The Babysitter and the Sisterly Trio/ChapterIII
Later the next day, the doorbell rings. I go to open it, and all three of the neighbor girls are standing there.
Riley grins at me and says "Mom told us that we need to let you know when we got home from school. Can I go play now?"
I laugh and tell her she can go play in the yard. She turns to go, then stops and turns back. A shadow plays across her face as she looks at Evy. She looks like she's about to say something, but turns and runs off instead.
Tera says "Hey, Rei? Your driveway gets a lot more shade than mine does. Can I draw a hopscotch court on it and skip there?"
"Sure, go right ahead." I tell her. She runs off with a whoop to go get her chalk, leaving me standing in the doorway alone with Evy.
I squat down and ask her "What would you like to do, Evy?", but she won't meet my eyes. "Evy, what's wrong?" I ask.
The clouds overhead shift and some light plays over her face. I notice something on her face, something I wouldn't have expected to see. Worried, I say "Evy, please look at me.", but she still won't meet my eyes. I lightly reach down and put my hand under her chin, tilting her head up. As I feared. she had a black eye.
"Who did this to you Evy?" I say. "No, wait. Let me get you something to put on that first. Come inside, sweetie. I'm so sorry this happened to you."
I go into the kitchen and get an ice pack out of the freezer. When I return, Evy is sitting on the couch in the living room, her shoulders hunched. I press the ice pack against her face and she flinches.
"It's okay Evy, you're safe here. Hold this to your eye, I'm going to call your parents and let them know what happened."
I turn to go, but Evy leaps off the couch and hugs my leg. "N-No, wait!" she cries. Hesitantly, I reach down and pry her arms off my leg. "Alright, I'm not going anywhere. Come sit on the couch with me."
I sit on the couch and pat the spot next to me. To my surprise, she buries her face in my leg again instead. I gently pick her up and set her down on my lap, and she starts to cry. I tell her it's okay, and rub her head until she calms down.
"Will you tell me what happened, Evy? I want to help."
She sniffs, and wipes her face on her sleeve. "S-Some big kids were mean to m-me. They m-made fun of me for playing with d-dolls. Then they took Princess Holly and h-hurt her.."
"Oh, Evy, I'm so sorry... What happened next?"
"I tried to get her back. They pushed me down. I got back up and hit the mean boy who was hurting Princess Holly. One of his friends grabbed my hair and punched me in the face. Then they laughed and threw Princess Holly into the mud."
"T-Then Riley h-heard me crying. I've never seen her angry like that before. S-She attacked the mean boys. She was so fast.. They didn't even hit her, she always ducked when they tried.
Evy's face turns hard, and she continues. "I wanna be strong like her, then nobody will bully Princess Holly ever again!"
Not sure what to say, I ask Evy if I can see Princess Holly. Evy pulls her doll out of her backpack. One of her arms was torn off, and her dress is all muddy. Evy starts to cry again when she looks at the pieces.
"HOLLY!!" she wails.
"Evy, it's okay! I can fix her."
She stops crying. "Y-You can fix h-her?"
"Yeah. I can sew her arm back on. Let me go get my mom's sewing kit."
I try to stand up but she turns around and hugs me tightly. "Don't leave me aloooone!" she wails.
I pat her awkwardly on the back. "Alright, why don't you come with me? We'll fix Princess Holly up together, alright?"
My mom's really into crafts, and there's a whole room of the house dedicated to them. I carry Evy to the craft room, and sit her down on one of the stools. I get out the sewing kit. I ask Evy to hand me her doll, but she hugs the battered pieces to her chest.
"Evy, I need to see Princess Holly now. I'll make her all better, I promise."
She looks me in the eyes, then slowly puts her doll onto the table. Thankfully the arm was torn off cleanly, right along a seam. I stitch the arm back on as Evy watches closely.
"Y-You did it! She's all better!!"
Evy hugs the doll to her chest and buries her face in the muddy cloth. "Oh Princess Holly! You scared me, getting hurt like that! Bad girl, don't do that again!"
I awkwardly pat Evy on the back as she berates her doll unceasingly. Eventually I interject, and tell her "Um, Evy? I think Princess Holly needs a bath. And you could use one, too."
