Chapter Text
The flames grew higher, hotter and panic began to set in among the crowd. Someone shouted for water, someone else backed away too fast and knocked over a chair. The grill crackled violently, fire licking up the sides like it had found something to prove. I didn't shout. I didn't think. I stepped forward, felt the heat sting my arms, and slammed the lid down hard. The metal rang out, sharp and final. I twisted the knobs, cutting the gas, and stood there as the fire suffocated itself, smoke hissing through the seams.
For a second, no one spoke. Then the yard exhaled, nervous laughter, someone saying my name like they hadn't realized I was there until now. Them the music came back on. The party restarted. And just like that, everything was back to the way it was just minutes before.
I opened up the grill, the charred remains of burgers and hot dogs staring right back at me. "Thanks for that." A man said, walking from inside the house. "I went to get a drink for one minute and this happens."
"No problem. I like them burnt." I said, grabbing a burnt hot dog. "The char adds flavor."
The man replied with sympathetic laughter to my admirably always joke. "Well, I appreciate you. Some guy came into the kitchen to put it out with water, which would have been..."
"A whole lot worse." I interrupted.
"Yep."
I started to walk towards the cooler for a drink by the man spoke again. "I don't believe we have met." he said. "I'm Steven."
"Caleb." I said, shaking his hand.
"You seem quite young Caleb. I can't imagine you are one of Mary's friends."
"No," I chuckled. "I'm Glenn and Bailey's kid. We just moved here."
"Makes sense. You look just like him." Steven replied.
"Do you know my dad?" I asked.
"I sure did." Steven said with a smile. "We were great pals back in the day. He may have mentioned me a few times, I'm sure of it."
"Nope." I replied. "No mention of a Steven."
"I went by Stev back then, so that my be why."
"Stev?!" I replied, a flood of stories my dad had told me coming to light. "I have sure heard of you. You seem to be in any crazy story that my dad has."
"Sounds about right." Steven replied.
"Did you guys really do all that stuff?" I asked.
"What have you heard?"
"Jumping of bridges, sneaking into concerts without tickets, starting a rave in a train car and working at a Lakeside Lodge just to crash weddings." I replied, "and there is more I don't remember."
"Yep. Those are all true. That's how your dad met Bailey. We crashed a wedding and he took her home, and they were inseparable since." Steven said as he started to put more on the grill.
"Crazy. I had started to think he made up all those things." I replied. "He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would do all that."
"Luckily, meeting Bailey and living in Montana really mellowed him out. For me, I had a few more years like that before I settled down."
"I'd love to hear about it." I replied.
"I see you've met Stev." Dad said as he put his arm around me.
"I can't believe he's real." I replied.
"What made you think that?" my dad said.
"Um..." I replied, keeping my honest thoughts to myself. My dad, a middle school gym teacher and basketball coach did not seem like that kind of guy. He'd rather spend his nights watching a game and falling asleep halfway through than throwing parties in train cars.
"After I made him sell the motorcycle, he was a changed man." My mom added, joining the conversation.
"You had a motorcycle?!" I asked.
"I did. Your mom wouldn't marry me unless I sold it."
"I've still got it in the garage, if you wanna check it out." Steven said.
"Oh do I." I said, my eyes widened.
Steven closed the grill, telling someone nearby to keep an eye on it and lead us to the large gagged to see the motorcycle. He and my dad recalled stories of their time together as we looked through the house. Immediately, I became immersed by the interior of the home.
Sunlight poured through tall windows onto gleaming hardwood floors, spilling across a spacious living room with a stone fireplace and shelves lined with books and curiosities. A grand staircase curved upstairs, hallways stretching out past framed art and soft rugs. The kitchen gleamed with marble countertops, and a cozy reading nook sat tucked by a window. Plush sofas filled the family room, a subtle hum of music from the backyard, and the air carried a faint mix of vanilla and polished wood, warm and inviting. It paled in comparison to the small, two bedroom, one bathroom home I came from.
We rejoined the party and Steven and my dad continued to recall stories and Steven introduced us to lot of the people there. As people began to leave, we were among the lay to remain. I helped clean up as Steven and my parents continued to chat in the living room.
I started doing some dishes when the front door opened. I friend to find a tall woman with brown hair look at me confused. "Who are you?" she asked as a child darted past her and through the hallway.
"I'm Caleb." I replied.
"He's Glenn's kid honey." Steven shouted from the living room.
The woman placed down bags near the island in the kitchen. "I'm willow." she said, trying to take the rag and plate from my hand. "You don't have to do that. We can handle it."
