If the Fire Comes: A Story of Segregation during the Great Depression
I Am America IF THE FIRE COMES A Story of Segregation during the Great Depression
Chapter One August 5 1935 Mission Save the Pigeons Operative Joseph McCoy Summary It's been a week since I brought the pigeons home They made Maya smile The last few months since she's had polio have been hard Her legs don't work right anymore and she's been stuck in bed There are two things that cheer her up My spy stories and the presents I bring home the pigeons being the best find so far I tell her the story every night to see if she'll smile again how I knew the gambler a pigeon racer was down on his luck I'd shined his shoes a
dozen times so I'd heard all his stories I followed him five blocks without being noticed sly as a real spy and watched him dump his losing birds in the trash behind the mercantile Maya's favorite part is how I waited until he left and then saved the birds bent cages and all I'd heard how pigeons can send messages and I thought Maya and I could use them in our spy games but something's wrong The last few days the pigeons have been lying down not getting up when I bring them the leftover cornbread and milk Maya says they are sick because we aren't feeding them right Today I'm going to make enough money to get real pigeon feed I might have to shine a dozen shoes to do it but I'm not coming home until I can make the birds better I worry that if something happens to the pigeons Maya might never smile again
Joseph McCoy could tell a lot by the shoes a person wore Or didn’t wear Uncle Tanner’s shoes sat by the door of the shop Joseph and his family lived in untouched on a weekday morning Uncle Tanner’s boots a pair of Red Wings worn down to the metal over the toe told the story of a man who’d worked hard once Shifting the boots to set his shoeshine box down by the door Joseph could smell the oil and smoke from the leather Uncle Tanner had been a metalworker before the Depression He’d even been able to save up to have his own shop and tools but he’d been out of work for almost two years now His boots sat by the door more and more often It was rare for Uncle Tanner to even come out of the back room now Joseph checked his shoeshine box making sure his supplies were ready for the day black liquid polishing cloth Griffin shoe polish and several small brushes Joseph was the best shoeshine in Elsinore California He knew how to get every detail right and his hands
