I Hired a 16-Year-Old Babysitter Who Showed Up Wearing Two Different Shoes

The 16-year-old babysitter I hired showed up late, unkempt, and wearing two pairs of shoes on her first day.

I was thinking, “This girl is going to burn my house down.” Almost everything I said was incorrect.

The flat seemed to contract around me as soon as I heard Ray’s voice. Lucy was pale and standing directly across from me, her fingers gripping her purse strap.”What did you say?” I enquired.

There was a long, heavy stillness on the other end of the queue. “Patricia, don’t sign anything tomorrow.

Not until you are fully aware of the reality.”

It wasn’t amusing that made me laugh.

“The reality? My texts went unanswered for three months. You didn’t see your daughters for three months, unless you happened to remember to make video calls.”That wasn’t how it was.

Lucy looked down. The worst aspect became clear to me at that point: she was already aware.”Patty,” she muttered.

To stop her, I held up my hand. “Ray, if you have something to say, say it now.”I’m downstairs.

I froze. I noticed Ray on the sidewalk from the window of my cousin’s apartment, which is on the third floor, has no lift, clotheslines between buildings and smells like chicken soup from a nearby kitchen.

thinner. Beard days. tightly gripping his phone. Not the self-assured man who once told me we couldn’t handle the troubles of others.

A man whose inner home had fallen apart.”Come on up,” I urged. I ended the call.

Lucy took a seat on the bed’s edge. On the couch, Matthew was dozing off beneath a Spider-Man blanket.

The three of my girls were in the adjacent room together, just as when they were young, and terror compelled them to return to their nest.I said, “How long have you known?”six months.

For six months. “And you didn’t tell me?”He requested some time from me.Did he beg for your time? And you handed it on to him?”Patty, it wasn’t my secret to share.

I was about to say something harsh. Something she wasn’t worthy of. However, the door was knocked on.

Ray entered without making eye contact with me. Beneath his arm is a black legal folder.

The shirt was wrinkled. The man who used to smell like cologne when he got home suddenly smelt like tiredness, rain and the tube.

Lucy got to her feet. “I’ll go make some coffee.”No, you remain.

Ray shut the door. Rain pounding on the metal awning was the only sound. It felt like an insult when a seller outside shouted.”Talk,” I commanded.

He set the folder down on the table. “I knew we wouldn’t be able to reclaim the house after we sold it. The buyer acted as an intermediary.

A real estate development company purchases Oak Park homes to demolish and construct condominiums. After we had signed, the lawyer informed me.

Our home. The thin tree on the pavement. The girls drew on the walls. Lucy sobbed during her pregnancy test in the kitchen.I attempted to repurchase it. with what was remained of me.”

He clicked on the folder. contracts, receipts, and bank statements. Anger clouded my vision, making it impossible for me to see the papers.

Lucy said in a low voice. “He sold his shares in a company.””What company?”The Boston one. When Sophie was receiving therapy, they offered to bring him in as a partner.

I recalled that moment in bits and pieces, just like someone remembers a fire. The Hospital for Children. Mothers with faith and backpacks full of snacks are exhausted.

Sophie, wearing a small pink beanie, enquired as to whether she would also lose her smile.”That business was your dream,” I remarked.Not more than Sophie.

I was a little disarmed by the sentence, which infuriated me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”since it was insufficient.

Every time I managed to cobble together any cash, a new bill showed up. Tests, loans, interest, and medications. After then, I made a mistake.

Before I heard it, I felt it. “What mistake?”

At last, Ray turned to face me. “I asked my brother for money.”

Ethan, his brother. The same person who never went to the hospital. who sent this text while undergoing chemotherapy:

“God works in mysterious ways.” who had a car salesman-like smile all the time.He said he could assist me in repurchasing the house. that he was connected.

To expedite the paperwork, he only wanted my signature on power of attorney forms. I was in a bad situation.”What did you sign?”

Lucy responded. “An assignment with conditions. Ethan would be entitled to buy the property if he didn’t make the payment within a specific amount of time.

My stomach turned over. “And that’s why you disappeared?”I was a coward, which is why I vanished. I didn’t know how to face you after I realised Ethan had taken advantage of me.

I wanted to yell at him. to inform him that I had witnessed our daughter spit blood into a basin while continuing to smile. that without crying in front of anyone, I had given up our lives. that I was never given the option to vanish.

The door to the bedroom then opened.

Barefoot, Sophie emerged. eleven years old. Strong and dark, her hair had grown out. I used to kiss the little scar near her neck from the central line while she slept.”Dad?”

Ray broke. Unlike previously. Absolutely this time.

Sophie approached him. not sprinting. not hurling herself. simply taking the cautious approach of a little child who has discovered that even adults make mistakes.

She questioned, “Why are you crying?”because, my dear girl, I really missed you.”

Sophie gave him a stern look. “Then don’t leave so much.”

