Clean Getaway

Scoob and G’ma stop in Alabama, which G’ma is hesitant to do. Scoob remembers that while “[h]e doesn’t remember exactly how many safe lodging places were listed in Birmingham, but he’s sure he wouldn’t need more than one hand to count them” (50).

When they arrive, G’ma points to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church. Scoob wants to talk about each location, but he hesitates, afraid it will make G’ma cry. She does anyway.

She and G’pop stopped at the church on April 3, 1968, the day before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. He preached at the 16th Street Baptist Church. As they were driving through Mississippi the next day, they learned he’d been shot.

G’ma also explains that in 1963, the church was bombed, and four little girls were killed. It was because Dr. King and others liked to plan there, but some didn’t like that it was becoming a symbol. It took 39 years for the bomber to be convicted, though “they locked up my Jimmy up and threw away the key without a second thought. And he didn’t kill anybody” (54). G’ma continues to think about G’pop, feeling like she didn’t do anything when G’pop was arrested.