Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Leah (Part III)

This was the last baby-sitting gig I ever had. This experience was so traumatic it was actually brought up in a therapy session I had three years after it occurred.
During my junior year in college, a new family moved across the street from my parents' house. The couple had a 12-year-old daughter, Leah, and a 6-year-old son, Chris.



The first evening I went there to babysit, the mother acted extremely nervous. I figured she was just concerned about leaving her kids with a stranger, which is understandable.

When I walked into the hallway, little Chris was standing eerily still and staring at me.

"Our last babysitter shut herself in the closet and cried," he said, solemnly.

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

He shrugged and walked away.

Despite that odd exchange, the evening went extremely well. Chris was quiet and well-behaved. Leah was eager to please and seemed to idolize me.

"I love your hair," she would gush, touching it with envy. "And you're so pretty! I want to be pretty like you. I want to be your best friend!"

I was extremely flattered. I was also confused as to why Leah even needed a baby-sitter. At 12, she seemed awfully mature and responsible.



But then the lying started. The next weekend, Leah tried to convince me to drop her brother off at a police station because she suspected he had been kidnapped as a baby. She told me her mother had a sex-change operation and was really a man. She told me she was secretly married to a boy in her class and demanded I address her as Mrs. Anderson.

These lies irritated me and I was quick to dismiss them, which only made Leah angry.

I was also getting fed up with the way she treated her younger brother. She kept leaving Chris on my parents' doorstep at random times of the day, behind her mother's back. She also started calling him "It." She would steal food off his plate at dinner time and laugh when I caught her in the act.

One afternoon in October, I promised Leah that if she didn't tell a lie all day, I would take us all out on a bicycle trip around the neighborhood. Right before we were going to take off, Leah told me she had underwent DNA testing and discovered I was really her mother. Disgusted and not amused, I told her the bike trip was off.

Her face got dark red and twisted into a frightening, menacing scowl.

"We're going bike-riding!" she roared at me.

"No, we're not," I said, calmly.

She went into the garage and started unlocking her bike.

"Put your bike away, we're not going," I said, crossing my arms.

In one swoop, she picked up the bike and swung it across the garage, smashing the garage door. I'm not fucking kidding. It was like The Incredible Hulk or something. I was horrified.

When her parents got home, I told them I was never baby-sitting their kids again. They didn't ask questions or try to convince me otherwise. They merely nodded sadly and paid me.



A couple weeks later, Leah's mother called me, in tears. Her husband was stuck at work and she had to attend a neighborhood watch meeting. I warily agreed to watch the kids for an hour.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Chris was in his room, playing, and Leah was downstairs doing the laundry her mother said needed to be done. But wait...what was that noise?

With a sense of doom, I walked downstairs to the laundry room. When I entered the room, Leah was reaching to turn the dryer on. But there was a whimper coming from inside the dryer.

OH MY GOD! Leah had put her brother in the dryer! I shoved her out of the way and opened the dryer, which had just started. I grabbed her frightened, sobbing brother out of the machine.

"I wasn't going to hurt him," Leah said to me, with no emotion in her eyes.



I ignored her and ran upstairs, clutching Chris. I called their mother and before she could speak, I said, "You need to come home right this minute otherwise I am going to call the police," and I hung up.

I was so overwhelmed with shock and horror, I started crying. When their mother arrived, I spit out the situation. Before leaving, I told their mother she needed to get Leah help. Chris would have been killed, if I had not come downstairs in time.

Unfortunately, it took another incident to wake their parents up. The following Saturday, there were helicopters circling my parents' neighborhood. When I asked another neighbor about them, I was told Chris had ran away from home, because he was so scared of his sister. The police were looking for him.



They found him later that day, unharmed, and Leah got sent to a children's mental health clinic. She stayed there for six years and was released in 2010.

This past May, I ran into Leah at the grocery store. She was absolutely gorgeous, one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. She also seemed...normal.

She told me she's living with her boyfriend in a neighboring suburb and she's trying to find a job. She asked me if we could grab coffee sometime, but I told her I was simply too busy, which was a lie.

It just seems that being friends with her, even if she is better, would be a really bad idea.

40 comments:

French Girl in Seattle said...

Ok. This one would make a perfect Halloween story. Crrreeeepppyyy!!! Poor Jenny (and poor little brother.) Don't tell me this did not turn you off of babysitting entirely?! Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

Gayatri said...

WTF. I'm going to have Leah nightmares now! Poor you & poor Chris. I hope he's ok now, wherever he is.

Gayatri

Jo said...

You have the most amazing babysitting stories ever. It really sounds like a movie could be spinned off from your true accounts. Leah sounds so scary... I wonder if she's truly normal now. I hope so and I wish her all the best.

Sherin said...

Holy crap!! She sounds like she was crazy. I'm so glad I've never done any babysitting!

Anonymous said...

OMG. This is creepy and sad too. :/ Poor little boy. What horror for you, girl. And I can't believe you ran into her again after so many years. Yikes!

XoXo, Bree
http://vivalabreee.blogspot.com/
Tweet me: Viva_La_Breee

Sarah said...

Oh my god!
x

Chloe said...

This is insane it actually sounds like a horror movie!

I hope chris is okay aww

http://www.thebeautycorner.co.uk/

xx

Mannequins Dream said...

