Chapter 10: The Mother-load (Part 1)

“... Don’t leave me okay.... I said don’t leave me, Kari...”

That thought lingered around in my head for a few minutes, then I wondered;
Should I leave him?

What will happen if I did leave?

Would he even let me leave?

have been in this house for approximately six weeks; the longest and scariest six weeks of my life. I had no idea the job was going to play out this way. How this will end is still a mystery. This family has many secrets. I thought the crazy mother was going to be my biggest worry, and I joked about that a lot, however, things have taken a turn — a terrible turn towards a Stephen King’s Novel.

On the brighter side — well the less dull side because there’s nothing bright about this. I had obtained a lot of information during my time and luckily, being exposed to the corporate world I gained a set of skills; I became a kick-ass researcher and a critical thinker. Hopefully, I could now use those skills to my advantage to somehow solve this “case.”

There are only two possible findings either; I’m overthinking the whole situation, or this job is the nightmare I never saw coming.

The night of my last off day, before my week had officially begun I had some trouble sleeping. All I was able to think about was the different pieces of information I had floating around in my head. My mind urged me to grab a pen and paper, but without my contacts, I wasn’t able to see squat! And I had to let them soak for at least six hours.

These thoughts, however, weren’t going to take my vision into consideration, they kept burning into my brain harder and harder. “Ugh!!” The loud outburst was released from my mouth, which I then quickly covered. It came out a lot louder than I expected. The house was extremely quiet and the walls were extremely thin, I feared waking up either kid; especially Corey. Then it dawned on me — of course, it was quiet it was only 3 A.M. Not realizing that I was up so long. I had to get those thoughts under control, but how?! I am female — it’s in my DNA to overthink everything.

I took a deep breath. The only way I was going to get through the remainder of the night was to get my thoughts out of my head, and since I couldn’t see to write it down, the only option I had was ‘speech to text’ – thank you Lord for technology. I had to be mindful because of the walls, they would definitely tell my secrets if I spoke too loud. So, I reached for my iPhone, got out of bed and locked myself inside of the closet.

“Siri, open Notes.”

The Notes app had opened and it was time. I took another deep breath — this one was more of a “brace yourself” breath because I was about to let my thoughts go haywire. As I exhaled, I started to think about all sorts of unnecessary things: men, food, cocktails, being a world-renowned author, walking the red carpet, wine, a large pepperoni pizza. Slowly shook my head, then giggled — jeez, why was my attention span so low?!

Anyway, “focus Kari,” I whispered. The thoughts then gradually calmed down — it was amazing, even without a lot of sight, my thoughts were so powerful it projected itself vividly. The following things about the family were evident:

1. They were crazy — not people on drugs crazy, more like Leatherface’s family from ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’... How ironic right?!

2. They had no family or individual pictures anywhere around the house.

3. Corey’s past tantrums caused Liza and Cathy to move into an apartment

4. Cathy has a chipped tooth she is not allowed to talk about, and from the picture, I saw with her and the past nanny it was clear that she’s had the chipped tooth since she was three years old.

5. Chris is hardly at home.

6. Liza is scared of her own son.

7. There is no glass allowed in the house; nothing breakable because of Corey.

8. There are blood stains on the parent’s bed and Cathy’s bed.

9. Cathy is scared to sleep in her own room.

10. The Attic???

The only thing left to do was to connect the dots.

Later that morning, after Corey and I’s exercise session whilst I rolled up the yoga mats, I noticed Chris walking towards the kitchen counter and picked up his brown briefcase. First of all, I didn’t even know people still carried around briefcases, do they really still make those?!

“Come on Cathy, it’s time for school,” Chris said to her as she finished up her chicken nuggets. Usually, it was Liza, who drove Cathy to her prestigious preschool on mornings, but Chris had to that day because Corey had insisted that Liza took him to the bowling alley.

Liza wanted to get him there at a reasonable time, meaning before anyone else showed up. I was told that morning “earlier the better, at least there was a lower chance of him blowing up and having a tantrum.”

