“Then what will happen, Daddy?”
“Then he’ll fly away and join the others. Or at least he’ll start.”
“Listen, Mom. As long as we’re waiting for Fayola to see if she got a skunk, I’m going to walk over to the hardware store. I never got a chance to stop the other day, and I need some chicken wire.… Those ducklings are getting ready to fly the coop and they belong in the park, not on Horton Street.”
“We’re the welcoming committee! For the skunk.” Zeke knocked on the door as he was opening it. He put the bottle of hydrogen peroxide on the counter.
“About time, boys,” Daddy said. “All we have to do is get the pen ready. Keisha has a good feeling we caught one in the trap last night. Then we have to go check on that fledgling. Come on, Razi, Keisha.…” Daddy led the way back outside, holding the box in front of him. “Let’s get this pen set up before I take off.”
“I’m coming!” Razi dropped his crayons on the floor and ran after Daddy. Keisha scooped them up and followed Daddy and the boys into the garage.
“I hate to use one of our crates because you can’t get the smell out if the skunk sprays. So, Razi, you get started with the pumpkin cutter and saw a door hole in this box. I’ll run over to the hardware store and be right back.”
Keisha kissed Daddy as Razi sat down on the floor and started sawing away.
Zeke bent over Razi. “I think that hole is too small for a skunk.”
“Give it to me,” Zack said. “I can make it bigger.” Zack loved to show off how strong he was. He took the box and started tearing away the piece Razi had begun to cut.
“No, Zack! That was the front door!” Tears spilled down Razi’s cheeks. “His friends had to knock and then he would say ‘come in’ and then they would bring presents and then he would have a party! But now it’s all wrong.”
Grandma opened the back door and hollered out: “Attention, Animal Rescue Team! We have a skunk! Fayola just called. They’re on their way.”
Keisha kneeled down by Razi. She hugged him so he could wipe his tears on her T-shirt. She could see what Razi was trying to do. He was trying to make a door, like a cat door, with two cuts so that the skunk would have to push his way in. But now Zack had torn a big hole for the opening. Razi took the piece of cardboard Zack had ripped out and put it under his bottom as if to make believe it had never happened.
“I have an idea,” Keisha said, tugging the piece of cardboard back out. “Let’s make that the back of the house. We can tape this back on. I don’t think the skunk will care. Then we’ll cut two bigger slits and bend the top of the front door backward and forward so it’s easy to push.”
“It could be a window,” Razi said, rubbing his eyes. “But just a little one. So he can peek out.”
“Okay, I’ll tear off a little piece and then we’ll tape it back on.” Zack was happy to have something to do to make Razi feel better. Keisha called inside to Grandma for the duct tape.
“What else do we need?” Grandma asked after she came outside and handed the roll to Keisha. She still had her apron on. Aprons were OL, but necessary when you were cooking up a pot of skunk smell remover.
“Let’s go see.” Grandma led the way out of the garage into the part of the backyard where the pens were kept.
“Dirt!” Razi said. “Skunks like to dig.”
All eyes traveled from the skunk enclosure to the side of the house. “Do they dig or do they fling?” Grandma asked.
“They fling!” Razi threw his hands up in the air. Skunks were a Razi kind of animal. “I’ll get him some sand from my sandbox.”
An “and then” story popped into Keisha’s head. It wasn’t just little brothers who could tell them. “If this skunk decides to burrow under his den box and then sand gets on the side of the house and the clean laundry on the line and then Mama sees what the skunk has done and then she says something like, ‘One must row in the boat in which one finds oneself,’ we’re going to end up doing a lot of cleaning up.”
Grandma had the last word. “No need to explain your mama’s clean habits, dear. We’ll keep the sand in the sandbox and see if this skunk can make a dent in our clay soil. What else do we need to make the skunk happy? He’ll only be here a few days, until we make sure he’s healthy and find a good place to release him.”
“Do skunks like toys?” Zeke asked.
“Maybe my dump truck!” Razi said. “If he can’t dig, he can excavate.”
