You were hired as a babysitter, and by the description of the kid, he sounded like a handful. "Hyperactive, talks back, moody, troublemaker." I had assumed he was a toddler, but when I knocked on the door of the house and the parents introduced me to him, it was a little boy. Pete. 8. He didn't speak until after his parents left, then he started talking, his voice annoyed.

"Don't talk to me unless I talk to you. I don't know why they even hired you. I'm old enough to take care of myself."