Long Walk Home Page #5

for the carpools?

Well, I don't know if she is,

but I know there's a lot of women

from the air force

base who do.

I come to find

out from Odessa,

they are drivin' these maids

around on a regular basis.

- What? - There are white

women drivin' for the carpool.

- Are you sure? - Yes. Odessa says

they're from Maxwell Field.

I should have known

they were Yankees.

But they had police out there,

and they were followin' people around.

For a while, Odessa and I

thought they were followin' us.

- Miriam, are you drivin' your

maid to work? - No, Laura Ann.

Two days a week I go to the Curb Market,

and I just pick her up on those days.

And you were talkin' like you thought those

white women drivin' the carpools were wrong.

You're just as bad. Robert says this

whole boycott would end tomorrow if

- people like you would stop drivin' their

maids to work. - Is that what Robert says?

Well, my maid has a car,

so I don't have to worry about it.

Well, I told Cathy,

that if she wanted to boycott,

that was fine, but she'd be on her own.

She fed me all this junk about:

"Oh, I's not wantin' to boycott.

I's just walkin' 'cause I can't ride

with all these police and stuff. "

I told her, "Fine. Just be at work

on time and don't leave early. "

One club.

Well, you better well believe

- she's sittin' up front at those

church rallies. - Pass.

- One spade.

- Pass.

I don't really care what happens to

the boycott, but I do care if I have a maid,

and if that means drivin' her sometimes,

well, that's what it means.

Two clubs.

40,000 local Negroes continue

to walk and ride in carpools,

as the city buses roll

without passengers.

An announced settlement with Negro

ministers proves to be an empty promise.

In day 49 of the

Negro Bus Boycott,

dramatic new developments

from City Hall.

Good evening.

I'm Carl Stephens, WSFA News.

Mayor Gayle announced today he was calling

off negotiations in the Negro bus boycott.

Must be Tunker.

I have to go.

Honey, that's not polite.

Sit at the table when

we have company. Hi!

- How's my little Boo-boo? - Oh, she doesn't

like to be called Boo-boo anymore.

- They make fun of her at school.

- Aw...

Well then...

I will never call you that again.

If you just...

Give your Uncle

Tunker a little

- ... sugar.

- ... sugar.

Ah! I always liked Mary

Catherine better anyway.

That's the type of name you'd

expect for a princess or a queen.

- 'Cause you are a princess. My beautiful

little princess. - We better be off.

- Well, good luck.

- Luck?

Citizens' Council don't need luck.

Not with men like your daddy.

Oh, I thought you were going

to a business meeting.

- No. Citizens' Council meeting.

- Oh.

Norman, could I talk to you

for a minute, please?

Norman. These are the people

you said couldn't count to 10.

You're gonna go to

one of their meetings?

The whole thing has

just gotten out of hand.

And now the mayor, the city commission,

they've all joined.

So for me, it's either joining

this group or the Klan.

Oh, honey.

That's not true.

The mayor and the commission

are politicians.

They'd join the circus if they

thought it'd get 'em reelected.

You're beginnin' to let your little

brother lead you around by the nose.

Listen, I don't care whether you like Tunker

or not, but don't you tell me what to do.

I'll make up my own mind, and I'll join

any goddamn group I please.

- Are you ready?

- Sure.

- Well, this is not at all what

I expected. - Yeah.

See. No white sheets.

No secret oaths.

You mean I don't get to

learn a coded handshake?

- Is that what you're tryin' to tell me?

- Norm Thompson. - Yeah.

Oh, hi. Jeff Sewell with

Avalon Brothers here in town.

- Oh, right. Nice to see ya.

- Glad you could be out tonight.

- Thank you. - By the way, I've just

been put on the planning commission.

- Uh-huh. - If you ever have a

zoning problem, you give me a ring.

- I can put you right.

- Thanks, Jeff.

Over half the small business owners

in town are members of the council.

You mean half the white

small businesses.

If you call what the n*ggers do business,

Commissioner Sellers.

- How you doing, Clyde?

- Holdin' on.

Didn't think you'd be

out here after that

phone call I got from

your wife a while back.

She was right though. The police

department's gotta keep its nose clean.

Hope you can get the rest of that country

club crowd to some of these meetings.

If the n*ggers keep pushin'

the way they are,

- we'll get 'em off the golf

courses for ya. - No, no.

What I want is to get

'em on the course.

Best caddy I ever had

was a n*gger.

Testing.

One, two, three.

Testing.

One, two, three.

- I know the journey... has been hard.

- Yes. Yeah.

- Many of you are tired.

- Right. Yeah.

- Still tired.

- We've seen the city,

and it's turned its back

on its black children.

We've seen the mayor

and city commission,

which has taken a stand...

- for injustice...

- Yes. Amen.

- and bigotry.

- Yes.

- Moses.

- Moses.

- Moses!

- Yes. Moses.

- Fought the pharaoh long

and hard for his people. - Yes.

- What? Oh!

- But Moses stood tall for his people.

Tall, yeah.

When the children of Israel...

were led out

into the wilderness,

- they didn't walk for just

one month or two. - No.

- They walked for 40 long years.

- All right. All right.

They just bombed

Reverend King's house.

Wait.

Let us pray.

- Father, I've just heard

terrible news. - Yeah.

I've heard that a bomb

was thrown at the house...

of a young man

so full of spirit.

Father, we pray...

- in thanks, for sparing the life of

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. - Yes!

- Lord, be by our side.

- Yeah.

These dark days... hold our hand

as we walk through the night.

- Yeah.

- Yes.

- Lord, don't pass Montgomery by!

- Yes.

- Don't pass Montgomery by tonight.

- Yeah.

Oh.

- Is there anything you need, honey?

- No, no.

When's Odessa gettin' here?

Well, she's probably gonna be a

little late on account of the rain.

Isn't she usually

here by now?

Not really.

You mean she

comes in late a lot?

Odessa gets here just fine every day.

Now, I've got to go.

She'll be here soon enough.

Miriam.

Yeah.

Just how does Odessa

get to work?

Well, I was goin' over to

the Curb Market today anyway,

and that's over on Madison

near where Odessa lives,

- and I was just gonna go ahead and

pick her up. - You're gonna do what?

How often do you

drive her around?

Well, I go to Curb Market

twice a week.

- That's it. - Here I am tryin'

to hold my head up as a

white man in this town,

and you're cartin' a n*gger maid.

No wonder none of 'em are ridin' the buses.

They have you to carry 'em around.

What should I do?

Odessa walks to work three days

a week. She can walk five.

You can just get on the

phone and call her now.

- Norman.

- Now, damn it!

Hello.

Yes, ma'am, I can be to work.

I'll just be a little late.

- Oh.

- Miriam?

Damn.

I'm sorry I got

so upset before.

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