The Babysitting Mystery Solved

The door opened, and Tommy’s parents stepped inside.

Mrs. Carter carried her purse, and Mr. Carter followed behind her, looking relaxed after their evening out.

“Oh, hello Lloyd!” Mrs. Carter said cheerfully. “How did everything go?”

Lloyd stared at her for a moment.

Then he pointed directly at Tommy.

“Why,” Lloyd asked very seriously, “is your son a mini version of Einstein?”

Mrs. Carter blinked.

Tommy sighed quietly.

“What happened now?” she asked.

“He cooked a pie, a cake, and a pizza!” Lloyd said. “He read an eight-hundred-page book in fifteen minutes! He solved all my math homework! He knows the capital of Mongolia!”

Mrs. Carter suddenly laughed.

Not a small laugh.

A full, cheerful laugh.

“Oh dear,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Tommy didn’t scare you too much, did he?”

“Scare me?” Lloyd repeated. “I thought he was an alien!”

Tommy covered his face.

Mrs. Carter smiled.

“Tommy is not an alien,” she said gently.

Tommy nodded. “I told him that.”

“He’s just very intelligent,” Mrs. Carter continued. “Tommy loves learning new things. He practices reading every day, so he reads very fast.”

Lloyd blinked.

“And the cooking?” he asked.

“He watches cooking shows,” she replied. “He’s been practicing simple recipes with me.”

Tommy nodded proudly.

“And the math?”

Mrs. Carter shrugged. “He enjoys numbers.”

Lloyd stared at Tommy.

“So… he’s just really smart?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Carter said.

“And the notebook test?”

Tommy spoke this time.

“I like testing people for fun,” he said.

Lloyd groaned.

“So you’re not an alien?” He asked one last time.

Tommy’s mother laughed again.

“No,” she said. “Tommy is definitely not an alien.”

Tommy looked at Lloyd.

“I told you.”

Lloyd sighed.

“Well… that explains some things.”

Two weeks later, Lloyd accepted another babysitting job.

Babysitting paid well.

And Lloyd still wanted that gaming controller.

He walked up to the house and rang the doorbell.

When the door opened, Lloyd stepped inside.

A three-year-old kid was sitting on the couch.

“Hi,” Lloyd said. “I’m Lloyd.”

The kid looked up.

“My name is Jimmy,” he said.

Lloyd smiled.

“Nice to meet you.”

Jimmy tilted his head.

“What’s the square root of 2,809?” he asked.

Lloyd froze.

Jimmy continued casually.

“The capital of Kazakhstan is Astana,” he said.

Then he looked down at Lloyd’s shoes.

“Also,” Jimmy added, “your shoelaces are tied incorrectly.”

Lloyd stared at him.

Then he slowly leaned against the wall.

“Oh no,” he groaned.

The End.