Razi had recently discovered the joys of earth-moving.
Grandma looked thoughtful. “Sounds good, though I don’t know if his paws can handle the levers.”
“He’ll need a bowl of water,” Keisha reminded her.
“Well, let’s set it up, because as soon as Fred gets back, we have to go see our feathered friend. I’ve got a feeling today is his big day.”
“You mean the crow? Can we go, too?” Zeke asked.
Ever since the word “murder” had come up, the Z-Team wanted to be in on the crow action.
Razi tugged on Grandma’s apron. “I’m hungry, Grandma. When is lunch?”
“You already had lunch, Razi, and we promised Wen and Aaliyah they could come,” Grandma told the Z-Team. “There’s not enough room in the truck.”
“We could ride in the truck bed,” Zeke offered.
“Like Mr. Cannon’s hunting dogs,” Zack said.
“They fall down a lot,” Zeke said, remembering. “Maybe we could just double-buckle.”
“Dunch, then. When’s dunch?” Razi was still tugging. He didn’t care much about eating, but he didn’t like grumblies in his tummy, either.
Grandma reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a handful of Nilla wafers. “Dunch,” she said, handing them to Razi, and turning to Zack and Zeke: “You know the rules.”
“Then we’ll take our bikes and meet you!”
Their conversation was interrupted by Mama honking her greetings.
“Well, you’re not going to do anything right now because non-essential personnel must go to the house immediately.”
Chapter 8
The Z-Team were the first ones up the back steps. Razi was not essential personnel, but he ran over to the truck anyway. Keisha opened the truck door and started to unbuckle Paulo.
“I would have been back sooner,” Mama said, climbing out of the truck, “but the baby had to travel from one set of arms to the other, all the way to the end of the garden.”
“Did the skunk spray anyone before you got there?” Keisha asked. Paulo was asleep, his little head pillowed by the car seat strap.
“No, but he’s not too happy. A lot of chit-chit-chitting. Why don’t you take these zucchini and pattypan squash into the house while I get him settled? Tell the Z-Team they can watch from the window, but they don’t need to press their noses against my clean glass. I’ll put the skunk’s cage in the pen with the door open. If he comes out, they can see him from the window.”
“But I want to give him a traditional Nigerian greeting and inquire after his family,” Razi said as he disappeared into the bed of the truck. Keisha saw the black fabric of the superhero cape flutter as Razi tried to get a peek. Mama often brought Razi’s cape along and draped it over the crate to give the animals a sense of calm.
“Razi Carter. Get out of there. What are you doing?” Mama scolded.
At the sound of Mama’s stern voice, Paulo started crying. His eyes were still closed. Keisha moved his head to undo the strap. “Did you see the puppy, Mama? Is she going to be okay?” Gently, Keisha eased the baby out of the seat into her arms.
“Not now, Ada. I’ll tell you later. Razi, come out. If you upset him, you’ll get sprayed. Skunks don’t know anything about the way people say hello.”
“No!” Razi said. “Not for you.”
“I said get down here, Razi. Now!”
“I just wanted to ask after his family, like you and Daddy do when you meet a new friend.” Razi looked like he was ready to cry again. It was a tearful day.
Razi climbed out of the truck. Keisha knew right away he’d done something he shouldn’t have because he was pinching his lips together. She fit the baby on her hip, held out her hand to Razi and they went inside.
“I found a better way to make friends,” Razi told her, licking his fingers. Keisha thought about asking, but decided maybe she didn’t want to know.
“The skunk has a scratch on his nose,” Razi informed Keisha.
“Was it bleeding?”
“No, it was an old one.” Razi pulled open the back door and stuck his knee in the air. “Like this one. It’s a healed scratchy.”
“You mean a scar,” Keisha corrected. Razi was pointing to a scar he’d earned last summer after jumping from the swing set.
As they came through the door, Grandma lifted her head from the steaming pot of skunk stink remover. Her cheeks were flushed and the hair at her temples was all curly.
“Razi, look in that bag over there and pull out the Talbots sweater I scored from New 2 You. It’s one hundred percent cashmere in my favorite color.”
