backstage. He returns with an armload of flowers for Dani. Everyone cheers.
Dani’s mom, Beth Solomon, knocks on the bedroom door.
Beth has short hair the same color as Dani’s, nearly invisible red eyelashes that she defines with three coats of black mascara, and freckles she hides with foundation.
“How’s Alex?” she asks.
“He has an ear infection. And he’s poignant.”
“Who would he have if he didn’t have you?”
“His mom?”
“His mom. Well.”
Beth used to feel sorry for Mrs. Alex, but she lost sympathy when Mrs. Alex lied to Dani. Mrs. Alex claimed to be working extra hours at the hospital, but instead went dancing with one of the EMTs at a bar outside town. “Might as well make a night of it,” Mrs. Alex said when she and her date got home at three a.m.
“Call Beth and say you’re sleeping on our couch.” Beth was livid and insisted Dani come home.
Another time, Mrs. Alex returned so late from a hair appointment that Dani arrived onstage partway through a Hawtones per-JANET RUTH YOUNG
formance. Beth had invited her friends and was embarrassed. Mr.
Gabler read Dani the riot act afterward.
“I know you can’t leave a little kid alone,” he said, “but you have to be resourceful and make other arrangements.” He would give her another chance, he said, but if she missed part of a performance again she would be dropped from the group.
Dani began babysitting when her teammate Justine Lamont needed someone to take over for her one night. The next time, Justine simply didn’t show up at the house, and Mrs. Alex called Dani. Justine told Dani she didn’t want to sit for Alex anymore because the hours were so long and the house was so chaotic.
This was just as well for Dani, because she had already fallen in love with Alex. Dani doesn’t mind Mrs. Alex screwing up sometimes. She has a stressful job, and it can’t be easy raising a kid by yourself.
“Why don’t you bring him something next time you go over?”
Beth asks Dani.
“What kind of something?”
“A present. A video game. I’ll give you the money.”
“Mrs. Alex makes good money, Mom. And I already got him a racket.”
“Get him something from me. To cheer him up. It must be tough having a mother like that.”
“Mom, I know you mean well, but it seems like your motiva-tion for giving him a present is just to insult Mrs. Alex. If you want to give him something, do it because you like him, not as . .
. as a consolation prize for having a crappy mom.”
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T H E B A B Y S I T T E R M U R D E R S
“I’m trying to help,” Beth says. “I feel sorry for the little guy.”
“I do too. But I like Mrs. Alex. She has an exciting life. She’s kind of a free spirit. She’s constantly going on dates.” Not like you, you dried-up twat!
Oh no, Dani thinks.
Oh no. I was feeling good about having managed the lesbo thing during the match, and now this new one pops up. Dani’s so tired of pushing thoughts away that she feels like crying. She can’t go through this with Beth. She has to get Beth out of her room. She turns her chair away from the door.
“Mom, can I please have some time to myself? I want to learn this piece of music.”
“All right. I’m going to do a little more cleaning. Sean is coming for dinner Thursday—will you be home?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Sean is Beth’s boyfriend, who has a successful house-building company. Dani believes Beth is doing everything she can to get Sean to marry her, even though Sean has already been married three times and shows no sign of wanting to get married again.
It’s hard to know what’s attractive about Sean, other than that he and Beth both have their own companies and can talk about work and buildings.
Every time Sean comes to dinner, Beth spends an hour cleaning in addition to what the cleaning service does. One night Beth lit candles all over the house, and Dani felt certain Beth was going to go for broke and propose to Sean herself. Dani told Beth she wasn’t staying; she would sleep at Shelley’s. After she left she 31
JANET RUTH YOUNG
realized she was embarrassed for her mother. When Dani came home the next morning, Sean was gone and Beth didn’t let on that anything unusual had happened. She sat there listening to the news and eating a waffle. Dani toasted one too, although she had