ain clothes, no uniforms, to catch, let’s say, the shoplifters better, but the salespeople would know who they are. But if they didn’t, for the plainclothes guards are probably also there to stop the salespeople from stealing, then they could make a call for one in uniform. And you’d tell this guard that you’re alone, your sister and daddy are suddenly gone and some man’s said your father’s been taken to the hospital and he asked this man to take you there and your parents have always warned you against strangers taking you anyplace, and you want to speak to your mommy. They’d find her eventually. They could do this from the office. Actually, you don’t want to go with the guard — a real policeman’s okay — but not a guard, plainclothes or not, to the office alone either. Sometimes these businesses aren’t careful about who they get as guards, so these guys can be crazies too. If it’s a woman guard, uniformed or not, I’m sure she’s all right. So when you go with a male guard you also want to go with, and you have to insist on this — not easy for a kid but you got to do it, you say your parents told you you have to — with a salesperson to the office and not alone, and that’s where you call Mommy. You’d only have to give there, as Margo said, in New York, your grandfather’s name — he’s the only Horace Cole in the Manhattan book. And — the phone book, I mean, the directory, and Manhattan being New York, of course — and my name, or Mommy’s with the Cole last name, in our phone book where we live, but you know that number.” “Eight-three-five…but do you want me to give the area code too?” Julie said. “No, where we are you don’t need the area code when you call home. Oh, this is so complicated. You just don’t go with strangers, that’s all, the one rule you have to remember in this. One comes and is pretty aggressive in wanting to take you someplace — forceful, won’t take no, you see? — yell for a cop. Really, yell, both of you, ‘police, police,’ but much louder — I only whispered so the people around us wouldn’t wonder — but that’s all you say, and also if you’re together and a stranger wants you to go with him or her somewhere. Or you see what seems like a nice person passing — certainly someone passing you know is even better. But if not, then a nice person while this awful stranger’s trying to convince you to go with him, tell that person — man or woman, just that the person looks nice — the problem with the stranger and have that person get a cop. But stay with that person, don’t leave yourself with the stranger. Though don’t go with that nice person either-alone, you know, into a house or car or cab or anyplace in a store except straight to its office where lots of people would probably be and you can call the police and us from. No, forget that, just stick with that nice person till a guard comes, if it’s a store, and then you go to the office with the guard and this nice person or a store clerk, but always two people unless the guard’s a woman. If it’s a lot smaller store than this one with probably not much of an office anywhere, then you have them call Mommy or me and the police from the selling part of it. Of course if it’s just that you’re lost or we’re separated, you don’t need the police if you can reach one of us. If it’s a street and you’re now with the nice person and the threatening stranger goes or even stays, call the police and then me from a phone booth or go into a store to call and tell the nice person or store owner or somebody that we’ll pay for whatever the phone costs and any other expenses, though I don’t know what those others might be. If there is no nice person but there is a store and you’re lost or being threatened, then you go into it and tell them what’s the matter, though if you can, make sure it’s a nice store. This rule about strangers goes for anyplace, you understand — street, in front of the house, walking home from school, playgrounds, malls, cars stopping and the driver or passenger talking to you; same thing. You just don’t go with them, get it? You in fact — look, we’re talking about it frankly now — open — and I’m going to go even further than I ever did with Margo. But if you’re being dragged or coaxed too hard by a stranger into a car or something like that — basement, house, backyard — and I don’t mean to scare you. Chances of anything like this happening are small, slight, small. But you yell — and when I say ‘coaxed too hard’ I mean ordered, bullied, or offered things to get in the car, for instance. Bribed — money, gifts, candy, you know — well you yell like hell, kick, put up a tremendous fuss, bite if you have to, the hand, the ear. Fight with your fists and nails. Scratch, punch, even your head — butt them. Believe me, kids can hurt. I know, from when you’ve hit me by accident. One good kick — a hard one, all your might — in a man’s groin — where the penis and testicles are — can knock a man flat on his behind.” The kids laughed. “No, it’s true, listen to me, I’m serious. It might