The Long Walk Home Page #6

was silly when it first started.

And if it wasn't

being made into...

such a circus by the coloreds,

I'd still think it was silly. But...

...it's not anymore.

And drivin' Odessa

to work, it...

just wasn't the right thing to do.

You know that.

I think Odessa... has been

a wonderful maid for us,

and when she's here,

that's what she is: A Maid.

And that's not the real Odessa. We don't

know that woman. Can't ever know her.

It's like... a dog knowin' a cat.

It's a different species.

And you drivin' her to work is

tellin' her that she's just like us.

And she's not,

and she never can be.

Even if I thought you didn't

understand that, and I know you do,

I still couldn't let you

drive her to work.

Do you know what would happen to you...

if the wrong people saw you?

You saw the pictures from Tuscaloosa

when they kicked that niggra out.

There are people here, now,

that are ready to do those things.

Don't go off on your own.

You ask me.

I know what's best.

Mrs. Thompson?

- Mrs. Thompson?

- Odessa. I didn't know if you'd make it.

I did the breakfast dishes.

Mrs. Thompson...

why did you call me at home,

and tell me you couldn't carry

me to work anymore?

Well, if...

If you won't ride the bus,

Mr. Thompson doesn't see

why I should have to suffer.

I ain't asked you to suffer,

Mrs. Thompson.

It wasn't me, Odessa.

It was Mr. Thompson.

He was home with a cold today,

and he found out.

Let me get you somethin' dry.

- Here ya are.

- Thank you.

So, what are you gonna do?

I don't know.

I can't walk,

and I can't ride the bus.

Can't you just walk until

this whole mess is over?

Mrs. Thompson,

you a good woman.

But I gotta find me another job.

I gotta quit.

I gotta be able to take

care of my children.

Well, uh, I understand.

You know, it's... It's funny

the way people are.

This mornin' Norman was actin' so sick,

and then he found out I'd been drivin' you,

and he got so mad,

he jumped out of bed.

I guess that got his blood goin', and he

started feelin' better and went on to work.

Norman's just always been where

everything's segregated. That's...

That's just the way he thinks.

When I was 15, my girls club went

on a bus trip across the country.

It was in the '30s,

but my family had some money, and,

I remember we went

to Portland, Oregon.

It was the middle of the summer,

and it was hot, and,

the bus driver found this public

pool for us. We went swimmin'.

Then these two colored boys came

and got in the water. And let me tell ya,

you've never seen 20 girls get out

of a pool so fast in all your life.

We just...

We just didn't know any better.

But I remember watchin'

those other kids in the water.

And they just kept right on swimmin'

with those colored boys, and,

they didn't seem any

the worse for it.

So the rest of the world

around ya is...

livin' that way, and so you

just don't question it.

Years ago...

I decided I'd live with Norman

for the rest of my life.

And part of that means

livin' the way he lives.

But sometimes...

Sometimes Norman says things.

It makes me wonder if he saw as much of the

world durin' the war as he thought he did.

But he's a good man.

He's a good provider.

In a lot of ways, he's a better

husband than I am a wife.

He's better with the children.

He...

You know, he can say a word and

make 'em smile. I can't do that.

Mrs. Thompson, he can't be

a mother to 'em.

Odessa.

You do the motherin'.

I saw the way you held Mary Catherine

when she had the chicken pox,

and you hadn't even had it.

Mrs. Thompson, anybody

would have done that.

I wonder.

Would I have done that

for your daughter?

Mrs. Thompson, I don't want your

children to grow up scared of mine.

It's just that a lot

of the wives are scared.

I'm a little scared.

We all scared.

But what's scarin' you, Mrs. Thompson?

Who you are?

Or who Mr. Thompson

wants you to be?

- Hi.

- Hi.

- Here.

- Oh, thank you.

- Let me take your coat.

- Thank you.

- How's your cold?

- Oh, I'm miserable. I feel like crap.

Well, that's nice, honey.

Odessa walked to work today.

- Oh, you told her she had to?

- In the rain.

From Cobb Street.

But she's not walking again.

- No?

- No.

You have your job, and I

guess you do it just fine.

My job is to run this house. And as

long as it's clean, supper's cooked,

and the laundry... the laundry

gets done, I don't...

I don't think it's any of your

business how it happens.

Wait a second. Aren't you forgettin'

who pays the bills around here?

Well then, what time should

I be ready tomorrow?

Ready for what?

Well, I'm gonna go downtown with you in

the mornin' and help you with your job.

You seem so intent on

helping me with mine.

Or if you don't like that idea,

I do have a college education,

so I'll just go out and

get a job of my own.

It'll probably be somethin' secretarial,

but I'm sure I'll manage.

You will have to take on a lot of

the housework, which will include

finding a maid who

can get out here.

But the money I earn will be my own,

and I'll do with it what I damn well please.

- You're serious...

- And that includes givin' it all to that

Reverend King and the Montgomery

Improvement Association,

so they can put an end to

this whole boycott mess.

Now, do you really care

if I drive Odessa to work?

We're havin' pork chops

for supper,

and I told Mary Catherine that you'd

read to her before she went to sleep.

Did you get Mary Catherine

to bed?

Yeah.

What are you doin'?

Oh, are you just not

gonna talk to me?

Honey, there's no reason

to be so mad.

- Norman, talk to me.

- You already made up your mind.

- No need to talk to me.

- Honey, I'm doin' what I think is right.

Where are you going?

Norman, I'm still your wife.

Yeah, that's all you are.

Odessa, come on,

sit up front with me.

Odessa, how does that

carpooling system work?

Well, I don't use it often,

Mrs. Thompson,

but I believe that drivers

come at the end of day,

to places like Cloverdale, and they pick

up the women that need the rides.

It's a little more organized

than that, isn't it?

Yes.

Yes, it is.

They look for the ringleaders

of the boycott,

they pull 'em over

and give 'em tickets.

If they see too many coloreds in the car,

they pull them over too.

I'll probably get

lots of tickets.

You know, Mrs. Thompson,

it ain't just tickets.

Once you step over there, I don't

know that you can ever step back.

But the boycott

needs the help.

Mrs. Thompson, this boycott's

gonna survive without you drivin'.

Odessa, I wanna do this.

I wanna help.

There's a lot of ways you can help, Mrs.

Thompson. You can just write a check.

If I wrote you a check,

it would be Norman's money.

This is somethin' I can do.

This whole mess is just about

ridin' the bus anyway.

That's what it is now.

But we gonna win this thing,

Mrs. Thompson.

When it's all said and done...

people are gonna look at you,

Mrs. Thompson,

and they're gonna say

that you were part of this.

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