It was almost 8:45 A.M., Chris and Cathy had just driven out of the yard, and I was busy trying to get Corey ready. As I got to his room, I was “shook-eth.” Corey was looking out of his window butt naked, waiting for me to start his shower — I guess that was an indication that I took too long to get upstairs.

Corey was quite quiet during his shower, he just stared at me.

“Are you okay Corey?”

He said nothing, just continued staring and smiling. It was such a creepy ass smile, almost reminded me of that horror movie “Truth or Dare” — not the best horror movie, but Corey’s smile looked exactly like when the characters got possessed. It always made me cringe whenever he did it.

“All done!” Corey said abruptly, immediately turned the taps off and hopped out of the shower. It happened so quickly when I stepped back to give him more space I almost tripped over the green toilet mat. He then stormed out of the bathroom soaking wet, before I could even wrap the towel around his chubby body. The bathroom floor was dampened, so, there I went running behind him trying my best to dry his skin before he got more water anywhere else.

I managed to get the towel around him before he laid on the bed. He just kept mumbling to himself as I wiped his skin. I then grabbed the lotion and began to lotion his feet. For a brief moment, I wondered why the parents gave the kids Victoria Secret Lotion to moisturize their skin — couldn’t they use Jergen’s or Johnson Johnson.

During my thoughts, I felt Corey placed his hand on my head and slowly caressed my hair. I hope he doesn’t mess up my bun, I thought. And, how awkward that moment was. I quickly stood up and got his clothes out of his closet. I noticed he followed me as I walked towards the closet.

It sucked that I couldn’t tell him “no” and explained how uncomfortable it made me feel. He’s a kid, and I am certain he would’ve understood, but his parents made him believe that nothing he did was deemed as wrong. How was that supposed to help him as he gets older?

He needed to know right from wrong. The funny thing was I honestly believed that Corey knew, but he also noticed that he was feared — this little boy could practically get away with anything!

“Kari... I am ready,” Liza yelled.

Just in the nick of time, I was able to finish getting him dressed. He proceeded to meet Liza at the front door. I badly wanted to scream “Hasta La Vista” as they walked out of the front door. As soon as I heard the car engine rev up, my body was overflowing with joy — I almost backflipped, but I remembered that I had no insurance nor was I able to do any sort of flips.

There was a little window next to the front door, I ran towards it, took a quick peek to ensure that the coast was clear, then ran into the kitchen and started stuffing my face with any snack I could get my hands on. Oh my goodness! I was hungry and thirsty, but I didn’t want coffee! My taste buds went wild for the taste of some vodka.

“Vodka!” I said out loud, hoping the bottle would prance down the stairs and into my arms. Quite dramatic I know!

I hopped up the staircase and headed straight into the room. I grabbed the vodka from the top shelf in the closet and took a gulp — a huge gulp. I pranced around the room feeling free; the air felt lighter and fresher. I placed the bottle back on the shelf, and right before I turned my back to walk out of the closet, I notice a boarding pass laying on the floor. It must have fallen from the shelf when I moved the bottle, I figured. Momentarily, I thought it was mine, but then I remembered that my boarding passes were usually electronic. I slowly bent over to view the past, I recognized the traveler's name because I have heard that name before, Cathy had mentioned it to me a couple of times.

I quickly grabbed my phone and looked the name up on social media and Google; it’s the same routine I do when I meet a guy. Some call it stalking, I like to refer to it as federal investigation — what can I say... CSI and Catfish episodes have taught me well.

Instagram: J.e.n.n.a. . . .
Facebook: J.e.n.n.a. . .
Google: J.e.n.n.a. .
Search — NOTHING!

I had an idea of how she looked from the picture Cathy showed me, but nothing came up. Shit! I suddenly remembered I had to wash the parent’s sheets, and I wasn’t in the mood to hear Liza’s bitching and moaning, especially when I’ve had a few sips of Vodka.

I rushed downstairs, straight into the master bedroom almost slipping on the wooden floor as I turned the corner, luckily, the wall broke my fall.

I walked into the room and began ripping the sheets off the bed, I wanted to get back to enjoying the little freedom I had, yet, I couldn’t help notice a couple of pink sticky notes on the parents’ work desk. Suddenly, out of nowhere a gust of wind blew my body from the far left side of the room, all the way to the desk on the right.

