Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 23:17:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Jason Coorson Subject: me and my babysitter part 1 Although I wish something like this had happened, it didn't. At least not to me. Please don't redistribute this without at least letting me know. Thanks a bunch! -j.Coorson -------------------- "Gary! Come downstairs and say hi to Jake!" I heard my mother yell up to me from the kitchen. I was in my room, putting on my pajamas. I had just learned to put them on all by myself. I remember running down the stairs and telling him "Look Jake! I put them on all by myself!" "No way!" Jake laughed, humouring me. "Hey, maybe I can teach you to tie your shoes tonight, huh?" "Yeah!" I yelled. I'll always remember the nights that Jake came to babysit me. He started when I was four and he was nine years older than me. He was the best. He always let me win in the games we played, and always tucked me in real tight, just the way I liked it. I remember when I was ten, I heard that Jake was going away to college. I almost cried. I had developed such a strong bond with him that I didn't want him to go. When he would come home for breaks, even if my parents weren't going out for the night, Jake would come over and play games with me or help me with my homework. By the time I was fourteen, Jake had finished school and was renting a house from my parents. They gave him a great deal, since he had done so much for them over the years. One day, about a week before my fifteenth birthday, I learned that my grandmother was very sick. My parents said that they would have to see her for the weekend to make sure that she was taken care of. They said that they wanted to make sure that she would be alright, but I knew that she wouldn't be. I heard my mom talking with her brother on the phone, even crying sometimes. I knew that she wouldn't make it. I felt terrible, and I wanted to come with them and say goodbye to my Gran. They told me that they couldn't take me, but that I could see her when she got better. They said that I would be staying with Jake for the weekend. That made me feel a little better. Jake always made me feel good. My parents dropped me off and were talking to Jake by the door. I went into his house and put my stuff down. I had only been here once, and Jake had moved some of the furniture around. The TV was on, so I sat down on the couch and watched, not really paying attention to anything. I heard the door close and Jake come into the room. He sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. "Hey Gary. How are you doing, buddy?" He always talked to me like an equal. Even though he was almost ten years older, he never treated me like a little kid. "Alright, I guess. I wish I could have gone with them to see gran, though." "I know, buddy. But don't worry. Your mom will be back Sunday evening, and you'll go with her to see your Gran first thing Monday morning. Here," he said as he picked up my bag. "Let me show you where you'll be sleeping." I followed him upstairs. The house was really nice. He got a reduced rate from my parents because he agreed to do some work for them on his days off from his work. I didn't know exactly what he did. I knew that he did something to do with art. He had a lot of painting in his house. The room I was staying in was pretty bare. But the bed was huge! And it looked really comfortable. There were a bunch of boxes and rectangular packages in the closet and along the sides of the room. "Just be careful of those," he said, gesturing to the corner. "Those are a bunch of paintings I need to bring in to work next week. Maybe I can show you some of them later tonight?" "That'd be nice," I said rather distractedly. I could feel Jake watching me. I put my stuff down and took out a book. "Is it alright if I read for a while?" Jake laughed. "Of course! I'm going to go and start dinner. Is spaghetti alright?" He smiled. That was what he always made for me when he would come over and watch me. I smiled and told him it would be awesome. He left the room and I sat down on the bed. I started to read my book, but all I could think about was my Gran. I really hoped that she would be okay. Before I knew it, it was dinner time. Jake came up and knocked on my door. "Dinner's ready. Come on downstairs." I sat down to the table and suddenly felt really hungry. Everything looked so good! I took some food and started to eat. "How's school going?" Jake asked. I told him that everything was fine, except that I thought the gym teacher hated me. "Hah, is Mrs. Kirk still teaching gym?" he asked. