Chapter 12

ELAINE BARKER, MATTAPAN

There is a lot of competition in the babysitting business. I am twenty years old now and I have to compete with various teenagers who are motivated by the prospects of a new phone or a new piece of jewellery if they work hard and save hard enough. My age works so well in my favor. After all, why trust your kids to a sixteen year old girl who is so obsessed with her phone when there is a mature twenty year old right around the corner.

I don't work as a babysitter because I am poor or I need money for college. I work because I need an excuse to be away from home. Home is so overwhelming for me. My father is always matching me up with men twice my age for marriage. I once had to persevere through a disastrous date with a thirty year old insurance agent who could not stop talking about himself and was extremely rude to the staff at the restaurant. I had to use the toilet excuse and escape through the narrow square window in the women's restroom. My father was less than pleased to learn of this.

Mattapan is an area where the city hoodlums and middle class families coexist in perfect harmony. The struggling middle class families help out the poor through charities and donations. What unites us most is the Mattapan Cathedral where we all go on Sundays for mass followed by a group meal cooked by volunteers; mainly women. Children in Mattapan are in abundance so it goes without saying that I make a healthy sum of money weekly.

Babysitting is also how I met Victoria. I learned of Victoria through the babysitting grape-vine. I was at the top and she was a close second because she was my age mate, class mate and school mate. Victoria's family was one of the middle class families in Mattapan though it bordered more on the rich side. Their house was right across ours. We soon became inseparable and like all best friends we ended up visiting each other frequently. We met each other's families, had dinners together and organized a few illegal sleepovers when my dad stayed at the church preparing a sermon or attending to urgent church business.

Through Victoria, I also got to meet the only person who managed to brave the odds and date the daughter of a priest and an elementary school teacher. Victoria's twin brother, Walter Houghton, a scrawny geeky twenty year old with a pechant for sweater vests and wire rimmed spectacles. He was the quintessential nerd; Antisocial, punctual, extremely weird and extremely averse to sports.

I was not in love with him as much as I was excited to finally be dating someone.  To make myself more presentable, I toned down on the goth and began wearing dresses more often. For the first time, I bought lipstick that was not purple or black. I stopped wearing mascara. Though I never told him about that little incident with Evan on my sixteenth birthday. That goes to show the level of trust I had for him.

He was a genius but like all nerds he worked more with his brain than with his hands. One time, I was playing with my sister while we were washing dishes and in search of a weapon to use against me, she pulled the pipe that connects the kitchen sink to the main drainage system outside. Scared of what my father would do, I called the only man I knew who would not tell on us to my father. I called Walter over.

Walter rushed over and well, he tried his best to fix it but he failed miserably. He only made it worse. Elizabeth and I ended up sticking the pipe to the drainage system with all the glue we could find in the house. We cleaned up the house and acted like nothing had happened. Dad and mom didn't find out about the pipe; mostly because Elizabeth and I always offered to wash the dishes.

Everything was alright between Walter and I. Little did I know that this was the calm before the storm. That little moment of peace before everything hit the fan.

I have now learnt that good things never last and a relationship built on lies is doomed to crumble. Walter and I were in a purely platonic relationship for two months till he became demanding. He always wanted to have sex even when I clearly told him that I didn't want to. This particular time I remember that I had slept over at Victoria's house. Her room was huge so we decided to have a mini-camping themed sleep over. We slept in sleeping bags on the oak floors of her room. I woke up late that morning to a shocking sight. Victoria was not in the room but Walter was. He was touching my body all over. He jumped when he realized that I was awake and that was the end of that relationship. I was not going to deal with anymore bullshit from men. Not Evan and definitely not Walter.

I buried myself in school to avoid Walter but Walter would not be swayed. He joined my school, St. Paul's College of Mattapan. Despite his desperate attempts to talk to me, I continued avoiding him.

Walter then joined the school baseball team that was being coached by Evan at the time. Evan had been a star baseball player till a nasty accident shattered his ankle. He was coaching the school team as a side hustle till he was fully cleared to play; which wasn't till around July. Victoria's boyfriend, Alex was also on the team. Compared to Walter, he was big, tall and mascular so in other words every girl's dream. Alex had taken over Evan's spot on the team and was handling it well.

Walter did not stop pestering me. At school, at home and even at church, he was always trying to "make things right."