“Mmmm.” Razi lifted a bright pink sweater out of the bag. “It’s soft.”
Grandma glanced over at Razi, who was rubbing the sweater on his face like a washcloth. “Go on,” she said. “As long as it’s all steamy in here, I might as well wash it and put it on the line.”
Razi put the sweater on his head and breathed in. “It smells like flowers.”
“Well, don’t make an occupation out of it. Bring it here so I can read the washing instructions. Keisha, where are my glasses?”
“Up in your room.” Keisha took the sweater from Razi.
“I’ll read the instructions, Grandma. It says ‘dry-clean only.’”
“I will not.”
Keisha thought to remind Grandma that you couldn’t talk back to a label.
“Read it again. I think it says ‘hand-wash in cold water and line-dry.’”
“Mama’s moving the skunk!” Razi was hopping up and down.
“I can’t see a thing!” Zeke protested. Grandma’s steam had fogged up the window and Zeke was using his tummy to wipe a clear circle on the pane of glass.
“Quick, everybody, let’s practice in case we get sprayed.” Zack shouted to be heard over Zeke’s shouting. The boys all grabbed pot lids and started to fight over which was the biggest.
Grandma covered her ears. “You could have warned me,” she called out. “I’ve got the amplifiers in.”
“If he sticks his butt in your face, do this.” Zeke demonstrated by turning his face to the side and holding the pot lid in front of it.
While the boys wrestled with the pot lids, Keisha held Paulo tight to her shoulder—Grandma always said he could sleep through the Battle of Burgundy—and watched her mother pull the metal cage covered in black fabric to the edge of the truck and lift it. Wild animals had no experience with being moved around in cages. Keisha could see Mama crooning to the skunk as she set the cage down in the enclosure. Slowly, Mama lifted the metal bar and let the cage door swing open so the skunk was free to leave the cage and go into the pen.
“I’m getting the trash can lid.” Razi ran to the garage door.
“I’ll get the snow dish!” Zack ran after him.
This had to stop! Keisha whistled through her teeth—high and shrill—just like Daddy taught her and Grandpa Wally Pops taught him. Worked every time. The boys froze. Paulo opened his eyes and looked at Keisha, startled, then he closed his eyes again.
“Listen, you crazy boys. You start clanging those pot lids together and you’ll definitely get sprayed. The two things that really upset skunks are loud noises and—”
“Rap music,” Razi called out. “Especially the kind with the bad words.”
“No, Razi, that’s Mama. Great horned owls.”
“Okay, okay.” Zeke put his pot lid on the table. “Can we go out if we promise no banging?”
“No!”
But Razi wasn’t listening. He was too excited. He skipped outside with his hands covering his mouth. Keisha couldn’t accomplish much with Paulo in her arms, so she took a moment to dash upstairs and lay him in his crib. When she came back down, she used her fist to swipe a peephole in the window. Razi had gotten down on his hands and knees so he could see into the darkened cage. Mama scooped him up and brought him back inside.
“Now the little one gets settled,” she said. “He’s frightened and he can smell us nearby. Speaking of little ones—” Mama looked around.
“He’s in his crib,” Keisha said.
“Well, normal life has to resume at some point,” Grandma said, pushing past them, out the back door and down the stairs, and marching toward the laundry pole with the damp sweater she’d been washing out in the sink. Grandma didn’t even glance in the direction of the skunk as she clipped her sweater to the line.
Bustling back inside, she said: “If we froze all operations just because we got a new animal, where would that leave us? Hungry and without fashionable clothes is my bet. Now, if you please, someone’s got to think of dinner around here.”
“We’re going to have soup, Alice.” Mama held up another bag of vegetables she’d brought from the garden.
“Yes, but what about the sides?”
“Soup doesn’t have sides,” Zeke said. “It’s too slippery.”
“I’m talking about sides like Texas toast or cottage cheese with pineapple.”
