Читать книгу Melody Ellison 3-Book Set - Denise Lewis Patrick - Страница 13

hen Poppa pulled up to his house, Daddy, Dwayne, and Cousin Charles were already leaning against Charles’s Ford Fairlane, talking and laughing. The mothers were walking slowly up the driveway, talking and laughing. Melody knew that the day was going to be full of talking and laughing.

“Look at you, man!” Charles thumped Dwayne on the back. “You weren’t this tall last summer! Are you still singing?”

Melody saw Dwayne duck his head, but he answered, “Yeah, yeah I am.”

“He’s just playing with that music business in his spare time,” Daddy said. “He’s going to college in September.”

Dwayne opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. When Melody sighed, Val looked at her curiously. “What’s that about?” she whispered.

Melody shook her head. “Tell you later. Look! Your mother and Big Momma have Yvonne cornered!”

Big Momma and Cousin Tish were standing on either side of Yvonne on the porch steps, studying her Afro while Mommy looked on.

“Oh!” Val whispered. “I wonder what Mama is saying.” Cousin Tish had owned a hair salon in Birmingham. Melody loved the fact that she never knew what Tish’s hair would look like when she saw her next. Each time it was a different style and color: curly and red, long and brown, short and black, or piled high and wavy like today. What would she think of Yvonne’s crinkly crown?

“Let’s hurry up so we can hear!” Melody said.

“Now, how did you get it to stand up?” Big Momma was asking.

“I have a special comb,” Yvonne said.

“Some people don’t like natural hair because it looks so different from what we’re used to,” Tish said. She looked at Yvonne thoughtfully. “I think that style suits your face. I’m going to open a salon here as soon as I find a spot. I wonder if my future Detroit clients would like a style like that?”

“I’m not sure how many young women are as radical as our Yvonne,” Mommy said, opening the front door.

“What does ‘radical’ mean?” Melody asked.

“It means somebody who’s willing to raise her voice,” Yvonne said.

“Willing to raise her hair, too!” Mommy said as she went inside.

Melody and Val followed, but they all bumped into a traffic jam just inside the living room. Everyone was looking up at the arch where Poppa had quickly hung Melody’s colorful construction-paper signs all the way across, saying “Welcome Charles, Tish, and Val.” Underneath, on a small round table, was the Mother’s Day flower arrangement Melody had made at Poppa’s shop.

“Oh!” Tish clapped. “Who made all this loveliness?”

“Melody did,” Lila said, peering around for her sister.

“Melody?” Mommy called, and Melody made her way to the dining room with Val right behind.

“Thank you, honey!” Tish gave her a hug. “There’s nothing like being around family.”

“And there’s nothing like Big Momma’s fried chicken,” Charles said, as Yvonne and Mommy brought plates and bowls of food from the kitchen.

“Come on, everyone,” Big Momma called. “Let’s eat.”

There was so much talking and laughing that dinner went on and on. Everyone was so busy catching up on cousins and old friends that Big Momma served a second round of cake and ice cream.

“Say, Frances!” Charles said, scraping the last of the crumbs off his plate. “This reminds me of the first time you made a triple-chocolate cake. It was kind of lopsided, remember?”

“Lopsided?” Dwayne laughed. “Are you kidding?”

“No, he’s not kidding,” Mommy said. “And yes, I remember. I was a new wife, and I didn’t bake very well.”

“What your mother did was nothing to laugh at,” Daddy said. “I had dreamed about chocolate when I was overseas during the war. I saw a cake like that in the window of a bakery in town the day I got back.”

“Why didn’t you just go into the bakery and buy it?” Melody asked.

Mommy poured more coffee for the grown-ups. “I tried,” she said. “That bakery refused to serve Negroes. I was so angry that I decided to try to make the cake myself.”

Daddy said, “There we were, fighting for freedom for the world, and we didn’t have it when we got back home.”

“But you two were Tuskegee Airmen!” Dwayne said. “I mean, you got a medal, Dad!”

“Yes. I was the most highly trained mechanic in my unit. I kept those planes in top flying condition. But when I left the service, I couldn’t get a job in my hometown. I had to move all the way to Detroit, and even up here I had to start at the bottom doing the most backbreaking jobs at the auto factory.”

Charles sighed. “Things sure haven’t changed much. Here I am, moving to Detroit for the same reason.”

“What do you mean?” Daddy asked.

“The black hospital where I worked closed down,” Charles explained. “I tried to get a job at one of the white hospitals, but no one would hire me. I’m a licensed pharmacist, but it seemed as if people only saw me as some black man they couldn’t be bothered with.”

Melody thought about what had happened to Yvonne at the bank. “That’s wrong,” she whispered to her sister. Yvonne looked at Melody and nodded. So did Mommy.

Charles’s face was serious. “I got stopped by a cop when I was on my way to a job interview. I was wearing a suit and tie, not doing anything wrong, but the police still treated me like a criminal. When the hospital closed, I just felt it was time for us to get out of Birmingham.”

