#7 The Demon Babysitter (2 page)

The day Dervla turned fourteen was a dark day for the kids in our neighborhood.

Now she was old enough to babysit.

Of course, all the parents
loved
Dervla because she was so “responsible,” so “grown-up.”

When Dervla babysat, she sent kids to bed when it was still light outside.

We were never allowed to watch TV and had to eat whatever she put in front of us.

If we didn't do what Dervla told us, she went straight to our parents.

She
lied
to them.

She told Karl's parents he tried to set fire to his mother's favorite dress.

She said Susie was swinging from one of the ceiling lights.

According to Dervla, Brenda was a witch who brewed potions with her mother's perfumes.

She was a fantastic liar, and she'd say
anything
to make sure kids did what they were told. And they did.

They ate broccoli and cauliflower and carrots.

They brushed their teeth—
twice.

They even did all their homework.

(Dervla gave
extra
homework if they finished their real homework too quickly.)

They cleaned their rooms and bathrooms.

They acted like Dervla's slaves.

EXCEPT ME.

I wasn't going to stand for this.

I was going to rebel.

So whenever Dervla told me to do something, I did the exact opposite.

If she told me to go to bed, I ran outside to play. Even
after
it was dark.

If she told me to eat my vegetables, I stuffed my face with sweets and chocolate milk.

If she told me to do my homework, I scribbled all over it.

The other kids loved me.

I was their hero.

I did what everyone else was too afraid to do.

But Dervla was a pretty serious enemy.

She started telling the most terrible lies about me.

At first, they were just the usual things:

I wrote on the wall.

I put spiders in her hair.

I made prank phone calls to China.

Then it got worse.

She said she'd caught me driving the car.

I was supposed to have shot birds with a homemade slingshot.

She even said that I buried my dog alive. (Seymour showed up safe and sound the next day.)

I got in more and more trouble with my parents.

I was grounded for months.

They took my computer games away.

I got a piece of coal for my birthday.

BUT I DID NOT GIVE UP.

I cut off Dervla's favorite doll's head and threw one of her books in the fire.

I spat in her tea, and I really did put spiders in her hair.

Pretty soon she didn't even have to lie about what I'd done.