#2 Haley and the Big Weekend
"Race ya!" I called to Becca. We pedaled on our bikes quickly until we landed in front of 3182 Silas Road. "Whoa," I said, staring up at the house. "Is this it?" Becca checked the address. "Yep, this is it." The house was small, painted bright red with a cheerful white picket fence running in front of it. "This house holds eleven people?" I asked. Becca shrugged. "I guess so." We left our bicycles on the side and rang the doorbell. I winced, imagining how we must have looked, sweaty and dirty. I glanced down at my clothes, wishing I'd tried to make a better impression. I was wearing dark jeans and a shirt that was too small. Becca was wearing a short denim skirt and a white tank top. I could tell we were thinking the same thing.
A tired-looking man answered the door. He was tall and thin with thinning blonde hair and a rather large nose. He wore glasses and a faded yellow cardigan. He was holding a suitcase. "Hello," he said, smiling. "You must be Becca and Haley. I'm Roger Wilder." He said, smiling. We both nodded. "I mean, um, yes I'm Haley Braddock and this is Becca Ramsey." He shook our hands with a firm grip. We entered the living room; it was warm and worn with comfy suede couches and various toys strewn around the living room. A lady who I guessed was his wife entered next. She was really tall and thin; she was of Asian decent and really pretty. "Hello, I'm Louise Chin-Wilder." I liked both of them right away. The name Wilder rang a bell. "Are you perhaps related to…Rosie Wilder?" I asked. Mr. Wilder nodded. "I'm her uncle." He said, grinning. He was obviously proud of Rosie. The Wilders left a list of phone numbers for us and left. We went in search of the kids. Becca took the east wing of the house and I took the west.
I knocked on the first door I saw. "Hello," I called through the door. "I'm Haley, your baby-sitter. Can I come in?" Someone opened the door and I stepped into a bedroom. There were two bunk beds on either side of the room. The walls were painted blue and there were cute pictures of clowns and super heroes on them. Two boys were playing video games on the floor and another little boy was reading a book, sprawled out on a bunk bed. Sunlight streamed through an open window. "Hi, I'm Haley!" I said, smiling. "The other baby-sitter, Becca is on the other side of the house and we thought it would be nice if we all met in the living room for some games." All of the boys looked up. "Okay," said one grimly. I closed the door quietly and went downstairs. Becca was already in the living room with five girls. They all sat in a semi-circle. I grinned. "The boys are coming any second now." I said. I sat down on the couch and waited. Finally, the boys arrived. All of the kids were eerily quiet. "Okay," Becca said animatedly. "Let's play the name game! You tell us your name and something about you!" An Asian boy of about six with a lisp started, "Hi I'm Jotheph and I am learning to play the guitar!" He smiled cutely, showing his missing two teeth. I ruffled his hair. A tall blonde girl was next, "I'm Amy I'm eleven years old and…" she looked around the room. "My mom died last year." Becca's mouth dropped and I'm certain mine did too. A little blonde girl with the same long legs curled up in Amy's lap and started crying. Amy rocked her back and forth.
"I'm sorry Willow," she whispered, hugging the little girl. "I didn't mean to make you upset." Amy looked down somberly, playing with Willow's hair, obviously a little sad and embarrassed. "Come back to her," Amy mouthed, looking up. I nodded. There was a little redhead boy around three who stood up. From his blabber I managed to find out that he was Ernie and he was indeed three years old. Another little kid that was probably nine stood up. He grinned cheekily. "I'm Roland and I just finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Me and Becca grinned at each other. We loved that book when we were kids. There were eight-year old, Asian girls, twins named Tessa and Natalie who liked riding bikes and an excitable raven-haired six year old named Jillian. We finally got back to Willow whose tears had subsided. "I'm Willow and I'm seven years old and I like to play dress up." Tessa and Natalie jumped up and down. "Us too! Us too!" Becca and I laughed together. We organized a game of Mother May I in the living room and a game of Freeze Tag in the backyard. Even the older kids enjoyed it. After that we made a huge pot of chicken spaghetti and asparagus while the kids did homework. We were all sitting down to eat when the doorbell rang. Becca jumped up. "I'll get it!" she called.