The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA

The next day marks the end of Gabriel’s two weeks of punishment, and he rides his bike to work, storing it inside the garage in case the thief who took Meriwether’s bike returns. Meriwether is glad when Gabriel reports that he is being careful while cycling because he would “hate to have anything bad happen to a friend” (148).

That evening, Meriwether shows Gabriel a photograph of him with four other members of the 761st Battalion and their M4 Sherman tank. The commander, Emmanuel Bowman, and the gunner, Fred Ratner, both died in battle, and the ammunition loader, Vernon Morse, lost an arm and a leg. Meriwether’s co-driver, Charlie Denton, now works in Michigan and has a position waiting for Meriwether at the Ford automobile plant, but Meriwether doesn’t want to make his wife leave her job at the church.

Patrick’s sudden arrival startles Meriwether, who hurriedly hides the photograph. The man leaves behind part of his lunch and lets Patrick have it. At first, Patrick calls him “uncle,” but then he remembers Gabriel’s admonishment and calls Meriwether by his name. At his father’s suggestion, Patrick begins working at the garage in the mornings.

Late Sunday night, Meriwether comes to the Haberlins’ house and says that Lucas tried to kill his daughter. He explains that someone left a present on the Hunters’ porch addressed to “Abigail, A Father’s Delight” (156). The box contained a rattlesnake, which Meriwether killed before it could harm the girl. The box also contained the photograph of Meriwether and his battalion, which Meriwether misplaced in the garage. At the moment, Phoebe and Abigail are at the church with the pastor and some men from the congregation.

Agatha urges Meriwether to talk to Sheriff Monk, but he doesn’t trust the police to take his side over a white man’s. Jake pleads with him not to “take the law into [his] own hands” (158). Meriwether begins to sob as he describes how he has striven all his life to be brave, honest, and kind but still isn’t treated like a real man in Birdsong. Jake embraces him.

After Meriwether leaves, Gabriel demands that his father fire Lucas. Wearily, his father says that Gabriel is too young to know about certain problems and tells him to go to bed. The boy lies awake for hours, imagining the moment when the snake struck at Abigail and wondering how long Lucas planned this scheme.

Early the next morning, Sheriff Monk and Deputy J. J. Carroway come to the Haberlins’ home. Miss Duval, Abigail’s piano teacher, brought the dead snake to the sheriff and asked him to investigate who put it on the Hunters’ porch. Jake says, “Can’t bring myself to accuse a man without proof” (164). Monk hasn’t spoken with Meriwether yet, but he plans to do so that afternoon. The sheriff asks if Meriwether and Lucas get along, but Jake retorts that he “already [has] the answer to [his] question” because he knows Lucas (166).

On his way to the garage with Gabriel and Patrick, Jake stops by the Hunters’ house, where three pastors are keeping watch over the family. Pastor Honeywell recognizes the Haberlins, and the other two other men relax when he tells them that Jake’s garage is listed in The Green Book. Abigail declares that she will include the Haberlins in the book that she plans to write about Birdsong. The book will also discuss her father’s service in the war, which she thinks she can discuss with them now because the Hunters plan to leave the town that very day.

Phoebe explains that a friend of Meriwether’s from the war has a job ready for him at the Ford plant in Michigan, and she hopes they’ll have “a better future there” (171). She reveals that Meriwether left the house shortly before the Haberlins’ arrival, claiming that he had to have an important discussion. Abigail reminds her mother that Meriwether swore on the Bible that he wouldn’t hurt Lucas, but Phoebe starts to cry and says, “Nuthin’ I could say to stop him…Nuthin’” (171). Jake, Gabriel, Patrick, and Pastor Honeywell hurry to the garage.

On the way to Jake’s garage, Pastor Honeywell prays, and Patrick wonders if Meriwether and Lucas are going to kill each other. Meriwether’s Chevy is in the parking lot, and Gabriel tumbles out of his father’s car as soon as it stops moving. Inside the garage, Meriwether has Lucas cornered and is threatening him with a metal pipe. He says that he won’t hurt Lucas and tells everyone to stand back. Lucas provokes Meriwether by saying that it’s “a shame” that Abigail survived. As Meriwether prepares to strike the man, Gabriel lunges and makes his friend drop the pipe.

Suddenly, Lucas cries out in pain, clutches his chest, and slumps to the floor, and Jake’s attempts to revive the man prove futile. Gabriel has never seen a dead person before, but he doesn’t shed “a single tear” over Lucas. Jake calls Doc Riley so that he can identify the cause of death and remove the body.

Everyone gathers outside the garage to await the doctor’s arrival. Pastor Honeywell sees divine intervention in Lucas’s death and says that there’s no need to involve the sheriff. Meriwether tells Gabriel that they’re even because he saved the boy’s life and Gabriel saved him from “killin’ a man” (178). Gabriel hopes that the Hunters can stay in Birdsong now, but Meriwether answers that he and Birdsong are tired of one another. He hopes that Michigan will be more welcoming.

At Pastor Honeywell’s suggestion, Jake and Meriwether leave before the doctor arrives and word of Lucas’s death spreads. Jake shakes Meriwether’s hand and tells him to pick up the car’s title and registration from him before he leaves town. Gabriel and Meriwether thank one another again for saving each other. Patrick calls Meriwether by his full name when he says goodbye.

Gabriel and Patrick help customers at the gas station, and Gabriel grapples with the cognitive dissonance of going about his routine tasks while a dead body lies nearby. Doc Riley and Rosie arrive, and the boys follow them into the garage. The doctor explains that Lucas was born with a heart condition, which was why he was turned away each time he tried to enlist in the armed services. In light of the man’s medical history, Doc Riley doesn’t expect Lucas’s sister to request an autopsy.

Sheriff Monk arrives, and the doctor shows him the body and explains, “Heart finally gave out. Surprised it lasted him this long” (183). The sheriff looks agitated and doubtful, and he asks about Meriwether’s whereabouts even though the doctor says that there are no injuries on the body. Eventually, Monk says that the doctor is “an honest fella” and leaves (185).

Shortly afterward, Agatha arrives and offers to take Gabriel and Patrick home. Although Patrick is nervously clutching his medal of St. Christopher, he insists on staying at the garage. The undertaker loads Lucas’s body into his hearse and drives away. Gabriel is relieved that the man is gone for good.

That night, Gabriel asks his parents if they can go to the Hunters’ home to deliver the title and registration papers. He is deeply relieved when the family’s Chevy is still in the driveway. Phoebe and Meriwether thank the Haberlins for all they’ve done for them. Meriwether is sorry to leave Jake without a mechanic but explains that “there’s bound to be trouble” once the townspeople learn that he was present when Lucas died (191).

Gabriel voices his hope that one day there will be a parade to honor Meriwether and all the other Black war heroes. The veteran isn’t sure that such a thing will ever happen, but he takes inspiration from Gabriel’s hope, noting that the boy correctly predicted that he would have a car one day. Gabriel remembers what Meriwether taught him about “seeing things more clearly when we look at them through more eyes than just our own” (193), and he smiles through his tears as his friend leaves for a place that they both hope will prove kinder than Birdsong.