Chapter Four - Our Little Secret
After years of living with the Santo family, Jenny felt a sense of belonging. Knowing that Belinda, who was nearly thirteen and aging out of needing a nanny, she grew weary. Jenny helped with a few minor chores around the house, but her main job was caring for the girl.
At first, Jenny would study while Belinda went to school or in the evenings. After years of trying, she realized that college was not for her. The subjects were often too difficult, and her lack of motivation prevailed during every deadline; she felt doomed.
After completely giving up, Jenny decided to figure out how to stay with the family longer.
The wealthy family paid well, and her work was often minimal.
Her most challenging time was when Belinda was a baby and Camille was recovering from hip surgery, which left her with a permanent limp.
Jenny would often catch herself watching Camille walk away, a hint of jealousy overwhelmed her.
Camille had it all, a good home and a handsome, rich husband.
Well, almost everything. She found Belinda to be a very awkward child, and she found her awfully creepy.
The fact that Belinda always held the same old doll in her arms, even at such an advanced age, was quite unnerving to her.
Nonetheless, she still wanted what they had.
In the mornings, while Belinda was at school and she had more free time, Jenny would dress in a crop top, tight leggings, and a loose ponytail that held her red hair up.
She liked to run down the street and would stop at the dilapidated mansion as her stopping point before running back.
The men in the neighborhood knew of her routine, as she wanted them to, but so did their wives.
Finding a husband in that street would most likely be… unlikely.
“You should cover up. You look like a whore, you know?” Miss Nancy shouted from her porch as she watered her flowerpots.
“Fuck you! Old hag, you wish you had my ass,” Jenny shouted back.
Miss Nancy tried to spray her with the hose, but Jenny had already taken off. “Cuuunt!” Miss Nancy yelled out.
After walking into the house, sweaty and out of breath, she noticed that Antonio was home early. Camille was also home, but she often slept past noon. Given this rare opportunity and her unexplored curiosity, she found herself looking for him.
In the kitchen, Antonio worked on the computer while sitting at the breakfast table.
“You are home early,” Jenny stated.
“Yeah, there was a sewer issue at the office, and everyone was sent home,” he replied.
“I am making myself some iced tea. Would you like some?” she asked.
He was silent for a moment before replying, her eyes fixed on him. “Sorry, trying to focus. Yes, that would be nice. Thank you.”
Jenny grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and set them on the counter next to the fridge, facing away from Antonio.
Trying to think quickly, she added ice to the glasses and poured the tea before walking back to the table.
Once she reached him, she intentionally missed the table’s edge.
The glass shattered under the table, and tea spilled everywhere, causing Antonio to spring back out of his chair.
“I am so sorry, sir. I am such a klutz,” she cried.
Annoyed, Antonio got down on the floor in front of her to help her pick up the shards of glass.
“Don’t worry about it, I got it,” she said to him before cutting her finger. While the cut was minimal, she pretended to freak out over the slight ooze of blood.
“Let me help, please,” he begged.
Antonio got up from the floor before helping her to her feet, then reached over the table for a napkin. He placed it over her finger and held pressure on it. During that moment, he was now a breath away from Jenny. Her sweat smelled sweet, and her eyes were bright.
He had never noticed her emerald eyes before, never once looking directly into them in all those years.
He observed her, noting that her hair reminded him of strawberries, and the freckles descending from her flushed cheeks to her neck resembled their seeds.
Her neck was thin and long, accentuating her delicate shoulders.
For a moment, he wondered what her skin would taste like.
By the look Antonio gave her, she knew a door had been opened. Even a small crack in the wall could let water in. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for.
Camille came down the staircase, breaking the spell between Antonio and Jenny. Irritated, Jenny grabbed a broom and a dustpan.
“What happened here?” Camille asked.
“Just an accident,” he replied.
Attempting to get back to his work and forget what had just happened, Antonio took his computer to a different room. Without another word, he disappeared.
Noticing how tense Jenny looked, Camille began to wonder. Being fifteen years her senior, she no longer saw her as an aid but as a threat. After cleaning up the mess, Jenny quickly went to her room for the rest of the evening.
