The Backyard Animal Show

by Sharon M. Draper

  Finally, just when it couldn’t get any worse, the heavens opened and the rain dropped down with fury. It was as if all the rain in the world had waited for just that moment to fall in Ziggy’s yard.

  THE WIND BLEW FIERCELY, AND EVEN THOUGH THE DECK HAD A ROOF, EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING ON THE DECK GOT SOAKING WET IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. It all happened so fast. Mimi grabbed her gerbils’ cage and ran inside. She forgot to close the door behind her, so right behind her a terrified rabbit, a barking poodle, and two angry cats all ran into the house, along with a Siberian husky who just wanted some peace and quiet. There seemed to be very little of that. Two angry cats waited in the kitchen, hissing at the dogs as they ran in.

  The deer, who was still visibly frightened, knocked over chairs and lamps, running away from the noise and confusion. Ziggy, who was trying to catch the fawn, was amazed at his ability to leap over various pieces of furniture.

  Rebecca ran inside with Mariah Canary, screaming, “She’s not supposed to get wet! She’ll get sick.” Rebecca started to cry. She sat on a sofa in Ziggy’s living room, next to Mimi and the gerbils, hugging the bird’s cage close to her.

  Just then the two cats jumped on the sofa. They leaped gracefully over Rebecca, Mimi, birds, and gerbils, trying to get away from the poodle, who seemed to be enjoying the sound of her own barks. Rebecca and Mimi screamed at the same time. The deer bolted into the kitchen. His feet slipped on Mrs. Colwin’s well-polished kitchen floor, but he did not fall.

  By this time, most of the children had hustled into the house from the furious rain on the deck. Both the golden retriever and the German shepherd had taken a run through the backyard before they came in. The two wet, mud-spattered dogs ran cheerfully through Ziggy’s living room, splattering mud all over the carpets and the furniture. Pookie barked at anything that moved, which was just about everything.

  Ziggy’s mother hurried down the steps, her face a mask of shock and distress. “What is all this botheration?” she cried out, hands on her hips.

  Children and even dogs were silent for a moment.

  The snake, curled around a round blue lamp on an end table, seemed to be enjoying its warmth. The iguana had scrambled up the drapes and waited, halfway up, peering for any more signs of danger. The rabbit hid under the sofa. One cat was on a dining room chair, another in the middle of the table. He had knocked over a bouquet of flowers. Water dripped onto the carpet. Kids crawled on the floor, chasing lost pets. The tarantula silently headed up the stairs, very close to Mrs. Colwin’s right foot.

  “We got a little rain, Mum,” Ziggy said, trying to make his face look innocent. Jerome, Rashawn, and Rico huddled behind him. The rainstorm roared outside.

  She glanced at the chaos that had been her home. She did not look happy. “Find the missing animals. All of them.” She glanced down at her foot and shuddered. “You can start with this wee little spider here.” Tito ran to get the tarantula, its cage in his hand.

  “We’re sorry, Mrs. Colwin,” Rico said, desperation in his voice. “Things just got out of hand.”

  Her eyes were fiery darts.

  “Only an angry mother can have a face like that,” Rashawn whispered to Jerome.

  “I have the supersonic hearing of a mother as well!” Ziggy’s mom replied. “I’m sorry, children, but once you find your pets, you’re all going to have to go home. My son Ziggy and his friends have a lot of cleaning up to do.” Her words came out tight and clipped, like the sound of fingernails on a window.

  Just then the fawn ran back into the living room, knocking over the lamp where the snake was basking. The lamp fell and broke with a clatter; the snake eased away to a nearby chair leg. Cecelia screamed as Bill moved to pick it up. Dino ran to Ziggy and nuzzled his face under Ziggy’s arm, as if he was hiding. The little deer trembled. So did Ziggy.

  “The deer belongs outside, boys,” Mrs. Colwin said quietly. “You know that.”

  “We’ll take care of it, Mum,” Ziggy replied. “Promise.”

  “We didn’t plan for any of this to happen,” Rashawn said.

  “Everything just fell apart all at once!” Rico added.

  “I’ll help clean up, Mrs. Colwin,” Tiana offered. She smiled at Rashawn as she said it.

  “Me too,” said Brandy. “Just as soon as I get Pixie back in her cage.” She reached under the sofa and pulled the rabbit close to her. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she murmured. “I won’t let that noisy little dog bother you anymore.”

