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