Jessie & Elizabeth (abandoned)

14. Some Heroes Wear Rainbow Capes [Part 2]

TW: homophobia

Miss Schneider had not been exaggerating. Mrs. Sosa, the wife of an air travel controller who lived down the street, had been running after the kids through the front lawn, a piece of colorful cloth jammed in her fist, stumbling every time her heel got stuck in a hole in the grass. Ari had been laughing like a hysterical monkey, and it took some time before we managed to calm down all parties and urge them inside, away from nosy neighbors.

Elizabeth was furious with me, if I were to believe her eyes. Served her right. For once, I couldn't care less, because I was still fuming as well.

Mrs. Sosa was breathing fast. Her hair was stuck to her face, and the fabric of her spotless white blouse was drenched at her armpits. She was still holding the piece of cloth, squeezing it so tight I wondered if she longed to rip someone to shreds with her long beige nails. "Your daughters," she began, a bit of spit leaving her mouth along with the words, "thought it was funny to tape this—" she opened her hand, shaking the cloth to reveal a rainbow flag, "—to my car. So, what do these young ladies have to say for themselves, hm?"

Elizabeth was trying to glare at me, but I ignored it. Obviously, I was in trouble— no doubt that was my flag, and I, as the nanny, should've prevented this from happening. I was still too mad at her to feel real remorse, though.

Manon was looking at her feet, her cheeks beet red. Ari, on the other hand, placed her hands on her hips, a cheeky glint in her eyes. "Well, you still haven't told us what your pronouns are," she said, "so we can't say anything yet. And you haven't asked for mine, so don't assume I'm a young lady. I'm actually a badass."

Okay, so maybe, this whole thing was on me, after all. Ari had been doing this for a while, asking random people for their pronouns like it was a contest. I'd told her to be careful of bigots who were against that sort of thing, to which she'd replied that I was a lousy lesbian because I didn't care about pronouns enough. I'd figured I should just let it go, and she'd learn her lesson in due time. I didn't think it would come to bite me in the ass—silly me.

Mrs. Sosa was seething, her chest going up and down rapidly as she pointed at Ari. "See?" she said to Elizabeth. "What kind of nonsense is this?"

Elizabeth breathed in deeply. "Girls, apologize to Mrs. Sosa for touching her belongings." Though her voice came out calm and collected, her eyes told a whole different story.

It seemed Manon had noticed it too. "Mom, we only used tape! It came right off." She looked so small at this moment with her shoulders drooping, having sensed that they were in deep, deep trouble, while Ari still stood proudly as a valiant knight.

Mrs. Sosa hissed: "Along with the coating!"

Oh no. I was going down for this. What was I thinking, not interfering with their mischief?

Elizabeth offered her one of her apologetic business looks, the one I was sure she must've practiced in the mirror to perfect it, and though convincing, was as genuine as any of Trump's marriages. "I'll pay for the damages, of course," she said, then turned to her kids with a whole different expression: "Manon, Ari, I'm serious. You'll apologize to Mrs. Sosa, and Jessie and I will come up with a suitable punishment. You don't mess with other people's property."

Ari clicked her tongue. "Yeah, well, you don't mess with my nanny."

Ah. Just my luck. This had something to do with me. It didn't surprise me, considering I was pretty sure that was my rainbow flag. Elizabeth's attention shifted to me, dark eyes forcing me to explain myself.

"Don't look at me." I shrugged, because even if maybe I could be blamed for this, I was still angry too. "I have no idea what's going on here."

Mrs. Sosa, who hadn't acknowledged me so far, produced a sort of righteous yelp as she gave me a once-over, bringing her free hand to her chest. "I'm shocked that you let your nanny talk to you like that, Elizabeth." She shook her head disapprovingly. "Honestly, I've been worried about you ever since Connery decided to move to Europe, but I had no idea it'd gone this far."