Читать книгу Half-Minute Horrors - Литагент HarperCollins USD - Страница 15

M. T. ANDERSON

An Easy Gig

Galv thought the Kennedys’ baby was being very good. He didn’t hear a peep from the kid all night. As babysitting gigs go, it was incredibly easy. The baby was already down for the night when he arrived. So Galv watched TV and talked to Raoul on the phone and ate the lasagna the Kennedy parents had left in the oven for him.

He did not check the baby’s room to make sure the baby was still sleeping. He didn’t check the crib to make sure the baby was even still there.

He lay on the sofa with his head hanging off the armrest and his lasagna plate on his stomach, making up song lyrics with Raoul. They laughed hard.

And when the parents came home and said, “How was the baby?” Galv said, “Oh, he was good. Really good. I didn’t even hear a peep from him.”

But Galv didn’t know how the baby was. He hadn’t checked.

“No,” said Mr. Kennedy. “The baby was bad.”

“Very bad,” said Mrs. Kennedy. “The baby cried and cried.”

“No he didn’t,” said Galv, confused.

“Before you got here,” Mr. Kennedy explained. “The baby was so bad he had to be punished.”

“And when we punished him,” said Mrs. Kennedy, “we made a mistake.”

“And then,” said Mr. Kennedy, “we needed somewhere to hide the body. And someone to blame.”

Galv backed toward the door, terrified. He couldn’t speak.

“You can’t run from it,” said Mrs. Kennedy. “The police will never believe you. The crime is already yours.”

Mr. Kennedy smiled. “How did you like the lasagna?” he said.