself in her books and stories of fantastical fiction and imagined that she would be anywhere but where she was. She was an intelligent introverted girl with a keen sense of how people felt about her without even asking. She was often accused of worrying too much about what others thought; yet she was always right in the end. She would later figure out in her adult life that she had a mild talent of psychic ability and premonition.

Most of the time, she would sneak around corners and listen to the adulterated and sinful conversations of her so-called grown-up counterparts with vivacious envy in hopes that one day, she might be old enough to partake in such lifestyles; spinning her own web of desires. But for now Eve was content to let her mind wander and wonder if she would ever get out of the rut that was already well-paved for her existence.

At a mere 11 years of age, she didn’t have a lot of friends. She was well-liked and easy to get on with but preferred her space. Eve was like a cat in many ways. She could take care of herself and only wanted attention when it most suited her needs. She was her own familiar.

Eve had already been to seven different schools and was used to the fact that friends weren’t meant to stay around for long. She was a pawn in a pathetic little game; scratching the surface on life’s game board. Her parents set the rules and they always won.

Life was mundane for Eve. Everyday was the same. It was a rather surreal life she led. She felt tension everyday of her life. It veiled her thoughts, haunted her dreams and silenced her need for answers. There was no need to ask questions because there were no answers to give. She often sought solace in books and her art.

Her parents didn’t have many friends either. The friends they did have were only around out of sorry obligation. Then one day, Eve’s mom suggested she try babysitting. “Earn a little extra money.” She would say. They knew very few people and none of them had children. What were they going to do; continue their sick game and pawn her off to people in desperate need of a night out? Well, that’s exactly what happened on a very warm, sunny summer day. How she got there, she would never be able to recall, nor ever see them again. The emotions she was capable of feeling and played upon she would never forget.


Part II

Youth binds us to selective memory. We don’t recall so much a place as much as how we immerse ourselves in the external unseen. The smell of perfume, the texture of a sofa, the taste of a kiss or a song playing in the background; all play a part in our recollection of an event. Eve remembered these brief few hours of her life in this way and would later come to realize that what she experienced would shape her views on life and love, and what she would be capable of doing, even if it took the most benign of forms.

It was a hot Eastern summer: typical in many ways. However, the day had an unusual crispness to it. The colors of life were painfully vivid. She could almost taste the pungent wet dirt as summer lawns were watered. The lingering odor of propane made her head hurt as families lit up their grills to prepare for their evening dinner. The hum of cars along the main drag were louder and were grating on her every nerve. The air draped on her heavy figure, clinging to her moist sweet skin. She was on her way to babysit three small children under the age of six of whom she had never met.

Who sends their 11 year-old to babysit three kids at one time? Her parents were apparently not in a frame of mind to judge whether or not this should happen. As her mother pulled up along the curb in front of the house, Eve was tempted to cancel the evening and come up with false stomach ache or a bad mood. She had an uneasy feeling that would not subside. Again, her keen sense would prove right.

The house was average. Nothing special. It put on airs of misfortune and gratitude for habitation. Five people lived here. A father, a mother and their three small children. One young girl about nine months old and two young twin boys around the age of five. The baby had lovely angel-blonde hair with small curls just beginning to frame her round face. She was a healthy baby whose smile sent warm chills through Eve's soul. The twins were a rather typical pair of lads. Overactive, smelly and much too interested in their body parts. They appeared to have been without clothes most of the day, only wearing tighty-whitey's and shirts that were too small to fit over what seemed to be very distended bellies. The day's dirt caked to their faces and the morning's trip outdoors underneath their fingernails made Eve regard them as if they were a disease. She certainly didn't want to catch what they had. Eve found that an uncomfortable aspect, but would have to deal with it for a few hours. Obviously price should have been discussed and negotiated before any agreement had been met.

She came in through the kitchen wearing frumpy clothes on her already care-worn frame. She reminded Eve of an apple. She was a heavy woman with a petite frame that could barely carry her weight. "Mommy!" the boys yelled. She was curling her permed hair with a small rod attaining what she thought was a great style. Finished it off with about a half-can of Auqa Net and applied large amounts of black liner to her entire eye lid. The smell of hairspray seeped into Eve's nose, the filaments unable to filter out harmful toxins. The cloud of spray in the kitchen rested on fruit and food that had been left out the previous night and came dangerously close to the lipstick-kissed cigarette she was smoking.

Eve went into the living room and awaited the evening's instructions with trepidation. "Mommy" looked Eve up and down, sizing her up, scrutinizing her youth that she once had. She didn't like Eve and Eve returned the favor ten-fold. The stare-off was interrupted when he walked through the wood-paneled hallway and into the dimly-lit smoke-filled living room. The TV blared cartoon banter as Eve froze in place. She felt immobilized as he escorted her to the couch and sat down in a chair directly across from her.

Author: Me
More to come...