Silver Sparrow

On Easter Sunday in 1958 in Ackland, Georgia, 14-year-old Laverne is impregnated by James when she agrees to accompany a friend to his home so the friend can date Raleigh. Despite attempts by her mother, Mattie, to help her, and James’s offering to marry her, Laverne is completely miserable knowing “one clumsy evening had led to this” (165). Laverne seeks out help from her mentor, the school nurse and home economics teacher Miss Sparks, who is obsessed with promoting “Negro…dignity,” but Miss Sparks is the least helpful of all, saying “(w)hat a waste” as Laverne walks away (165).

Once word is out, Laverne is no longer allowed to attend school. Miss Bunny and Mattie try to bring Laverne and James to the local courthouse to get married, but the judge senses Laverne’s resistance and refuses to legalize the marriage. In response to this failure, they drive to a neighboring county, where the judge marries them without question.

After they marry, Laverne is left alone to explore her new home, as James and Raleigh are returning a car they borrowed for the trip to the courthouse, and Miss Bunny is at work. When she looks in her new room, she feels “embarrassed” by the two single beds squished together to make a marriage bed and separates them a bit before parting.