"I don't mind." I replied, continuing to clean. "I'm happy to help."
"Thank you." she said as she went through the hall.
I finished up and joined my parents in the living room. My mom stood up, "we should go if we are gonna see the fireworks."
"True." my dad replied.
"Well," Steven said, standing up alongside with them. "Thanks for coming and feel free to come by whenever."
As we put on our shoes and got ready, Willow came over and muttered something to Steven. "What about Caleb?" he said to her, catching my attention.
"What's that?" I asked.
Steven looked over at Willow who nodded slightly, "Are you looking for a job?" he asked.
"Actually, I am." I replied.
"Well, it's super last minute but we are going out of town and our usual sitter had something come up. Would you be willing?"
"I haven't really babysat before, so I don't know." I replied.
"You don't need too much expirenece. Just keep him safe and take care of what he needs and you should be fine. You have a good head on your shoulders and don't see you having too hard of a time." Steven said.
"He is ten." Willow added. "So something's he does a good job entertaining himself. He just... needs help in some areas."
"Um... sure. I guess I can." I replied. "How long?"
"Oh good." Willow said. "For ten days. That is a long time and can find others to help if you'd like."
"I'm not doing anything." I chuckled. "I'm happy to. But if you don't mind me asking, how much does it pay?"
"For the ten days, five grand." Willow said.
"Five grand?!" I replied, looking towards my parents. "that's almost a semester of tuition."
"How much is your tuition?" Steven asked.
"Six thousand one hundred and thirty." I replied from memory.
"We'll match it." Steven said. "That doesn't include food and anything you'd need while you are here."
"You don't have to. I can do it for 100 a day." I said.
"I want to." Steven replied. "Plus, our boy can be a handful."
"Come over at 9 tomorrow and we will give you the rundown." Willow said.
"Um..." I said, looking at my parents. "I don't have a car and my mom works tomorrow. It's kinda far out here."
"Then take one of my cars." Steven said, tossing me keys to a VW. "Tanks full and you'll need it while you're here anyway."
"Thanks." I said, smiling ear to ear.
"No thank you. Not only did you save our grill but you saved our trip." Steven said.
"What happened to our grill?" Willow asked.
"Long story." Steven said as we made our way out the door and thanked them.
I pressed the button in the key, the lights of a blue VW lighting up from the garage. I slide in, and it's instant, and the leather is impossibly soft. The steering wheel fits my hands perfectly, and everything feels smooth and precise. Sunlight glints off the dashboard, the controls click with a satisfying weight, and the door shuts with a solid thud. I lean back, and for a moment, it feels unreal, like I'm sitting in someone else's dream. It's like a different planet compared to my moms beat up two door camera, with its trapped, musty smell.
The drive is smooth to where I could hear myself think, and my anxiety was high as any wrong move and I squander this golden opportunity. After dropping the car off at out house, we headed downtown to watch fireworks in the city.
It was well into the night when we got home, and I lay down on my mattress on the floor, surrounded by sevar half way packed boxes, staring up at the ceiling. A mix of excitement and nerves.
When I arrived at the house the next morning, Willow was there to meet me. I looked around, suitcases by the door and it was just her. "Where's the kid at?" I asked.
"He's at a friends with Steven." she said. "I wanted to take you shopping for food and stuff for while we are gone. Is that alright?"
"Sure." I said.
"Good. He is quite picky so I wanted to show you what he eats and where to get it as well as get you what you want."
As we drove to the store and shopped, she gave me the run down of my responsibilities.
"We like to give Ben as much autonomy as possible." she said. "But there are certain rules we have in our house. He only gets one hour of screen time a time, 30 minutes after lunch and dinner. On special occasions we will go to the movie theatre."
"What does he like?" I asked.
"I'll let him tell you that." she said.
"Okay..." I replied as she continued.
"He has a strict bed time of 9 on weekdays, 10 on weekends. He knows the routine. He's going through this independence phase right now so he will take care of it and I suspect he will eventually come to you for help. A reminder would help around 8."
She continued. "He's a sweet kid, very sensitive and will calm down when you talk to him and listen. He doesn't have any allergies or special diets to consider. The only big thing with Ben is he has some toileting troubles."
"Toileting troubles?" I asked.
"Yeah." she said. "It's a big issue but he's done pretty well by himself recently, but he gets really embarrassed about it. He really doesn't want me to tell you much about it and I want to respect that. So, let him come to you when he's ready or when he needs something."