I must have lost some weight, I thought. The wind just took me away with ease. I figured since I was by the desk, I should just take a little peek at the sticky notes. There were quite a bunch of them, clearly ripped apart and then placed back on top of each other.

Call therapy school,

Call Chris,

Go to the grocery,

Pick up clothes for Cathy,

Check Kari’s phone Info

Reschedule with Margaret

....... Wait... I missed that one.

“Check Kari’s phone information.” What the fuck did that mean?! Marian was right! They wanted to keep tabs on me — they wanted to see my information, that’s why she was so fucking eager for me to put the SIM into my iPhone. Fool! Not like she was going to see anything because it’s in my Android, and Android is no snitch! I think.

How stupid could Liza be to have written that down, knowing that I had to wash her sheets?! Unless she forgot, shoot, with everything going on in her life it’s possible she had to write it all down to have remembered — she's old — senior citizen old.I became so annoyed! I rolled my eyes and left the sheets in the room. As I marched up the staircase the voices in my head began arguing with each other,

Portuguese side: “it’s time!”

Black side: “don’t do it!”

Portuguese side: gooo gooo Kari

Black side: dead girl walking

“Shut up!” I shouted.

My thoughts were almost deafening, and I needed to compose myself and be strong. It was time to put my assumptions to rest, it was time to check the attic. I had told Chris about unlocking the door. I just hope he did. I stood in front of the entrance a bit hesitant to open the door, I then swallowed my fears and turned the doorknob really fast.

As the door swung open, without thinking twice about it, I swiftly ran up the stairs. The adrenaline was pumping. Maybe I had expectations for the door to be locked because I didn’t brace myself firmly enough for when the second door swung open, almost falling flat on my face. Instead, my upper body just moved with the door since my hands were still clutched onto the doorknob.I quickly caught my balance and stood in between the open doorway, staring at the pitch black door. There had to be a switch somewhere in here, I thought. So, I ran my hand along the wall searching for the switch.ClickPerfect! My initial thoughts were, thank God these people didn’t have me clean up here, at the same time I wondered why didn’t they.

The room was filthy; the air was filled with dust and wet wood smell. At least, it didn’t smell like a dead body, I chuckled. There was loose wood and broken glass on the cracked wooden floor.

I moved through the room carefully and swiftly as possible before Liza and Corey came back. I realized I wouldn’t have been able to hear them from up there. The walls in the attic seemed different — thicker, almost soundproof. Both doors were open, but I could no longer hear the neighbor mowing their lawn anymore. It was strange.

There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary up here, just the weird smell. Then, I noticed a relatively small pile tucked away deep in the corner. I couldn’t make out clearly what it was, so, I slowly moved towards it to get a better look. Frighteningly, the light got duller as I drew closer to the pile, and I didn’t have my phone with me to get additional light.

They looked like picture frames. I picked up the first and carried it closer towards the light. There they were; the family portraits, but the glass was broken. As I searched them, I noticed that all the frames were cracked and there weren’t a lot of photos with Corey in them. On the other hand, there were a lot with Cathy and the parents; those had the most damage.It was time to get out of there, even though there was nothing freaky in there, the room gave me goosebumps, not the good kind. I had to get out. On my way out I noticed a box with a piece of clothing hanging out of it. I couldn’t quite make out what it was. I was going to go closer until I heard a creek, I took that as my cue to get the fuck out of there. I figured the clothes were some of Liza’s old clothing from the 1800s.

I shut the door behind me, ran down the stairs and closed the entrance door. As I closed that door, I heard the garage door opening up.

“FUCK ME!!!!!” I grunted.

I ran back down into the Master bedroom, grabbed the sheets and threw them in the wash, so it looked like I was busy — being a good little servant.

After the trip to the attic, I became relieved. All of those things were all in my head. The family was crazy, but not “nanny-killer” crazy. Finally, my thoughts had somewhat settled..... Something still felt off. I continued my chores and played with Corey for a bit. Everything was going well during Corey and I’s card games. It seemed like good fun, we were laughing until I began winning a couple of rounds which made Corey furious. After my third win, he threw back his chair and stood up, then marched to his room.