  Liza peeked outside the kitchen door. “The fish, the turtle, and the frogs seem to be fine out there in the rain,” she observed.

  “Hey, Simon, does Pookie ever shut up?” Jerome asked. The poodle sat in the middle of the floor, barking at absolutely nothing.

  “Hardly ever,” Simon said with a grin. “I guess I’ll take her home now.”

  The rest of the kids, after picking up a chair here, or re-caging an animal there, filed out of Ziggy’s house shortly after that. Parents arrived to pick up their children and pets. The rain continued to swirl outside.

  “This was the most fun I’ve had on a Saturday in a long time!” Brian said as he left. Iggy seemed satisfied to be held in Brian’s arms instead of walking on the leash.

  “Yeah, it was really awesome!” Max added.

  “When all those animals ran into your house, I thought your mom would have a heart attack!” Bill said with a laugh.

  “I think she almost did, mon!” Ziggy replied, finally able to smile about it. Dino had fallen asleep behind the sofa.

  Rebecca carefully carried Mariah Canary out the door. She had placed her coat over the cage.

  “Is Mariah gonna be okay?” Rico asked.

  “Yeah, she’s calmed down now. But I have to get her out of this weather.” She hurried to her mother’s car.

  The German shepherd left then, seemingly unaffected by all the disturbance he had caused. “Sorry, guys,” Cecelia said as she let herself be pulled by Monster. “He’s not a bad dog, just full of energy. He wouldn’t have hurt the fawn, even if he had caught him.”

  Rico and Ziggy were clearly furious, but neither of them said anything to her except good-bye. Dino had not been hurt, only frightened.

  Samantha’s mother arrived shortly after that. Samantha leashed the still-wet golden retriever and headed out. “Honey’s not even a year old yet—she’s like a big old clumsy baby. I hope you’re not mad at me,” she said to Jerome, who was standing at the door.

  “No sweat. I’m glad you came,” he said. “Honey would have won the prize for prettiest dog, for sure—at least before she got wet!” He ran his hand across the dog’s damp, silky back.

  “We never got a chance to give out the awards,” Rico said, suddenly remembering.

  “How about Biggest Mess-Maker in My Mum’s Living Room!” Ziggy said.

  “I think all the animals would tie for first place,” Rashawn replied, glancing around at the mud and spills in Ziggy’s house.

  “Not to worry, mon! We can fix this up as good as new!” He glanced toward the stairs to see if his mother had returned yet.

  Brandy and Tiana, along with Simon and the ever-noisy Pookie, were the last to leave. The house seemed noticeably quieter once the intense little dog left the house.

  Ziggy, Jerome, Rashawn, and Rico sat down then on the mud-stained sofa. All four exhaled at the same time. The rain continued to rattle at the windows.

  “Well, so much for a backyard animal show!” Rashawn said.

  Rico scratched his head. “It started out so good,” he said.

  “And went from wonderful to terrible so quickly!” Jerome added.

  Rashawn glanced out the window. “I’ve never seen so much rain in my life!”

  Jerome chuckled. “You gotta admit—it really was funny to see Brandy wiggling on the floor, chasing that rabbit, Tiana up on the dining room table trying to catch the cats, and Cecelia screeching at the snake!”

  The four boys doubled over with laughter.

  “Well,
now we know better how to plan for next year, mon!” Ziggy said, jumping off the couch.

  “Next year?” the other three said in unison. “No way!” They all tossed sofa pillows at Ziggy, who laughed and ducked.

  THE NOISY LAUGHTER WOKE THE SLEEPING DEER, WHO WANDERED OVER TO ZIGGY, YAWNING. “Let’s go feed Dino,” Rashawn suggested, “and get him out of the house before Ziggy’s mother comes back downstairs. I don’t want to get her any more upset.”

  “You and Jerome go feed the fawn,” Rico suggested, “while me and Ziggy start on cleaning up this mess.”

  “But it’s still raining, mon!” Ziggy cried. “Dino will get all wet.”

  “What do you think wild animals do in the rain, Ziggy? Get out their umbrellas?” Jerome asked with a laugh.

  “I never really thought about it, mon. I guess he’ll be okay. He won’t catch a cold or anything, will he?” Ziggy looked worried.

  “He’ll catch trouble from me, for sure,” Ziggy’s mother said as she came back down the steps, “if you don’t get him outside this minute!”