“But if everybody like you and Tish leaves, who’s going to stay and fight?” Yvonne asked.

“Girl, if you miss a day of work to participate in a march or a protest, you can lose your job,” Charles said. “I have a family to support. I couldn’t risk it.”

“But things are changing,” Yvonne insisted.

“Yes, but things are also getting tense,” Charles said. He put his coffee cup down. “It was bad enough when white people threw food at peaceful protesters or pulled them off their seats at a lunch counter. But now the police are setting dogs and fire hoses on people!”

Tish tapped her bright red fingernails on the table. “Charles and I have been talking about this for months. There’s a lot of good happening in the South, but some of it is getting dangerous. The police turned those hoses on children. Children!”

Melody knew what Tish was talking about. Everyone did. It had happened last week, and news of it was still on the TV every night. Melody had seen black schoolkids in Birmingham, singing and carrying signs. Then policemen chased them, and turned giant hoses on them. The blasts of water were so strong that they knocked the children to the ground.

Melody glanced at Val. Val looked down at her dish of ice cream.

“Those police in Birmingham were wrong,” Big Momma said. She reached over and gently raised Val’s chin with her hand. “And those children were very brave.”

“I don’t see why we have to fight fire with fire, as the old saying goes,” Mommy said. “Dr. King speaks against hatred and fear. He believes we can change hearts and laws without violence.”

“He’s coming to Detroit next month,” Poppa said, “making a speech down at Cobo Hall.”

Melody felt as if something big was happening right here at her grandparents’ table. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she had a feeling that some kind of change was in the air.

“I heard people at the flower shop talking about it,” Yvonne said. “There’s going to be a march. It’s called the Walk to Freedom!”

“Yes, our union is marching,” Daddy said. Melody saw her mother give her father an approving look. “We don’t have the same sort of segregation as in the South,” Daddy continued, “but we need more good jobs for black people here in Detroit.”

“And better, less crowded schools for black children,” Mommy added. “And fair housing laws.”

“You make it sound like Detroit is a mess,” Dwayne piped up. “Black people like Poppa have businesses—and Tish, you want to open a business, right? Well, you can! And don’t forget that this is where the music starts. Hitsville, U.S.A. Motown.” Dwayne started snapping his fingers and humming a tune. Everyone around the table started laughing.

Daddy rolled his eyes at Dwayne, but he was smiling when he said, “I think we should all take part in the march as a family.”

“Go, Daddy!” Yvonne clapped her hands.

“I don’t know, Cousin,” Charles said. “We’re staying out of this marching business. I just want to get my family settled in, find a place to live. We’re looking to get a fresh start here in Detroit.”

There was silence for a moment. “I understand how you must feel,” Mommy said gently, looking at Charles. Then she turned to Daddy. “I would like to hear what Dr. King has to say in person.”

“That young man is a powerful preacher,” Poppa said. “I’d like to hear him too.”

Big Momma motioned to Lila. “Put the date on my kitchen calendar, Lila. When is it, Will?”

“June twenty-third,” Daddy said. “Whoever’s going will meet right here, so we can walk to freedom together.”

After dinner, Melody and Val sat side by side on Big Momma’s sofa. “Are you tired after the long car ride from Birmingham?” Melody asked as Dwayne played his still-wordless tune. When Val didn’t answer, Melody tilted her head sideways to look at her cousin. “What’s wrong?”

Val shrugged, so Melody dragged her up and pulled her past Dwayne at the piano and out the front door. She sat down on the top step. Val hesitated a moment, then smoothed the skirt of her dress and sat down too.

“I’m happy to see you, and everybody,” Val said quietly. “But everything happened so fast with our move. I couldn’t really say good-bye to my friends the way I wanted to.” She sighed. “I just don’t feel like I have any kind of home anymore. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Tell me what you mean,” Melody said. She wanted to understand.

“Detroit isn’t home,” Val said. “Home’s not home anymore either. I used to feel safe in Birmingham. Now there’s always police, and people in the streets getting arrested. I knew one of those kids who got knocked down by the water hose. She said it was really scary.”

“Wow,” Melody said. She told Val what Pastor Daniels had said that morning about everybody deserving justice. “Those kids stood up for themselves. That’s really brave.”

“I know,” Val said, looking at their reflections in the toes of her patent leather shoes. “But we’re just kids.”

“But we still count,” Melody said. “This is our world, too!” She told Val what she’d done at the bank when her sister couldn’t get a job there.

“That’s brave, too,” Val said. She looked at Melody and smiled slowly. “I think living in Detroit is going to be real interesting.”

“It will be, I promise!” Melody said.

“I want to help Val feel at home in Detroit,” Melody said the very next afternoon as she and Lila walked home from school. “Let’s take her to the library today.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun,” said Lila. “Val might like the craft class, too.”

Melody smiled. Lila loved to make things as much as she loved to read. At first, she made toys from branches or scraps of wood. Then she started taking apart things around the house and trying to put them back together, like Dwayne’s old record player. Now she was obsessed with the library’s craft class.