I sat there and waited to see if he would’ve come back out, but he didn’t. Someone’s a sore loser, I mumbled. That was not my concern — well, maybe it was since I’m the nanny, however, I didn’t feel like being concerned at that very moment. I packed up the playing cards and proceeded downstairs. When I walked towards the staircase I jumped, there was Corey standing a few feet away from me, staring at me with that strange look in his eyes.

I did a little smirk, then walked down the staircase. Every step I took his eyes followed me — the shit was weird, but it wasn’t the first time he had creeped me out.

He just stood there smiling as I walked away. Shortly after I heard Cathy’s squeaky voice yelling out,

“Kari Kari Kari...”

“Kari where is he?” Liza shouted.

“Upstairs” I replied, trying my best not to make Corey hear, but let’s be real, I am certain he did. Yet, he hadn’t budged. It seemed as though he was still in his room which was great.

Cathy rushed into my arms, “Can we play now please?”

“ha..ha..ha, soon you have to eat a snack first,” I said to her, poking her little belly.

Cathy then threw her head back, pouting, trying her best to negotiate with me, “okay, I’ll eat one sandwich, and then we play, deal?” she said cheekily.

I shook my head, then agreed to her terms. I then grabbed the bread, grape jam and Jif peanut butter from the refrigerator, and began making her favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I normally added a special ingredient — my tears, it’s a nice blend between sweet and salty.

After I made the sandwich for Cathy, I sat her down in the dining area and went back to put the ingredients away. Whilst licking off some leftover jam I had on my thumb, there stood Corey leaning over the balcony on the floor, but he wasn’t staring at me, it was in Cathy’s direction. I glanced over to see if she was looking up at him, but she was busy humming and playing with her hair as she nibbled on her sandwich. My eyes then looked back up at him, and he wasn’t there!

My instincts told me to get over to Cathy’s, so I threw whatever I had down on the counter and power walked over to Cathy, then sat by her side. It’s a good thing to listen to your instincts because there stood Corey at the bottom of the staircase looking over at the table.

“Gosh! What now, ” I said in a hushed tone.

“Are you ready to play outside Cathy?”

“Yeah!!” Cathy replied joyfully.

I grabbed her hand and the plastic plate walked towards the trash and threw the empty plate away. I kept making little glances over at Corey to ensure he didn’t move, which he hadn’t, he just stood there speaking to himself.

For a brief moment, I wondered if the feeling I had, had been how Liza had felt. I don’t like the woman, but I just felt like Corey was plotting something — I was unsure as to what. The look he gave me every time I was around Cathy felt a bit hostile.

The strangest thing happened this time around. Normally, he stayed at a distance and watched as Cathy and I played, but this time he came closer — a lot closer. We were in the enclosed trampoline jumping around, throwing the softballs at each other. Well, I threw the softballs while Cathy threw the golf balls at me, which was painful! I must say she has a good arm. This girl could play baseball in the future or dodge ball, I had the bruises to show for it. I was tempted to throw them back at her, so that she knew how it felt, however, Cathy was so skinny even the soft toddler balls did some damage to her.

As we continued throwing the balls at each other, I noticed Corey came outside on the lawn. He stood in front of the trampoline staring as we played with each other, and Liza wasn’t around. It didn’t seem as though she was in the kitchen either. It was a bit strange to see him and Liza was not threading along behind him.

There was nothing to get worried about, I thought. It’s his home as well, and he could go wherever he wanted to. Therefore, I stayed cool and continued playing with Cathy. I then noticed Corey moved and was climbing to get onto the trampoline. I had to think fast about how to keep them apart. My heart began racing, but I had to be prepared for anything. He probably just wanted in on the fun which was a good thing.

“Are you good Corey?” I said out loud, hoping the Liza would've heard.

For an elderly woman, her hearing was quite good, she normally heard whenever I wasn’t doing anything and rushed out throwing her hands in the air, screaming “Is that nothing I hear you doing Kari”My reply usually stayed the same

“Yes master, now hop off of my imaginary dick... beeyotch!”

