Transcriber's Note:

 This etext was produced from _The Counterfeit Man More Science Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse_ published in 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note. 

 My Friend Bobby

My name is Jimmy and I am five years old, and my friend Bobby is fiveyears old too but he says he thinks he's really more than five years oldbecause he's already grown up and I'm just a little boy. We live out inthe country because that's where mommy and daddy live, and every morningdaddy takes the car out of the barn and rides into the city to work, andevery night he comes back to eat supper and to see mommy and Bobby andme. One time I asked daddy why we don't live in the city like somepeople do and he laughed and said you wouldn't really want to live inthe city would you? After all he said you couldn't have Bobby in thecity, so I guess it's better to live in the country after all. 

Anyway daddy says that the city is no place to raise kids these days. Iasked Bobby if I am a kid and he said he guessed so but I don't think hereally knows because Bobby isn't very smart. But Bobby is my friend evenif he doesn't know much and I like him more than anybody else. 

Mommy doesn't like Bobby very much and when I am bad she makes Bobby gooutdoors even when it's cold outside. Mommy says I shouldn't play withBobby so much because after all Bobby is only a dog but I like Bobby. Everyone else is so big, and when mommy and daddy are home all I can seeis their legs unless I look way up high, and when I do something bad I'mscared because they're so big and strong. Bobby is strong too but heisn't any bigger than I am, and he is always nice to me. He has a longshaggy brown coat and a long pointed nose, and a nice collar of whitefur and people sometimes say to daddy what a nice collie that is anddaddy says yes isn't he and he takes to the boy so. I don't know what acollie is but I have fun with Bobby all the time. Sometimes he lets meride on his back and we talk to each other and have secrets even thoughI don't think he is very smart. I don't know why mommy and daddy don'tunderstand me when I talk to them the way I talk to Bobby but maybe theyjust pretend they can't hear me talk that way. 

I am always sorry when daddy goes to work in the morning. Daddy is niceto me most times and takes me and Bobby for walks. But mommy never takesme for walks and when we are alone she is busy and she isn't nice to me. Sometimes she says I am a bad boy and makes me stay in my room even whenI haven't done anything bad and sometimes she thinks things in her headthat she doesn't say to me. I don't know why mommy doesn't like me andBobby doesn't know either, but we like it best when mommy lets us gooutdoors to play in the barn or down by the creek. If I get my feet wetmommy says I am very bad so I stay on the bank and let Bobby go in, butone day when Bobby went into the water just before we went home forsupper mommy scolded me and told me I was bad for letting Bobby go intothe water and when I told her she hadn't told me not to let Bobby go inshe was angry and I could tell that she didn't like me at all that day. 

Almost every day I do something that mommy says is bad even when I tryspecially to be good. Sometimes right after daddy goes away in themorning I know that mommy is angry and is going to spank me sooner orlater that day because she is already thinking how she will spank me, but she never says so out loud. Sometimes she pretends that she's notangry and takes me up on her lap and says I'm her nice little boy butall the time I can hear her thinking that she doesn't really like meeven when she tries and she doesn't even want to touch me if she canhelp it. I can hear her wondering why my hair doesn't grow nice like theBennet twins that live up the road. I don't see how mommy can be sayingone thing out loud and something else inside her head at the same timebut when I look at her she puts me down and says she's busy and will Iget out from underfoot, and then pretty soon I do something that makesher angry and she makes me go to my room or she spanks me. Bobby doesn'tlike this. Once when she spanked me he growled at mommy, and mommychased him outdoors with a broom before she sent me to bed. I cried allday that day because it was cold outdoors and I wanted to have Bobbywith me. 

I wonder why mommy doesn't like me?

 * * * * *

One day I was a bad boy and let Bobby come into the house before mommytold me I could. Bobby hadn't done anything bad but mommy hit him on theback with the broom and hurt him and chased him back outdoors and thenshe told me I was a very bad boy. I could tell that she was going tospank me and I knew she would hurt me because she was so big, and I ranupstairs and hid in my room. Then mommy stamped her foot hard and saidJimmy you come down here this minute. I didn't answer and then she saidif I have to come upstairs and get you I'll whip you until you can't sitdown, and I still didn't answer because mommy hurts me when she getsangry like that. Then I heard her coming up the stairs and into my roomand she opened the closet door and found me. I said please don't hurt memommy but she reached down and caught my ear and dragged me out of thecloset. I was so scared I bit her hand and she screamed and let go andI ran and locked myself in the bathroom because I knew she would hurt mebad if I didn't. I stayed there all day long and I could hear mommyrunning the sweeper downstairs and I couldn't see why she wanted to hurtme so much just because I let Bobby come in before she told me I could. But somehow it seemed that mommy was afraid of me even though she was sobig and strong. I don't see why anybody as big as mommy should be afraidof me but she was. 

