Innocence Taken

I was young. Very young. A pre-pubescent girl who hadn’t had a dirty thought in the world up until recently. My parents were the partying type and with three kids–they took advantage of every opportunity to get away. Which is why it was no surprise when they accepted Bob’s offer to babysit, free of charge.

Bob was my dad’s friend. He had a son named Davy who was mentally handicapped. Even though Davy was 18 years old, he had the mind of a child, which could explain why we got along so well. Bob insisted that babysitting wouldn’t be an inconvenience since Davy liked to spend time with us anyway.

My sister, Stacy, was 4 years older than me. She was a tall, pale brunette with a perfect figure. I was always jealous of her curves, sometimes I would even consume large amounts of food because I wanted so badly to gain weight. Nevertheless, I remained an underdeveloped bean pole. My breasts had just begun growing, they were no bigger than mosquito bites but I was still proud of them. My brother, Charlie, was three years my senior. He was the “problem child”– always doing something foolish.

*****

I walked by the bathroom door and glanced inside. My mother was standing in front of the mirror, applying her lipstick. It was after dinner and I knew my parents were going out. Once again, we would be left with a babysitter. I hated all of our babysitters and I hated being apart from my parents so much.
“Amelia, go put your socks and shoes on. Bob will be here any minute.”
“Okay” I said, with a dramatic sigh, turning away from the door.

I heard the van pull into the driveway. My mom followed Stacy and I out the door, “CHARLIE! GET OFF THE ROOF!”
Charlie jumped down, landing on his feet just like a pro.
“Hey Bob, I really appreciate you doing this.”
“It’s no problem. Like I said, Davy loves having them over. Just call me in the morning when you want me to drop them off.”

We all piled into the van. “I hope you guys brought swim suits”, Bob said as he pulled out of the driveway. The van was filled with awkward silence, we were less than excited. Driving down a back road, Bob quickly turned the wheel to the left, then to the right, and again to the left. Swerving all over the road, I guess he was trying to get a rise out of us. It worked. Well all started laughing hysterically.

*****

“HEY! Stop splashing water in my eyes, Charlie!”
“Don’t be such a cry baby, Amelia.”
“You guys wanna play Marco Polo?” Stacy was always the peacemaker. Everyone closed their eyes and prepared to start the game.

“AMELIA!” Bob called from inside the house. “Come inside for a minute. I want to show you something.”
The rest of the kids stayed in the pool as I stepped out, hands wrinkled and hair dripping, “I’m coming!”

I walked into the house and Bob led me to the upstairs bathroom.
“What are you gonna show me?”
“I bought some new tooth paste, it’s strawberry flavored.