One of the mothers came around the line and stopped in front of Anita and pressed a small blue plastic container in her hand and said sympathetically, “Take these! You’ll need them to get him cleaned up. His bottom is likely to be sticky. You can rinse his clothes off in one of the sinks of the women’s restroom. It’s right over there!”
Anita looked at where the woman was pointing and thanked her for the gift. The restroom was outside of the boundaries of the playground. All they had to do was get there before Howard suffered a complete emotional collapse. She looked down at the crying preschooler who held her hand. Although copious tears were streaming down his face, his eyes had the glassy-eyed look of someone who had just experienced terror that was too great for him to comprehend.