When daddy came home that night I heard him talking to mommy, and thenhe came up to the bathroom and said open the door Jimmy I want to talkto you. I said I want Bobby first so he went down and called Bobby andthen I opened the door and came out of the bathroom. Daddy reached downand lifted me high up on his shoulder and took me into my bedroom andjust sat there for a long time patting Bobby's head and I couldn't hearwhat he was thinking very well. Finally he said out loud Jimmy you'vegot to be good to your mommy and do what she says and not lock yourselfup in rooms any more. I said but mommy was going to hurt me and daddysaid when you're a bad boy your mommy has to punish you so you'llremember to be good, but she doesn't like to spank you. She only does itbecause she loves you. 

I knew that wasn't true because mommy likes to punish me but I didn'tdare say that to daddy. Daddy isn't afraid of me the way mommy is and heis nice to me most times, so I said all right if you say so. Daddy saidfine, will you promise to be nice to mommy from now on? I said yes ifmommy won't hit Bobby any more with the broom. And daddy said well afterall 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 darebecause I knew daddy liked mommy more than anybody and maybe he would beangry at me for saying things like that about her. 

That night I heard mommy and daddy talking down in the living room and Isat on the top step so I could hear them. Bobby sat there too, but Iknew he didn't know what they were saying because Bobby isn't very smartand can't understand word-talk like I can. He can only understandthink-talk, and he doesn't understand that very well. But now even Icouldn't understand what mommy was saying. She was crying and saying BenI 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 saiddarling, that's ridiculous, how could he possibly know what you'rethinking? Mommy said I don't know but he does! Ever since he was alittle boy he's known--oh, Ben, it's horrible, I can't do anything withhim because he _knows_ what I'm going to do before I do it. Then daddysaid Carol, you're upset about today and you're making things up. Thechild is just a little smarter than most kids, there's nothing wrongwith that. And mommy said no, there's more to it than that and I can'tstand it any longer. We've got to take him to a doctor, I don't evenlike to look at him. Daddy said you're tired, you're just letting littlethings 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 closedas soon as they should have and lots of children don't have a goodgrowth 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 boyand he was sorry and promised he'd behave himself. And mommy said thenthere's that dog--it follows him around wherever he goes, and he'ssimply wicked if the dog isn't around, and daddy said isn't it perfectlynormal for a boy to love his dog? Mommy said no, not like this, talkingto him all the time, and the dog acting exactly as if heunderstands--there's something wrong with the child, something horriblywrong. 

Then daddy was quiet for a while, and then he said all right, if it willmake you feel any better we can have Doctor Grant take another look athim. Maybe he can convince you that there's nothing wrong with the boy, and mommy said please, Ben, anything, I can't stand much more of this. 

When I went back to bed and Bobby curled up on the floor, I asked himwhat were fontanelles, and Bobby just yawned and said he didn't know buthe thought I was nice, and he would always take care of me, so I didn'tworry any more and went to sleep. 

 * * * * *

I have a panda out in the barn and the panda's name is Bobby too and atfirst Bobby the dog was jealous of Bobby the panda until I told him thatthe panda was only a make-believe Bobby and he was a real Bobby. ThenBobby liked the panda, and the three of us played out in the barn allday. We decided not to tell mommy and daddy about the panda, and kept itfor our own secret. It was a big panda, as big as mommy and daddy, andsometimes I thought maybe I would make the panda hurt mommy but then Iknew daddy would be sorry so I didn't. 

Bobby and I were playing with Bobby the panda the day the doctor cameand mommy called me in and made Bobby stay outside. I didn't like thedoctor because he smelled like a dirty old cigar and he had a big rednose with three black hairs coming out of it and he wheezed when he bentdown to look at me. Daddy and mommy sat on the couch and the doctor saidlet me have a look at you young fellow and I said but I'm not sick andthe doctor said ha ha, of course you aren't, you're a fine looking boybut just let me listen to your chest for a minute. So he put a coldthing on my chest and stuck some tubes in his ears and listened, andthen he looked in my eyes with a bright light and looked into my ears, and then he felt my head all over. He had big hairy hands and I didn'tlike him touching me but I knew mommy would be angry if I didn't holdstill so I let him finish. Then he told daddy some big words that Icouldn't understand, but in think-talk he was saying that my head stillhadn't closed up right and I didn't have as much hair as you'd expectbut otherwise I seemed to be all right. He said I was a good stoutlooking boy but if they wanted a specialist in to look at me he wouldarrange it. Daddy asked if that would cost very much and the doctor saidyes it probably would and he didn't see any real need for it because mybones were just a little slow in developing, and mommy said have youseen other children like that? The doctor said no but if the boy seemsto be normal and intelligent why should she be worrying so? Then mommytold me to go upstairs, and I went but I stopped on the top stair andlistened. 