WHOAAAA!!! this sounds like a movie! oh well, it seems to be all good now :) Xx

Unknown said...

Is this story real? It sounds like a horror movie!!!

Unknown said...

We need to talk about Leah.

Anonymous said...

oh my God. Leah sounds like a devil child. She seriously really belonged in a mental health clinic. Glad she's better though. And poor Chris!

Shannon said...

holy crap! that sounds like it could have been a horror movie.

and i almost named my daughter leah. whoa.

Alex Byer said...

Oh. My. God. I'm still waiting for you to tell me this is some awesome concept for a new horror movie and not an actual babysitting experience. Holy. Shit.

Mr kane said...

wow!

great story!

Hugs
JK | mrkanerule.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rule-of-Mr-Kane/209405749130955

Oh to Be a Muse said...

OMG! i haven't read the other babysitting stories, but this one is a total creepfest. that girl had some issues. the funny thing is I just watched "Halloween" last night, and Leah kept reminding me of a young Michael Myers. i'm glad she seems to be better. i'm not sure if i would have gotten coffee with her--maybe, maybe not.

David Macaulay said...

OMG - that's too funny - pshycho babysitting job from hell..

little luxury list said...

I can only imagine the horror and craziness of this situation but man does it make for an epic story!

xoxo,
Chic 'n Cheap Living

Josie said...

This is freaking horrifying. And I though the nanny kids were bad.
xo Josie
www.winksmilestyle.com

Angie said...

I was hearing creepy Halloween music in my head the minute she picked up the bike. Scary!

Bonnie said...

That is exactly why I never got into babysitting. I did it a few times, but I was so afraid that something creepy like this would happen that I stopped. Plus, I hate children -- this is another reason why.

http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
Twitter: @GlamKitten88

Courtney Erin said...

Wow, that's crazy - what an amazing story!

xoxo ~ Courtney
http://sartorialsidelines.com

Shybiker said...

OMG, what a story. How terrifying her behavior was. Like you, I could never trust that person again. Ever.

Oh, and thank you so much for your wonderful comments! We're both passionate bloggers.

Amber Lucas A Mused Blog said...

OMG.O.M.G.
O
M
G

JENNIFER!! WTF?!! Why is this little girl so TERRIFYING?! And, how did she get such super human strength?!
What a terrifying, bizarre little demon child.

Oh that poor little boy.

This is so creepy. I'm so glad that you didn't babysit for them anymore! It sounds like she was becoming borderline obsessed with you! And I wonder what she did to the other babysitter who locked herself in a closet and cried?? No, I don't want to know...

Your life is amazing.

WendyB said...

OMG, and I thought my last babysitting job was bad! (Three wild boys under 10, two untrained Great Danes)

stylenuggets said...

OMG- don't ever have coffee with her. She could be an axe murderer now, going by her past actions.

cricketfreak said...

oh my gosh. Are you serious? What weird weird kids you babysit.

Bravoe Runway said...

Whoa this is a really creepy story. She is pathological liar... I am so glad you found her brother in the dryer that day, I cannot imagine what would have happened.

Audrey Allure said...

Wow, that is pretty scary. I'm glad she got the help she needed though.

Unknown said...

Lovely pictures!

azu said...

You are the only person that could ever sound so classy while dropping F bombs. Just so you know ;)

I'm not sure which is worse...the psycho little Leah or the two pageant girls who are being set up for failure. I vote for Leah. Bitch is crazy!

-Azu

Stephanie said...

Do NOT go out for coffee with her! EVER! She sounds like a sociopath, and they can be really good at "looking normal". A friend of mine has two boys. One is (almost certainly) a sociopath. The other one is a total mess from being terrorized by his brother for so long. She asked for help from the authorities for years, but her sociopathic son was such a good liar that he had the authorities convinced that she was clinically depressed, a substance abuser and making stuff up. Scary, scary, scary! It actually made me seriously reconsider having children for a while, because she's a good, loving mom and her son is a menace.

Mikaela said...

What the hell, this sounds like a scary story or something!! awful :(


xx
absofuckinglutely

A Very Sweet Blog said...

Omg'd how horrid! Exorcist much! LOL I was scared just reading it Jennifer. WOW!!!
http://sassyuptownchic.blogspot.com/

amy b.s. said...

holy cow that is seriously tramatizing!

Mimi said...

oh my gosh, that would be one good creepy movie. wow, that's crazy! and i would probably decline her offer of grabbing coffee too even though she's okay now, just the memories... i think it would be interesting to see how chris is now.

<3, Mimi
http://whatmimiwrites.blogspot.com/

Couture Carrie said...

OMG what a story!
You saved that kid's life!
You are my hero.

xoxox,
CC

Unknown said...

OM, that girl is mental! anyway, i really had fun reading your baby-sitting diaries. you should write more!

Sierra said...

Girl you could write a book about all of your stories and I don't blame you for not wanting to get together - who knows how she is now! No judging intended, lol. Anyway, glad that they got her help and glad that you rescued her baby bro!!

Diego R. Wyatt said...

OMG I feel bad for you and Chris. Thi is quite creepy. I would never babysit again. Hope your Halloween is a blast!

Diego
www.howtozipyourfly.com

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