Ick. Cottage cheese. Keisha was listening, but she stayed near the window and kept her eyes trained on the covered metal cage. Twice, she’d seen a little pointed snout peek out and sniff the air. She was sending mental messages to the skunk that it was okay to move from the cage with its uncomfortable metal bars along the bottom to the dirt floor of the pen to the nice dark cozy box.
“You could have s’mores,” Zeke suggested. “They’re a good side dish.”
“Let’s have dessert for dinner,” Razi agreed. “And lemonade for dessert!”
“I don’t think so, hummingbird.” Keisha wiped some Nilla wafer crumbs from Razi’s chin. “You’ve had enough sweets.”
“Wen and Aaliyah are here.” Zeke pressed his finger to the window, making a fresh print.
The children watched as Wen and Aaliyah stashed their bikes against the side of the garage and kneeled down to pull something out of Wen’s backpack. Aaliyah wanted to tug it out, but Wen pushed her away. Wen almost never pushed.
“What’s that?” Razi’s attention and everyone else’s were now on what was in Wen’s backpack, but Keisha had not forgotten about the little skunk. She could see half his body now, turning in one direction and then another, trying to figure out what to do.
“What are they doing?” Zeke asked.
“It’s the kite!” Razi shivered with happiness. “Wen’s grandpa’s family sent her a kite from China. He made a box with no bottom. She’s gonna show me how to fly it.” Sure enough, when the girls stood up, Wen had a roll of string and Aaliyah was holding what looked like a poster glued to sticks. She pointed to a spot over by the garage and Aaliyah took off running. The string unwound off the spool. Aaliyah loved an excuse to run. She was the Langston Hughes Elementary School record holder in the 100-yard dash.
“Doesn’t look like much to me,” Zack said. “It’s not even pointy.”
“It’s a box with no bottom, like Razi said. That’s how it catches the air. Wen told me about it, too.” Zeke pushed his brother with his shoulder to get a better look.
“But that’s not a box. That’s flat,” Zack replied.
Keisha worried that if Aaliyah ran too close to the pen, she might get the same result as a bunch of pan-banging boys. The little skunk must have run into the box or back into the cage because he was nowhere to be seen.
Aaliyah put her arm between the two layers of the kite and popped it open. All of a
sudden it looked like a long tall box with no bottom. Red and green streamers fluttered in the breeze.
“See, I told you it was a box,” Zeke said.
Just as Aaliyah held up the kite to look inside, Wen must have reached the end of the string because the kite jumped out of Aaliyah’s hand and shot up to the sky. The kite was in the air, but where had Aaliyah gone? She must have run all the way around to the front yard.
“Wait for me, Aaliyah,” Razi shouted. Before Mama could catch the tail of his shirt, he ran out the back door and disappeared around the side of the house.
“That poor little skunk,” Mama said. “In all this commotion I wonder where he went.”
“I think he’s behind the box,” Keisha said. “No! There he is!” The skunk must have been scared stiff because he was standing frozen in the middle of the pen.
“Uh-oh.” Grandma Alice had left off preparing the side dish and come over to the window. She leaned in, resting her chin on Keisha’s shoulder. “He’s stomping his feet.”
“What’s that mean?” Zeke asked.
“It’s what skunks do when they are trying to warn an attacker,” Keisha said. But who was the attacker? It couldn’t be Aaliyah or Razi. They were on the other side of the house. Wen was far enough away from the pen and she wasn’t moving, either, just watching the kite as it traveled across the sky.
“Now he looks like he’s growling,” Zack said. “His butt’s going up! His butt’s going up! He’s getting ready to let go. Man the pot lids!”
“Settle down.” Keisha grabbed Zack’s arm. “We’re inside. Skunk spray doesn’t go through glass.” Her eyes scanned the backyard. What was the skunk scared of?
“Look! Aaliyah’s coming back.”
“He’s probably scared of Aaliyah,” Zeke said. “She’s scary when she runs right at you in gym.”
“But it wasn’t her a minute ago. She was in the front yard.”
A shadow passed over the lawn.
Suddenly Keisha knew. “Oh no, look up. It’s the kite.”
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