Chapter 24: Take Two

Bat is not good at apologizing, but he believes actions are more important than words. He plans an active apology for Janie and enlists the help of his friend, Israel. They set up a surprise event in Israel's backyard with candles and a stage. Janie arrives and is surprised and touched by the effort. Bat apologizes and asks her to sing her solo again. Janie forgives him and they hug. Everyone claps for Janie and the evening is beautiful. Bat feels happy and the world feels full of beauty. Chapter 24. Take 2. Apologizing was not something that Bat was very good at. Also, it was not something he didn't have very much practice doing. Usually, apologies didn't do anything, and that was the problem with them. An apology was just words. Bat especially hated it when people tried to force you to apologize for something, because no one can make someone sorry, and no one believes an apology that is forced. Mr. Grayson didn't believe in making people apologize. I can't make you sorry, he was fond of saying. Words are cheap, that's something else he was fond of saying. What we do is more important than what we say. That was another Mr. Grayson special, as he liked to call his favorite saying. And Bat agreed with Mr. Grayson. Doing something meant more than saying something. So if Bat was going to apologize to Janie, it was going to be an active apology. Luckily for Bat, he had a friend who was very good at doing things, better than Bat was. Bat admitted to himself. Bat liked to be good at things. He liked to be an expert. And to be an expert, you have to learn from experts. When Bat wanted to learn more about the care and feeding of skunks, he gone straight to the world skunk expert, Mr. Jerry Drago. I'm an expert at apologizing, Israel assured him, because I'm an expert at making mistakes. This weekend was an every other weekend. So Dad picked up Bat after school. Normally, they would have picked up Janie up next. But Dad told Bat that Janie would be spending the afternoon with one of her friends. The first thing Bat asked Dad, before he even got into Bat's little car was, can you take me over to Israel's house after breakfast tomorrow? He and I have a project we need to work on. A school project? Dad asked. No, Bat said, a secret project. On Sunday evening at five o'clock, everything was ready. Bat and Israel had set up two rows of chairs in Israel's backyard. Israel's mom had lined the walkway with clay bowls, each filled with water and topped with a floating candle. The night before, Dad had helped Bat find the phone numbers for Frida and Corna and Maggie. And Bat had called them all. I know I messed up your play, he told each of them, and I want to make it up to Janie. Will you come over to my friend Israel's house at five o'clock on Sunday night? Mom was there with Janie's favorite brownies, just like Bat had asked. Soon Israel's yard was full of people. Even Lawrence came wearing his blue scrubs again. Sorry, Bat, I didn't have enough time to change, he said. That's all right, Bat told him. You look more like yourself this way, Lawrence laughed. His wonderful laugh. His laugh was one of Bat's very favorite sounds in the world. Finally, Bat heard the honk of Dad's car from the front of the house. Janie's here, Bat announced, running up the pathway to the front of the yard. His heart beat as if he had run all the way around the block, and his arm folded into his excited slapping motion. Tom went to the front door to let Dad and Janie in, and a minute later he led them out the back door and into the yard. Janie's eyebrows shot up, and her mouth opened in surprise. Oh, as she stepped onto the grass. Bat saw her seeing the people in the two rows of chairs, the glowing, floating candles, and the bright lights along the path and in front of the garden shed where Israel's mom made her pottery. A little stage they had set up with a curtain hanging as a backdrop, and Mr. Grayson sitting off to the side with his keyboard ready to play. What is all this? Janie asked Dad. Who was at her side? Ask Bat, said Dad, nodding in Bat's direction. Janie's arms began to fold across her chest again, like she was remembering that she was still mad, but then they loosen and drop to her side. Bat, she said, walking over to him. What's going on? I'm sorry I brought Thor to your show, and I'm sorry that he sprayed, Bat said. He noticed that Janie was wearing sandals and that she had painted her toenails dark blue. They were little stars painted on the big toes. He talked to the painted stars. You're a really great singer, Bat said. Will you sing your solo again? Mr. Grayson can play the music for a second. That felt like a minute. Janie didn't say anything. Then she put her hand under Bat's chin and raised up his face so that she could look into his eyes. Bat didn't love looking into people's eyes, but he knew that Janie really liked to, and he remembered what Mom had told him about how some people learn things about each other from their eyes. So even though it wasn't Bat's favorite thing to do, he stared right into Janie's eyes, which were almost exactly like his own eyes. Bat realized a brown so dark it was almost black and shiny. Maybe Janie saw something in his eyes that let her know that he really was sorry, or maybe she just liked the little candles and the stage because she smiled and gave Bat a hug, which he did like. The press of her arm, the smell of her apple shampoo. Oh, Bat, she said, the school is going to redo the play next weekend after the auditorium was aired out, but this was really nice of you to set up. And anyway, the whole thing was pretty funny. When you think about it, she dropped her voice to a whisper just for Bat to hear. Also, I didn't mean it when I said I wish Mom had never brought Thor home. I'm sorry I said that. She let him out of the hug and said to the audience, hi everybody, thank you for coming. And then everyone began to clap for Janie, her friends and Bat's friends, and their family, and Mr. Grayson. And then Janie walked up to the little stage and she nodded to Mr. Grayson to start playing. Bat sat down next to Israel, who had saved a seat for him. Then he pulled something out of his pocket to show Israel it was the clay skunk Israel had made for him. Hey, Israel whispered, you're carrying it. That's so cool. Bat grinned and rubbed his fingers along the clay lump, memorizing the way that the words from Israel felt against his thumb. Thor wasn't with him, but Bat felt a sweet warmth in his chest, almost as if the skunk kit was cuddled there. Janie started to sing, surprising Bat all over again with her strong, clear voice. It was beautiful. The evening was beautiful. The rows of chairs were beautiful. The people in them were beautiful. The floating candles were beautiful. The lump of clay in Bat's hand was beautiful. Right now, the whole world felt giant and open and full of beauty, and Bat was happy.