“Mom! They could be listening!” He removes his helmet, tears off another sheet of foil, and lays it across his head, twisting the front corners into horns. Stepping forward, he places this new helmet on Teresa.

She’s about to yank it off, but the look of confusion bordering on fear creeping into Mrs. Bennett’s face is so satisfying that Teresa leaves the helmet where it is.

Frankie pulls another sheet of foil from the roll, fashions it into a third helmet, and approaches Mrs. Bennett. “Here you go.”

“No, thank you!” Mrs. Bennett presses back against the sofa.

Frankie looks at the helmet. He looks at Mrs. Bennett. “What about tumors?”

“I’m okay for the moment,” she says.

He sets her helmet on the coffee table and puts his own back on his head. Then he begins to pace in front of the television. “If I were you, Mrs. Bennett, I’d want them to be able to talk to me. Because if I can’t get their signal, I won’t know who they’re asking me about. What if they ask about you? There they are in their ship, hovering over the neighborhood, making a list of who to incinerate. And there I am with no relay tower to pick up their questions. They get no answer from me, so they put you on their list, then you step out of your house, feel the ground start to shake, and wham!” He smacks his hands together. “You’re toast!”

The clipboard nearly slides off Mrs. Bennett’s lap. She catches it, and shoots Teresa a bewildered look. “If you don’t want to sign this petition, I have other houses I need to get to.”

“Certainly,” Teresa says. She’s flushed from embarrassment and anger—or maybe the foil helmet is just making her head warm.

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Frankie says, dropping down onto the sofa just as Mrs. Bennett stands.

Teresa gets up as well. Mrs. Bennett brushes at the sleeves of her jogging suit, adjusts her glasses, then leans into her and says, “When I decided to come here this afternoon, I didn’t expect to feel threatened.”

Despite her anger, despite the satisfaction she feels at how the visit has played out, Teresa has the impulse to apologize. But before she has the chance, Mrs. Bennett walks out of the house.

After she closes the front door, Teresa turns around and looks at Frankie, now stretched out on the sofa with his legs crossed.

She pulls the helmet off her head. “You scared that woman half to death.”

“That’s okay,” Frankie says.