Realizing that Jenny was no longer needed, Camille concluded that she needed to let her go. She waited for Antonio to finish his work to inform him of her decision, planning to observe if he would attempt to fight back, which he did.
“We will give her two months, that way she has time to find a new job and a new home.”
“She’s been with us for many years. Are you sure?” he asked.
“It’s time.” With that, she ended the conversation.
Later that day, Antonio still felt troubled by his thoughts.
He wasn’t ready to let Jenny go, but he knew that his emotions extended beyond the surface.
He thought of ways to convince Camille to allow Jenny to stay, but he knew that nothing would change her mind.
Needing to accept the fact that Jenny would be gone soon, he began to desire her.
Once Belinda was tucked in, Camille and Antonio went to bed.
After hours of tossing and turning, sweating and palpitating, Antonio snuck out of bed quietly.
Camille was always the first to fall asleep and the heavier sleeper, it wasn’t hard for Antonio to go unnoticed.
Quietly walking down the stairs, he made his way towards Jenny’s door.
He stood there, trying to build the courage to enter.
“Would she keep quiet?” Antonio thought as his face felt hot, his hands shook, and his blood rose higher by the second. He wanted Jenny to himself, just this once.
“What are you doing, daddy?” Belinda quietly snuck from behind him, making his heart drop down to his stomach.
“Shh. I thought I heard something. Let’s go back to bed, honey.
” Trying not to make a sound, they both began to retreat, but not before Jenny opened her bedroom door.
She wore a soft pink laced night gown with a slit from the hip down that exposed most of her left leg.
Antonio wanted to believe that she had been waiting for him, which she had been.
Jenny looked at both Antonio and Belinda; it wasn’t hard to put the puzzle together.
While pleased by the encounter, disappointment filled her.
Jenny noticed Belinda holding on to her doll tightly; her glassy eyes could pierce through her soul.
Without much said and awkwardly looking at one another, everyone retreated to their rooms.
After tucking Belinda and her doll back in bed, Antonio snuck back into his own bed.
Quiet enough not to cause Camille to stir, he felt relieved.
With the adrenaline rushing out of his system, he was fast asleep.
Meanwhile, Camille lay in bed, facing the opposite direction, her eyes peeled in the dark for the rest of the night.
After being tucked in bed, Belinda was fast asleep.
“She is trying to take away my daddy,” Belinda whispered to her doll as they sat on a quilted blanket beneath the unrelenting sun. Opposite her, the doll held an empty teacup. Pin’s porcelain skin gleamed cold and vacant in the harsh light.
Belinda continued to talk as she pretended to drink from her cup, “We can’t allow her to take him.”
Belinda reached over her doll and sat her in front of her, facing away.
Pulling a brush out of a woven basket, she began to brush her doll’s raven hair.
It wasn’t long before the sky began to turn gray.
What was once a clear blue sky was now filled with clouds heavily laden with water, signaling an imminent storm.
Once it began to pour, the water burned Belinda’s skin.
Frightened, she grabbed her doll and covered both of them with the blanket they had been sitting on.
The doll’s legs remained exposed to the rain, and it wasn’t much longer before her legs began to melt and seep into the grass.
Belinda tried to cover her dolls’ legs with her bare hands, but the rain burned her.
Her sobs echoed around her as she cried, “I won’t let her take him, I promise. ”
After waking up the following morning, Belinda grabbed her doll and went to do her morning routine.
She picked out a change of clothes from her closet, did her hair the best way she could, and brushed her teeth.
By nine o’clock, she found herself in the garage, looking for something she wasn’t entirely sure of.
Belinda heard Jenny shouting from the kitchen that breakfast was ready, and she stopped her quest for the bacon she smelled.
“Thank you, Jenny,” Belinda said as she grabbed some pancakes, bacon, and maple syrup.
“Do you have any plans for today?” Jenny asked.
“I’m looking for something. Maybe you can help me after breakfast.”
“Sure. You know, we’ve lived here for so many years. Why don’t you have any friends around the block? It might do you good to get out of the house and play like a normal kid.”
Belinda shot an annoyed look at her and said, “I don’t like them.”
“Any of them? There are at least thirteen kids on Lull Lane. All around your age. I heard that the dads knew each other back in high school. Yours too!”
“No, thank you.”