"Hey!" a cop yelled, pulling up as close to us as his rotors would allow. "What the hell?" "I beg your pardon," I said frigidly. It is very frigid in November if you are out in a helicopter dressed only in a boudoir slip. "Look de bleesemans!" Gail cried. "He might shoot everybody!" Billy warned. Meli began to cry loudly. "He might _choot_! _Ma_-ma!" "Pardon me, madam," the cop said, and beat a hasty retreat. When we landed on Hi-nin's roof, Mrs. His-tara came up with him. She looked at me sympathetically. "You are perhaps molting, beloved friend?" Her large eyes retracted and filled with tears. "Such a season!" "No--no, dear. Just--getting a little fresh air." I put Hi-nin on the front seat with me. He gave me a big-eyed, toothless smile and sat down in perfect quiet, except for the soft, almost sea sound of his breathing. It was during one of those brief and infrequent silences we have that I noticed something was amiss. No sea sound. I looked around to find Billy's hands around Hi-nin's throat. "Billy!" I screamed. "Aw!" he said, and let go. Hi-nin began to breathe again in a violent, choked way. "Billy," I said, wondering if I could keep myself from simply throwing my son out of the helicopter, "Billy...." "It is nothing, nice mama," Hi-nin said, still choking. "Billy." I didn't trust myself to speak any further. I reached around and spanked him until my hand was sore. "If you _ever_ do that again--" "_Waa!_" Billy bawled. I'm sure he could be heard quite plainly by the men building the new astronomical station on the Moon. * * * * * I put Hi-nin on my lap and kept him there. "That's just Billy's way of making friends," I whispered to him. Under Billy's leadership, several other children began to cry, and all in all it was not a well-integrated, love-sharing group that I lifted down from the heli at Playplace. "The children always sense it, don't they," Mrs. Baden said with her gentle smile, "when we don't feel comfortable about a situation?" "_Comfortable!_" I cried. It seemed to me the day had become blazing hot and I didn't remember what I was dressed in until I tried to take off my jacket. "My son is an inhuman monster. He tried to--to--" I could feel a big sob coming on. "Bite?" Mrs. Baden supplied helpfully. "Strangle," I managed to blurt out. "We'll be especially considerate of Billy today," Mrs. Baden said. "He'll be feeling guilty and he senses your discomfort about his aggression." "_Senses_ it! I all but tore him limb from limb! That dear little Hiserean child--" "I do not want to be of difficulty," Hi-nin said, tears pouring out of those great, big eyes. * * * * * Tears were pouring out of my small blue eyes by this time and Mr. Grantham, who brings a set of grandchildren, came by and patted my shoulder. "Chin up!" he said. "Eyes front!" Then he looked at his hand and my recently patted shoulder.