When I was gone the doctor said now Carol what is it that's reallybothering you? Then mommy told him what she had told daddy, how shethought I knew what she was thinking, and the doctor said to daddy, Ben, have you ever felt any such thing about the boy? Daddy said of coursenot, sometimes he gives you the feeling that he's smarter than you thinkhe is but all parents have that feeling about their children sometimes. And then mother broke down and her voice got loud and she said he's amonster, I know it, there's something wrong and he's different from us, him and that horrible dog. The doctor said but it's a beautiful collie, and mommy said but he _talks_ to it and it _understands_ him, and thedoctor said now, Carol, let's be reasonable. Mommy said I've beenreasonable too long, you men just can't see it at all, don't you thinkI'd know a normal child if I saw one? And then she cried and cried, andfinally she said all right, I know I'm making a fool of myself, maybeI'm just overtired, and the doctor said I'm sure that's the trouble, tryto get some rest, and sleep longer at night, and mommy said I can'tsleep at night, I just lie there and think. 

The doctor said well we'll fix that, enough of this nonsense now, youneed your sleep and if you're not sleeping well it's _you_ that shouldbe seeing the doctor. He gave her some pills from his bag and then hewent away, and pretty soon daddy let Bobby in, and Bobby came upstairsand jumped up and licked my face as if he'd been away for a hundredmillion years. Later mommy called me down for supper, and she wasn'tcrying any more, and she and daddy didn't say anything about what theyhad said to the doctor. Mommy made me a special surprise for dessert, some ice cream with chocolate syrup on top, and after supper we all wentfor a walk, even though it was cold outside and snowing again. Thendaddy said well, I think things will be all right, and mommy said I hopeso, but I could tell that she didn't really think so, and she was moreafraid of me than ever. 

 * * * * *

For a while I thought mommy was really going to be nice to me and Bobbythen. She was especially nice when daddy was home but when daddy wasaway at work sometimes mommy jumped when she saw me looking at her andthen sent me outdoors to play and told me not to come in until lunch. Iliked that because I knew if I weren't near mommy everything would beall right. When I was with mommy I tried hard not to look at her and Itried not to hear what she was thinking, but lots of times I would seeher looking first at me and then at Bobby, and those times I couldn'thelp hearing what she was thinking because it seemed so loud inside myhead that it made my eyes hurt. But I knew mommy would be angry so Ipretended I couldn't hear what she was thinking at all. 

One day when we were out in the barn playing with Bobby the panda we sawmommy coming down through the snow from the kitchen and Bobby said lookout Jimmy mommy is coming and I quick told Bobby the panda to go hideunder the hay so mommy couldn't see him. But the panda was so big hiswhole top and his little pink nose stuck out of the hay. Mommy came inand looked around the barn and said you've been out here for a longtime, what have you been doing? I said nothing, and Bobby said nothingtoo, only in think-talk. And mommy said you are too, you've been doingsomething naughty, and I said no mommy we haven't done _anything_, andthen the panda sneezed and I looked at him and he looked so funny withhis nose sticking out of the hay that I laughed out loud. 

Mommy looked angry and said well what's so funny, what are you laughingat? I said nothing, because I knew mommy couldn't see the panda, but Icouldn't stop laughing because he looked so funny sticking out of thehay. Then mommy got mad and grabbed my ear and shook me until it hurtand said you naughty boy, _don't you lie to me_, what have you beendoing out here? She hurt me so much I started to cry and then Bobbysnarled at mommy loud and low and curled his lips back over his teethand snarled some more. And mommy got real white in the face and let goof me and she said get out of here you nasty dog and Bobby snarledlouder and then snapped at her. She screamed and she said Jimmy you comein the house this minute and leave that nasty dog outdoors and I said Iwon't come, I hate you. 

Then mommy said Jimmy! You wicked, ugly little monster, and I said Idon't care, when I get big I'm going to hurt you and throw you in thewood shed and lock you in until you die and make you eat coconut puddingand Bobby hates you too. And mommy looked terrible and I could feel howmuch she was afraid of me and I said you just wait, I'll hurt you badwhen I get big, and then she turned and ran back to the house. And Bobbywagged his tail and said don't worry, I won't let her hurt you any moreand I said Bobby you shouldn't have snapped at her because daddy won'tlike me when he comes home but Bobby said _I_ like you and I won't letanything ever hurt you. I'll always take care of you no matter what. AndI said promise? No matter what? And Bobby said I promise. And then wetold Bobby the panda to come out but it wasn't much fun playing anymore. 

