The Mighty Miss Malone

Later that same night, Deza asks Jimmie to sing “Shenandoah.” Soon, a group of six or seven folks, one of whom is the harmonica man, come to ask about the excellent singing. They ask Jimmie to sing more, calling him “Sir” and amazed by his voice. The harmonica man is Zeke Greene, known as Saw-Bone Zee. Mother comes back from her evening shift of work, and she and Deza listen to Jimmie sing along with the harmonica. Mother and Deza leave Jimmie to stay up late and sing some more. They take a walk to the creek and Mother retells the story of how Deza did not talk until she was three, and then it was straight into full sentences. Mother even had her surprise Father when he came home from work on the day she began talking. Mother says, “That was when we first knew what a special child we had” (218).

Sometime overnight, Deza wakes to sudden, frantic activity in the camp. Many people are grabbing up their meager possessions and rushing to leave; someone tells Mother and Deza that “Those dirty dogs are trying to sneak the train out early!” (220). Mother finds a note from Jimmie and gives it to Deza; Jimmie wrote that he is leaving with Saw-Bone Zee for Chicago or New York, hoping to find work and success as a musician. He says he will write and send money to general delivery in Flint, and not to worry about him. Mother says she knew this was going to happen, but Deza wants to try to get Jimmie to stay.

She runs to the train, where men with billy clubs are preventing all the would-be travelers from boarding. Deza feels great tension in the air, but soon one of the men drops his club and steps aside. Others do the same, and the large groups, mostly men, hurry to board the train. Deza cannot find Jimmie and decides that she is going to be only happy for him to have a chance at success and happiness with his extraordinary talent: “No, I’m going to remember the way he looks so proud and lit-up and carefree a few hours ago when he ran back to talk to Mr. Starbuck Zee” (222-23). Deza turns, then begins to run toward camp as she hears gunshots.

Police go through the camp, tearing down and burning the makeshift shelters. One fires a gun into the community kettle, destroying it. They will allow no one to take the road into Flint. Deza wishes they would not burn the pretty gingham curtains on their tent that remind her of the dress she left behind, but Mother hurries her away. Then Mother says she left her wedding ring behind and insists on going back. She must convince a threatening police officer first, but he relents and allows her to return. Deza waits nervously until finally Mother is back. They walk all night, circling Flint by foot. Finally they arrive at the home of Mrs. Brand, a woman with whom Mother works. Deza feels bad taking up the last bit of floor space in her crowded house, but that afternoon Mother comes back with two keys to a room she rented.

Having an address means Deza can more easily write to Jimmie; she addresses her letters to him “general delivery” in New York or Chicago. She also gets a library card and begins checking out books often, as school is not very challenging for her. A kind white woman at the post office, Mrs. James, grows used to Deza checking every day for letters from Jimmie and Father. School is dreadful; the teachers never call on her, and the work is not stimulating. Deza reflects how she is “toughened up” now, and whereas “The Deza Malone in Gary would have been crushed […] The Flint Deza didn’t care” (233).

Deza also notices that very often, the characters in the good stories are white. The stories her literature teacher chooses are awful, in Deza’s opinion, often about a spoiled white boy named Penrod. Months pass. Deza turns 13 on February 12, 1937, and Mother surprises her with ice cream for them and the other tenants who share the boarding house. Mother also surprises Deza with a white uniform blouse from the hotel where she works and a jumper she made herself from the gingham curtains on their tent in the homeless encampment. Mother enjoys telling Deza it was the curtains she went back to fetch that night, not her wedding ring. One of the tenants, Mr. Alums, is a teacher, and he gives Deza The Quest of the Silver Fleece by W.E.B. DuBois and Nella Larsen’s Quicksand. The Black characters’ sincere portrayal and real conflicts in The Quest of the Silver Fleece elate Deza, and she stays up all night reading it.