Melody. “I hope your brother is smart enough to appreciate it when you girls stick up for him,” he said. “But with a college degree, your brother would have a whole lot of opportunities.”
“Let’s save this talk for later,” Mommy said.
Melody blew out a relieved breath. She didn’t want their great day to be ruined by a disagreement.
“I say everybody needs to cool down with some ice cream and cake,” Big Momma said. She got up and headed for the kitchen.
Dwayne escaped to the living room. Yvonne stayed at the table, talking to their father and grandfather about her plans for a summer job. Melody gathered the salt and pepper shakers, which were shaped like two fat penguins, got up, and put them away.
A soft, slow tune was coming from Big Momma’s piano. Dwayne was playing, making up a new song. Melody listened for him to sing some words, but there weren’t any. Maybe he hadn’t thought of them yet. She wandered to the archway between the rooms just as the phone beside the sofa rang.
“Children, answer that for me!” Big Momma called from the kitchen.
Melody started into the living room, but Dwayne had already grabbed the big black telephone receiver without noticing her.
“Hello!” Dwayne answered breathlessly. And then, instead of calling either of his grandparents or taking a message, he lowered his voice.
“Yeah?” he almost whispered. “Make it quick. I told you this is my grandfather’s number. Okay. I’m working on the song now. I’ll meet you later.”
“Who is it?” Poppa asked from the table. Dwayne dropped the receiver into the cradle with a clatter.
“Are you getting calls from your girlfriends on my telephone?” Poppa laughed. So did Daddy and Yvonne.
“No, sir,” Dwayne called quickly. His eyes met Melody’s. He had a funny expression on his face. She’d heard him talking to girls on the phone before, and that wasn’t how he’d sounded. Dwayne definitely had a secret.
“Was that about your singing group?” she asked.
Dwayne pulled her farther into the living room. “Yeah, but after that scrape with Dad, I’d rather not announce this, okay? That was Artie’s brother. He just got hired as a musician at Motown, and he’s gonna try to get us an audition.” Artie was Dwayne’s buddy and a member of his singing group, The Detroiters.
“That’s so exciting, Dwayne!” Melody exclaimed.
“Shhh,” Dwayne insisted. “Can you keep it a secret?”
Melody pinched her finger and thumb together and slid them across her lips, as if she were closing a zipper. That was the signal she and her brother and sisters used with one another, meaning, “I won’t tell anyone!”
Dwayne’s shoulders relaxed, and he went back to the piano. Melody followed.
Dwayne held his hands dramatically over the piano keys. “How about you singing this for your Youth Day solo?” he said, beginning to play and sing something different—and lively. “Grandpa Poppa had a farm…”
Melody giggled, shaking her head at how he’d changed the words of the old kindergarten rhyme. From all around the house, her family joined in:
“E-i-e-i-ohhhh!”
Let Your Light Shine
At the corner, they paused to wait for Melody’s best friend, Sharon. Sharon lived three blocks up the street, and Melody always watched to see her front gate swing open as Sharon ran to meet them. Sharon always ran.
“Hey!” Sharon waved as her strong legs flew along the sidewalk.
Melody was eager to see if Sharon had remembered that it was “Matching Monday,” and had worn red hair ribbons as they’d planned. “You didn’t forget!” Melody said.
“’Course not,” Sharon said, turning her head so Melody could admire the crisply ironed satin ribbons that were tied in neat bows at the tops of her two pigtails.
“Nice.” Melody nodded and checked quickly to see if her own red ribbons were still tied tightly. They were.
“So, are you super excited about Youth Day?” Sharon asked. They were both in the children’s choir. “What are you going to sing?”
“I don’t know yet,” Melody answered.
“Does it have to be a church song?”
Melody hadn’t considered that question. Both girls looked at Lila, who was walking and reading a book at the same time.
“Lila, Mommy told you to stop doing that,” Melody reminded her sister.
“Yeah,” Sharon chimed in. “Didn’t you run right into a light post one time while you were reading?”
Lila glared at them. She slapped her book closed and promptly dropped it. Melody picked it up.
“Anyway,” Melody continued, “did you hear Sharon? About the song?”
“Yes,” Lila said. “And of course it has to be a church song, sillies. It’s a program at the church!”
Melody hadn’t said a word about Dwayne’s secret to her sisters or even to Sharon. But the tune that he had been playing on Big Momma’s piano snuck into Melody’s head during her morning math class, and stayed there through her spelling quiz. At lunchtime, she tapped her milk carton to the rhythm while Sharon and a boy named Julius argued about the Detroit Tigers baseball team.
By the time she and Sharon lined up for dodgeball in gym that afternoon, Melody was humming her brother’s nameless, wordless tune out loud. A high-pitched voice spoke behind her.
“What’s that song?” It was Diane Harris.
Melody glanced at Sharon. They always thought it was interesting that Diane’s speaking voice was high and screechy, but that when she opened her mouth to sing, such a smooth sound came out.
“Just music in my head,” Melody said. She wouldn’t give away anything about Dwayne’s new creation.
“Well,
