Super Heroes

“Lindsey!” Jacob shouted excitedly as he spotted her walking up the pathway to his house. “Can we go to the park again today? Peas? I told Josh that we would! We need to finish playing X-Men!”

“Okay, then” Lindsey grinned. She loved her job. “Let me make you some sandwiches then we’ll go.”

Before she could step into the house, Jacob’s mom rushed to the door, pressing a lunchbox into her hands.

“Oh, Lisa. You are a doll coming every day for us like this. I made some sandwiches for you, and I’ll lock up. Look after him!”

Lindsey decided not to correct Mrs. Smith on her name yet again, but instead waited for Jacob, his shoes already tied, to run out and grab his babysitters’ hand. Together, they walked to the park with Jacob singing nursery rhymes the whole way there.

Again, Jacob ran off as soon as she’d bolted the gate and again, Lindsey went and sat by her tree. Today, it was empty, but she’d almost been expecting it. Today, however, instead of her usual iPod, Lyn-z pulled out her smallest sketch book from her bag. She’d decided to carry on drawing Jacob for her art project, so far she’d drawn the outline of his face, and had started to shade in the hair.

“Stalking me, are you?”

Looking up, Lindsey smiled. Gerard was here after all. She shook her head and pulled out a sharpener, watching as her pencil shavings blew into the bottom of her bag.

“You left.” She stated, but didn’t look at him as she began to lightly trace the upwards curve of Jacobs mouth. This was an important part, after all, as Jacobs smile spoke volumes. It was a part of who he was, and she didn’t think – as long as she’d been babysitting him – that she’d ever seen him unsmiling.

“I had to.” He didn’t offer any more of an explanation, and she could hear him turning the pages of his art book. “You weren’t lying then?”

“Lying about what?” She asked, confused. They hadn’t spoken enough yesterday for her to have even considered lying, even if she was that kind of person.

“About being an artist. I thought you’d said it to impress me or something.” She looked up from under her fringe to see a faint blush crawl up his neck and tint his cheeks. She couldn’t help but notice how endearing it made him.

“Nope, I am an artist, and I don’t lie to impress people. They can either take me or leave me.” She smiled, shading the top right corner of Jacob’s mouth.

“That’s my motto too,” He murmured. “People generally tend to leave me.”

“At least you can do more art that way,” Lindsey noted, but then she added, “A lot of people tend to leave me alone, as well.”

“Well, that’s one thing we have in common.”

Rooting through her bag, Lindsey cursed under her breath when she noticed she’d left her favourite grey shading pencil at home. Gerard looked up, and seemed to understand what she was doing.

“You can borrow something of mine if you want to.”

Touched at his generous offer (she knew what most artists were like with their pencils, after all), she smiled but denied politely.

“I’ll do it later,” she nodded, “I’ll start on the eyes, I think.”

Lindsey glanced up to check that Jacob was behaving himself. She smiled at him, and decided to check the food Mrs. Smith had packed for him. Pulling the lunchbox out of the bag, she heard Gerard chuckle.

“Hungry?”

Laughing quietly, she shook her head. She saw Jacob shoot her a confused look from the swings and she grinned, and waved at him. She pulled the clasps of the lunchbox open and sighed. Tuna and mayonnaise. What five year old child liked tuna and mayonnaise sandwiches? None that she knew, for sure. Especially Jacob.

“Jacob!”

The little boy ran over, his shoe laces flapping in the wind. He stopped in front of her and waited. She smiled at him, and started to explain while pulling at his shoe laces, tying them back up so he wouldn’t fall over.

“I need to go to the shop, so if you want to say goodbye to your friends, we’ll go now and try and be back as soon as possible?”

“Oh!” Jacob frowned, “But the baddies have now invaded the castle and they need my strongness. I am The Hulk, you know!”

“I know, but I’m sure there will still be bad guys that need their butt whooped when we get back.” Lindsey looked at him, her eyes silently pleading him.

“I’ll keep an eye on him if you want.” Gerard cut in. “I mean; I know how important it is to kill those bad guys.”

“Yay!” Jacob grinned, and jumped onto Gerard, hugging him. “Fank-you, Mr. Man!”

Shaking her head, Lindsey pulled her purse out of her bag. She tried to weigh up her decision in her head. If Mrs. Smith never knew it wouldn’t matter, and after all, she got a feeling she could trust Gerard.

“Okay, I’ll be really quick, okay? You be good for Gerard.”

Hugging him goodbye, Lindsey began to stride out of the park, looking back once she reached the gates to see Gerard and Jacob talking animatedly about something – apparently Gerard liked superheroes too.

Once she reached the shop, she began to have doubts. She was only down the road, but she had only known Gerard one day. What on earth was she thinking about, leaving a five year old boy in the care of somebody she’d met yesterday? What kind of babysitter was she? She paid for an egg and cress sandwich, along with a bag of Twizzlers and stepped outside the shop into the glaring sunlight.

She pulled her bag close to her side and began to run back to the park, her head filled with worst-case scenarios. Last time she’d left Gerard out of her sight, he’d disappeared. What about if he disappeared this time too...This time with Jacob?

When she reached the park, she was exhausted. With her heart hammering, she ran up to the tree, only to find Gerard and Jacob in the same position she’d left them in.

“What happened to those bad guys you needed to kill, Mr. Hulk?” Lindsey interrupted, suddenly relieved.

“Marvel comics,” Gerard shrugged, grinning. “Who can resist them?”

Rolling her eyes, Lindsey emptied the bag, and Jacob’s eyes lit up. He grabbed the packet of Twizzlers and ran into her full-force, his arms snaking around her neck.

“Fanks Lindsey” He said, “you’re the best!”

“One thing I know for certain,” Gerard started as they both watched Jacob run back to his friends. “That boy really loves you.”