sound funny but that’s where a man can hurt most. Or poke him right over here in the middle under the rib cage,” and took Julie’s finger to show where on him; “that’ll knock the air out a moment, but enough time for you to get away. Or punch him in what, well, to illustrate my example — make it more real and remembered — in the balls.” They seemed shocked, then looked at each other and laughed. “It’s not a dirty word when you use it that way, as a teaching aid, believe me. And same with a woman too, I think, in hitting them down there, kicking, you know. But we’ll have to ask Mommy what her most sensitive spots are that hurt. I heard the breasts. Certainly the eyes are one. Even just one eye, finger in it, deep and hard, but they’re the most sensitive for everyone and also probably the most difficult to stick your fingers in because of our own squeamish feelings about eyes. But you do it, you have to. And you don’t have to just use your fingers and hands and feet. You see a stick on the ground, a branch, brick, rock, some stones or even pebbles or sand, you throw it at their face or head or club them with it, the branch or maybe a bat or bottle that was lying around. If you’re carrying books, throw that at their faces too. Of course, if you can — meaning you’re not being held, you can run away — first thing you do is run, preferably home or to someone you know — a teacher or school parent if it’s near your school, the house of a friend of yours on our street. But if nobody or nothing like that’s around, then to that person I’ve mentioned who just looks protecting and nice if you see one. Which means that that person should look like a nice teacher or school parent or crossing guard. This also goes even if the coaxers or strangers who want to do these things to you are neighbors or say they are and they want to take you someplace, but we don’t really know them. Even if they live a few doors down and you’ve seen them but have never really talked to them and you know Mommy and I haven’t. Or you have talked to them, just as Mommy and I have. A hello, a hi, a wave or nice talk beyond just greeting talk between you and them and even between them and Mommy and me, which you’ve seen. And they’ve acted nice to you up till now but suddenly are acting peculiar or asking you to do peculiar things or just things you know you’re not supposed to, like going alone with them to places I’ve told you not to go, a basement, park, car, garage, someone’s home or their own. Now, if you hit these neighbors in defending yourself or trying to get away and it’s by chance a mistake, they’ll have to understand that it was done because I’d told you to protect yourself this way and that there was a misinterpretation — an error in understanding — just a problem in what they were giving off with their words or actions or looks and what you took in and that perhaps I also might’ve been too strong in my warnings to you and what to do. Still, you’ve got to do what I say. This is how things have become today, I’m afraid, I’m almost sure of it. In being extra cautious you might occasionally go too far, but better that way than not going far enough where you didn’t defend yourself when you could have and got hurt or didn’t do enough to get away. I’m sure Mommy will agree with me on this but we’ll ask her. If she doesn’t then that’s going to cause some conflict because I’m going to insist you do everything you can to protect and defend yourselves against people who might want to hurt you and in fact I’m going to spend a little time with you soon teaching you how. Just kicks and where to hit and stuff but more than I just did. Let’s hope, of course, this’ll never happen, and chances of it happening have got to be one in a few thousand, a hundred thousand — most people are good and wouldn’t touch you — so one in a million, or maybe less. But we also have to hope that a neighbor or anyone doesn’t get a heart attack or stroke or fall and break a limb as a result of a blow from one of you, that is if he or she didn’t mean anything awful toward you and it was a mistake, on their part or yours, in judgment or perception — how you see things — or whatever. If it wasn’t a mistake then truthfully I wouldn’t care if they tripped and fell in front of a passing car. I shouldn’t say that perhaps, but I think people who do things like that to kids are among the worst and deserve what they get. Okay, maybe that’s too harsh, so something also that shouldn’t have been said, but in a nutshell, you don’t go with anyone anyplace, child or adult, without our permission. And ‘nutshell’ meaning ‘in a few words,’ so as not to confuse things with more of them and also so you can remember what I’m saying better. Anyone, that is, except really close friends — our very best, like the Kaplitzes, though maybe not with Rick, their oldest boy. Kids that age can suddenly change in ways and act funny. I don’t want to go into it or maybe I will but another time, at least to Margo.” “Why not now?” Margo