whatever advanced classes they could Amari often got end-of-the-year awards for her hard work and good grades Amari was unusually quiet for a minute Her forehead was crinkled and her eyes seemed to be looking in the distance Jackie knew better than to interrupt her friend’s thoughts Finally Amari asked Do you think it would be better to stay at a school like ours or be one of the Little Rock Nine Wow girl where do you come up with this stuff I was just munching on my Bit O-Honey and your brain is in full-speed ahead mode Let me think out loud The books and supplies at Central High School in Little Rock are probably heaps nicer than what we have It is a white school after all But nobody hates us at Charles Taylor Well maybe that nasty girl Kishana But she doesn’t like anyone Nobody gets in our way when we walk into the building We don’t 10
need the National Guard to protect us Amari agreed Yeah I think you’re right Jacks Remember how white kids ripped at Elizabeth Eckford’s clothes They even clawed at her skin like animals It was horrible All nine of those kids had a rough time at Central High I don’t know if I could have kept going day after day when I knew no one wanted me there Me neither Do you think schools in Boston will become integrated soon Amari I guess at some point But after what’s happened in Little Rock I doubt the people in charge are in a big hurry for what you know will be trouble Did I tell you about my cousin Ronna one of my Auntie Laila’s kids She was fed up with the crummy supplies at her school So she started a letter-writing campaign to ask for equal funding for white and black schools Dozens of her classmates wrote letters and they mailed them to the 11
Maybe we should try it Jackie Jackie was fascinated And what Not yet but it’s only been a few weeks governor’s office happened Did Ronna hear back from what my dad tells me suggested When Amari opened the front door to her house a waft of sweet-smelling air enveloped her and Jackie Something yummy must have just come out of the oven Mrs Johnson loved to bake After eating some apple crisp Amari headed to her room She and Jackie flipped through a few of Mrs Johnson’s Ebony magazines They loved to look through the advertisements and try to recreate the hairstyles on each other Jackie’s short hair was perfect for lots of the cute styles in the magazine And Amari’s was long enough to try the new bouffant style or mini-braids 12
They dug through Amari’s bureau drawers to see if any of her clothes looked like the ones in the current month’s issue On this particular afternoon one of her lime green tops was a dead ringer for the one worn by a model in a soda pop ad Amari’s tall thin frame was perfect for pretending to be a model Jackie liked to be the stylist and get her friend all decked out in the latest fashions Mrs Johnson even loaned a silky scarf and some melamine earrings for the occasion The girls were nearly done with their make believe photo shoot when Mrs Johnson knocked on the door she announced By the way girls you look amazing If I didn’t know better I’d say you were Ebony models Mrs Johnson was always one of the most stylish dressers around Amari loved looking through the photographs of when her mom and dad Twenty minutes to dinner 13