About a month later, (this was April I think) he just stopped trying. That wasn't the most surprising thing that month. Walter had also noticeably grown bigger. He had bulked up. The once scrawny Walter was mascular and huge. Steroids was my first guess. I didn't take heed to Walter because I considered myself finally free. A girl can only dream right?

The baseball team reached finals which was like a blessing for a lowly school located on the outskirts of Mattapan. The whole area was overjoyed. Victoria's parents were beyond proud of their son. My parents considered all this to be Evan's doing so they were happy and boasted about their son's achievements to anyone who would listen.

The championships rolled around the corner around late April. They were being held at our school because our principal had blasted half the school's budget pleading with the Tournament organisers to hold the finals at our school all expenses paid. The principal seemed to believe that it would finally get the school some publicity. What the students did not realize that blasting half the money would cause a lot of other school activities to be scraped off but what do I know?

We lost the final. Evan was pissed as hell. I know because everyone heard him shout a cacophony of curses at the players.

I was leaving school that day at around 10:00pm because Evan had disappeared and like the fool I was, I had stayed behind waiting for him like a lost puppy. On my way out a strong mascular hand pulled me into the record winning school roses. It was dark here because some genius had smashed off the bulb.

I looked into blood shot eyes and disheveled black hair. The veins in his head were a shade of blue that was almost purple. It took me a few moments to recognize Walter. His breathing was rugged and he was sweaty from the game.

"Look at me now." He said parting his arms. "I am an accomplished baseball player. I am mascular. Isn't that what you wanted?"

I did not know where this was going. I was just relieved that he had let me go so I just nodded. By the look on his face he expected me to have understood what he was saying. Consequently, he punched the wall to the left of my head and I yelped.

"L-look Walter." I forced the words to come out before my throat closed in fear. "I-I need to go home. It's late."

He then covered my mouth with his now beefy hand then whispered against my ear. "Am I not as good as your brother?" He said nothing more and just left stomping his feet on the compound but what was there to be said. He knew about what Evan had done and for some reason he thought I had slept with Evan? Who had told him those ridiculous lies? I knelt down completely spent and cried my heart out. It was Evan who had told Walter. It had to be.

I went home ready to confront Evan about the outrageous lies he had told Walter but he wasn't there. He didn't come home for days and no one in my family seemed to mind. I particularly became preoccupied by Victoria's birthday plans.

Victoria's birthday was to be held at the Mannequin Hotel, a luxurious hotel, North of Mattapan. I couldn't understand why all this was necessary for a twenty year old's birthday party. Not wanting to see Walter, I had refused to come for the party but after a few silent treatments, two almost-fights and a big quarrel at college, I agreed to come. Biggest mistake of my life.

First thing I notice about Victoria's party is that the organizers did a great job. Everything was splendid. The snack table was piled high with sliders, hot dogs, burgers and my personal favourites macaroons. Next thing I noticed was that the boys were more than girls. Not surprising given that Victoria did not have many friends.

The baseball team was here and they were finally in good spirits after the loss.

"Let's go swimming." Victoria tugged at my hand. Sensing my reluctance she added, "There are free swimsuits so you can't use that excuse." Victoria some how didn't seem to understand that I was scared. My body was wound tight as a spring. But this was her birthday so I agreed. Mistake number two.

In the changing rooms, I was literally shouting chants so that I could generate morale for my best friend's birthday party. I changed into the pathetic red swimsuit, walked out and almost immediately bumped into Alex. Was he waiting outside my room? Was he spying on me? I wasn't going to give him much thought. I muttered a few apologies and went to the pool area where a group of girls I couldn't bother recognizing were lounging with martinis and champagne flutes.

"Picture time." Victoria shouted from the photo booth. All girls except me ran for the booth. Yet another mistake. As a girl, never get left behind. I was tired of swimming so I went back to the secluded changing rooms to change back into my clothes and I was greeted by the face of evil. Evan was holding a baseball bat over his head ready to strike but that was not all I saw. Walter was up on the staircase smiling down at me. I pleaded for him to help me but he simply said.

"Since you like your brother more. Why don't you just stop playing hard to get? Maybe he will make you happier." Not for the first time in the last few months did I think that I had made a mistake dating Walter. All of Walter's traits were also best suited for a psychopath and I had turned him into the worst psychopath I knew. I had turned him into Evan.

I learnt a lesson that day;  when the human mind cannot get what it wants it often turns it into an obsession. The baseball bat came down on my head sending a sharp pain through my skull and then darkness became my companion.