said and he looked at her and Julie said “Why not me?” and he said “Because you’re too young, quite truthfully. And of course relatives — but not any long-lost cousins or cousins of cousins you’ve only seen once — and our next-door neighbors, the Troys. They’re obviously very decent people and their boy’s much younger than both of you, so if they say we’re not home and we’ve asked them to pick you up at school or meet you in front of the house and that we can’t for some reason get to a phone to explain it all to you in the next hour or so and they’re to look after you till we get home, you believe them. They’d never lie like that or do anything to you that’s not in your best interest and which we wouldn’t approve of, I know it. We’re lucky to have them as neighbors; some people get nothing close to that. Or even if we haven’t told them anything or called and you come home and neither of us is there and the door’s locked, which it would be if we were both out, then you go straight to their place and ask them to check around to see where we might be. They know where I work — you do too, Margo, so you can do this as well as them. But they can also help you locate some of our good friends, whose names you know and maybe their addresses or just their streets and who might know where we are, or one of us. Actually, the Troys could let you into the house — they have our keys. That’s how much we trust them, you see, and they trust us, for we have theirs. But when you do get in, though it’d probably be best for you to stay with the Troys till we get home, especially if it’s getting late — let me double-check with Mommy on that. And certainly you stay with them if there’s only one of you,” and Margo said “Maybe her,” and he said “No, you both. But if the two of you do get in and nobody’s with you, like the Troys or Aunt Bea — I can’t think of anyone else; the Kaplitzes are too far away. But you lock the door and wait for our call or for one of us to get home, though all the time trying to find out by phone with the Troys or whoever where the heck we are. None of this will happen, you know. Chances of our not being home for you with no word or warning to anyone about it are maybe a little better than the others I mentioned, but still not great, but all this is just in case. So, everything clear? Or did I go into too many things and do what I didn’t want to, confusing things by overdosing you with possible situations and how to get out of them?” and Julie said “About what?” and he said “Strangers, wrongdoers, or just people who bug you, but a little to a lot worse than just kidding, and if we’re not home and so on,” and she said “I’d know what to do, I promise,” and Margo said “It was a bit overmuch but I think I’d know what to do too with all three of those people,” and he said “All right, then what would you do if…nah, let’s drop it. But, good girls, both of you. Wonderful, great, so smart. I realize it’s difficult to digest all of it — to take it in — but just that some of it got through and maybe even some of the most important parts, fine. Anyway, Margo, to get back to before, why I was so long in the store when you were out here was that I couldn’t find Julie for actually a lot more than a minute,” and winked at Julie; she shut her eyes and turned away. Okay, won’t play, he thought, but he’s sure she’s not still mad at him. That last long discussion or instruction got her off it. Then she brightened and opened her eyes and said “Daddy said next time he’ll give us ten dollars for us both in the store. Or we can go in now and he’ll give us each four.” He said “Is that what I said? I forget,” and she said yes and he said “Anyway, not now, let’s go for a snack first,” and Margo said to her “We can pool our money.” Julie asked what that was and Margo explained and they convinced him to give two more dollars between them, they promise they won’t ask him for more, they won’t even go for a snack if he doesn’t want, “that’ll save you money,” and they went in and he gave them a ten and told them to stay together even if they decide to split the ten and buy what they each want at separate departments and that they should come back to him right after they bought their purchase or purchases and with no more browsing around and the spot where he’d be waiting for them, “Right here outside the men’s room. Just say, if you forget where it is, ‘the men’s room in the doll section on the second floor,’ and anybody working in the store would know; it’s right by the ladies’. By the way, I’m only letting you go off alone together because in this store there are plenty of guards and the salespeople and customers seem safer or trustworthier and nobody’s going to run off with you. Other stores I might not feel so good about it in.” “That’s racist,” Margo said and he said “What do you know about the word?” and she said “I know it and it is,” and he said “It’s not. Whatever the people are here, race and other things, they all just seem more law-abiding. Not