The Sitter

Date: 10/17/2022

I need to be away 2 weeks and VP is babysitting my kids, including the baby and vicious Doberman/Sheppard mix who likes to run free a few times a day and can kill a medium sized animal or small person if not watched carefully. I am a bit nervous about the whole thing. I must leave in 3 days - something in Florida that requires immediate attention. I am trying to prepare. First, we take the dog out to the country. There's a shack she can stay in, and a stern, weathered field hand V might be able to call on if she needs help. She'll have to come at least 3 times a day to feed it and let it piss, twice to let the dog run. I let her loose in the irrigation ditches where the migrant farm workers won't see her, won't panic and draw her attention. There's a school with a fenced soccer field - might be better for V. Hope she isn't scared of dogs. The kids are easier, except the baby, but I only have $185 to leave and a bit of food in the fridge. Hope it's enough. I meet Chris and his friends at the school. We're going to the dump behind the Union Hall for more parts. He drives over with his wife and I stop in the Hall to hear a few speakers first. Have to at least make an appearance. I am watching with the DJ and translators from a glass controll room at the side of the big, crowded Hall. There is a heated debate and the DJ, a young man, is disrupting the progressive flow of ideas with some conspiracy theory, long-debunked and unlikely. When it's time to reply, they bring out the big guns, a vampire hunter with dreadlocks below his waste, just returned from the field on a rare visit to the assembly. I slip out. He's got this. I know V can't handle the job and don't want to leave my kids and dog behind. Fuck. I have no choice. She is the only one available. Maybe I can complete the work and return in one week. I will need to bring her back a very nice gift for her troubles.