Special Delivery! (5 page)

“No, Mom. I think that’s a good sign. He’s scared, but he’s hungry.”

Even though the Carter rescue team had stepped back, Mrs. Sampson leaned forward to examine the patient. Keisha noticed her nose was very close to the crow’s beak.

“I served as a nurse in the Sixty-eighth Women’s Army Corps, arriving 1943, in Cairo, Egypt. I was stationed at the medevac hospital there.” She leaned back and polished her glasses. “There’s nothing wrong with this crow that a competent nurse can’t fix.”

“You may be right, Mrs. Sampson. Keisha, can I get some help?” Daddy took the crow in one hand and put out his palm. Keisha removed the lid of the Tupperware container. The strong smell of egg/cricket/puppy chow that had sat in a hot truck filled the room.

“That’s quite an odor,” Mrs. Sampson remarked.

Keisha noticed Aaliyah was plugging her nose.

“Maybe it smells good to a crow,” Wen suggested.

“Crows don’t have a sense of smell,” Daddy added. “When you think about it, that probably comes in handy with some of the things they eat.”

“Don’t tell us any more until after lunch, Mr. Carter,” Aaliyah pleaded. “I’m begging you.…”

Daddy nodded to Keisha, who began making pea-sized lumps out of the food in the container. She lined them up on the edge of the table. “Aaliyah, will you get a glass of water to fill this syringe?”

“I have some distilled water in the fridge,” Mrs. Sampson said. “That would be more hygienic.”

“That’s even better than our filtered water. I’ll get it. Which way is the kitchen?”

Mrs. Sampson pointed, and Grandma disappeared down the hall. As Keisha watched her go, she noticed the clothes draped over the chairs and the old newspapers piled up in the corner. All these things meant that Mrs. Sampson’s home was not in tip-top shape, something the Carters had to make their home every Sunday morning before church. Mrs. Sampson’s house probably hadn’t been tip-top for some time.

Daddy shifted the little crow so he could hold up its head while keeping its wings pinned to its body. “I pronounce this crow healthy … and hungry. Keisha?”

Keisha had a lot of experience feeding baby birds and her fingers were smaller than Daddy’s, so she usually got the job of stuffing the bird food mush down the birds’ throats. Then, after the birds weren’t so frightened, Keisha or Daddy could use the syringe to get some water in them.

She pressed one of the blobs of food onto her pointer finger and waved it near the crow’s eye. As she moved her finger, the little crow became very interested. Suddenly he tilted his head back and opened his beak wide. Keisha quickly stuck the plug of food deep in his throat.

“Goodness,” Mrs. Sampson said. “You’ll choke the poor thing.”

“That’s how the mama does it,” Daddy said. “When you get that far down, it stimulates the little guy to swallow.”

“What if he bites you, Keisha?” Aaliyah asked.

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” Daddy told Aaliyah. “Plus, he wants this food, just like baby Paulo.”

“And the crow doesn’t have teeth,” Keisha said, remembering how much it hurt to get her fingers near Paulo’s mouth when he was teething.

Wen started to ask a question, but she was interrupted by the crow’s squawking.

“What does
that
mean?” Aaliyah asked. “He’s not happy.”

Daddy stroked the feathers at the little crow’s throat. “It sounds bad, but it means he feels good, Aaliyah. Loosely translated, he’s saying, ‘Yum. Keep it coming.’”

Keisha got into a rhythm with the little crow that sounded like “squawk, shlump, glump.” When he started to slow down, Daddy added a few drops of water with the syringe in between plugs of food.

After a time, the crow closed his mouth and turned his head away. Daddy set him in his nest box, which he then set inside a larger box they’d brought along. Quick as a wink, he took a dish towel that had been sitting over the back of the chair and tossed it over the box.

“We don’t want to encourage that,” he said as he smoothed the material over the sides.

“What? Encourage what?” Aaliyah had just stepped in closer to get a better look.

“Now that he’s fed and feels a little safer, he’ll be looking around. And it’s possible he could imprint on one of us.”

“Ew.” Aaliyah crossed her arms. “You mean, like, on our clothes?”

