Barry notices the smell of other people’s houses. She is fascinated by the mysteries inherent in these smells. She wonders about the house that smells like bleach. She finds some houses wonderful: The Palinkis’ house smells like mint, tangerines, and library books. She has trouble describing her own house’s smell. Even though it is full of strongly scented items, like cigarettes, aftershave, perfume, fried smelt, garlic and onions, hairspray, and a dog, Barry can’t smell any of it. She knows she must have the strongest-smelling house in the neighborhood, but she can only understand its aroma through that of others. When another kid tells her that her house smells like fried grease and boiled pigs blood, Barry’s mother forbids that kid from playing at Barry’s house.

In contrast to Barry’s, that girl’s house smells like a bus bathroom because her mother copiously disinfects, sprays everything with deodorizers, and fills the house with car air fresheners. The mom makes derogatory comments about how other races and cultural groups smell. When Barry relays the mom’s observations to her grandmother, Barry’s grandmother defensively reminds her that white ladies smell plenty bad. When the air freshener mom moves away, the new tenants have trouble getting rid of her smell.