Free Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst by Lois Lowry

be very polite. Ooze with sweetness. You can do that, Mom. I've
heard
you ooze with sweetness. You're really good at it."
    Her mother picked up some clean plates and took them to the cupboard. "When did I? I
never
ooze with sweetness. Do I, Myron?"
    He frowned, holding a shoe in one hand. "Well, I have to admit that you do occasionally. Every year, at that Faculty Wives Luncheon, you ooze a bit."
    "And when that guy comes to the door selling brooms made by blind people, Mom. You always ooze with sweetness at him."
    "Well," muttered Mrs. Krupnik, "I hate that luncheon. And as for the guy selling brooms, I used to
buy
those brooms. I really thought it was terrific that blind people could earn money by making brooms. And then one time
I discovered a little sticker on one of those brooms; it said 'Made in Taiwan.' That really made me mad. So I figured I had a choice: I could either whack him over the head with a broom, or I could be sickeningly sweet. You're right, I guess; I do ooze with sweetness when he comes around."
    "So," said Anastasia. "Call Mrs. Coletti. Call her tonight, in fact. Be nauseatingly nice. And invite her to bring Nicky over to play some afternoon."
    "Why? Why on earth would I do that to Sam? He has to suffer enough in nursery school."
    "Mom," explained Anastasia patiently. "Here's the plan. Make sure that you invite Mrs. Coletti, too, so that she doesn't just drop Nicky off. You want her to stay, so that she can
see
Nicky beating up on poor Sam. She'll be a witness, and she won't think you're just making it up."
    "Katherine," said Dr. Krupnik, rubbing one shoe with a brush, "it might work. It sounds good."
    "I'll be darned. Anastasia, sometimes you're a genius." Mrs. Krupnik put the last pot away, hung up the dishtowel, and went to the phone. "Listen to me, you guys, while I ooze with sweetness."

    "Fifteen minutes," said Mrs. Krupnik. "They should be here in about fifteen minutes."
    "I'm going to hide," whimpered Sam. "I'm going to hide in a closet."
    It was Saturday afternoon, and Mrs. Coletti was bringing Nicky to play.
    "Sam," Anastasia reminded him. "Mom and I are here. And Nicky's mother will be here, too. We'll protect you, we promise. And remember why they're coming? So Mrs. Coletti will
see
Nicky beating you up. Remember it's all a secret plan?"
    Sam nodded, but his eyes were wide. "Yeah," he whispered. "A secret plan."
    Mrs. Krupnik arranged cookies on a plate. The tea kettle was on, and she had teacups on a tray. Little glasses of juice were ready for Sam and Nicky.
    "Sam," his mother suggested, "why don't you bring your oatmeal-box train down to the living room, so you and Nicky can play with it there while the mothers have tea?"
    "Okay," Sam said, and trotted off. In a minute Anastasia and her mother could hear the train thumping down the front stairs: fourteen oatmeal boxes attached to each other in a line, with the bright red caboose at the end. The train was Sam's very favorite toy.
    The doorbell rang. Sam scurried into the kitchen and stood behind his mother, clutching her skirt. Mrs. Krupnik had changed out of her usual jeans for the Colettis' visit.
    "Sam, sweetie," said his mother, "I can't answer the door if you're grabbing me that way."
    Reluctantly, Sam let go. Anastasia took his hand, and the three of them went to the front door.
    The woman standing there was small and ordinary looking. "Hello," she said, "I'm Shirley Coletti."
    Mrs. Krupnik, oozing with sweetness, ushered her into the house. Behind Mrs. Coletti stood somebody about Sam's size, bundled into a red snowsuit.
    "And this must be Nicky," oozed Mrs. Krupnik. "Let me take your coat, Shirley. Anastasia, can you get Nicky's snowsuit?"
    Anastasia knelt on the hall floor in front of Nicky Coletti, who looked at her suspiciously with big dark long-lashed eyes.
    "Lookit the train," said Nicky, peering through the door to the living room. "I wanna play with the train."
    "It's
my
train," said Sam. Then he added, reluctantly, "But