Startled (as if she'd forgotten I was even there), Evy looks at me. "Oh! You're right, she's all dirty! We both need a bath. But... mommy or daddy usually give me a bath..."
She looks worried, unsure what to do. "Um... Rei... could you... give me a bath? Please?"
I flinch when I hear her ask this. Did this little girl seriously just ASK me to BATHE HER!? Then I feel ashamed of myself. I'm a monster! Was I seriously just considering taking advantage of a scared little girl who just had a traumatizing event happen to her? What's wrong with me! She did ask, though... and if it makes her feel better then what's the harm, right?
"S-Sure, Evy. I can give you and Princess Holly a bath. Is... is it okay with you if we do it here, in my house?"
She nods her head. "Okay, I'll go draw you a bath." I try to leave but she clings to me again. "Right, sorry. I won't leave you alone." I pick her up and cradle her in my arms, then walk to my bathroom.
One of the nice things about this house is that my room has a private bathroom. I take her into there, and set her down on her feet. I turn on the water to let it heat up, then turn back to Evy.
"Evy, I need to tell your parents what happened."
"W-Why? I don't want them to know... they won't understand... they never understand..."
She looks like she's about to start crying again, so I get down on one knee and pull her into my arms.
"Evy, I have to tell them something. You have a black eye, that takes a long time to heal. Even if I didn't tell them anything, they would see it. And if I don't tell them what happened before they see it for themselves, they'll think I'm a bad babysitter and they might not let me see you anymore."
That got her attention. "Oh... F-Fine.. I really like you Rei, you're my f-friend. I don't want you to go away..!"
I rub her head "Shh.. It's okay. I'm not going anywhere. You can listen to what I say when I call them if you'd like. I'm just going to tell them that some kids bullied you at school and one of them hit your eye. That's all."
"O-Okay..."
I pull out my cell phone and dial the number Laura gave me in case of emergencies. The phone rings, then it picks up.
"Rei? What is it, I'm in a meeting..."
"Sorry to bother you, but I thought you should know that some older boys were picking on Evy in school today. One of them punched her and she has a black eye."
"Oh my god! I'll come home right now! How did you find out about this?"
"She told me what happened."
"Wait, Evy told you herself? I have such a hard time getting her to talk about what's bothering her. Wow, she must really trust you..."
Her voice trails off. I say "She's okay Laura, you don't have to come home early if you can't. It sounds like you're in the middle of something. I gave her an ice pack and I'm treating it. It's not nearly as bad as some of the black eyes I've had."
Startled, she asks "You've had black eyes before Rei? More than one of them?"
"Yeah... I, um.. I got bullied a lot when I was little, too."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know.."
"It's okay. Look, I think Evy's fine. I calmed her down and she should be okay until you get home."
"Rei, you're amazing. Thank you so much for looking out for my little Evy. Can I talk to her?"
I hold the phone down to Evy. "Your mom wants to talk to you."
Evy takes the phone and talks softly to her mom for a few minutes, then wordlessly hands the phone back to me.
"She seems okay... I guess I don't need to come home right now. I'll get off as soon as I can. Please give her anything she wants, Rei. Her favorite ice cream is in the freezer at our house."
I tell her not to worry and end the phone call. When I look up, Evy is trying to take her clothes off. Just then, the doorbell rings. Shit!
"Ahh, wait please Evy. Don't undress yet.. I have to go get the door."
"Y-You said you wouldn't leave m-me alone!!"
Damn, what do I do... I think for a moment, then I have a brilliant idea. I go to my closet and pick up the big stuffed teddy bear I won many years ago at a carnival and bring it back to the bathroom.
"This is Mr. Bear, he'll keep you safe while I'm gone. He's very strong, and won't let anything bad happen to you."
Evy's jaw drops when she sees the gigantic teddy bear. "Mr. Bear? Ooooh..."
"He loves being hugged. Why don't you give him a hug, Evy?"
Evy gives the bear a big hug. The thing is huge, far larger than she is. I wait for a moment, but she doesn't let go. Satisfied, I leave her there and go down to get the door.
[Who was at the door again?]