Later, after dinner, Jon and Mikey's mother were getting ready to leave. Mikey had forgotten that his mother was going out that night, and Jon had to go to Karyn's for some reason. That meant only one thing:
"Now, be good for Sheila tonight," said Mikey's mother just before she left. (Jon was already gone.)
"I will," said Mikey, smiling at Sheila. He got along pretty well with his sitter. And she was kind of cute. She was 14 years old with curly, strawberry blonde hair, freckles, and a body she got from working hard at gymnastics.
"So, what do you want to play tonight?" she asked when they were alone. They always played a game first thing.
"How about pretend?" said Mikey.
"Pretend? Pretend what?"
"Pretend you're something else. Something you've always wanted to be."
"You mean like an animal?"
"Or whatever."
"All right," said Sheila. She thought for a few moments and said "Okay. I've always wanted to be ... "
