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EVE KNOX
Friday, December 22, 1995
7:45 a.m.
Eve knew she should have gone after Nola, but she just couldn’t deal with her right now. Besides, Nola obviously didn’t want her help.
Eve backtracked a few blocks and then took a right on Third Street. She was going to be late for school going this way but surprisingly didn’t really care. Winter vacation started at twelve thirty and then they’d be off for two full weeks. Eve had been looking forward to the break: sleeping in, no homework, lounging around and watching TV and reading. But after the fight with her mother she dreaded it. The thought that she would be stranded in the house with her mother and Nola for two weeks was excruciating.
The soft beep of a car horn startled her and Eve turned to see a black BMW creeping down the street next to her. The driver’s side window rolled down and their neighbor Mr. Harper smiled up at her. “Hi, Eve,” he said. “I’d been hoping to catch you.”
Everyone, including her mother, said that Cam Harper was handsome in a soap opera star kind of way. That Cam Harper, she said, he’s one nice-looking man. But in the last few months he’d made Eve uneasy, making offhand comments about how pretty she was and how all the boys in her school must want to date her.
Over time Eve saw that Cam had these intense eyes that one minute were warm and laughing and then the next turned hard and cold like a snake’s. Because of this, Eve had been babysitting less and less for the Harpers. She was happy to let Maggie take the jobs even though it meant less money in her pocket.
Eve had always felt a little bit sorry for his wife. She tried so hard. Joyce was always careful to look her best. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfectly kept house. When Eve first began babysitting for the Harpers she thought that this must be what a marriage was supposed to look like, what a home was supposed to be. Her own father was a ghost of a memory and her mother, to be honest, was kind of a hot mess.
When Eve looked carefully at the Harpers she could see that nothing was quite as it seemed. The toll that maintaining this perfection took on Mrs. Harper was always just below the surface and her once open, sweet face became closed and guarded. Resigned.
“You’re still babysitting for us tomorrow night?” He smiled hopefully, a deep dimple appearing.
“Yep, I’ll be there. Six o’clock, right?” Eve wasn’t thrilled about accepting the job but knew that Maggie wasn’t able to watch the kids and that the Harpers were desperate.
“It’s cold out there,” Cam said, giving an exaggerated shake to prove his point. “Hop in, I’ll take you to school.”
Eve’s cheeks were numb and her fingers stiff from the cold and she was definitely going to be late for school but she would rather be late and frozen than get into the car alone with Mr. Harper.
“No thanks,” Eve told him, rewinding her scarf around her neck so that it covered her ears. Mr. Harper reached through the window and grabbed her hand.
“You’re freezing,” he said, enveloping her cold fingers in his warm ones. “Come on, let me give you a ride.” His skin against hers was moist and sent a spasm of revulsion through her.
“No thanks,” Eve said again, trying to pull her hand free but Mr. Harper held tight. “Ow,” Eve said with a nervous laugh and he finally let go. Eve shoved her hands into her pockets, eager to get away.
“Alright,” Mr. Harper said with an easy smile. “Better run off to school. Don’t want to be late. See you tomorrow.”
Eve turned and started walking, well aware that Mr. Harper was still sitting there in his car, watching her. The weight of his gaze scraped across the back of her neck and she picked up her speed.
The awkwardness with Mr. Harper didn’t happen all of a sudden. It was so gradual and natural and innocent that it took Eve forever to figure out. The way his knuckles grazed against her hand when he paid her, the way his shoulder brushed against Eve’s when he insisted on walking her across the street when she finished babysitting late at night. Cam Harper was a creeper. Maggie suddenly came to mind: in over her head with someone too old for her. Could Cam Harper be that someone? The thought made her sick. Maybe this was why Maggie was acting so weird this morning, why she was so quick to start an argument. Eve would find Maggie when she got to school and try to work things out.
“Hey,” came a shout. “Eve!”
Eve spun around and found Nick inching along in his car close behind. “Jeez, you scared me.” Eve pressed a hand to her chest.
“Who was that?” Nick asked through the open car window, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. “Who were you talking to?”
Eve looked back to where Mr. Harper was still parked. “I babysit his kids,” Eve explained. “He was asking if I could watch them tomorrow.”
“He was holding your hand,” Nick said accusingly.
“No,” Eve said, laughing nervously, knowing that it probably looked pretty bad from Nick’s point of view. “No, he wasn’t. He was just checking for frostbite.”
“Get in the car, Eve.” Nick glowered.
“That’s okay,” she said taking a step backward.
“Get in the fucking car,” Nick hissed, putting the car into Park and throwing open his car door.
“Nick,” Eve said looking around. Mr. Harper was still sitting in his car looking curiously at the two of them through his windshield. “Why are you being this way? It was nothing.” Nick jetted from the car and yanked on Eve’s elbow, pulling her toward the passenger side. “Ow,” Eve cried, this time in real pain.
