“Excuse me,” Phoebe cut in. “Do you mind if I borrow your son for a minute?” “You’re not going to do any weird mind experiments on him are you?” His father, rocking a sleeveless turtleneck and bellbottoms, laid a protective hand on Billy’s shoulder. “No, of course not. But I am going to ask him to pretend to be someone else’s kid for a little while.” She winced, waiting for the no that any parent in their right mind would give. “Oh, that’s fine. He does that on his own sometimes,” the mother announced.

