remember to be good, but she doesn't like to spank you. She only does it
because she loves you.

I knew that wasn't true because mommy likes to punish me but I didn't
dare say that to daddy. Daddy isn't afraid of me the way mommy is and he
is nice to me most times, so I said all right if you say so. Daddy said
fine, will you promise to be nice to mommy from now on? I said yes if
mommy won't hit Bobby any more with the broom. And daddy said well after
all Bobby can be a bad dog just the way you can be a bad boy, can't he?
I knew Bobby was never a bad dog on purpose but I said yes I guessed so.
Then I wanted to ask daddy why mommy was afraid of me but I didn't dare
because I knew daddy liked mommy more than anybody and maybe he would be
angry at me for saying things like that about her.

That night I heard mommy and daddy talking down in the living room and I
sat on the top step so I could hear them. Bobby sat there too, but I
knew he didn't know what they were saying because Bobby isn't very smart
and can't understand word-talk like I can. He can only understand
think-talk, and he doesn't understand that very well. But now even I
couldn't understand what mommy was saying. She was crying and saying Ben
I tell you there's something wrong with the child, he knows what I'm
_thinking_, I can tell it by the way he looks at me. And daddy said
darling, that's ridiculous, how could he possibly know what you're
thinking? Mommy said I don't know but he does! Ever since he was a
little boy he's known--oh, Ben, it's horrible, I can't do anything with
him because he _knows_ what I'm going to do before I do it. Then daddy
said Carol, you're upset about today and you're making things up. The
child is just a little smarter than most kids, there's nothing wrong
with that. And mommy said no, there's more to it than that and I can't
stand it any longer. We've got to take him to a doctor, I don't even
like to look at him. Daddy said you're tired, you're just letting little
things get on your nerves. So maybe the boy does look a little strange,
you know the doctor said it was just that the fontanelles hadn't closed
as soon as they should have and lots of children don't have a good
growth of hair before they're six or seven. After all he said he isn't a
_bad_ looking boy.

Then mommy said that isn't true, he's horrible! I can't bear it, Ben,
_please_ do something, and daddy said what can I do? I talked to the boy
and he was sorry and promise