Mrs. Speier, she's the one that always gives me trouble. Don't misunderstand me, I'd have quit a long time ago if she was too much, but that woman's nerves really need some help. I try to bring her tonic a few times a day along with handling the housework, but she can be a bit much.
It's raining outside right now. I'm on my way home from work, riding the red line home. I've taken this same route for the past thirteen years, ever since they built it. It's about a twenty minute ride home, not too bad for a commute, but still not short enough to where I can run home if I need something. I work Monday through Saturday, from nine until six. I make lunch and dinner, and if Mrs. Speier has not risen by the time I arrive, I usually cook her breakfast. I enjoy my work, but there's nothing like coming home to your babies. Mine are grown by now with children of their own, but when they were young, it was the best part of my day. Now I see them regularly at church. Homer tends not to go with me. Says ever since his accident he don't believe in God. Well, I say a prayer for him anyway. The Lord is always listening, even when my husband don't care to say anything. Just because someone isn't talking to you, that don't mean you can't feel their presence in the room. But Homer doesn't listen when I say even that.
I passed Kitty Smith just now when I got off the train. Told me there was a robbery over at the Stop n Shop this afternoon. Kids in the neighborhood tend to call it the Stab n Grab. I am not surprised. I never like going in there, even for a carton of milk.
I cannot wait to leave this place, although I do not forsee that happening anytime soon.

I've been working for the Speier family for twenty-one years as their housekeeper. My mother was a housekeeper. Her mother was a housekeeper. And her mother was a housekeeper too. So it made sense for me to go into the "family profession." I've raised eight children, one of my own, two of my sisters', and and five Speiers. Abigail, Rose, Reginald, Sebastian, and Pearl. Well, Pearl's Christian name was Peter, but everyone called him Pearl. It was because of that head of his. When Pearl was born, he didn't have a single hair on his head, didn't have any until his third birthday. When Reginald saw him for the first time, took one look at him and said, "That baby's head is glowing like a pearl! I'm not touching him." Well, that boy changed his tune quite a bit as he got older. See Reginald and Pearl get along swell together. It's Sebastian that always has the problems. He's got issues dealing with Mr. Speier. But that's not my business. I'm in charge of the children and the housework. The children had tutors for a time, but Rose tended to scare them off with all her shenanigans. That girl couldn't walk the straight and narrow if her life depended on it. She's nothing like Abigail. If Rose was a wildfire, Abigail would be the water that cools it down. Even as a baby, she was calm, never fussed. But that was twenty years ago. Now she's got a baby of her own, Lucy, and Lucy just like her. I suppose it must be some family thing.