I began my babysitting career when I was desperate for money in my mid-teens because the boy I was in love with smoked pot, therefore I had to smoke pot. Obviously teenage logic, don't get me wrong though, I didn't smoke around any kids! In fact, I rather loved my job, mostly because I essentially got a free house every night I had to work, once the kids were asleep anyway.
I feel now though it's time to talk about my last shift before I hung up my babysitting hat for good. I was seventeen and by then had been looking after these kids down to an art. I had four regular families who I worked with, two of which were family friends so I had a pretty sweet situation going. I advertised through the local convenience store, my town was rather small and this was the early 90s, no one was using Craigslist!
Early on a summer's night the house phone rang and my mother called up to me, I assumed it was my latest flame, sure in myself that it was eternal love. It never is. My demeanour shifted immediately when instead of Zack Morrison's sultry tones I was confronted by a rather well spoken, older woman. She explained that there had been a family emergency and she desperately needed a sitter and usually she'd wish to at least meet first. The fear in her voice made me immediately agree, I couldn't imagine what was going through her head and I had no intention of riling up further.
I arrived at her home at about eight o clock, she told me the children were asleep upstairs and that if anything happened to ring the hospital and ask for Dr. Lynn (again 90s when cell phones were the size of small mobile homes). She explained she was a resident at the hospital and it was a tragic accident that she was now rushing to her work for family reasons. "We have two kids, Jenna and Ryan, if either wake up just tell them I went to see grandma, my ex-husband lives two streets over if you're really stuck." With that I let her run off as I grabbed supplies from the kitchen.
The house was incredible, even though she was a single mother there was everything any kid could possibly need. I settled down in front of the TV and opened one of the cans of Coke sitting on the table, this was going to be the easier fifty bucks I'd ever made. Then I heard the creak of the stairs and someone dash into the kitchen. I groaned, "you're not as quick as you think you are." I remember saying.
All kids are alike, once they know you know they are there hey rarely continue hiding. A pale young boy poked his head around the kitchen door, he looked a lot like his mother, right down to his brown eyes, fixed on me. "Hey there, I'm Riley." I said, introducing myself as if I were trying to lure a deer out of the grass. The boy narrowed his eyes for just a moment before coming closer, "you shouldn't be here." When he spoke I shuddered, every horror movie clichè ran through my mind when I simply smiled, "what are you doing out of bed?" I asked. "I can't sleep, Jenna is in my bed." I shook my head, "no one likes a taddle tale." I said, giving a quick wink.
The boy just glared at me again as if I'd insulted his very existence, I still felt so uncomfortable in his presence. He sat with me for half an hour while we watched some probably not appropriate TV but I felt sorry for him. He spoke very little and just stared at me, everytime I looked over I would catch his eye and unlike a normal human being he didn't look away, he just stared.
Finally I put my foot down and demanded he return to bed and if Jenna wouldn't move then I'd come up and move her. Without hesitation the boy got up and went upstairs, as he reached the top step I entered the kitchen tidying up the dishes I'd used for my snacks. Their fridge was covered in pictures and notes, mostly family vacations and test scores, though one thing rattled me. In all the pictures of the family there were three children. I distinctly remember the two I was told of, Jenna and Ryan. Jenna had been in Ryan's bed and the man himself had been bothering me. Who was the third kid? Many of the pictures featured only Jenna and Ryan but many later ones seemed to show a new baby, then toddler.
I began to get sad, I hope the baby didn't die was my first thought, then I realised that she mentioned her ex husband. Clearly the child was with his father, some sort of divorce dispute perhaps? It was approaching midnight and I peeked out the window to see Dr. Lynn's car swing into the drive way. I did what I always do at the end of the night, I dashed upstairs to pretend I was just checking on her little monsters. As I pushed the bedroom door open slowly I noticed Jenna in the bed, she was quite a pretty 7 year old, again exactly like her mother. I couldn't see Ryan as I heard the front door open and footsteps on the stairs.
"Ryan!" I called into the dark, the only reply was a coo from a nearby crib, a small toddler sitting upright and staring at me. A laugh came from behind me and I nearly screamed as I came face to face with my employer, "he never sleeps without me tucking him in." She carefully lay the child on his back and kissed his forehead, leading me to the door. I was utterly flabbergasted, "I thought you only had two children?" I asked, clearly miffed but understanding in the situation. She paused at the door and then raised her eyebrow, "I do, Jenna and Ryan.
"Oh, I just saw pictures on the fridge--" I tried to finish but I saw the look in her eyes, the same brown eyes the boy had, a deep sadness and confusion. "I had an older son, Jon, but he passed unfortunately." The words caught in her throat as my senses went into overdrive, I nearly forgot to take my payment before dashing home. The whole time I was running my mind was racing and trying to digest what had happened. I didn't go back to babysitting after that night, i didn't tell anyone why, and I always avoided Dr. Lynn in town. If Ryan was the toddler in the pictures... Jon had been sitting beside me, I know he was. I doubted my sanity a lot that night, I almost forgot about it until, well today. The only reason I'm sharing this is because I have my own children now, and yesterday my daughter told me about her imaginary friend with the big brown eyes... Jon.
