Read Online With the Might of Angels by Andrea Davis Pinkney - Free Book Online

hello, Cynthia,” she said, with a smile in her voice. But soon Mama was frowning, and shaking her head, and saying, “I see … I see …”
    When she hung up, she told Daddy and me that I would not be going to school today, that the Hadley school officials had put a stop to me attending Prettyman.
    “When will I go?” I asked.
    “The NAACP is working toward lifting the hold by noon today,” Mama said.
    But noon came and went. We waited for further news and instruction on what to do. The phone didn’t ring once.
    Finally, by three o’clock, Mama said, “Take off the dress and put it back on its hanger. Set the shoes in their box, and be careful with the bow.”
    I am the only kid in Lee County who got to skip the first day of school.
    I now know what it’s like to feel two ways at once — disappointed that I would not be admittedto school today, and relieved that I would not be admitted to school today.
    As much as I didn’t want to show up with muffin hair and a Peach Melba bow, I didn’t want to
not
go to school at all.
Thursday, September 9, 1954
Diary Book,
    Today was the same as yesterday. Waiting and wondering, and listening for the phone to ring. Goober has started school at Bethune. I don’t like the ripped-up schoolbooks and raggedy pencils at Bethune, but I’m sure sick of sitting around while Mama scurries from the kitchen to the living room, wiping her hands on her apron, and telling me to keep clean.
Friday, September 10, 1954
Diary Book,
    I’ve done the same routine several days this week — scrubbed in the tub, set my hair in curlers, woken up, put on the Peach Melba dress, and waited to hear if I’d be attending school or not.
    Daddy says people who make the state laws are working to slow down integration. NAACP officials are meeting every day to determine ifit’s safe for me to go to Prettyman Coburn.
    Today Daddy brought home three different newspapers and read, read, read. After supper, before Daddy left for work, he was pinned to the radio, listening close. I listened, too, hoping for some news. “Governor Stanley has called again for cool heads, calm, steady, and sound judgment,” the man on the radio said. “Stanley started out in favor of integration, but has been swayed by the majority, and has, in recent weeks, been in support of segregationists.
    “School board officials have threatened to close all Hadley public schools rather than integrate them.”
    I’m a trapped rabbit, eager to jump — right out of my skin!
Sunday, September 12, 1954
Diary Book,
    Church was packed today.
    Reverend Collier started his sermon by asking, “Who among us steps back in the face of a threat?”
    He talked about what the school board was trying to do to keep schools separate.
    The reverend ended his sermon by telling us, “Those who have faith always step forward.”
Monday, September 13, 1954
Diary Book,
    Back-to-school once meant back-to-boredom.
    Back-to-books.
    Back-to-Bethune.
    Back-to-broken.
    But today when I watched everybody except me go
back
to school for the second week, I wished I was also going
back
— to anything.
    But I have been
held back
from school for dumb reasons.
    Butterflies in a net have more freedom than me. At least they can breathe. I’ve been holding my breath for near to a week.
Thursday, September 16, 1954
Diary Book,
    Sitting home. Waiting. Hair curled. Vaselines strapped on tight. Help!
Friday, September 17, 1954
Diary Book,
    I am dying of Peach Melba
bone
disease. Could I at least wait in dungarees?
Sunday, September 19, 1954
Diary Book,
    Well, I got my
back
-to-school wish after all. Turns out, I’m going
back
to Bethune tomorrow.
    Back to bitten-up pencils and broken books. Mama and Daddy are sending me to Bethune for now, until people make up their minds about which school I’m going to for good.
Monday, September 20, 1954
Diary Book,
    I don’t know what’s worse — no school, or old school. At least I can go
back
to wearing clothes that fit and hair