  Jerome and Rashawn hurried and took the deer back to the yard. Jerome carried a bottle of milk, and Rashawn took a bag of deer pellets.

  Ziggy and Rico scurried over to the kitchen, where Ziggy grabbed a broom and Rico got the mop. Both boys worked furiously under Mrs. Colwin’s watchful eye.

  “Did you boys make any money?” she asked.

  “Only about fifteen dollars,” Rico replied. “But we can give it to you to pay for the broken lamp,” he offered. The mud was gradually disappearing from the kitchen floor.

  “I never liked that lamp, anyway,” Mrs. Colwin replied with a chuckle. “You boys are going to have to use that money to help pay for Dino’s food at the shelter.” She paused.

  Rashawn and Jerome returned then, bringing a little more mud with them into the kitchen.

  “Dino’s tucked away in the shed, but we left the door open in case he wants to get out,” Rashawn explained.

  “He’s not crazy—he saw all that rain and ran to the shed full speed,” Jerome added.

  Mrs. Colwin continued, “The four of you have done a wonderful job raising the little deer, and I’m very proud of you.”

  “Yes, Mum,” Ziggy said quietly.

  “You saved his life, plus you’ve gotten him to the point where he can make it in a shelter and, we hope, one day live in the wild again.”

  “Please don’t say it,” Rico whispered.

  “He’s got to go, you know,” his mother continued. Her voice was gentle.

  “We know, Mum,” Ziggy said sadly.

  “Let’s call the Ohio Wildlife Rescue Center and see if we can take Dino out there.”

  “Today?” Ziggy asked.

  “Yes, son. Today. Do you want to make the call?” She handed him a phone number.

  Ziggy slowly grabbed the telephone from the kitchen wall and pushed the buttons to dial.

  “Put it on speakerphone,” Rico suggested.

  Ziggy nodded and pushed that button.

  “Ohio Wildlife Rescue Center. May I help you?” a pleasant woman’s voice responded.

  “Uh, me and my friends have a baby deer, mon. If we bring it out there, will you take real good care of it?”

  “We’d be glad to do that—promise. Do you know the age of the deer?”

  Ziggy looked at his mother to be sure. “We think he’s about six weeks old. His name is Dino.”

  “Tell her about Dino’s mother,” Rico whispered.

  “We found the fawn when its mother got killed and trucks bulldozed the woods where he lived,” Rashawn said out loud.

  “We’ve been feeding him goat’s milk and deer pellets and apples, and he’s strong and healthy,” Jerome added. “We get up in the middle of the night and feed him.”

  “Well, it sounds like you and your friends have done a remarkable job of saving the life of a young deer.”

  “He’s grown a lot,” Ziggy said, “and he’s gotten big enough to maybe jump our fence. We don’t want him to get hurt. We live in the city.”

  “You’ve called the right place. We’ll take care of your little Dino and help him learn to live in the wild.”

  “You got any girl deer there for him to play with?” Rashawn asked.

  “Actually, we have several fawns that have been brought in lately,” the woman replied. “So your deer won’t be lonely. There’s lots of construction and destruction in the area, so we stay very busy taking care of hurt and orphaned animals.”

  “We tried to have a backyard animal show to raise money for the Ohio Wildlife Rescue Center, mon,” Ziggy said, “but things went kinda crazy and we only raised fifteen dollars.”

  “It’s not very much,” Jerome said apologetically.

  “We appreciate every nickel and dime,” the woman said. “All donations are used to help the animals.”

  “Sweet!” Ziggy said. “So when should we bring Dino?”

  “The weather is pretty awful today. Why don’t you bring him out here tomorrow afternoon? We’ll have everything set up for you then. You’ll see we have acres and acres for him to run and play and grow. Plus, we’ll make sure he stays safe and healthy.”

  The lady then gave driving directions to Ziggy’s mom, and the conversation was ended.

  Ziggy looked at the other boys and sighed. “Why don’t all of you plan to sleep over at my house tonight so we can spend our last night with Dino together. Is that okay, Mum?”

  “Sure, Ziggy, that’s fine. Besides, it’s going to take all night to get this place cleaned up, at the rate you boys are working! Each of you call home and make sure it’s all right with your families.” She chuckled, put on a jacket, lifted a plastic bag out of the can, and took the trash outside.