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. "You mean... you had her too?" I asked. How old was she? "Yeah... she was one mean old bat." He said. "She always made me run extra laps or do extra pushups. I swear she had it out for me." "She does the same to me! What a bitch..." I muttered. Jake coughed. "Whoa, hey Gar. When did you start using that language?" he asked. I shrugged. "A lot of the guys at school talk like that. I guess I just sort of picked it up. I know it's bad..." "Eh, it's okay. I wasn't too much better when I was your age." He chuckled to himself. There was a pause in conversation. He put his fork down and took a drink of wine. "So. Is there anyone you've got a little crush on? Any cute girls at school?" There were plenty of cute girls, I thought to myself, but there are more cute guys. I didn't know it at the time, but I was gay. I didn't want to tell Jake this, because I didn't know how he would react. He seemed cool enough, but I didn't want to risk it, so I just lied. "Yeah, there's this one girl, but she has a boyfriend already." "Eh, that's too bad." He said. "But don't worry, I'm sure you'll meet someone soon, bud. Anyways, I need to do a little work in your room for about an hour. I use it as an office sometimes. You can watch some TV down here. Sound good?" I said yes. Maybe some TV would get my mind off of things. Jake headed upstairs and I sat down to watch TV. I settled on some cooking show. About a half hour later, the phone rang. It rang a few times, but Jake didn't pick up. The ringing was kind of bothering me, so I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I said. "Jake?" "No," I said, "This is his friend Gary." "Oh." The voice on the other end paused. "Well, uh, can you tell him I'll be by at about 11:30 on my way home?" "Sure," I said. "Can I ask who this is?" "Kyle." "Sure Kyle, I'll let him know." He thanked me and hung up. Jake came down the stairs. "Were you just on the phone?" He asked. "Yeah, some guy named Kyle called. He said that he'd be by at around 11:30 tonight." "Shit... Shoot! I mean shoot. I completely forgot he was coming..." He checked his watch. "He buddy, it's 10 already. You had better get to bed. I promised your parents I'd get you to bed by ten." I started to protest, but decided that I was too tired to fight back. I went upstairs into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I finished and turned off the water. I could hear Jake on the phone downstairs. "No, no we're not... Of course not, are you crazy? Yes, just for the weekend. Come on, he's a good kid. Almost fifteen. Yes, he'll be in bed when you get here. But you can't stay, and I'm going to be hanging out with him tomorrow, so I won't be able to see you until Monday, alright? Look, I'm sorry, but..." I could hear Jake coming closer to the stairs, so I quickly ran to my room. I stayed in my bed reading until I heard the door open. I put down my book and sneaked out of my room as quietly as I could. I heard Jake talking to Kyle. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying. If I got any closer, I knew that they would have been able to hear me. I saw them walking towards the door, so I ducked behind the wall. I stuck my head out just in time to see Jake kiss Kyle! I couldn't believe it! And it wasn't like one of those kisses that some people in Europe do, where they kiss both cheeks. This was on the lips, and it wasn't a quick peck! I was stunned. I felt butterflies in my stomach and breathed in from shock. Jake looked up the stairs, but I had already ran back to my room, my mind swirling with what I just saw. I got back into bed and shut my eyes. I heard Jake open the door and peek in. I pretended to be asleep. He closed the door and I sat up. I replayed what I just saw in my head. I was still in shock. At the time, I wasn't entirely sure what I had seen, but I knew that it made me feel... funny. I smiled and lied back down. I drifted off to sleep, with excellent dreams all night. The next morning, I groggily made my way downstairs. Jake was on the phone again, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. There was cereal and milk set out for me, so I made myself a bowl. I was halfway through when Jake walked in. Seeing him made me think back to last night and what I saw. I think my face got a little red. He sat down beside me, and he looked a little funny. "Morning." I said. "Morning, bud. Listen, Gary..." he paused and looked me in the eyes. "I'm afraid I have some bad news." I felt my stomach tighten and I suddenly lost my appetite. "That uh... that was your mom on the phone. Your Gran didn't make it. She... she died in her sleep late last night." I felt something swell in my chest. I just looked at Jake, I couldn't believe what he just said. "My... she..." I couldn't make out a whole sentence. I opened my mouth to say something, but all I could do was cry. The tears started to flow before I could try and keep them back. Jake knelt beside me and hugged me. He was very strong, and the tightness of his hug felt so good as I cried into his chest. "It's okay buddy, it's okay... just let it out." He stroked my hair gently as he tried to calm me down. He held me out and ruffled my hair. "Your mom is going to be here in a couple of hours to bring you to your Gramp's house. She said the family is going to be meeting there over the next week, and she wanted you to be there as soon as possible. I'm really sorry buddy." He hugged me again. As much as I was hurting, his hug made me feel so much better, and so much less alone.