Blackbird, Fly (A Paul McCartney Story)

Chapter One

When I was four, Mama took me into town with her so she could do her shopping.  It was a hot day out, and a few of the ladies that Mama was friends with said hello to us.  They were always real nice, but I was too shy to say hello back, so I just waved.  

After we walked across the street to the shop, I was excited to hurry inside to the cold air, so I did.  Mama shouted after me to stop, but I was already inside the store.  A clerk stopped me from going any further.  "Don't you know that this is a white entrance only?" he snapped.  It struck me as odd, for the clerks that I met at the places that Mama shopped at were always so friendly to us.  

Mama rushed in and grabbed my hand.  "I'm sorry, sir.  She didn't know."  I was so embarrassed then, and even though Mama was polite, the man wasn't.  

"You better teach her to learn!  Now leave!"

Even though Mama never took sass from anyone, she lead me out the door immediately.  I didn't understand why she obeyed him, but when my father yelled at her she yelled right back.  

Once we had gotten groceries from a different store, where the clerk was nice and friendly to us, Mama explained to me what had happened.  

"You see, that's an entrance for other people, honey.  The kind you see go in there all the time.  We have to go in the one around back."

"Why?" I asked her. 

Mama sighed.  "I've asked myself that same question too, sugar.  Well...it's because we are...different than the others.  Like the man who worked there.  We're separated from each other.  That's why we live in a different part of town, and go in different entrances."  

Of course, now I really know why the man shouted at me.  I wished Mama had just told me then what really happened that day, when the man told us to leave and the ladies at the registers looked scadalized.  

I tried my best to do what I had been taught to do, even though there were several people who were already standing up for African-America rights.  When Martin Luther marched, I was fired from my job as a cleaning lady at Mrs. Norman's house because she was afraid I would conspire against her.  But I wasn't.  Then I was just looking for a new job.  

Eventually luck found me when there was an opening at a hotel in the city for a maid.  I got the job, which I was thankful for.  Mama was sick, and she couldn't work as well as she used to, and I needed to help support the family.  My little brother Tommy was real smart, and his twin sister Ruth had the voice of an angel.  I wanted them to have a good education, and that meant forgetting about mine past high school.   

I had heard the news before they came.  Those cute young boys from England were taking over the United States by storm, and they were going to be staying at our hotel in Jacksonville, Florida.  Some of the maids were excited, but they had to hide it.  I wasn't too excited.  I would most likely never see them; I would cleam up after them when they were gone and they would have no idea who I was, nor would they care.  

Just another customer, really.  

I was getting fresh linens from the storage room on the level they were staying on when I heard the noise.  The four boys were joking and laughing, swearing about the crowd around the building.  The manager of the hotel lead them to their suite, the hotel's best and finest one, he might add.  

Even though I wasn't supposed to, I stole a quick glance at them.  The short one with the rather large nose thought the room was wonderful and thanked the manager before hurrying in, meanwhile two of the taller members just walked in, one of them shouting that they could finally rest for a few hours.  Then there came the last one.  He thanked the man, and asked if there were any sites to see around the city.  The manager laughed, saying that it was a nice town, but the lads were traveling so fast he might not have the time.