The girls went home to drop off their book bags, change out of their school clothes, and have a snack. Lila also had to get the stack of library books she was returning. She had so many that Melody offered to help her carry them.

“Was this one any good?” Melody asked, holding up The Kid’s Book of Engineering.

“Yes, it was,” Lila said. “And that reminds me. Guess what happened this morning.”

“What?”

“My teacher said she’s nominated me for a science scholarship to a private high school.”

“Wow!” Melody stopped and stared at her sister. “Wait till Mommy and Daddy find out!” Mommy always said that all of the Ellison kids were smart, but Melody thought Lila might be the smartest. She was good at math and science and reading. In fact, she was good in every subject.

“I don’t know…it costs a lot of money,” Lila muttered.

“Doesn’t a scholarship mean you can go for free?” Melody asked, beginning to walk again.

“Maybe. The scholarship might not cover all the costs,” Lila said. “And first I have to take a hard entrance exam to qualify for one.”

“You can pass any test! You’re a straight A student,” Melody said. “Why are you worried?”

Lila looked at her. “For the same reason that you’re worried about doing a solo for Youth Day even though you’re a great singer.”

Melody hadn’t thought of it that way.

Big Momma was just finishing a music lesson with a student when Melody and Lila arrived. Val had been sitting at the kitchen table by herself, and she jumped up when Melody told her they were going to the library.

Big Momma smiled. “That’s a good idea. You can get to know the neighborhood, Valerie. You girls go on, and be careful.” Big Momma waved.

“Bye, Big Momma!” they sang together.

“Where is the library?” Val asked as they skipped down the porch steps.

“Not far,” Melody told her. “Only nine blocks.”

Val looked shocked. “My mama and daddy didn’t let me walk that far by myself in Birmingham. Not with everything that was going on.”

Melody nodded silently, thinking about yesterday’s conversation. “Well, it won’t take long to get to Duffield library,” she said. “When school’s out, Lila and I go a couple of times a week. We’re both in the summer reading club. There are prizes and everything. There’s lots of other stuff to do, too. There’s a craft class, and a board-game club.”

“So this is what you do all summer, when you’re up here and not visiting us?” Val asked.

“Not all summer,” Melody said. “We go swimming at the YWCA, and on weekends Mommy takes us across to Canada, and—”

“Canada?” Val repeated doubtfully.

“Yep. Canada is right across the river. We drive over the bridge and get there in no time at all,” Lila said.

“There’s so much stuff I don’t know about this place.” Val sounded interested.

“You can come with me to help Poppa at his flower shop,” Melody suggested. “Or you can come and help me in my own garden,” she added. “I could help you plant a garden at your new house, if you want.”

“Yes, I’d like that a lot,” Val told her. “I think Mama would, too. We could plant loads and loads of pink flowers! What else?”

Melody wrinkled her nose as she thought. Of course there would be barbecues and maybe a baseball game or two—

“I can think of something,” Lila said mysteriously. “And it’s coming up.”

“What?” Val asked, confused.

Melody knew what Lila was talking about. “Look across the street,” she said as they turned onto busy Grand Boulevard. Melody pointed to a two-story house with a big white sign across the front windows.

“Hitsville U.S.A.,” Val read aloud. “Oh my gosh! Is that what Dwayne was talking about yesterday? That’s Motown?”

“Yes!” Melody and Lila said together.

Val’s eyes became so wide that she almost looked like a cartoon character. Lila burst out laughing.

“This is their recording studio,” Melody said. She thought of Dwayne’s big secret—the audition he was waiting for. But she didn’t say anything.

“Have you ever seen anybody famous?” Val seemed rooted to the sidewalk, but there wasn’t anybody around.

“Well, not yet,” Melody admitted.

“Come on,” Lila waved them along. “Enough star watching for today. Maybe we can catch sight of The Marvelettes over the summer!”

“The Marvelettes!” Melody and Val sighed together. Melody started humming the tune to their song “Please Mr. Postman,” and Lila and Val hummed along.

Four blocks farther down they came to the large, low limestone building that was the Duffield branch of the Detroit Public Library. At the steps, Val stopped to stare. “The colored library is really big!” she exclaimed.

“Colored library?” Lila asked.

Val looked confused. “Isn’t this where we’re going? The colored library?”

“It’s just a library,” Melody said. “Anybody can go to any public library.”

“You’re in Detroit now,” Lila reminded Val. “Not Birmingham.”

“And we go in the front doors, just like this?” Val was wide-eyed again.

“That’s right.” Melody shifted her pile of books and skipped up the steps. “Have you ever read The Secret Garden?” she asked Val. “These kids find a hidden gate, and all kinds of stuff happens. It’s one of my all-time favorite books.”

Val shook her head. “I haven’t read it, but I bet I’ll like it.”

“How do you know?” Lila asked.

“I’ll like it because Dee-Dee likes it,” Val said. “That’s how friends are.”

“Come on, cousin-friend,” Melody said, opening the door. “I’ll show you the children’s section!”