“No, Aaliyah. ‘Imprint’ means he could think that we’re, well, like his mama or his daddy or his … Moms.” Daddy set the crow’s box on a chair, which he then pushed to face the wall. He turned back to Mrs. Sampson.

“Now I need to figure out where we’re going to put the little guy while he’s building up his strength. We just filled up our bird enclosure with ducklings.”

“I’m confused.” Mrs. Sampson sat down at the table and looked around as if the thought had just occurred to her:
Where did you all come from?
“Don’t babies stay in the nest until they’re ready to fly?”

“No,” Daddy and Grandma said together. They were used to this question.

“When people see a crow this big that can’t fly, they think there must be something wrong with it,” Daddy said. “So here are the signs to look for. (1) Is it bleeding? (2) Is it dragging a wing? (3) Is it in immediate danger? You responded to number three. You rescued the baby crow from the cat.”

“But if it can’t fly, won’t it be in danger until it can?”

“Yes, but it can’t learn to fly until it goes through the fledgling phase. Now, let me explain just a few things about crow biology—”

Grandma Alice smacked her hands on the table. “I’m parched,” she said. “Can I get myself a glass of water?”

“Of course,” Mrs. Sampson said. “There’s a jelly jar in the cupboard over the sink. That’s what I use.”

“Anybody else want water?”

“Yes. Thank you, Mom.”

Aaliyah stood at the window. “The court is far enough away from the mailbox.… We could still get a little practice in.…”

Like Grandma, Aaliyah didn’t enjoy listening to Daddy’s educational speeches. In fact, the only person who did seem interested was Mrs. Sampson. Wen tugged on Keisha’s shorts and nodded toward the window.

“Baby birds have many natural predators. Cats … hawks, of course, and raccoons, and snakes, who also go after the eggs.”

Grandma came back into the room and put jelly jars of water in front of her son and Mrs. Sampson. She stood there looking at her son, her hands on her hips.

“So, a wild cat will search for food night after night. Eventually, it will find a nest. But if the birds are moving around like this little guy here, there is a much better chance for survival. And yet, you have to take into account—”

“Oh my goodness, look at the time,” Grandma interrupted Daddy. “We’ve still got to go see about a skunk!”

Daddy looked around, surprised. “Is it that late?” He glanced at his watch. “Well, I guess it is.”

“Funny how time flies even when the crows don’t,” Grandma replied, heading for the door. The girls followed after her.

Outside, they climbed into the backseat, and Keisha watched out the window. It was a few minutes before Daddy said good-bye to Mrs. Sampson. “Where’s the crow?” she asked as Daddy got in the cab.

He turned the key in the ignition and the engine rattled a few seconds before starting up. “Sometimes you have to explore the gray area.”

“What’s the gray area?” Wen wanted to know.

“The gray area was in her cupboard,” Grandma said. “Stale crackers and miller moths everywhere. And her milk was past the sell-by date.”

“Maybe that’s why she seemed so tired.” Keisha stared out the window, wondering how one little old lady could keep a big house like that in order.

Daddy adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see Wen. “The gray area is not right and not wrong … not black and not white. Mrs. Sampson used to be a nurse, and now she has learned how to nurse a crow. It will be less stressful for the crow if he can stay at her house and not have to move in with a bunch of ducklings.”

“So why is that gray?” Aaliyah asked. “Why isn’t it right?”

“Long story,” Grandma replied.

Keisha knew what was wrong about it. Mrs. Sampson was not a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Officially it was against the law for her to take care of the little crow. People did it all the time and they often did it wrong, so the law was made to protect animals from being mistreated, even by accident, and to protect people from possibly getting hurt by caring for dangerous wild animals.

Keisha waited until they had dropped off Aaliyah and Wen before asking Daddy more about the gray area.

“I know that technically it’s not right, but we don’t have the staff for all these cases, Key. Since she used to be a nurse, Mrs. Sampson can help us out on this one. And it’s good for older people to have some purpose. This one time is okay.” Daddy turned into the alley behind their house.

“It won’t take long, will it?” Keisha asked.

