Music in My Heart: My Journey with Melody

When we get to Melody’s house, no one is home except her dog. I scratch the black-and-white terrier, named Bo, behind the ears, and he wags his tail. Melody says that she’ll show me to her bedroom. Her room is small, but it holds three beds. Melody says she shares with Lila, her sister. Vonnie moved across the hall to Dwayne’s old room, so I can sleep in her bed. So Melody has another sister. I try to imagine three girls fitting in here with all of their stuff. Melody sits down on the bed and says yeah. Lila’s fourteen, and she’ll be starting at a private school this fall. She and Mommy are out buying textbooks right now. Melody’s brother, Dwayne, calls Lila “Miss Bookworm” because she’s always reading. So Melody has a brother, too. She’s got such a big family. I can’t wait to meet them all. And then I notice a stack of books by her bed. There’s a worn copy of The Secret Garden next to a book by Langston Hughes.

I tell Melody that I read that book, as I point at The Secret Garden. Melody follows my gaze and says it’s one of her all-time favorite books. Melody loves gardens. Her grandpa says that she got a green thumb from him. Poppa grew up on a farm in Alabama. They all went to visit him last month. I ask if the trip to Alabama was fun. Melody nods and says that so much happened. They stayed with her mom’s Aunt Beck, and they got to see a lot of cousins on the fourth of July. They talked about how great it is that President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. Now, it’s the law that black people have to be treated equally. Mommy says it’s what they’ve been protesting and marching for all this time. But not everyone is happy about the new law. They experienced some scary things in Alabama, too.

I sit down and ask Melody what she means. Melody pulls her knees to her chest and says that everyone is talking about the three civil rights workers who disappeared in June. They were part of the Mississippi Summer Project, like Yvonne. But the white people complained and had the police arrest them. They just vanished. And they’re still missing. While they were in Alabama, they found out that Yvonne was arrested, too. I suck in my breath. Yvonne went to jail? Melody nods and says that’s how she broke her wrist. She tripped when the police were arresting her. Mommy and Papa had to get her out of jail the next day.

I don’t even know what to say. Melody must’ve been afraid that her sister would disappear, too. I can’t understand why anyone would try to keep black people from having equal rights. I want to tell Melody that things are better now in the future, but a memory tickles the back of my mind. My family had gone out to eat with Mr. Chapman, dad’s campaign manager, who is also black. When Mr. Chapman stepped outside, a white customer handed Mr. Chapman his car keys. I tell Melody that story.

Melody is confused about why the white man handed Mr. Chapman the keys. I explain that the man thought Mr. Chapman was a valet, someone who parks cars for customers who lead to the restaurant, just because he was black. They thought he must be working there, not out to dinner. Dad says things like that still happen a lot. Melody shakes her head and says it’s not fair. It’s discrimination to treat someone differently just because of the color of their skin.

Then Melody hops up and says that’s why Yvonne says we have to do something. We have to make it better, even in Detroit. I smile. I like that Melody wants to try to help other people and she’s not afraid to try, even though she’s young like me. And that makes me want to make things better, too.

At dinner, I get to see Yvonne again, along with Melody’s sister, Lila, and their parents. Melody’s parents are kind of like mine. Her mom is a teacher, like my mom used to be before she became principal. Melody’s dad works at a car factory, and he’s gone a lot, just like mine. But everything else about Melody’s big family is different. When she and her sisters talk, the whole room fills with their voices and laughter. It’s never this noisy at my house.

After dinner, I watch Lila braid Melody’s hair in their bedroom. Yvonne is curled up on the bed giving instructions. Music pipes out of the radio on the headboard, and Melody calls it Motown music. Her foot taps along to the beat. Yvonne laughs and says she has to sit still. She’s making it hard for Lila. Lila pushes her glasses up on her nose and says she’s getting better at the braiding. But still not quite as good as Yvonne. Melody asks when Yvonne’s wrist is going to heal. Yvonne shakes her head and says not soon enough.

I’m dying to ask Yvonne about her broken wrist, about how it happened and what it was like to be arrested. But that’s not polite. Instead, I ask if it hurts. Yvonne shakes her head and says not too much. And what it does, she just reminds herself how it happened and that makes her mad enough to forget about the pain. She smiles, but I know she’s being serious. Melody says that she’s so brave. Melody wishes she could be as brave as her sister. Yvonne reaches out and touches her sister’s toes and says that she is brave. And anyway, Yvonne wishes she were as good a singer as Melody. Melody laughs and yanks her foot away. Lila chips in and says they should both wish that they were as smart as her. Melody and I laugh, but Lila doesn’t seem to appreciate the laughter. Yvonne says that Lila is smart. Mommy says that they’ve all got their own lights to shine.

At that, Melody catches Yvonne’s eye, and the sisters erupt into song. “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” I know this song! The girls continue to sing, and then finally Lila gives up, and lets go of her sister’s hair. She adds in her little high soprano voice, and I jump in for the last line. Melody stands up and says we should sing it in rounds. She picks her dog up and dances with him around the room. And when she sings, Bo adds two barks, right on beat. We sing and laugh and bark away through a whole round until someone raps on the door. Melody’s mom pokes her head into the room, and Melody laughs and says we’re just doing our sister-thing. That’s what Dwayne calls it.

This sister-thing is so fun! I wish these girls were my sisters, too. I’m even a little bit like them. I like to read books, like Lila. I love music, like Melody. And I hope someday I’ll be just as brave as Yvonne.

Later, I’m lying in Yvonne’s old bed. I feel a pang of homesickness, like I always do at sleepovers. But then I hear Melody’s daddy snoring down the hall and Yvonne talking on the phone downstairs. Bo scratches at his collar at the foot of Melody’s bed. The sounds all blend together like music. And it was music that brought me here to Melody. So it’s no wonder that her house is such a joyful place full of noise. I hum “This little light of mine” in my head, remembering the sister-thing. And then I don’t feel homesick anymore.