“Thank you for coming so quickly Bess. The boys are watching a movie in the basement and if you need anything, pizza money’s on the counter. Our cell phone numbers are on the refrigerator and that’s pretty much it. We’ll be home by eleven,” Mr. Macgruder told me.

“No problem. It’s not too much too handle. They’re only five,” I replied.

“They can be very loud and stubborn at times,” he replied. “But don’t worry, it’s almost bedtime.”

“John, let’s go,” Mrs. Macgruder said. “Bye darling, take care.”

“Bye!” I shouted as they entered their car.

I’ve known the Macgruders as neighbors, and now they were giving me the opportunity to show them I have what it takes to become their babysitter. They paid fairly well, Mr. Macgruder being a prosecutor and all, and I needed the money for a pair of Uggs. They had twin boys, five years old, Savian and Jeremy. It wasn’t going to be so hard.

“Bessy!” Jeremy screamed.

I rushed downstairs and saw Savian throwing blocks at Jeremy. “Guys, knock it off. You had me scared.”

They both started to laugh. Maybe it wasn’t going to be easy. I decided to stay down in the basement with them in case anything else happened. And sure enough, something did happen. Savian started crying. “Guys, stop fooling around, you could get hurt,” I said.

“Bessy! I’m bleeding!”

“Oh shoot. Coming,” I replied. If the Macgruders found out he got hurt, I’d be fired and I could never get those boots. I saw red all over the tiled floor of the bathroom and looked at Savian. He was holding a red napkin up to his nose.

“Oh what happ…” I began, but as I soon as I started talking, Jeremy squeezed a whole packet of ketchup on my shirt. Now they were going to get punished. “You guys ever hear the story of the boy who cried wolf…he got eaten. So if you guys don’t stop tricking me, someone’s going to eat you!”

“Are you threatening us?”

“No, I just want to relax, so knock it off. Or I’ll call the kid police.”

“Do you think we were born yesterday?”

Wow. These guys were fresh. They probably learned it from Mr. Macgruder. “Just go to your room!”

They walked upstairs and I went to the kitchen to call the pizza guy.

“Bessy! We need your help! Hel…” Jeremy called.

I was done with their tricks. I continued dialing the phone number for the pizzeria. “Hey guys what toppings do you want?” No response. “Guys, knock it off I’m being serious.” No response again. I was not going to fall for their tricks again. “Cheese,” I told the pizza guy.

I was getting nervous. This was the longest they didn’t make any noise. Then I heard the sound of a cow mooing. “Just one of their toys. They must be too occupied playing,” I thought.

The doorbell rang and I rushed to get it. It was the pizza delivery guy. “Thanks,” I said and tipped him. As soon as I finished slicing the pizza, I told the guys to come down and get their food. “Come on. The pizza’s getting cold!” That was enough. I was going upstairs. “Hey! Jeremy, Savian?”

I heard the floor board creak. I turned around swiftly and saw nothing. “Just imagining things.”
As I walked into the room, I saw it had been messed up. The bed sheets were all over the floor, their toys were broken, and the window was opened. A clown statue had been knocked down. It looked so lifelike. “I should call the Macgruders,” I thought.

“Hello,” Mr. Macgruder said.

“Hey, umm…I was downstairs and the kids were playing and I got the pizza and I can’t find them anywhere and their room is ruined,” I cried.

“Oh, don’t worry. They do that trick all the time.”

“Oh okay, and the clown statue is creeping me out, I can put it in the closet?”

“Clown statue…we don’t have a…Call the police, get out of there right now!”

“Bess. Hello?”