Melody Ellison 3-Book Set. Denise Lewis Patrick

on his promise not to join them and had gone to Artie’s after church.

      “I know, sweetheart,” Mommy said, taking Melody’s hand again. “You’ll have to listen hard. Then you can tell Val all about it.”

      “This is as close as we’re going to get,” Poppa said.

      “At least we’ll be able to hear the speeches,” Daddy said. “They’ve got speakers set up.”

      The speakers crackled, and the singing faded. A man said something over the loudspeaker, and then someone else spoke. Melody’s legs began to get tired, and she wondered when Dr. King would preach.

      Then the roar of applause rose around them. Melody heard a different man’s voice, a strong, clear, Southern voice. At last it was Dr. King! He talked about Abraham Lincoln, and the Emancipation Proclamation that freed Negroes from slavery. He talked about Birmingham, and how racial segregation was wrong.

      Melody didn’t understand everything Dr. King said, but she felt the excitement of the crowds around her as they shouted out “Yes!” at certain parts of his speech. People clapped and cheered so hard at other times that Dr. King had to pause. His words took on a rhythm, and he was almost chanting.

      “I have a dream,” he said. “With this faith I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows…” Melody’s insides began to shiver as she thought of the words to “Lift Every Voice”:

      Sing a song, full of the faith

       that the dark past has taught us

      All of her family’s stories flashed through Melody’s mind: Poppa leaving his farm, Mommy making the triple-chocolate cake because Daddy couldn’t buy one, Yvonne being turned away at the bank, Dwayne being treated badly at Fieldston’s.

       Sing a song full of the hope

       that the present has brought us

      Poppa had moved to Detroit and opened his flower shop—where Yvonne now had a summer job. Now Mommy made the best cake ever, and Dwayne was determined to succeed in a music career so that he would be treated fairly. None of them had ever given up hope. Melody felt inspired.

      Dr. King was chanting, “Free at last! Free at last!” The applause was like thunder in the sunshine.

      On the walk back to the car, Melody made an announcement. “For Youth Day, I’m going to do ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing.’”

      “That’s a big song for you, Little One!” Poppa said with a smile. She saw Mommy nodding her approval.

      “Yes, it is,” Melody said to him. “But when I hear it, I feel the way I did listening to Dr. King. That’s how I want the audience to feel when I sing at Youth Day. Dwayne says when the words mean something special to a singer, amazing things happen.”

      Daddy looked at her with surprise as he unlocked the station wagon. “Dwayne said that, did he?”

      “Isn’t that the song that you’ve been humming in your sleep?” Lila asked, climbing into the folding seat.

      “I guess,” Melody said, noticing that her grandmother hadn’t said a word. “Do you think it’s a good fit, Big Momma?” Melody whispered.

      Big Momma gave Melody’s hand a squeeze. “Your brother is right. And I believe my chick can do anything she sets her mind to.”

      Lila snapped her fingers. “Make it work, Dee-Dee. Make it work!”

      Val was watching from the front window when they returned from the march. She threw open Big Momma’s front door and ran out. “How was it? Did you carry my sign? Did you see Dr. King?”

      “It was great! And no, and no!” Melody answered with enthusiasm. “Lila carried your sign, and we didn’t get close enough to see Dr. King, but we heard him.” Melody took a breath. “But are you okay? Poppa told us what happened with the house.”

      Val’s shoulders drooped. “It makes me sad to think that it could have been our house. Mama was sad at first, too, but now she’s mad.”

      Melody didn’t want Val to give up her hopes of a swing set and an upstairs. She remembered something from the Walk to Freedom. “Dr. King said he has a dream that black people in Detroit will be able to buy the houses they want,” Melody told her cousin.

      “Really?” Val asked. “Dr. King said that?”

      “Mm-hmm.” Melody smiled, looping her arm through her cousin’s. “Things are going to change. I just know it.”

      Fireworks

       CHAPTER 12

      elody was dreaming. She dreamed that she was on top of Cobo Hall, singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” while the Detroit River rolled past like a mighty sea. And when she raised both her arms, she had wings.

      She woke up, and for a few seconds, she thought she might still be dreaming. She smelled dinner instead of breakfast. Then she heard the low rumbling of men’s voices outside, and sniffed the wisps of hickory smoke wafting through the open window. It was the Fourth of July. Daddy had the entire day off from work, and Melody knew he was up already, tending the barbecue. She squinted over at Lila and Yvonne, who were both still asleep, and then at the Mickey Mouse alarm clock. Mickey’s hands pointed to six o’clock.

      Melody hurried to get dressed, wondering what time Val was coming over. She didn’t stop to put on her shoes, and instead ran downstairs barefoot with Bo at her heels. She swung around the stair post at the end of the banister, saw a pink bundle curled up on the sofa, and almost tripped on the rug.

      “Val!” Melody shouted, and Bo barked excitedly. “Shhh!” Melody frowned at him when she remembered how early it was.

      Val sat up, blinking her sleepy eyes. Bo rushed over to her. “Hey, doggy.” Val scratched between his ears and yawned at Melody. “My daddy came over to help your daddy, and I came along. How is your song coming?”

      Melody had told Val that the Walk to Freedom had helped her pick her song for Youth Day. “I know all the words, but I have to start working on the music.”

      “My mama says ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ is beautiful, but it’s not easy to sing.” Val absentmindedly began to pat down her messy hair.

      “Here, let me!” Melody said. She sat next to Val and parted her cousin’s hair with her fingers, making two careful braids. “Big Momma says things worth having don’t come easy.”

      “I wish she’d tell that to Mama and Daddy again,” Val said. “Now they can’t agree on where we’re gonna live. I never knew it was so hard to buy a house.”

      “I know they’ll make it work,” Melody said.

      Val pulled away to look at her and laugh. “You say that all the time!”

      “That’s because my mother does. Come on. Let’s go see what the daddies are doing outside.”

      Melody, Val, and Bo sped through the dining room and burst into the kitchen. Melody didn’t expect her mother to be up yet, so she was surprised to see Mommy wearing her red-white-and-blue-striped blouse and dancing to the radio.

      “Happy Fourth of July, girls!” Mommy said. She was holding a bowl full of lemons that had been cut in half. “You’re just in time to