Saturday, August 25, 2007

NFTN #5: Lisa Thebault & The Wicked Things They Said At The Shore

The private beach that was set aside for the elite was called "Mantoloking Beach". I still have a button a lifeguard gave me, from this beach, with these words on it. It's white with a red stripe across it. This part of the Shore was separate from the public beaches and was either miles long or connected to other private beaches. The public beaches were packed with people, tighter than a can of sardines and this was where you could find the boomboxes, ethnic mixes, and the Jersey girl (skinny girl with big boobs, dark brown tan, hot pink lipstick, long painted nails, curly big-hair (it was 1993), and itsy-bitsy bikini). The Jersey girl is sort of like the Valley girl, except the Jersey girl is a brunette.

A few of the people who came to this beach I liked. Well, actually, there was only one. I don't know his name but it was an older man who came on the weekends towards the end of the summer. He was a bit portly and I had heard he was some major big wig in NY, but he was absolutely unpretentious and never conscending to me. One time, everyone had left the beach for dinner, and it was during the effects from Hurricane Andrew. The waves were 10 feet high and I wasn't going to miss it! Of course I stayed closer in. The waves were so forceful it turned the sea into a huge bubble bath. There was thick froth by the shoreline, and I body-surfed the waves for the hours, until it grew dark. I remember the worst sand-grinding of me life--being curled up into a wave and pummeled down, on my head, emerging with sand in my hair and suit. I remember being so happy--just to be out there in that wonderful water. This other man stayed out with me, sometimes reading, sometimes watching me, but in a friendly way, and we chatted a little bit. Other than that, I don't think anyone ever talked to me unless it was to ask me to fetch something for them, or to try to get dirt on Lisa Thebault. Except, of course, other nannies and the lifeguards (and I'll get into that later).

On the first day to the Shore with the children, we took the kids and a bunch of toys and an umbrella. I put 30 SPF sunscreen on the children before we left: Coppertone (water baby, in the pink bottle--it stank). Maritza always stayed at the house. The Thebault's house on the Shore wasn't waterfront, so we had to walk a little ways, which was a nightmare. Actually, it was waterfront to an inlet or lake but not to the ocean. Phillip always wanted to carry his boogieboard. Lauren usually stayed with her mother, but ventured out to make sandcastles and dig in the dirt. I sometimes took her in the water too, swimming while holding onto her. Christie played in the water, but wanted to explore and run around, and Phillip was always in the water on his boogieboard, getting out only to explore. Exploring meant I went with the kids as they ran or walked quite a ways down either side of the beach. They poked at shells and rocks, and Christie especially, would take some to keep. Usually, if there was even one child in the water, I was in the water with them, for safety.

There were a few other kids, who came with nannies, who I got to know. I was the only thin nanny on the Shore and I think some of the women resented me because their husbands looked at me when they were there. Even Brian took an interest in how I looked in my black one-piece (I didn't have or wear any bikini's or 2-piece suits--I was too modest).

When I told Lisa I had a sweet-tooth and couldn't resist, and would gain weight if she had too much "junk" around the house, she started buying and keeping donuts and cake out in the open, on the counter. Many times she'd bring me back an extremely high calorie and rich brownie (made with butter and cream) and leave it for me. I started gaining a lot of weight. When I realized what was going on, after I'd already gained 20 lbs, from 105 to 125, over the summer, I quit eating what she left for me. So then she would point out the brownie and say, "I got this for YOU," exasperated, and want me to eat it. I refused to eat it and started to run/walk (couldn't run much because of my broken knee). Even though I wasn't fat, I noticed the decline in interest from the husbands when I put on more weight. These men liked their women skinny. I didn't care what other women's husband's thought about ME, but I realized the pressure their wives were under, to look a certain way. Because these people are all about control and self-control, being skinny was one way for a woman to show she had the proper virtue of restraint.

One nanny worked for a couple of teachers who had a house, and she was part-way through studies at Wellesey. The family she worked for was one of the closest to Lisa and Brian and they all went out to nightclubs together. I heard about Lisa and Brian through the other nannies, who heard what their employers said about them and told me.

