Jenny (Babysitter's Club 5)

I was the go-to guy for fuckery, until the day I almost screwed up when I got into my best friend’s car and nearly died. The look on mom’s face that day I will never forget. It was that look that turned my life around.

From that day on, I became this overly conscious being, who never put a toe wrong. I did everything I was supposed to, so as not ever to see that look in her eyes again. But this shit right here is about to make me take ten steps back.

If the woman I trusted to have my kids is about to fuck me over, all hell’s gonna break loose. But in the back of my mind, no matter how angry I get, I can still hear Jenny’s voice asking me what kind of pills Lauren was on.

I scratched my stomach as I left the room to head downstairs where I could hear the slight din of voices; my parents were still up. I owed them big for the way they’d come through. I’m sure they had better things to do with their time than babysitting their grown-ass son.

I needed a shave, but that could wait until later, right now I needed food and an update more. “Oh, hi, son, you’re up.” Mom saw me coming from the couch where she was sitting talking to dad. “Are you hungry? Dad and I brought you back something to eat.”

“You took the girls to a restaurant?” The one time Lauren and I tried that; it was a disaster. The twins were in no way ready to sit and watch us eat. I can’t see my sophisticated never a hair out of place mother putting up with their screaming in a public place. Just the thought of it made me grin.

“Oh no, we went on our own. Jenny was here. She’s such a sweet child.” She went on to sing Jenny’s praises like everyone else. “She got us a few day’s supplies of milk for the girls since they’re not used to the formula as yet and even talked some of the women who’re nursing into giving us more if needed.”

I was stunned into silence. It never entered my mind to think about that, and here a complete stranger had gone beyond what was necessary of her to look out for my kids. “Damn, I didn’t even think about that. How did they take it, were they okay?”

“Seems like, now let’s get some food into you and then one more set of pills, I think. Dad and I will get up with the girls if they wake up in the night.” I wasn’t sure about the more pills, but my stomach rumbled at the mention of food.

I followed her into the kitchen, where she sat me down like I was twelve years old while she heated up some lasagna that she’d got from my favorite Italian bistro. Dad came in and pulled up a seat across from me with a weird look on his face.

“I called my friend down at the precinct; they haven’t seen any sign of Lauren yet. Your mother and I were just talking; we think it may be best if we called in someone to hunt her down. At this rate, she could be halfway across the country by now.”

“Where would we look? Lauren didn’t have a steady home growing up. There’re no sisters and brothers, no close relatives she could run to.” I’m sure she hadn’t gone back to any of the foster homes she’d grown up in because the way she talked, not one of them should’ve been trusted with the care of children, and she held no fond memories for them.

As much as I wanted to hang onto my anger, the thought of her out there scared and alone didn’t sit too well with me. The drugs were still coursing through my system, so my mind wasn’t working on all cylinders yet, but come morning, I should have a better handle on things.

I felt kinda bad that I wasn’t all gung-ho to go find her; a year ago, that wouldn’t have been the case. Then again, after the shit she peopled, I’m not surprised. My guts tightened itself into knots again when I recalled seeing her standing over my kids with a knife in her hand. I’m not dwelling too much on her running my ass over, but the other is going to take some time for me to get over, if ever.

I picked at my food and pushed away about half of it; it didn’t have any taste. “About tomorrow, your dad and I have canceled our trip to the Caymans…”

“You don’t have to do that. I can work from home for a while, as you know.” She didn’t look too sure or too confident in my abilities.