"Oh... okay." I said.
"I do not suspect any issue besides that. He's really a kind, sweet kid. If he does act up, we don't punish or raise our voice at him. My ex used to do that a lot and he just shuts down. He responds best when he feels understood, not corrected."
"What do you guys usually do during the summer?" I asked.
"I want him to have a fun time with you." She replied. "With Steven often at work and his dad not in his life anymore, he doesn't have much men in his life. So, take him wherever you or he wants, like seriously, wherever and whatever as long as your safe about it. But please do something each day, don't just sit in the house. Ben won't want to anyway, there isn't much to keep him entertain in the house for that long anyway."
"Oh sweet! What does he like to do?" I asked.
"I don't think he knows yet." She said. "He likes mostly everything, but it's hard to tell if he actually does. He doesn't like disappointing people."
I nodded along as she continued. "He has only about one friend, and they do just about everything together. But, this friend can get on his nerves sometimes. Just watch out for that."
"Okay, good." I replied. "That's a lot of information."
"Yeah, I'm sorry. He can be a handful, not because he's a terror, but because he makes it hard to know what he needs or wants. I hope the pay is enough for you to really try with him. That's what we are looking for, as well as keeping him safe."
"I can do that."
"I do have a sheet of paper on the fridge with all the information you need, phone numbers, people to contact and why, and addresses, and a generic shopping list."
We pulled into the store and shopped a bit. I was hesitant to grab anything but she insisted. We grabbed your typical ten-year-old staples, chicken nuggets and tater tots, and some other things his mom wanted him to try. "We usually try to avoid junk food, but we wanted to be flexible with it while we are gone, so it can be a bit more of a special time for him. But don't go crazy. We'd rather him eat a bit bad for ten days then let him go crazy with the screens."
After shopping, she went by the house, Steven's car in the driveway, him packing their bag inside. We stocked the groceries and Steven came in. "Thanks again Caleb. You'll do great. Infos on the fridge, credit card is on top of the fridge with some cash for you to spend. Ben is still with Jamie and will get dropped off around dinner time."
I nodded, the nerves beginning to settle in. "Enjoy your alone time for the next few hours. You won't get much until we get back." he said with a grin."
"Thank you guys. Have a good trip." I said.
"I'll call every night at 10:30." Willow said. "Just to check in."
I gave her a thumbs up as they took the last of their luggage to the car and disappeared. I lay on the couch, and sighed. My eyes grew heavy as the quiet began to hum on my ears.
I woke up to a slightly darker on and a loud knock on the door. I bolted up and quickly went to the door. Standing their was a small boy, strands of wavy black hair narrowly escaping his baseball cap. A jean jacket over a Patagonia T-shirt and a pair of lounge shorts, all of which seemed to be a size too big for him. He worse a backpack with one strap on the shoulder. He looked up at me, expression blank, as if he was studying me.
"Hey Ben." I said with a smile.
He walked past me without a word as the minivan in the driveway honked and the driver waved. I returned a wave and shut the door behind me.
"You hungry?" I asked as I turned around to find no one behind me.
I walked the halls of the house calling for Ben. I arrived at the fort door in the hall and knocked. "Ben?" I asked.
Behind me, he swung open the door to his room.
"That's the guest room." he said.
"Oh, I was wondering." I replied nervously. Why was I so nervous around this ten year old. "You hungry?"
"Sure." he said.
"What would you like?"
"Whatever." he said, closing the door behind him.
I began to cook up some of the food that Willow bought, and Ben joined me a few minutes later, magnetic tiles in hand. He built stuff, sitting at the island while I watch as the food cooked.
"How was your day?" I asked.
"Good." he replied, keeping eye contact with the magnetic tiles.
"Do anything fun?" I asked, desperate for something beyond a one word answer.
"Not really." he said.
The buzzer for the overnight went off and I took it out. Lasagna. Ben looked up from his tiles and continuing playing after a few seconds. I served up some for him and I and packed the rest in a tub for later.
Ben ate slowly, distracted by his tiles. I finished and washed up and as I did, Ben put his plate in the sink
I checked my watch: 8:06.
"Hey Ben." I said. He turned to face me before he turned I into the hall. "It's eight. Time to get ready for bed."
"I know." he said. "Good night."
"Good night." I replied.
I didn't see Ben the rest of the night while I cleaned the kitchen. The houses was quiet and I unpacked my things in the guest room. I lay in bed, worried and anxious. It may be a long ten days, but after all, it was babysitting a ten year old. How hard could it be?