“My guess is two to three days and he’ll be ready to try the great outdoors again. I just want to keep the little guy quiet, get some protein in him and make sure he’s hydrated. I think I’ll wait on the hardware store for now. Might be time for a little R&R in the CFH.” Daddy whistled a little tune to himself. Thinking about rest and relaxation in the Carter family hammock always made Daddy happy.

As the truck pulled to a stop in their driveway, Keisha wondered what would make Mrs. Sampson happy enough to whistle.

“Oh, no, you don’t, Mr. Carter,” Mama said, handing Paulo to Daddy just as he was heading for the hammock. “Sticky babies are your responsibility.”

Razi took the baby from Daddy and held him up. “Paulo doesn’t want Daddy! Paulo votes for me!” Razi blew raspberries on Paulo’s stomach until he giggled. “See?”

Grandma Alice wanted her turn with baby Paulo. She held out her arms. “You know as well as I do, Razi Carter, that your daddy is the best one in the family for bathing babies.”

Grandma looked Razi up and down. “I must say you look fine in your dress shirt.”

“Mama says I can wear the clip-on tie, like I do at church.” Razi twisted his fingers together. “But not until we get to the center. Grandma, you put it in your purse.”

Grandma checked her watch. “You’re ready for the ceremony, but we’ve still got an hour to go.” She looked at Mama, then at Daddy. “Can we swirl him in plastic wrap until it’s time?”

“I tried to get him to wait.” Mama fingered Razi’s
hair and rubbed behind his ears. “He wanted to get dressed an hour ago.”

“Well, speaking of stomachs,” Grandma said, tickling Paulo’s tummy. “We’ve got laundry to fold, animal pens to clean, a baby to bathe and tummies to fill, though we can’t call it lunch. It’s too late for that. Maybe
linner
or
dunch
. And if anyone’s going to get some R&R, it’s going to be me. I have to rest my beauty, after all.”

“Dunch!” Razi said. “I vote for dunch!”

“I will get the dunch,” Mama said.

“I’ll take the laundry off the line,” Keisha offered.

“And
we
, my friend,” Daddy said to the baby as he took Paulo from Grandma, “have a date with some soap bubbles and a tub filled with water. And because your older brother is an almost-official member of Wild 4-Ever, I am going to let him be my bath master apprentice today.”

Daddy loved bath time because he liked making up stories and he always said bath time was the best time for imagining.

Paulo, who didn’t mind being fed by anyone who was available, would sit in the tub with a little frown on his face and his fists closed tight if Mama or Keisha ran the bathwater. For some reason, Daddy got in a habit of wearing a fake mustache while he started the
bathwater. Then he would give an elaborate sneeze and the mustache would stick to the wet tile. Paulo laughed and laughed.

“What does an ‘apprentice’ mean, Daddy?” Razi asked, jumping up and down and tugging on Daddy’s T-shirt. “What does an apprentice do?”

“It’s the junior version of something.”

“It’s settled.” Grandma planted a kiss on Paulo’s head. “Just don’t let Razi immerse himself in his field of study, Fred. I ironed that shirt.”

And then—snip, snap, clip clap, as Grandma Alice liked to say—it was time for Grandma, Razi and Keisha to hold hands and walk to the Baxter Community Center for the Wild 4-Ever Club meeting. Mama and Daddy would wait for Mr. Sanders and wheel Paulo over in the stroller. Then they would sit in the back and be the
proud
parents, Mama told Razi.

“When will Mama and Daddy come? What if the baby cries?” Razi asked as they walked. He was getting all his worrying done ahead of time.

“Carmelo’s coming,” Keisha told him, “so they won’t cry. They will goo-goo and ga-ga at each other.”

“It’s easy to have fun when you’re a baby,” Razi said. “Keisha, will you say the pledge with me?”

Grandma, Razi and Keisha stopped for the light at James Street. Keisha waited until they had crossed to say, “You know it, Razi! I know you do. Tell it to me right now.”

Razi took a big breath. He stopped walking. He put his hand over his heart. “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyal—”

Grandma elbowed Keisha. “Don’t mouth the words,” she whispered. “It’s so amateur.” Keisha had practiced with Razi
so
many times, she couldn’t help it.