Free Special Delivery! by Sue Stauffacher Page B

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.”
    “Why would the skunk be afraid of a kite?” Zeke asked.
    “He’s not. He’s afraid of the shadow. I read about it when I was waiting for Mr. Peters to come back to the phone. Owls fly overhead, casting big shadows just like that kite. A skunk’s instinct tells him to get ready to defend himself when he sees a big shadow like that.”
    “But Aaliyah’s going to get the ‘stinct’ part of it if she’s not careful,” Grandma said.
    The skunk had bared his teeth and was raising his rear end even higher in the air. Aaliyah ran closer. Keisha knew her friend would want to run by the window so everyone could admire the way she was flying the kite.
    “He’s gonna do it! He’s gonna spray Aaliyah,” Zeke shouted.
    “No way. Aaliyah’s too fast for the stink,” Zack said.
    “Yeah. She’s faster than a speeding stink bomb.”
    “Boys,” Mama said. “Settle down.”
    Aaliyah ran back across the driveway and saw the skunk, hissing and looking toward her. She was so surprised, she stopped dead in her tracks, turned around and looked up at the kids.
    Now
all
noses were pressed against Mama’s clean window. When Aaliyah stopped, so did the kite. It fell toward the earth and got tangled in the branches of the horse chestnut tree. Wen, who’d been standing by her bike the whole time watching the kite’s progress, pressed her hands to her face. Keisha could see how upset she was. Her kite traveled all the way from China only to get stuck in a tree on its first flight?
    Razi ran to the tree and jumped up, trying to grab the lowest branch. He knew he wasn’t allowed to climb that tree!
    Keisha cracked open the back door. She didn’tknow which was worse: Aaliyah covered in skunk spray or Razi dangling from the horse chestnut tree. But Razi couldn’t jump high enough to reach a branch, so he gave up and ran over to Aaliyah. When he saw the skunk, he put his arms around her to protect her.
    “He’s gonna blow his stinky stuff on you,” Keisha heard Razi warn Aaliyah.
    “Oh no, he’s not.” Aaliyah put her hands on her hips and stared down the skunk. “If I get skunk spray on me, Moms will never allow me out, and it is
my
summer vacation.”

    Keisha knew skunks didn’t understand English, but she was pretty sure he felt the anger coming from Aaliyah. He chattered his teeth and raised and lowered his tail as if to say he would nip her if she came any closer.
    “Don’t you raise your behind to me, mister! What do I look like to you? You’re not even as big as my cat.”
    “Oh no.” Keisha put her head back inside the door and said to Mama, “She’s telling off the skunk.”
    “Go get that child while there’s still time. Skunks don’t spray unless they have to. You may be able to avoid a disaster.”
    “That girl doesn’t have the sense she was born with,” Grandma said. “I told her all about skunk spray.”
    Keisha thought about explaining to Mama and Grandma that it didn’t matter what the threat was; if someone insulted Aaliyah, she had to stand and defend herself. Keisha was about to run out and get Aaliyah when, suddenly, the skunk’s tail went stiff and his little body jerked like he was shooting jets of spray.
    Keisha plugged her nose and slammed the door shut. Grandma turned the key in the lock. Aaliyah made an ugly face and ran toward the back door with Razi right behind her. Keisha looked around for Wen, but she couldn’t see her. Maybe she was running, too.
    “They’re not