CHAPTER 4

A Stinky Joke

After breakfast, Ezra came over to help Janie practice for her big audition. Janie thought Ezra was hilarious, but usually Bat did not agree.

“Hey, Batty,” Ezra said when he arrived. “I’ve got a joke for you. Okay. What do you call a flying skunk?”

“Actually,” Bat said, “skunks can’t fly. They’re mammals, and the only flying mammal is the—”

“A smellicopter!” Ezra interrupted. Then he laughed, loudly, at his own joke.

There were so many things wrong with the whole situation that Bat felt himself starting to rise up on his toes the way he sometimes did, and pulling his arms close to his sides the way he sometimes did, hands preparing to flap.

Ezra laughed even louder. “Hey!” he said. “You’re the flying mammal, right? Because you’re Bat! Good one, Batty.”

“Come on, Ezra,” Janie said, and Ezra followed her out of the entry hall and toward the kitchen, still laughing.

When the hallway was quiet, Bat remembered to take deep breaths and he let himself bounce on the balls of his feet ten more times before putting his heels on the floor. He wiggled his shoulders around the way that helped him relax, and his arms dropped slowly to his sides.

“Little Bat,” crooned Mom from behind him. “Are you all right?”

Bat nodded. He didn’t feel like talking. Mom came around to his front and held out her arms. She knew that Bat sometimes didn’t feel like being touched when he was upset, and this was her way of letting him know that she was there if he wanted a hug. All he had to do was take one step forward, which, after a moment’s hesitation, he did.

Mom pulled him close, and Bat closed his eyes as he let his face mush into the softness of her stomach. He felt the snug tightness of her arms around his shoulders and back, the gentle firm pressure of her embrace. He felt safe and warm and let himself take a long, deep breath.

Mom smelled of rosemary, like sunshine and peppermint and pine. Bat took another deep breath before he tapped his hand against Mom’s leg, their sign that he was ready for the hug to be over.

She loosened her arms and stepped back.

“Are you gardening?” Bat asked.

“Yes,” Mom said. “Do you want to help?”

“Yes,” said Bat, and then he had a really good idea. “Mom,” he said. “Do you think we could research what kind of vegetables skunks like to eat and plant them in the garden box in the backyard?” He looked up at Mom’s face, excited.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Mom said. “A research project! And maybe you could ask Israel if he’d like to help.”

And then Bat had another idea. “We have to do a spring project for school,” he said. “And we’re supposed to have a partner. Maybe Israel’s and my project could be researching and growing a skunk garden!”

“You’d better not plant any roses,” said Ezra. He and Janie had just walked back into the hallway on their way to the front yard. “Get it? Because roses smell good!”

“Oh, Ezra,” Mom said. “That joke really stinks.”

That time, everyone, even Bat, laughed.