I will, thank you, I said, although I doubted that I would. And I wondered what Vince had said to her to make her think that the party would be some kind of dangerous pit of temptation and sin. For that matter, it might well be. Since Vince was largely synthetic, he could be somewhat unpredictable in social situations, as shown by his bizarre duels of sexual innuendo with my sister.

It was sweet of you to stop here before the party, Rita said, leading me to the couch where I had spent so much of my recent life. The kids wanted to know why they couldn’t go.

I’ll talk to them, I said, eager to see Cody and try to discover if I had been right.

Rita smiled, as if thrilled to learn that I would actually talk to Cody and Astor. They’re out back, she said. I’ll go get them.

No, stay here, I said. I’ll go out.

Cody and Astor were in the yard with Nick, the surly clot from next door who had wanted to see Astor naked. They looked up as I slid the door open, and Nick turned away and scurried back to his own yard. Astor ran over to me and gave me a hug, and Cody trailed behind, watching, no emotion at all on his face. Hi, he said, in his quiet voice.

Greetings and salutations, young citizens, I said. Shall we put on our formal togas? Caesar calls us to the senate.

Astor cocked her head to one side and looked at me as if she had just seen me eat a raw cat. Cody merely said, What, very quietly.

Dexter, Astor said, why can’t we go to the party with you?

In the first place, I told her, it’s a school night. And in the second place, I am very much afraid this is a grown-up party.

Does that mean there will be naked girls there? she asked.

What kind of a person do you think I am? I said, scowling fiercely. Do you really think I would ever go to a party with no naked girls?

Eeeeeewwww, she said, and Cody whispered, Ha.

But more important, there will also be stupid dancing and ugly shirts, and these are not good for you to see. You would lose all your respect for grown-ups.

What respect? Cody said, and I shook him by the hand.

Well said, I told him. Now go to your room.

Astor finally giggled. But we want to go to the party, she said.