These women all came to the Shore, and for an entire summer, I never ONCE, saw one of them dip a toe into the water. They sat under umbrellas, read leisure books (trashy novels or something from the NYT bestseller list), and gossiped. These women came to Shore with make-up on, hair done, and jewelry on. Lisa was one of few who didn't wear jewelry except for her emerald wedding ring and maybe diamond studs. There was a "Jersey Pink" color of lipstick all the women wore--which was notable in that this was typical of the set--there were dress codes and not much individuality, even down to the lipstick. Lisa wore a one-piece, always black, with one of Brian's oxford shirts over as a cover. She also wore sunglasses and a wide-brimmed straw hat.

While the women were friendly with Lisa to her face, some had resentment that Lisa was not from an upper-class family, that she was not Old Money, and had only married into money by snagging Brian. Most of the catty things that were said, were about Lisa's naivete. Lisa, for her part, did not backstab others the way they did her. I don't think Lisa even knew how two-faced these women were. She made an effort to be friends with them, asking their advice and sharing stories, and the minute she left, the same women who were laughing with her like intimate friends, tore her to shreds with their french manicured analysis. They didn't like her. Everyone knew the story about how lower-class Lisa seduced her rich husband; they paid her the superficial respect of one who does not believe the marriage would last. Some of them thought she was "very lucky" and others called her, in polite conservation, a gold-digger. When Lisa returned to the group, they transformed into confidantes and mother hens.

The lifeguards, on the other hand, certaintly liked Lisa. Kevin and Ken. They called her "poor little rich girl" and more than once Kevin broke song about her: "a rich old man and she won't have to worry/she'll dress up all in lace and go in style/...You can't hide...your lyin' eyes/and your smile/is a thin disguise..." They sang this Eagle's song, "Lyin' Eyes", in its entirety, more than once. I think they had fantasies that they were the "warm hands" she needed. How could I forget them? They sat on their plywood thrones, with radars for anyone in a bikini. I highly doubt the husbands who frequented Mantoloking were responsible for hiring the studs to man their private beach. Kevin and Ken were eye-candy for the women. Lean, muscular, tan, and good-looking. Kevin was always reading a book. Both of them were teachers and life-guarded during the summer. They asked me how it was to work for Lisa and I didn't bad-mouth her. Kevin glanced at Lisa walking who had already passed by with a smile and wave, and said, "Man, and she's had 3 kids!" I think Lisa had a minor crush on Kevin as well--she talked about him to me and brightened up and was just a little bit flirtaceous with him. But Brian had nothing to worry about.

Both Ken and Kevin had a thing for Lisa's backside. I guess all men did, because once when I looked at her high school yearbook, it appeared from her mainly male friends that she had been very popular. Her nickname was "The Ass" or something like that and almost all the Senior year comments were about how the guys would miss it. Then there was her husband, Brian, who smacked it in the kitchen when she was next to me, bent over to get into a cupboard. Brian is very reserved and I never saw them exchange hugs or even kiss. Lisa got a little smile on her face. It was sort of a "thank you" slap. Lisa's backside was not flat, it was full, and she had rounded hips and a tiny waist. I'm guessin' this is what she used to her advantage in her "seduction" of Brian--I'm sure it meant more to him, on those late nights, than the coffee.

Lisa Thebault had siblings. She told me she was the "black sheep" of the family, and based on comments about partying and her body, she wasn't lying. The Thebault's had many houseguests that summer, and one couple was her brother and sister-in-law. Her sister-in-law wore poorly made clothing and had a cheap hair-cut. One afternoon, feeling lonely, she started talking to me. She began to cry, saying she was happy for Lisa, but that she felt bad because her husband, Lisa's brother, worked so hard and they had so little. They could barely make ends meet and Lisa knew the financial state of her mother and siblings. She said that she was shocked to see how much Lisa had and that Lisa never gave back anything to her family. I guess Lisa gave her sister-in-law's kids some hand-me-down clothing and that was it. The sister-in-law went into great detail about how Lisa had abandoned her former family and it seemed she wanted to distance herself now that she had money. This woman sounded alternately sad, angry, and bitter. I don't remember her husband, Lisa's brother, at all.

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