After a little while mommy called me and said lunch was ready. She wasstill white and I said can Bobby come too and she said of course Bobbycan come, Bobby's a nice dog, so we went in to eat lunch. Mommy wastalking real fast about what fun it was to play in the barn and was Isure I wasn't too cold because it was below zero outside and the radiosaid a snowstorm was coming, but she didn't say anything about Bobby andme being out in the barn. She was talking so fast I couldn't hear whatshe was thinking except for little bits while she set my lunch on thetable and then she set a bowl of food on the floor for Bobby even thoughit wasn't Bobby's time to eat and said nice Bobby here's your dinner. Bobby came over and sniffed the bowl and then he looked up at me andsaid it smells funny and mommy said nice Bobby, it's good hamburger justthe way you like it--

And then for just a second I saw what she was thinking and it wasterrible because she was thinking that Bobby would soon be dead, and Iremembered daddy saying a long time ago that somebody fed bad things tothe Bennet's dog and the dog died and I said don't eat it, Bobby, andBobby snarled at the dish. And then mommy said you tell the dog to eatit and I said no you're bad and you want to hurt Bobby, and then Ipicked up the dish and threw it at mommy. It missed and smashed on thewall and she screamed and turned and ran out into the other room. Shewas screaming for daddy and saying I can't stand it, he's a monster, amurderous little monster and we've got to get out of here before hekills us all, he knows what we're thinking, he's horrible, and then shewas on the telephone, and she couldn't make the words come out rightwhen she tried to talk. 

I was scared and I said come on Bobby let's lock ourselves up in my roomand we ran upstairs and locked the door. Mommy was banging things andlaughing and crying downstairs and screaming we've got to get out, he'll kill us if we don't, and a while later I heard the car coming upthe road fast, and saw daddy run into the house just as it started tosnow. Then mommy was screaming please, Ben, we've got to get out ofhere, he tried to kill me, and the dog is vicious, he bit me when Itried to make him stop. 

The next minute daddy was running up the stairs two at a time and Icould feel him inside my head for the first time and I knew he wasangry. He'd never been this angry before and he rattled the knob andsaid open this door Jimmy in a loud voice. I said no I won't and he saidopen the door or I'll break your neck when I get in there and then hekicked the door and kicked it again. The third time the lock broke andthe door flew open and daddy stood there panting. His eyes lookedterrible and he had a leather belt doubled up in his hand and he saidnow come out here and his voice was so loud it hurt my ears. 

Down below mommy was crying please Ben, take me away, he'll kill usboth, he's a monster! I said don't hurt me daddy it was mommy, she wasbad to me, and he said I said _come out here_ even louder. I was scaredthen and I said please daddy I'll be good I promise. Then he started forme with the belt and I screamed out Bobby! Don't let him hurt me, Bobby, and Bobby snarled like a wild animal and jumped at daddy and bit hiswrist so bad the blood spurted out. Daddy shouted and dropped the beltand kicked at Bobby but Bobby was too quick. He jumped for daddy againand I saw his white teeth flash and heard him snap close to daddy'sthroat and then Bobby was snarling and snapping and I was excited and Ishouted hurt him, Bobby, he's been bad to me too and he wants to hurt meand you've got to stop him. 

Then I saw daddy's eyes open wide, and felt something jump in his mind, something that I'd never felt there before and I knew he wasunderstanding my think-talk. I said I want Bobby to hurt you and mommybecause you're not nice to me, only Bobby and my panda are nice to me. Go ahead, Bobby, hurt him, bite him again and make him bleed. And thendaddy caught Bobby by the neck and threw him across the room and slammedthe door shut and dragged something heavy up to block it. In a minute hewas running downstairs shouting Carol, _I heard it!_ you were right allalong--_I felt him, I felt what he was thinking!_ And mommy criedplease, Ben, take me away, let's leave them and never come back, never, and daddy said it's horrible, he told that dog to kill me and it wentright for my throat, the boy is evil and monstrous. Even from downstairsI could feel daddy's fear pounding into my head and then I heard thedoor banging and looked out the window and saw daddy carrying suitcasesout through the snow to the car and then mommy came out running and thecar started down the hill and they were gone. Everything downstairs wasvery quiet. I looked out the window and I couldn't see anything but thebig falling snowflakes and the sun going down over the hill. 

Now Bobby and I and the panda are all together and I'm glad mommy anddaddy are gone. I went to sleep for a little while because my head hurtso but now I'm awake and Bobby is lying across the room licking his feetand I hope mommy and daddy never come back because Bobby will take careof me. Bobby is my friend and he said he'd always take care of me nomatter what and he understands my think-talk even if he isn't verysmart. 

It's beginning to get cold in the house now because nobody has gone downto fix the fire but I don't care about that. Pretty soon I will tellBobby to push open the door and go down and fix the fire and then I willtell him to get supper for me and then I will stay up all night becausemommy and daddy aren't here to make me go to bed. There's just me andBobby and the panda, and Bobby promised he'd take care of me becausehe's my friend. 

It's getting very cold now, and I'm getting hungry.