Just One Night, Right?

Chapter One: Babysitting for Money

"So, what time will you be getting back?" Rue questioned her mother who had almost more than half a pound of makeup on her face. Her mother didn't reply, although, she never really did when she was putting makeup on. Any other time, Martha would reply very quickly. Tonight, Martha May Marywhether was to go on one of her first online dates. A series of blind dates were too awkward and random for her taste. Either way, Rue was babysitting as she always did.

Rue had short, brown, curly hair which she'd gotten from her mother. Her skin was a soft milk chocolate. She was only fourteen years old, but was very mature.

Rue normally kept to herself, she didn't really talk to others. She was however, very athletic. Her team was her family. This year, Rue would have joined every sport aside from baseball. As a tall, moderately slim, Irish African American, Rue was always different from the other teenagers at her school. Rue was absolutely inlove with all things art and survival skills. This was yet another reason why others didn't enjoy her company. She was always either moving or doing something. The only reason she fancied using phones was to message her best friend, Cody.

Cody was American Chinese, he had a relatively built up body, with messy blond hair and black streaks. He was a lot like Rue, aside from her positive and strong attitude. They'd been in many sports together, always in the same school and nearly all the same classes. Cody, although he never told her, had special feelings for Rue. She was different from the other girls. A cliche term, if you ask me. Cody was very shy for a fourteen year old. He kept to himself around people he didn't know, especially girls. When he wasn't hanging out with Rue at her house or practicing his free throwing.

In the mist of it all, a knock had come from the door. Rue expected from the gleam in her mother's eyes that it absolutely had to be Chad, her date and coworker. Chad came around a lot, but Rue never really liked him all that much. Since her father left, she never did like the concept of having another father that would walk out on them. Thus why she never complied to these dates. However, she did think of her little sister, Lyza quite a lot. She wanted her to experience what it was like to have a father. But, not what it was like to lose them.

Lyza was only five, she looked exactly like Rue and was exactly like her in every way. This was no surprise, Lyza was always around Rue, to Lyza, Rue was practically her mother. They were so attached to one another, that they could barely manage school without each other. I supposed one could say that of course, Martha was a good mom in the ways she should be, but she wasn't always there. As a lawyer, Martha was always at work. As a single mother, she was always trying to find a man. Rue thought that Martha simply couldn't handle being alone, but in reality, Martha May couldn't handle her daughters living without a father.

"Who's at the door?" Martha questioned, pausing for a moment to look toward the blinds to see if there was a car sitting on their driveway. Rue simply shrugged, but took this initiative to go to the door and open it. If was Martha's date, Rue felt every right to interrogate him. When she opened the door, there stood a tall American lady in a long, sparkly red dress. She looked like a model, but the snobby kind. The woman kindly greeted her, and asked for her mother. Beside her stood a nine year old boy with red hair and nearly a dozen freckles on his face.

"Patricia!" Martha May exclaimed as she dashed to the door." You're early. I wasn't expecting you til' later."

"Well, what can I say," she clasped her hands together,"I'm either fashionably late, or fashionably early." Martha May laughed, even if she didn't understand, and wrapped her arms around this women. You could tell that Martha was trying to impress whomever this was. 'Fashionably early?' Rue thought to herself,'is that even a thing?"

A few hours and cocktails later, another knock came from the door. Martha rushed this time, in the hopes that she would get there before Rue, and she did. In the doorway stood a good looking dark-skinned man wearing a dark blue suit. His shoes where a glossy black and his hair was light brown and slicked back with almost an ounce of gel. Rue watched him from afar in a sort of disgust while her mother came toward her.

"Here's the deal," she started her voice smooth but her breath held the stench of alcohol,"Yoire going to babysit both your sister, and Auntie Patricia's son, and I'll-"

"You'll give me that fifty dollars I deserve." Rue folded her arms and arched a brow. Martha May took awhile to accept, but when she did it was for sure. Watching her mother and the others leave caused Rue to be a tad reticent. Being alone with a kid she doesn't even know? That was something she'd never dabbed with before. However, she was getting paid, and that was just about enough for her.

An hour later, Lyza played in her play pen while watching cartoon on her tablet. Rue wasn't all worried about Lyza, they'd been together so long that they understood each other. For example, Lyza won't eat until she becomes tired, and when she is tired, she uses the restroom. After brushing her teeth and putting on pajamas, Rue takes her in to sleep with her. But, this other kid. Rue didn't even know his name! She thought, perhaps he might like video games. He'd been playing on his iPad for a while since he'd come.

"Hey, there. What's your name?" Rue attempted a smile as she kneeled I front of the boy that sat on her father's old chair. This phased her a little, but she shook the images out of her head for the moment.

"I'm Tyrell." he said, never meeting her gaze, but continuo to play his stupid Mario cart game,"Now go away."

"Well, excuse me, Tyrell. Your mom is not here and let me just tell you this: if you listen to me, you might just get what you want." Tyrell shifted his head and narrowed his eyes in disbelief. He was just as smart as Rue, in some ways. In the end, he bribed her to give him macaroni and chess for dinner, and a cake before bed. But, Rue managed to get him to do his homework, wash his dishes, clear his plates, and lately, fix up his guest bed. Two equally matched minds, you could say.

Lyza laid asleep beside Rue, the night had seemed to end itself already so quickly. Rue smiled and took this time to call Cody, who may have been already sleeping. Either way, he was going to answer the call. Rue and Cody would always call before going to sleep. Often, Cody would fall asleep while on the phone with Rue. When this happened, Rue would go to sleep and simply let her phone die whenever it would. That was the type of friendship they had for over four years. Despite this, Cody's feelings only grew. He could never bring them up at the right time, but he always made sure that Rue was happy.

"Hello?" Cody said with a yawn. You can hear just how tired he must have been. Regardless, Rue didn't really care. Well, she did, but she was so close with Cody that she knew he would do what she would want anyways. They had the same sort of mindset.

"Hey...you at home?" she questioned, a little tiredly. It was 1am, of course he was at home.

"No..." he said groggily, his sleepy voice causing him to sound a little funny. His answer however, was enough to awaken Rue from her sleepiness.

"Wait, what? Where are you??" she said, sitting up on her soft bed, trying not to move or shift her sister, Lyza. Suddenly, all Rue heard was Cody snoring, and it was horrid. So, she decided just to hang up for now. "Ugh," she groaned, laying back down,"This stupid nerd..." she yawned before settling into the bed. If it wasn't for her exhaustion, Rue wouldn't have been able to have slept without Cody. It was a little suspicious, but if you were to ask, Rue would deny any feelings. Cody was just a brother to her. Rue took one more glance at her phone to check the time, and various other social media, then placed it beside her. "2am, mom's still not home..." she said, her voice weary, "Maybe she's having too much fun...When she gets home, she's doubling my salary." Rue came to a resolve before finally drifting off to sleep.