Of course, I didn’t say that, but I plan to make it my exit phrase when I leave in two months.

Corey didn’t reply to my question, and Liza was still nowhere in sight. I quickly turned around to Cathy and instructed her to stay behind me and play, so that I could be facing Corey. It seemed as though Corey wasn’t about to share me. He walked towards me, sat down and held on firmly to my right leg. He began rubbing my leg, looked up at me and smiled.Under these circumstances, Things seemed to be under control, until Cathy started yanking my body towards her,

“It’s my turn, play with me Kari... play with me!”

Corey’s grip became firmer as Cathy pulled me. I knew he was getting angry; it was written all over his face.

“Corey, come down from there, Corey get out now!!!!!” Liza yelled.

“I said come down... come and play inside”

But he didn’t move. Liza sighed, then I looked at Cathy and mouthed to her to get out.

Even though she wasn’t too thrilled about it, she listened to what I said and went to her mom. When they went inside, Corey released my legs and smiled, then got out of the trampoline.What?! Why?! He didn’t want to play with me, so why did he do all of that?

All I wanted was one day of no strangeness. I thought since the attic mystery was put to rest, that would’ve made things a lot easier, yet my mind still wondered.

Before I knew it, it was nightfall and my shift was over. Right on time; 9:30 P. M — the joy. My whole body ached. As soon as I got into the room, I face planted onto the bed. After a couple of seconds, screaming into the pillow, I turned on my back and stared at the ceiling, allowing my thoughts to be free for a bit.

There was nothing in the Attic, but what about that sticky note Liza had on her desk, I wondered. That was very peculiar.

It then dawned on me, back to something Chris had mentioned in the beginning,

"You are allowed to go out, but the city is quite far from where we are and you can’t bring a guest to the home," which I respected, but then he continued

“Our previous nanny was on Tinder a lot, and spoke to a lot of guys .... we don’t allow that so don’t do it.”At first, I didn’t think too much into it because I figured, the previous nanny told them her business but that wasn’t the case, they snooped through her information, searched through her messages, probably photos.

What the flying Fuu......

The next day, Corey hardly said anything to me. All he did was smile at me during our morning exercise and try to touch my hand. The usual creepy stuff, on the bright side he had a therapy session in the afternoon, which was fantastic news for me. It seemed like a chilled week; two days in a row and I got an hour and a half to myself. I felt “hashtag blessed.”

At 1:30 P. M they were out of the house. I waved as they walked through the garage door,

“Bye guys, have fun... I’ll miss you,” I said sarcastically. It wasn’t loud enough for them to hear, but it felt so good to get it out of my system.

I decided to use that free time to research potential literary agents. Thirty-minutes into my chilled vibe, I heard the garage opening. I flew up off of the chair, and ran upstairs to the children’s play area, just to give the illusion that I was doing something — you know “busy.”

The front door opened up, “Kari!!!!!”“Fuck!!” I mouthed aggressively.

“I am coming, Liza.”

Slowly took my time coming down the staircase.

“Hurry hurry,” Liza rushed me.

What’s the problem now, I thought.

“Go and play with Corey, he had another bad day, just go to him.”

Honestly, since he had a rough time I wanted to give him a few minutes to himself, but the old witch kept nagging.

Without replying, I walked outside to the back yard and watched as Corey walked around in circles.

“Would you like a snack Corey?” I asked.

Corey turned in my direction and charged towards like a bull. He then punched me in my stomach. I will be honest, the impact made a little fart slip out that’s how unexpected and powerful it was; luckily it wasn’t poo. Well, hopefully, it wasn’t!

“No Corey, don’t do that... that’s not nice!” I said firmly while holding onto his wrist.

He pulled away and went inside. I looked around puzzled, then went inside to explain to Liza what had happened.

Before I could get a word out she began bitching some more,

“OMG Kari go ask him if he wants something to eat, he is probably hungry!”

“I did, and he pu.....”

"Just stop, I am going to pick Cathy up early today and run some errands."

What? Leave?!

She was going to leave me alone with Corey?! A couple of minutes ago the boy tried to punch out my oesophagus. It seemed like she didn’t even care about what I was trying to tell her.

