Whistling Past the Graveyard

Cyrena drives Eula, James, and Starla to a bus stop in Jackson, Mississippi. She pins a note onto Starla’s shirt identifying her as Sarah Langsdon. If anyone asks, Starla will say that she was visiting her grandmother in Jackson and is returning home to her mother in Nashville. They wrap the baby so that no one can detect his skin color. Starla thinks they’ll be safe on the bus, but Eula doesn’t think a Black person is secure on a bus. She thinks they’re pushing their luck.

Eula and James get on the bus first and sit in the back. Starla aims to sit near them, but the bus driver orders Starla to sit near him instead. Starla reminds the driver that she’s in a “free country” and that she’s not a “baby.” On the bus, Starla notices the signs. At a stop, the driver calls attention to the segregated bathrooms and the diner, Riedell’s, that doesn’t serve Black people.

Off the bus, Starla checks on James and asks Eula why she hates carnivals. Eula and a cousin, Henry, snuck out to a carnival when they were young. Some white people didn’t want Black people at the carnival, so they brutalized Henry, and the assault traumatized Eula’s mother.

Starla thinks about segregation and how racist laws make the bathrooms for Black people unclean and leave their water fountains without a cooler. Mamie calls activists “agitators,” but Starla thinks there’s a “good reason” for organizations like the NAACP.

Arriving in Nashville, Starla can’t find Lulu Langsdon in the phone book, nor is there a Lulu Claudelle. A woman from the bus inquires about Lulu, and Starla says that she’s a famous singer. The woman says that Nashville is “full” of famous musicians.

At a bar, Starla asks a woman about Lulu, and the woman makes a quip about Lulu usurping Patsy Cline before suggesting the Opry as a potential location. At the Opry, Eula watches from the alley, but Starla can’t find her mother in the long line.

Eula, James, and Starla head toward Mt. Zion Baptist Church, which helps people in need. No one is at the church, so the trio camp out behind the announcement board until Reverend Freeman arrives. Eula and Starla share the last apple.

Four Black men beat up a Black person and then harass Eula and Starla. Eula says that they can do what they want to her, but they must leave Starla alone, who hides in the alley with James. Freeman appears and scares the men away. He leads Eula and Starla to the church basement, where there are cots and food. Eula bakes cookies for the church, and Starla thinks that Eula is whistling past the graveyard.

The people at the church treat Starla well, and they invite her and Eula to a potluck in the basement to mark a parishioner’s 90th birthday. The members adore James, and Starla asks a banjo player about Lulu. He doesn’t know Lulu but suggests a bar, Tootsies, where “white musicians” meet.

At Tootsies, Starla asks Miss Tootsie about Lulu Claudelle, and Miss Tootsie says that Lulu doesn’t have kids. Starla identifies herself as Lulu’s daughter, so Miss Tootsie goes behind the bar. A woman with big, blond hair appears and asks where Starla has been. Starla tells the woman that she wants to see her mother. The woman then reveals herself to be Lulu.

Starla doesn’t believe that the woman with “crazy” hair and “raccoon” makeup is her mother, but Lulu convinces her. Starla introduces her to Eula, but Lulu is racist, so Starla scolds Lulu, and Lulu hits her.

In Lulu’s messy apartment, Lulu tells Starla that she’s working, not singing, and that she sends her money to Mamie. Starla says that Porter sends Mamie money, and Lulu suspects that Mamie keeps Lulu’s money. Starla wants to live with Lulu, but Lulu can’t take care of her, and the space isn’t big enough for Starla, Lulu, and her husband, Earl. Lulu calls Porter and demands that he come to Nashville to retrieve Starla.

Lulu goes to work, and Starla takes a hot bath, remembering when Mamie said that Lulu “shook” baby Starla until Porter grabbed her from Lulu. She then imagines Wallace’s face and starts crying.

Starla wants to return to Cyrena’s house, but Eula doesn’t think that’s the “right thing.” Starla thinks that Lulu is “horrible,” and Eula thinks everyone is like their mothers, but Lulu is “selfish” and “disappointed”—Starla is neither. Eula believes that Starla “saved” her from Wallace.