Part 4: Chapter 6

Squirrel Trap

Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash

Thursday, May 21, 2020
	Well, the squirrel trap worked. It just didn’t catch the animal we were hoping for. Was rounding the corner on my morning walk with the children when we pass by a familiar house. The gentleman who lives there does not seem to have a job. He spends his days painting his house different colors or smoking on his brick steps. Do not know the man’s name, but wave whenever I walk by and he waves back.
	Today, Theo seems to notice him for the first time and points to his cigarette. “What’s that?” Theo asks.
	The man cringes. “Oh, it’s just a thing,” he says carelessly waving an arm.
	We exchange a helpless look. Walking away briskly seems like the next best thing to do.
	Theo scrunches up his nose and grimaces as we cross the street. “Smells like skunk!” he postulates loudly.
	“Theo,” I hiss. “Don’t talk about people like that.” 
	Don’t realize until we get home that Theo has indeed smelled skunk, one that is trapped in Paul’s squirrel trap. For no logical reason, am angry at Paul when I see the critter in the cage. This is his fault. Why didn’t he loan us Leche?
	The caged skunk becomes a spectacle for the neighborhood. Shannon comes out with half a henna tattoo painted up one hand. Cherise and Jacob stand off to the side joking and laughing with each other. Auntie Bev stands on her front porch and asks what the commotion is about. Her nephew comes out too in his painting smock. Our immediate neighbors, Wayne and Chris, stand beneath their cactus tree. Our other neighbor, the one who wears a respirator to get his mail, peeks through his window’s blue and white calico curtains. The children dance around the yard telling people the news they already know, and I have to remind Theo again and again to stay away from the cage. Johnny is content to stand on the front porch gazing at all the people.