I stood in the middle of the hallway trying my best to stay calm, maybe he was a bit upset outside and is better now. He wouldn’t hurt me, I thought. Out of nowhere Corey then ran from the master bedroom and charged towards me, pushing me into the white wall. This little bitch was strong.“Stop, Corey!” I said to him, again holding his wrists.

“Stop it Corey... look at mommy ...look at me” Liza shouted to him,

“You can let go of my hand now Kari, I’m done.” He said calmly.

Then turned to his mother looking puzzled. Liza mouthed to me to go into my room and stay there.Shoot! She didn’t have to tell me that twice, I quickly ran up the staircase and went into my room, then grabbed my phone. I had to inform one person about what was going on. My hands trembled, my heart raced as I walked around the room. For some reason, my instinct urged me to also lock Cathy’s door, in case he tried to get to me through her door. I had to take all the precautions.

Suddenly,

“I don’t want to get mad so, you can leave now mommy... now say okay Corey.”

“Corey, come on let mommy give you your medication.”

“Nooo, you can go!” He shouted.

“I said you can go!” Corey shouted even louder.

“Okay fine, Kari will leave then....is that okay with you” Liza replied.

I sat on the carpet next to my bedroom door listening to Liza and Corey voices as they erupted. My whole body filled with fright. I knew this situation was about to get worse, but I prayed and hoped that he didn’t try to come into the room. I placed my ear by the door and continued listening.“Okay, that was stupid mommy, I am sorry,” he joyfully replied.

There was a pause.

“I like to say bad words... I like to swear... I don’t like to say good stuff... I like to hurt...you go pick up Cathy,” Corey continued.

The tears began filling up in my eyes because his voice kept getting closer towards me. I was so scared. No matter how much I tried to calm myself down, my hands kept trembling, and I covered my mouth so that he couldn’t hear me crying.

“Why aren’t you leaving mommy...... I promise I will be a good boy!” Corey said, releasing a small giggle and the end of his statement.

BAM BAM BAM

“Ahhh” I outburst, I crawled backward, further away from the door as it shook.

It was Corey trying to get in. He banged and kicked the door harder and harder, tugging on the doorknob trying his best to get through to me,

“Kari open up!”

Then he stopped. I took a deep breath and stared at the door with tears streaming down the side of my face. This was it! This was what my gut was warning me about. I felt as though I was in a horror movie and I had no clue how this scene was going to play out.

Then I heard another bang, it came from Cathy’s room, he kicked and banged on her door. The thought of it being locked and him not being able to get to me made his blood boil because he ran back towards my bedroom door, and with more of his might he banged and kicked it causing the whole floor to shake — it almost felt like an earthquake. Why was he causing that much of a ruckus? Why did he want to get to me?

“Corey stop!!” Liza shouted.

“Okay, I am sorry I promise I’m done,” he said to his mother.

There was another brief silence.

“You can go now mommy, go pick up Cathy...it’s time to pick her up”

“Corey, you have to come with mommy to pick her up,” Liza insisted.

“No, I will stay here Kari!”

“Corey, come with me”

“NO! You leave.... you leave now! Leave me and Kari home alone! Go and pick Cathy up and leave me with Kari!!” he demanded.

Then continued tugging on the doorknob.

“Do you think Kari is going to stay with us if you threaten and hurt her,” Liza said.

Without hesitation, Corey replied,

“Yes, she will stay... she has to!”

As he repeatedly banged on the door, I tried to get out of the room, I got up and went towards the one window in the corner. I looked through the glass, hoping that someone would’ve passed along the street, but it was no good, no one would’ve noticed me from the window. Plus, there was no way for them to hear me through the solidly fixed window. No matter how hard I banged on it. I was stuck in the room, scared out of my mind.

I tried to make a couple of calls, but they didn’t go through. The Wi-Fi was off and I didn’t know any locals. My mind went crazy... was this it? It didn’t sound like he was going to stop! It didn’t sound like Liza had any control over the situation, the longer she refused to leave the house, the more he got aggressive! Corey wanted me.... me alone in the house with him.

What was he about to do?!