Black Star

In the evening, Nana naps, Momma plays her flute, and Charley reads the newspaper. A Black baseball team scored 11 runs in one inning, the highest ever.

In Charley’s dream, she is the moon and then the night. A white horse runs across a park with a baseball diamond. She turns into the horse and gallops hard, but she gets lost in the dark.

Charley wakes up having an asthma attack. She feels like she’s suffocating. Momma rushes in with tea and sings to her until she recovers and falls back asleep.

Her parents call her asthma “short-wind,” while Willie calls it “the wheeze.” The doctor told her that there is no cure for asthma. She needs to get enough oxygen or else she could die.

Willie isn’t in the mood for baseball, so they walk along the river. Due to his fear of alligators, snakes, and more, he won’t go on in the water. Charley teaches him that they don’t have those animals in Virginia.

Willie is downhearted because his family isn’t going to St. Louis for Christmas to watch the Stars play ball. His father has to work. Charley is envious that his father is around often, though. Willie thinks that he will someday have a job where he doesn’t have to work holidays. He wanted to be a singer, but he can’t sing well. Charley finally calls him “Cool Willie Green,” as he wants.

Their conversation turns to Charley’s uncle Albert, who is very successful and has a car.

Charley’s uncle is highly intelligent; he is the only person in their family to attend college. He works as a railroad engineer and is beloved for his kindness and success as a Black man. He is the only person in town to own a car.

Willie suggests that Albert drive them up north in his Model T to watch a baseball game. Charley says maybe.

Although she’s studious and likes school, Charley enjoys summer. Momma makes her practice the flute and learn a new poem each week. She swims in the river behind their house and spends lots of time with Willie. Still, baseball is her favorite thing about summer. She and her friends play late into the night.

Charley and Willie stop at the general store to ask Socks (Henry) to play. They stare at the many sweets in the window.

The Jones’s store has many supplies—potatoes, peanuts, baking goods, furniture, fabrics, and more. The kids eye up the brittle candy, and Mr. Jones gives them each a little for free. They walk to the field, eating the candy.

Willie keeps smashing Charley’s pitches deep into the outfield. Socks races to try to catch them, but they’re too far. Charley wants to quit, but Willie teases her that girls get tired so quickly. Feisty and determined, Charley switches to her left hand to pitch. She throws a strike.

The boys are amazed at Charley’s left-handed pitching. She strikes Willie out. Whenever she throws with her left hand, the ball bends and curves.

After Henry returns to his store, Charley and Willie walk home. He hates his brother Johnnie’s snoring, so he’s happy that he’ll be married soon. Nana doesn’t snore, but he wakes Charley up with his coughing sometimes.

In Willie’s yard, they shake apples from the tree. Someone shouts about Willie being a fool and having a “gal-friend.”

Cecil the Third was the one who yelled. He plays lots of mean pranks, but he never suffers backlash because he is the pastor’s son. Cecil loves baseball, too, but never plays with Charley or her friends. He’s the fastest runner in Jones Mill.

Cecil mocks Willie for playing with Charley. He believes that he’s a “real” pitcher, while Charley can only throw softballs. He makes fun of Charley for being skinny and Willie for being an incompetent batter. Charley defends Willie. When Cecil teases them about kissing, Willie insists that Charley isn’t his girlfriend.

Charley wants to defend Willie further, but she’s mad that he was so offended about the possibility of her being his girlfriend.

Cecil says that his team doesn’t allow girls, but he might allow Willie to play if he improves his skills. Charley bets that their team could beat Cecil’s team anytime—although, secretly, they don’t have enough players. Cecil asks for a kiss if he wins, and Charley shuts him down. If Cecil wins, he will earn Charley’s Black Sox hat, and if they win, Cecil will give them a quarter. They plan to play at the church’s Sunday picnic a few weeks later.

Charley throws her apple on the ground and runs home without looking back at Willie or Cecil.

Charley feels bad about lying and saying that she has a full team, but Cecil gets her riled. At Sunday school, she prays for forgiveness and the ability to beat Cecil’s team.

Charley and her family are devout members of their Baptist church. The church is split into two congregations because the owner’s sons couldn’t agree on who got to be the main pastor. The two sides only join together at an annual picnic, where Charley will play Cecil. First, she needs to form a team.

Although Charley wants to talk to Nana Kofi about her baseball bet problem, their house is soon overflowing with relatives. Everyone comes over after church for Momma’s cooking.

Charley loves Sunday dinners because they are filled with delicious food, quality family time, and lots of laughter. She gets lots of hugs and plays baseball with her nephews and nieces.

One of Charley’s older sisters, Gwen, gives her a gift of a baseball mitt. It’s signed by L.G., a rare professional Black female player. The women started their league in the North. Charley is astonished by this gift, which she treasures.

After they bless the food and eat their meal, the family looks at Charley for her turn to read the weekly poem aloud.

Uncle Albert is Charley’s opening act. He sings a new song about Black freedom while Momma plays her flute.

Although she’s nervous, Charley reads a poem titled “I Sit and Sew” by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson. When she’s finished with the lines about pitiful souls and hell while the narrator must sit and sew, she asks what the poem is about.

The adults stare uncomfortably at Charley. She looks to Nana for answers.

Momma says that the poem is about sewing, just as Nana clarifies that it’s about being enslaved. Momma argues that Charley is too young to be exposed to the harsh realities of the world, but many others in the family—like Nana and Gwen—argue that she needs to learn about their history. They converse about the injustices that Black people face, from not being able to vote to being segregated from parts of their town.

Charley lies on her bed and tosses her ball around with her special new glove.

Momma chastises her for playing ball, as she sees no future for her daughter with sports. Charley thinks that Momma can’t see the future, but she doesn’t snap back. She says her prayers.

Charley thanks God for her usual blessings, like family, friends, and health. She also thanks him for her curveball pitch. Momma doesn’t think that her last parts about baseball are necessary prayers.

Nana tucks Charley into bed. She shares her worries about the bet with Cecil, asking for advice. Nana suggests that she ask her nephews and nieces to join her team. Charley thinks that the little kids are hopeless. They’d need lots of practice.

Nana also suggests that Willie can help—but Charley and him haven’t spoken since the argument with Cecil. He starts to tell a story.