The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963

Kenny wakes at dawn in the front seat and notes that the Ultra-Glide is stuck and repeating a line. He drifts off again and wakes next when it is brighter out. Dad says they should keep the broken record player a secret from Momma, and Kenny agrees. Joey and Kenny offer to stay awake with Dad, but both fall asleep again. Kenny wakes up in Alabama. Dad is listening to country music and joking that they will all change their names to country names like Billy-Bob and Daisy Mae. Dad chatters because he is so tired and wonders how Momma felt when she realized he did not plan to stop. He says he stayed awake by “locking into” the road and thinking how a friend of his, Joe Espinosa, drove to Texas without an overnight break. He also comments on the wear and tear of the trip on Kenny, Joey, and Byron: “Yeah, I swear I been looking in the rearview mirror and wondering where my babies were and where these three bad-dispositioned, sour-faced middle age midgets came from. But your sorry little mugs couldn’t stop me either” (153).

They arrive in Momma’s old neighborhood in Birmingham. Kenny is surprised to see that Grandma Sands is not at all scary: “What came out was a teeny-weeny, old, old, old woman that looked just like Momma would if someone shrank her down about five sizes and sucked all the juice out of her!” (156). They each greet her politely and hug her, with Grandma Sands asking for stronger hugs. Joey cries. Because they are so early, Grandma says she will send Byron to the store for food. She also alludes to a boyfriend, Mr. Robert, whom Momma did not know about. Kenny looked forward to the ultimate faceoff of two stubborn, strong, mean individuals in Grandma Sands and Byron, but Byron is immediately and consistently polite and deferential to Grandma Sands. Kenny is disappointed: “It seemed like all the fight was out of Byron and we’d only been in Birmingham for a couple of minutes” (161).

Kenny wakes after a hot and sweaty night in Alabama. He goes outside to see Byron, Dad, Mr. Robert, and Mr. Robert’s dog, Toddy. Mr. Robert is explaining how Toddy used to be a good hunting dog but is too old for the hunt now. Mr. Robert tells a story about saving Toddy from drowning when the dog trailed a coon into a lake. Mr. Robert hauled the dog out, then resuscitated it by breathing into its nose. Inside, Kenny eats bacon and cereal while Momma and Grandma Sands catch up. They also mention “how much trouble people were having with some white people down here” (166). Grandma Sands tells Momma that Mr. Robert is “her dearest friend” in a tone that stops Momma’s fussing about it (168); Kenny hears Grandma Sands give his mother “a real good scolding” (168). The heat makes Kenny feel sleepy, but going with Mr. Robert, Dad, Joey, and Byron to see fishing spots, he notices Byron seems wide awake and “like he was having a great time” (168).