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Elyse Mackie
    Interview with Elyse Mackie, filmed March 5, at her home
        
SPEAKER 1: Harmony Burns
 
 
SPEAKER 2: Elyse Mackie
 
 
          INPUT: HB
 

    HB:
   
Please introduce yourself and start by telling me when you were hired by the Dawes family.
EM:
 
My name is Elyse Mackie. I was a nanny to the Dawes family. I started a month before Isadora was born. They poached me.
HB:
 
Poached? And don’t forget, try to keep talking without prompts, if you can. Just tell the story. Women are so polite. They always want it to be a conversation. Pretend you’re a man and just talk and talk and talk. I’m kidding. A little.
EM:
 
They hired me when I was working for another couple. It happens. And to be truthful, they were far from the first people to try. They were in Washington, D.C., at a park on Capitol Hill, with the older girls, Alanna and Ruby, and they saw me with the children I was caring for at the time. Mrs. Dawes slipped me a note, saying she liked the way I handled myself and suggesting she could do better by me, if I were interested in a change. Like I said, it wasn’t the first time someone had tried that. I hate to say it, but I think it’s because I’m white. All the other nannies in that park tended to be African-American or Latina.
HB:
 
To clarify—you think that’s why Melisandre Dawes tried to hire you, or you think that’s why other families, in general, tried to hire you?
EM:
 
All families. That and my age. I was in my mid-twenties, then. Old enough so people assumed I had chosen to be a nanny as a career. And I did have a good résumé. I spoke Spanish, although that’s not as in demand as French. I’m very good at what I do. Mr. and Mrs. Dawes made it clear that they wanted me to help primarily with the older children, that Mrs. Dawes was keen to stay home with the new baby because she hadn’t done that with Ruby and Alanna. So they were to be my charges, to free up Mrs. Dawes to care for the baby. Lots of driving, to activities, to school and back. And then, when they were in school, she needed help with errands, maybe an occasional break with the baby. I always wondered—Well, I really shouldn’t speculate. That makes me nervous. I told you about the agreement, right? I have to be very careful.
HB:
 
Don’t censor yourself. I promise if you say something and you regret it, you can tell me and I can edit it out. We’ll also have a lawyer review your interview, make sure you’re not in violation of your confidentiality agreement. What was it that you wondered?
EM:
 
I always thought that the arrangement must be a little odd for Alanna and Ruby. Their mother hiring help so she could be devoted to the new baby. I don’t know if they thought of it that way. They never said anything. But they were very bright, those girls, and sensitive. Alanna’s the one that everyone thinks of as sensitive, because she wears her heart on her sleeve, but Ruby is just as affected by things. I loved those girls. I was so glad when Mr. Dawes hired me back. After—you know, after. I had really missed them.
HB:
 
We’ll get there. Let’s try to follow the chronology. Tell me about the Melisandre you met, in the park that day. What did she look like, what was she like?
EM:
 
Well, it was like a movie star had walked up to me. I honestly thought she must be someone famous. She had that way about her. You know, the hair, the clothes. I have to admit, that’s part of the reason I took her card and called her. Like I said, it wasn’t the first time someone tried to poach me, and I am generally pretty loyal. But the family I was working for—they wanted me to do more and more housecleaning as their children got older. That’s not why I worked as a nanny. I liked kids. And Mrs. Dawes—she asked me to call her Melisandre, but I never quite could—she seemed so nice. I mean she was nice. She was maybe six months along, but she was one of those women who looked beautiful pregnant.