Melody said confidently. But Daddy just shook his head.
Melody picked up Sharon’s gift. She didn’t waste any time unwrapping carefully, the way her sisters did. She tore everything open. The tissue paper ripped away easily, and a length of shiny purple satin ribbon fell into Melody’s lap.
“It’s for Matching Mondays,” Sharon said. “My mom says purple is really hard to find, but she got enough for both of us.”
“I love it!” Melody said. Almost every Monday since she and Sharon had met in kindergarten they’d worn the same color hair ribbons to school. Melody carefully wound the ribbon into neat loops. “I got a purple plaid skirt for Christmas,” she told Sharon. “This ribbon will go with it perfectly.”
Melody was curious about the tube-shaped gift from Diane. When she pulled the paper off, she discovered a tin kaleidoscope. “Neat,” she said, holding one end up to her eye and twisting the other end. A colorful burst of patterns shifted inside the tube. “Thanks, Diane.”
Next was Val’s small box. Inside was a bright new set of jacks and a tiny rubber ball to go with them. “I know you lost one of your other set,” Val said.
“I did.” Melody gave the ball a quick test bounce, and it flew right into Yvonne’s Afro. “Oops!” Melody made a sheepish face. Yvonne simply pulled the ball out, patted her hair back into place, and smiled.
“No ball bouncing indoors!” Daddy said sternly, scooping the ball away from Yvonne. Then he reached to drop it back into its box, which Melody shut quickly. She moved on to her parents’ gift, which was wrapped in Christmas paper. It was heavier than she expected. What could it be? she wondered.
“Be careful there,” Daddy warned. Melody slipped one finger under the lid and popped it off. Inside, nested in crumpled newspapers, was a green transistor radio.
“Ohhh!” she sighed. “My very own radio. Now I can play the music stations I like whenever I want! Thank you, thank you!” Melody immediately turned the radio on and began turning the dial to tune in a station.
Dwayne snapped his fingers when music began to play. “Isn’t this a dancing party?” He reached for Melody’s hand and pulled her up from the floor. “Come on, Dee-Dee Double Digits. Let’s dance!”
Melody followed Dwayne’s smooth steps toward the dining room where the floor was clear. In seconds, Charles had gotten Tish up, Lila and Yvonne were moving to the beat, and Val and Sharon were doing a silly bird-like step.
“Are you back to stay? Did you write any new songs? When are you going to make your own record?” Melody asked Dwayne all at once.
“So many questions!” he laughed. “Am I on a quiz show?”
“No,” Melody answered. “I missed you, that’s all.”
“In that case, we’re in town for a few weeks to sing backup for some folks and work on a new song I wrote.”
“How does it go?”
Dwayne sang:
Girl, it’s time that I move,
Time for movin’ on up.
Yeah, it’s time for my move,
Time to start changing my luck.
“Oh, that sounds good,” Melody said. “I like it.”
“I do, too,” Dwayne told her. “I think it could be a hit. When we get studio time, I want you to sing it with me. I’m not kidding!”
“I know,” Melody answered. “I’ll do it.” But right now she couldn’t imagine anything better than this wonderful moment.
Dwayne took her by one hand and spun her around. She almost felt as if she were flying. Everyone was laughing. Her grandparents were clapping. She looked over her shoulder and saw her mother and father dancing, too. She closed her eyes to take a picture with her mind. She felt happy. She felt strong, as if she could do anything.
Later that evening, Melody lay across her bed holding her radio, but it wasn’t on. She was listening to her brother and sisters arguing and then laughing down in the living room, the same way they always had. She was smiling when her parents stuck their heads into her room.
“The idea was that you would listen to the radio,” her father teased, “not to your squabbling siblings.”
“I know, Daddy,” Melody laughed. She sat up as Mommy came into the room.
Her mother waved a package. “One more gift!”
Melody could tell from the shape that it was a book. Even though her mother was a math teacher, she loved to read. And she always encouraged other people—especially her children—to love reading, too.
Mommy sat on the edge of her bed. Daddy leaned against the doorway. Melody untied the ribbon and peeled away the paper. “The First Book of Rhythms, by Langston Hughes,” she read.
As long as she could remember, Melody had heard her father reading aloud poems written by the famous black author. He could even recite some Langston Hughes poems from memory. Sometimes, the poems sounded like music.
Melody flipped through her new book, surprised to see that it wasn’t poetry. It was about finding rhythms in poetry and music and even nature. She couldn’t wait to read it.
“I saw in the newspaper that Mr. Hughes is going to make an appearance at Hudson’s department store in February,” Mommy told her.
“Can we go?” Melody asked excitedly.
Mommy nodded.
Melody had started paging through the book again when a yawn snuck up on her. “I think Melody needs to listen to the rhythm of her sleep,” Daddy laughed.
Melody set the book and the radio on the shelf behind her bed and crawled under the covers. Mommy tucked her in, and Daddy kissed her on the forehead. “’Night, my ten-year-old girl.”
“’Night, Daddy,” Melody murmured. “’Night, Mommy.” Her parents went across the hall to their room, and their voices mingled with Lila’s, Yvonne’s, and Dwayne’s. Melody fell asleep listening to the rhythm of her family.
Challenges
