The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA

Now, Patrick asks Gabriel not to tell his parents that he went to “The Other Side” because he knows that they wouldn’t approve. The boys locate Meriwether’s home. Patrick is hesitant to shake the man’s hand and calls him “uncle,” which is how many white people in Birdsong address Black men. Gabriel’s parents taught him to use people’s names regardless of their race, and the other townspeople act as if this show of respect and other “northern ways were a contagious disease” that Jake and Agatha caught during their studies at Oberlin College in Ohio (54).

Meriwether introduces the boys to his wife, Phoebe, and his 10-year-old daughter, Abigail. When Gabriel asks him if he is interested in working at Jake’s garage, Meriwether says, “Been lookin’ for a real job ever since I got back—” (58), but Phoebe stops him from finishing that sentence. Meriwether is somewhat skeptical of the idea that Jake will hire him, but he agrees to come to the garage with Gabriel.

On the way to the garage, Gabriel asks Meriwether how he learned to fix engines, and the man evades the question. Meriwether does share that he was named after his father, who was a sharecropper, and his grandfather, who was enslaved. His family moved from Charleston to Birdsong that winter so that Phoebe could pursue her “callin’ in life” and become the Baptist church’s choir director (63).

At the garage, Gabriel introduces Meriwether to his parents. Agatha hugs Meriwether tightly and bursts into tears, declaring that he is an angel because he saved her son’s life. Jake shakes his hand and thanks him for risking his life to protect Gabriel. Meanwhile, Lucas Shaw, a mechanic who works for Jake, spits on Meriwether’s shoes when he hears that Gabriel’s rescuer is looking for a job at the garage. The Haberlins rebuke Lucas and tell him to get back to work. The incident makes Jake worry that hiring Meriwether would be a mistake, but Gabriel appeals to his father’s conscience. Meriwether offers to begin his shift after Lucas’s shift ends, and Jake accepts this plan. He also makes Meriwether promise to simply walk away from Lucas if the surly mechanic shows him hostility again; Jake warns Meriwether about the rumor that Lucas has “friends in a certain organization” (69). Meriwether correctly infers that Jake is referring to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Patrick says that the KKK hates Catholics, and he smiles when Meriwether says that the two of them have something in common.

Gabriel loves detective stories, and Agatha takes him and Patrick to a matinee of Terror by Night, starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. Gabriel feels embarrassed when he sees his classmate Rosie and her best friend, Emma Kane, at the theater without adult accompaniment. He blushes when Rosie says that she is glad he’s “all better from yesterday” (74).

At dinner that evening, Jake and Agatha voice their concerns over whether hiring Meriwether was the right course of action in light of Lucas’s hostility. Gabriel suggests that his father fire Lucas because Jake has already expressed his desire to do so in the past, but Jake says that this isn’t an option because his other employee quit recently. Gabriel asks why all the members of the KKK aren’t in jail, but Agatha just says that “the South has its ways” (77). She’s concerned that thinking about these issues will make her son anxious, but the boy remains hopeful that people can work together to find answers and make positive changes.

A few days later, Gabriel has a feeling of foreboding and goes to his father’s garage. Lucas is still there when Meriwether arrives, even though his shift ended 20 minutes ago. The mechanic ignores Meriwether’s greeting and leaves the garage without incident. Meriwether tells Gabriel that he likes working there “just fine” (80). The boy wants to talk with him further, but he has already promised to meet up with Patrick and doesn’t want to be late.

That night, Gabriel decides to start helping around the shop so that he can spend more time with Meriwether, who has “already started to feel like [his] friend” (81). Gabriel also wants to reduce the odds of Lucas causing problems for Meriwether.

Gabriel gets up early the next morning and offers to work at the garage. Jake knows that his son is concerned about Meriwether and agrees to the plan, but Agatha dislikes the idea of the boy being around Lucas and echoes Gabriel’s wish that Jake would fire the mechanic.

Patrick stops by the Haberlins’ house later that day, and when he calls Meriwether “the uncle,” Gabrial grows angry and retorts, “He’s got a name. […] [P]lus, he’s not your uncle” (86). Patrick is taken aback by his friend’s anger and protests that many white townspeople refer to Black people in this way, but Gabriel stoutly maintains that he and his parents don’t.

Gabriel later breaks his promise to his parents and rides his bike around the block because having it in his room and not being able to ride it feels like “puttin’ food in front of a hungry man and tellin’ him not to eat” (87). He lets Patrick ride his bike, too, but makes him promise not to tell anyone.

Lucas’s shift ends at three o’clock, and Gabriel’s starts at 3:30. The boy’s first customer is Betty, who complains about the price of gas. Jake teaches his son how to check a car’s oil but advises him to stick to washing windows and pumping gas for the time being. When Gabriel sees that Meriwether rode to work on a bicycle, he expresses his hope that Meriwether will have a car soon. Meriwether says that he’s content with his current mode of transportation because he knows that many people don’t have cars. He likes looking at things from other people’s perspectives and compares this practice to having multiple sets of eyes. He teaches Gabriel that “the more eyes you look through, the better you see things” (95). The boy quickly grasps this analogy, and Meriwether compliments his intelligence. Some customers honk their horns, and Gabriel hurries outside to help Matthew, the high school student who pumps gas at the garage in the afternoons.