The Babysitters

Vedalia huffed as she entered the house and set a box down on the counter. "Kids, we're home," she said.

Ethan was right behind her. Vedalia grabbed a glass of wine as she plopped herself onto the couch.

"You probably shouldn't drink until after their parents have come and gone."

"Ethan, give me a break. I'm so sick of this and I don't wanna do it anymore."

"I don't either but we don't have much of a choice, do we?"

"Why can't we just run away?"

"It won't work. They'll find us. Just like they did before. We won't be doing this for the rest of our lives."

"You don't know that!"

Patricia stepped into the living room and grabbed the glass from Vedalia before washing it. "Hi, Ms. Vedalia. Hi, Mr. Ethan. It's good to see you had a safe trip."

"Yeah," Ethan said. "More than happy to be back."

Patricia took a cloth and wiped it along the counter.

"I'm sorry, Pat, but we're kinda in the middle of something. Would you give us a minute?"

Patricia gave a nod and a smile. Then she walked around the corner and stood there.

Ethan recieved a phone call and said, "it's them."

"Answer it. Tell them to get their damn kids out of my house."

"Hello," Ethan said as he answered the phone.

"Are you back yet?"

“Yes.”

"How are my babies?"

"They're fine."

"Are they behaving well?"

"I suppose. Amy and Anna were a breeze but Iyana almost got us kicked off the plane."

"But she's there with you?"

"Yes," he said glancing at Vedalia who was listening. "When are you coming to pick them up?"

"I ask the questions here. I'll be there in an hour."

* * *

Vedalia walked downstairs and found a note on the kitchen counter.

"What's that," asked her brother.

"Nothing. Looks like Patricia's had enough."

"She quit?"

"Yeah."

Ethan shrugged and said, "wasn't that good at her job anyway. We'll just hire another one."

"Maybe that's not necessary. I think we should cut some of our costs."

"Why! Mom and Dad didn't leave us this palace of a house to not have a maid."

"If we want this to end, we have to just pay the debt."

"Pay it how?"

"We can start by selling this house."

"No way."

"It's not up to you."

"You're not selling my parents' house. Do you know what they did to get it?"

"Wake up! They didn't love us. They sold us. And now look where we are. I don't want this. It's blood money. I don't wanna live in this house and we can pay off their debt if we sell it."

"I can't let you do that. I'm not gonna lose all this."

"And I'm not gonna babysit some billionaire's kids to pay off my parent's debt. I can't, Ethan. I can't. Do you see what this is doing to me, to us? Our own parents sold us. I could've died so many times. I can't keep doing this."

There was a knock at the door and Ethan headed for it. Vedalia walked into the next room over and Ethan heard the drop of a vase. "What's that noise?"

Vedalia remained silent as Ethan joined her in the room. "What's going on?"

"Ethan," she said, staring ahead with teary eyes.

"Yes?"

"Where's Amy?"

"What are you talking about?" Ethan pulled the covers back and a child was missing. The color drained from his face as he lost his balance.

The knock on the door was harder this time. Vedalia backed into the wall behind her. "Ethan."

"Calm down. She's gotta be around here somewhere."

"Ethan."

"Just let me think." Another knock at the front door.

"Ethan."

"What!"

"Patricia has quit."

"I can see that."

"And now Amy is gone."

Ethan grabbed his face. He paced until he found himself in the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks to see that they had company. He gulped. "Hi."

"Did I just hear you say that Amy is missing?"

"No."

"Yes, I did. Where's my daughter."

"Vedalia?" he called from over his shoulder.

Vedalia came back out, Iyana and Anna in hand. "Before you get upset—"

"Where's Amy."

"We'll give you the house. Please. We just want out."

"Where's Amy?"

"I'm sorry."

"No, there's no sorry because I called and you all specifically said they were all safe."

"They were. We had them in the bed but our maid, she kidnapped Amy. She took off and now Amy is missing."

"I told you what woud happen if you came back without one of my children."

Vedalia dropped to her knees and folded her hands into each other. "Please ... please don't do this. We'll give you the house."

"I want my daughter."

"She's not here."

The man turned to Ethan and said, "You don't have anything to say for yourself?"

Ethan put his head down as tears fell into his lap. Vedalia grabbed the man by his leg and said, "Please. Just let him go. Take me. Keep me. Use me. But, Amy's not coming back. She could be anywhere by now."

"Do you know what you're asking for?"

"Yes."

"I thought you didn't like babysitting."

"I'll do whatever it takes. Please just don't hurt my baby brother. He's all I have, please."

"You've always been more useful than him anyway." The man looked over his shoulder at the two men standing behind him. "Get her out of here."

"No!," Ethan screamed. "There has to be another way."

The door closed and it was just Ethan and the man in the room. "You took my flesh and blood. So, I'm taking yours."

Vedalia watched as the man made his way to the white van. From the backseat, she stared at the house as they drove away. From the end of the long driveway, the house exploded right before her eyes.

* * *

Patricia sat uncomfortably on an old couch as she was met with a man who had a white van sitting in his yard. He tossed a stack of bills at her and she flipped through them. "This isn't what you promised."

"That's your cut."

"You said that if I brought you the drugs, you'd give me five thousand dollars. I lost my job for this. And now I have to skip town."

"Skip town for what?"

"They'll be after me. These people have a lot of money."

"Don't worry. Something tells me they won't be an issue."

"You can't know for sure."

"They won't. Now, take the one thousand and leave it at that or," he held up a picture of Vedalia with her mouth and limbs taped, "you'll end up like that."

Patricia gasped.

"You did that. So, are you gonna take the one thousand and be satisfied with it? Looks like you need it."

"Yes," she said quietly.

"And by the way, these aren't drugs. They're kids. And you're a babysitter now. You never know who could be listening. And when I say I want my kids, I'm not playing around. Don't mess with me.