  Later that evening, after the carpet had been vacuumed, the broken lamp pieces cleared away, and the mud washed off the carpet and sofa, Ziggy, Jerome, Rico, and Rashawn sat in front of a roaring fire in Ziggy’s living room. After the rain stopped, the air had turned chilly outside.

  “You gonna miss him?” Rico asked.

  “Oh, yeah, mon,” Ziggy answered strongly.

  “Do you think he’ll miss us?”

  “Maybe a little. But not so much if he has other deer to play with,” Rashawn reasoned.

  “He’s growing up fast—he’s got to learn deer stuff,” Jerome said.

  “Do you think he’ll remember us, mon?” Ziggy asked.

  “Forever and ever. Just like we’ll never forget him,” Rico replied.

  “Awesome.”

  The fire crackled, the logs glowed brightly, and four boys dreamed of a young deer running free in the woods.

  ZIGGY’S BATHROOM, HOT AND STEAMY FROM THE TORRENT OF WATER THAT POURED INTO HIS SHOWER, WAS FILLED WITH MIST AND MUSIC. Ziggy’s enthusiastically loud singing voice echoed through the room. He sang as much as he could remember of “On Top of Old Smoky” while he lathered himself with his favorite shower gel. It smelled like grapes. While he rinsed off, he sang several verses of “My Darling Clementine.”

  “IN A CAVERN, IN A CANYON,

  EXCAVATING FOR A MINE,

  LIVED A MINER, FORTY-NINER

  AND HIS DAUGHTER CLEMENTINE.

  OH MY DARLING, OH MY DARLING,

  OH MY DARLING CLEMENTINE!

  YOU ARE LOST AND GONE FOREVER,

  DREADFUL SORRY, CLEMENTINE!”

  As he toweled himself dry, he wondered who Clementine was and what had happened to her, marveling how the words to songs sometimes didn’t make much sense. He got himself dressed for school, choosing a bright red T-shirt and purple cut-off shorts. He continued to sing, this time trying out his favorite Jamaican folk song. He always sang his own crazy version of the popular words.

  “DAY-O, DAY-O,

  DAYLIGHT COME AND ME WANNA GO HOME.

  DAY-O, DAY-O,

  DAYLIGHT COME AND ME WANNA GO HOME.

  COME MR. SILLY MAN, PEEL ME A BANANA.

  DAYLIGHT COME AND ME WANNA GO HOME.


  COME MR. SILLY MAN, PEEL ME A BANANA.

  DAYLIGHT COME AND ME WANNA GO HOME.”

  Still humming, he hurried down the stairs to the kitchen, taking two steps at a time and almost bumping into his mother.

  “What be the hurry, my singin’ son?” she asked as she hugged him. Ziggy and his family had moved from Jamaica to Ohio when he was a little boy.

  “The tryouts for the school talent show are after school today, Mum!” Ziggy told her as he packed his lunch box with three pickles, three bananas, three soft taco shells, and a small jar of orange marmalade. “The Black Dinosaurs are going to enter the competition. First prize is two hundred dollars!”

  “And what would the Black Dinosaurs be doin’ with that much money?” she asked. She said nothing about his strange choices for lunch—she had long ago given up trying to understand what Ziggy liked to eat. Today it would be banana-pickle tacos covered with marmalade.

  “We’re gonna fix up the clubhouse! We’re gonna buy a card table and some lawn chairs that aren’t broken. Maybe get some paint for the walls. Carpet! Cable TV! A video game player! A computer with Internet access!” His mother rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay. You know I get carried away, Mum. But we do want to get some stuff to make it just a little bit nicer. The Black Dinosaurs deserve the best! Plus we’ll have a little left over to buy CDs and stuff.”

  The Black Dinosaurs was the name of the club Ziggy and his friends Rashawn, Rico, and Jerome had started during one summer vacation. They had built a clubhouse in Ziggy’s backyard, and they had meetings when they felt like it—usually on Saturdays during the school year. Sometimes they met just to goof off and eat pizza, and sometimes they tried to solve neighborhood mysteries.

  “Don’t you think you should win the competition before you start spending the money?” Ziggy’s mother asked with a chuckle.

  “Oh, we’ll win, Mum,” Ziggy said with confidence. “We’ll win for sure. Didn’t you just hear me singing?” He ate a cold piece of pizza and drank a cup of warm chicken soup for his breakfast.

  His mother laughed out loud. “Yes, son, I heard you singing. Loud and clear. Have a great day at school, and good luck at the tryouts.”