Because They Wanted To: Stories Read Online Free PDF

in the door had been shot at and taped up. Elise pushed a dirty little button and a woman’s voice came furrily through the intercom. She had to come down to let Elise in.
    She was very small and thin, and she seemed to flicker in the dark hall. Even from a distance, her personality shot off her body. When she opened the splintered door, her smile was tremulous and tight. She was about twenty-five. She made Elise think of a small, bright fish darting through deep water.
    “I’m Robin,” she said as they walked up the stairs. “I’m so glad to see you. I couldn’t afford to run an ad in the papers, and I wasn’t sure who would see the ones I put up.” Her voice was light and excited; it pulled on Elise with the tactile intelligence of a small child who wants something. “You’re exactly the kind of person I was hoping for, thank God.” She rounded a corner and looked back at Elise, her eyes wide and one hand on her heart.
    The apartment was a large room. There was a sink and a hot plate and a furiously humming refrigerator. The bathroom door was open; it looked like it was the size of a closet. Two little boys, about six and four, looked at Elise, the younger one peeping from behind hisbrother. There was an infant lying on the king-size bed in a diaper, softly jerking its limbs with the private movement of its thoughts. Robin offered Elise a chair with a vinyl seat and sat on the bed.
    “You see the situation,” she said. She looked Elise in the eyes, as if acknowledging something she’d prefer not to mention directly. “We’re from Sacramento,” she said. “And I’m going to tell you the truth. We’re here illegally. I just drove us across the border. I said we were shopping and kept going. I had to leave because my husband was abusing me and he was starting to hurt the boys. I couldn’t stand it anymore.” She sat very straight, with her legs tautly crossed. “I was afraid all the time,” she said. “I didn’t want the boys to . . . to . . .” She made a strange crumpled gesture.
    There was a silence. The children were in the corner playing with their toys, but Elise felt their attention on their mother.
    “I’m an American too,” she said. “I ran away from home too.”
    To her surprise, Robin smiled. “So we have something in common,” she said. “Were your parents abusive?”
    Elise hesitated. She pictured her father sitting in his armchair, looking miserable.
    Robin held up her hand. “It’s okay,” she said. “You must’ve had your reasons. You can tell me later if you want, and if not, that’s okay.”
    Elise said she had done a lot of baby-sitting but hadn’t taken care of an infant before. Robin said that it was okay, that she would make up some bottles of formula before she left in the morning. She would show Elise how to change diapers.
    “There’s one thing, though,” she went on. “I know it’s bad, but I can’t pay you for at least a week. I don’t even have a job. That’s why I need a baby-sitter. I need to find a job. Until then I need every penny for food. I know it’s asking a lot. But if you can just stick with me for a few weeks, I promise I’ll take care of you.”
    “Okay,” said Elise. She felt irritated with herself for saying it; she wasn’t sure why she had.
    “Thank you,” said Robin. “I know it sounds flaky, but I’m a good judge of people. I feel I can trust you. Only two other people have come by, and they were just. . .” She gestured with distaste. “Druggy, crazy. I was getting frantic, you understand.”
    Elise nodded. She felt as if Robin had reached out and grabbed her.
    Robin asked if she could start the next day at nine o’clock. She said she had a job interview at ten. “I think I’ll be back around three,” she said. “But if he offers me a job right away, I’ll take it. Then I probably won’t be back until six or so.”
    It did not occur to Elise to ask what kind of job it was, or why the interview was being conducted