Five phrases. Ray’s face was hidden. I detested feeling sorry for him, so I had to turn my head away.

We visited the lawyer’s office the following day. I sat in the backseat with Lucy.

Like the day she came to my place, her hair was pulled back with a purple scrunchie. This time, her shoes matched, but one of them had a broken lace.I told her, “You never change.”

She gave a small smile. “I match seasonally.”

I couldn’t contain my laughter.

In a facility with pricey plants and chilly marble, Ethan was waiting. A flashy watch, a blue jacket, and the smile of a man who thinks life is a contract where the person who can read the fine print the best always wins.

“Patty,” he whispered as he moved to plant a kiss on my cheek. I took a step back. His grin froze.

Lucy raised her chin. “Your relatives said that the pregnant teenager would destroy a house. It’s good to meet you.

Ray nearly grinned. I didn’t.

Ethan was the first to speak. “The payments were not made by my brother. I have the legal right of first refusal; by signing a waiver now, we can avoid legal disputes.”

You shouldn’t get involved in this, Patricia. You lack the means to engage in combat.

An old strength returned with that sentence. The same one that kept me going during my time in oncology when they stated, “We have to wait.”

The same person who forced me to sell my bed, my wedding earrings, and my automobile when needed.I answered, “You have no idea how many resources I have.

Lucy unzipped her ripped rucksack. I had given her two new bags, but she continued to use the one she had brought with her. She took out a green folder, a notebook with old stickers, and a USB drive.”I want the attorney to look at this before we continue,” she stated.

“Ethan deposited the down payment from a development company’s account, not a personal account,” she said, setting the folder down on the table. The person who initially purchased the residence is the owner of that development company.

For a brief while, Ethan lost his colour. However, I witnessed it.Lucy went on, “I went to the City Register’s office with a school friend.”

“The power of attorney Ray signed was used to transfer a purchase agreement without notifying Patricia — even though the house was marital property.”

The lawyer raised his head. “What does that mean?”It implies that without her, none of this would be possible.

Ethan struck the table with his palm. “This brat has no idea what she’s talking about!””I need you to calm down, sir,” the lawyer added.

Lucy took out her phone and started playing a tape. The room was filled with Ethan’s voice.We proceed as long as Patricia is unaware of it.

Ray is too buried to go over anything. We share the earnings when the old house is sold in three months.”

My blood began to boil. Ray got to his feet. “You sit down!” I yelled.

Ray went cold. I refused to allow a fistfight to obscure the truth.

Ethan gazed at the phone as though it were a snake. “That’s illegal.”

Lucy did not blink as she gazed at him. “Not more illegal than using your brother’s signature to rob his daughters of the last piece of home they had left.”

We left with a new arrangement a few hours later. The fraudulent transaction would be stopped.

Ethan would be sued if he didn’t give up the purchasing right. The house would be sold back to the development company for the remaining sum.

But we didn’t have enough money. We were never long enough.

I held the folder tightly as I stood on the pavement. “I can’t do it.”

Ray came over. “I can handle a portion of it. with the proceeds from the sale of my shares. along with my severance payout.”Did you lose your job?

He gave a nod. “Two months ago.””Why didn’t you tell me?”because I was still learning how to stay put.

Lucy’s throat was cleansed. “I have another part.””No.”Patty.No, Lucy. “You have a son.”And when no one owed me a house, I had one.”

She took out her sticker journal. There was a list of unicorn drawings, erroneous computations, and inspirational sayings.

Years of savings. Advice. work two shifts. Money is stored in envelopes labelled “Matthew school.” “Emergencies.” “Patty’s house.”

“Since when?”since the house was sold. On the night of the move, I heard you sobbing in the loo. “Pardon me, house,” you said. As though the house were an individual.

I had assumed that nobody was listening to me.”I couldn’t repay you for what you did for me,” she remarked. “But I could protect a little piece of it.”

As the city passed by, I gave her a hug on the sidewalk.

We went back to Oak Park three months later.

The house was damaged. Paint is peeling. Hard dirt covered the yard. As though it had chosen to wait it out, the slender tree on the pavement stood higher and more obstinate.

My daughters entered first. Valerie touched the wall where we had used a pencil to gauge their heights. She said, “I’m still here,” as though she were speaking to an old acquaintance.

Sophie remained at the door with me. “Is it ours again?”

I gave Ray a peek. He didn’t respond on my behalf. That appealed to me.”Yes,” I said. “But it’s not the same.””Why?”since neither of us is the same.”

There wasn’t enough furniture in every room that afternoon. Nothing was sufficient. However, there were enough of us.

Without being asked, that sixteen-year-old babysitter with mismatched shoes entered my home and chose to defend it.

Not because I owed her anything. Because she knew what it meant to be given a home once.

Some people appear to be disasters when they first enter your life.

Lucy looked like a complete mess when she arrived.

It turned out that she was the one who kept us alive.