The Babysitter Murders - By Janet Ruth Young Page 0,1

handcuffs to a police cruiser in front of Alex’s house. Mrs. Alex watches with an accusing, tear-stained face. Or worse, an ambulance pulls up to the emergency room where Mrs. Alex works, and Mrs. Alex realizes that the lump on the stretcher is her own child. Ugh. Oh my God, it’s too awful, Dani thinks. She shivers and puts her hands over her face. Stop thinking about this, Dani tells herself. Now.

That’s my TMI, Dani thinks. Too much imagination. She finds it easy to imagine herself into all kinds of situations. Her imagina-4

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tion helps with writing assignments and with making up games for Alex, but it also gives her trouble. During rehearsal for her a cappella group she often pictures herself on vacation in Aruba with Gordon Abt, and she can almost feel her beach dress cling-ing to her legs as she and Gordy run hand in hand through the waves. Sometimes she worries that the other Hawtones can read her expression: unfocused eyes, parted lips, a small gasp escaping from her mouth because she forgot where she was and thought that the vacation was really happening . . .

Now her TMI is making her imagine being like someone she would never empathize with in a million years. Dani is not a violent person. She detests people who are hurtful or violent.

She tries very hard not to hurt others, not even their feelings.

No way in the world would she ever even strike a child. Dani decides to boycott all violent movies and TV shows. Maybe the stuff she sees—even glimpses accidentally—is putting pictures in her head. Maybe what her health teacher said was true: Violent stuff changes the way your mind works.

“Now be a mountain so the lion can stand on you and look far,” says Alex.

“Is this far enough?” Dani asks Alex. She squats, grunts like she’s going to poop, then lifts Alex and his lion up to the ceiling.

Alex loves that, and Mrs. Alex is too short to do it. Now Dani thinks only about Alex. She forgets about the Dorchester girl and her stepfather.

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Gordon Abt is massaging Dani’s shoulders. This is real life, not Dani’s imagination. Before every rehearsal, the Hawtones massage the singer on their left and then the singer on their right. Dani stands beside Gordy because she’s an alto and he’s a tenor.

He touches her lightly, but Dani feels her nerves tingle all the way to the floor.

“Ahh,” she says. She says it ironically, so that if he doesn’t share her feelings she can pretend to be joking. But Shelley hears her. Shelley knows that Dani’s being ironic about being ironic; that she really does mean Ahh.

Dani’s tall, but Gordy is taller. Although only his hands touch Dani, she senses his whole body. It shimmers in parallel to hers like a six-foot sheet of glass filled with afternoon sun.

Now it’s her turn to massage him. His shoulders are slender but have some muscle. As Dani massages, her heart pounds a word— look, look—and she feels like their pairing stands out from all the others.

When she lets go of his shimmer, he thanks her the way he would thank anybody for anything. The Hawtones begin their vocal exercises, starting at a low pitch and rising by half-steps.

Nathan Brandifield, a baritone, smiles at Dani every time she T H E B A B Y S I T T E R M U R D E R S

sings a note. He’s geeky and she doesn’t know him well, but he’s always oddly proud of her.

“New music for June fourth,” their music director, Mr. Gabler, says. “Well, not new to the seniors, but the rest of you need to learn it. This time anyone—male or female—can audition to sing lead, and we’ll all decide who sounds best.”

What is the song, and who will be the soloist? Last week Dani suggested “Fix You” by Coldplay because she thought it would be perfect for Gordon’s voice. She even bought the sheet music for Mr. Gabler, hoping to tip the scales. Gordy suggested “Back on the Chain Gang” by the Pretenders, which, coincidentally, Dani loves and sings well. Shelley asked Meghan Dimmock, a soprano, what she wanted to sing, as if the new song was already Meghan’s.

Shelley is a good singer too. Why can’t she pick something that showcases her own talents?

“Retread,” a senior mutters as she hands around the music.

The new/old