Page Ninety-Five.
A thousand years ago, while a live-in nanny to three adolescent boys, I was in a situation which required me to hire a baby-sitter. You'd figure that with me around no baby-sitter would be necessary, as that was my job. But... well... here's the story.
It must've been around '87 or so. I had plans to do something special on the Saturday night in question, but I don't remember what. The boys' parents also had plans and son #1 was going to be sleeping over at a friend's home. That would leave the twelve year old twins, Scoot and Skedaddle, home alone for the evening. We were stuck. Parents didn't mind paying a sitter, but they explained that one reason they had me move in was so they wouldn't have to go through the hassle of trying to find somebody when needed. So, I went through the process. I had one person in mind, my buddy Chester.
Chester was sixteen at the time. I knew him through some younger acquaintances and he was exceedingly charming. He was a moderate student, rather popular and always had some pretty girl on his arm. He was, incidentally, incredibly handsome and I would eventually use him as a model when I was in charge of finding guys to model prom tuxedos on a local, morning TV talk show (separate story). I also knew that he liked kids a lot and he'd done much sitting in the past. However, his daily appearance was quite questionable.
This was the '80's and Chester was in the middle of it. While the Shapiro family was very used to my New Wave/Punk shenanigans (think: blue Mohawk), they were a bit alarmed when Ches walked in. He made Guns 'n Roses look like a bunch of Wall Street preppies. Ches had the big hair, leather jacket, bandanna and all other trappings of the typical 80's hair-metal aficionado. You really would've considered crossing the street if you'd seen him coming toward you. But I knew that Scoot and Skedaddle would find him effervescent and entertaining.
And they did. They had a wonderful time that night according to all parties involved. I also heard through the grapevine that the reason Lena Shapiro wasn't concerned at all was because she knew how much I adored her sons. Apparently, she figured that I wouldn't endanger her children, so she chose to trust my better judgement.
A couple of months later, I was hanging out with Ches one afternoon and he needed to go to the library and get a book. While there, we happened to see Scoot and Skedaddle studying. We went over and surprised them. They were all very happy to see each other. Later that day, back at home, the twins told me how shocked they were by the idea that Ches would actually "study" and "need to go to the library". I explained that Ches really wasn't a terrible student. They didn't completely believe me. But, oh, well.
They occasionally bring his name up. When we all get together, he's still sometimes a punchline. I think I did my job well. Actually, I was a great live-in nanny.
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