NFTN 15: Headhunter

While Brian and Lisa were keeping me under their thumb, telling me I was young and didn't know anything when I requested payment for overtime work, they must have secretly thought I was doing a good job. Otherwise, they would not have asked me if there was someone like me from my church whom I could recommend for their friends, the Kaminoffs. This was after we were back at the house in Bedminster, in the Fall, after spending a summer at the Shore.

I heard Lisa discussing where the best househelp could be found, with a friend. They preferred young girls from the midwest or the northwest, who could be separated from their families, had a good work ethic, and who were preferably Christian. If a girl was Christian, there was a chance she was also more submissive and would tolerate mistreatment, "for Jesus".

I was an excellent nanny. I came very highly recommended to the Thebaults, with years of experience and written references. And I did not disappoint. I put everything into those kids, when I was with them, as I always did. I did not use television as a babysitter, and took them out for walks, and adventure, and played games with them. I structured activities and science experiments (the taste-test game, and the salt & pepper separation trick with a hairbrush, etc.), and I sang songs and made them laugh. We made art and we baked cookies. I played soccer with Philip, kicking a ball around and trying to keep up with him. Philip opened up to me and I listened to him talk as long as he liked.

I found out through my mother that one of my friends, Kelly, had said she'd like to try it and get away from all her boyfriends who were asking her to marry them. She was from a small town and we went to the same church; she did not want to marry young and wanted to see the East Coast. I would NOT have recommended her to a family like the Thebaults, but I figured she might have a better family to work for and she could decide. I told Brian and Lisa about Kelly and they arranged to have her speak with their friend. She got the job, sight unseen, mainly because my recommendations were valued and it was through my word-of-mouth. Kelly's family did turn out to be somewhat better. Andrea Kaminoff, her employer, was highly creative and more democratic. Not that there weren't problems, because there were, and Andrea grew increasingly difficult.

Brian flirted a bit with Kelly when I introduced her to the Thebault's. Which was interesting. Brian expressed attraction to Kelly more than he ever did with me, and when I later met the family Kelly worked for, I was the one the husband couldn't take his eyes off of. I figured it had to do with hair and body type. Both Lisa and Kelly were brunettes, and had curvaceous hips; Both Andrea and I were long-haired strawberry blonds with lean bodies and no chest. Luckily, my employer was not attracted to me and was always appropriate, as was the same for Kelly.

Kelly was very pretty, with long, curly, dark hair. She also had a soft lilting voice which seemed to enthrall most men, and she laughed easily. Kelly was also flirtaceous in her own way. It seemed she could put a spell on everyone. If a waiter asked her if she was ready to order, she would ask his opinion, and by her expressive attentiveness, had him wrapped around her finger within minutes. She had this sort of "chin resting in the palms of both hands" way of making a man feel he was the most fascinating person, and in turn, he was fascinated by her. Kelly and I shared some things in common: we had the same birthday, went to the same church, had both been Homecoming Queen at our high schools; we were also both attractive and independent and had withstood jealousies from other girls and women. Years later, after our nanny stints, Kelly went back to college and earned her degree in English Literature, which I also majored in. Our mothers both had and loved horses and we both grew up in the countryside and wanted to live in a larger city. We also both loved animals. Kelly met her future husband (whom she later divorced), who worked as a "manny" and was English, during her stay and after I changed families, and was able to go out in the evenings, we would all get together.

Having Kelly out there with me helped me to endure, and was witness to the drama.