Whistling Past the Graveyard

To take her mind off the growing storm and James’s sobs, Starla tries “[w]histling past the graveyard” (91), imagining Christmas in Nashville with her mother and father. The storm resides, but a truck driven by Wallace almost hits Starla and James. Wallace tries to drown Starla in a pool of water. Eula begs him to stop, and Starla promises not to tell. Wallace desists but says that if Starla tries to escape again, he’ll kill her and James.

Eula rocks Starla in a chair. Eula is bloody and bruised, and Starla says that Eula kidnapped her and James. Eula claims that no one wanted James and that if she didn’t pick up Starla, something bad would have happened to her. Eula doesn’t think Wallace will hurt her or Starla and thinks that she will be able to keep Starla safe.

Starla remembers living with her mother and father in an apartment on the second floor of Mrs. White’s house. Mrs. White teaches piano, and Starla likes hearing the musical sounds. She also remembers the sound of her parents’ voices—“soft” and “happy.”

Starla wakes up when Wallace attacks her. To protect Starla, Eula hits her husband on the head, killing him. Over four uneaten pies, Eula wonders if she should tell the police. She might not get into trouble for killing Wallace (it was self-defense), but she’ll likely face consequences for taking James, so Eula agrees to take Starla to Lulu in Nashville.

After moving Wallace to the springhouse to keep his body from rotting, Eula puts clothes and a Bible in a suitcase. They only have $4.75, and Eula drives the truck down roads with little traffic. A racist driver crashes into them, but Eula isn’t mad. She laughs—she says that if she didn’t maintain a sense of humor, she’d “lose” her “mind.”

Eula has faith that God will send someone to help them. Starla wishes that they could tell on the racist driver, but Eula says the police wouldn’t punish the driver. Starla wonders about the identity of James’s mother, and Eula says that they shouldn’t know. Starla thinks about the LeCounts, who aren’t rich but eat food that smells delicious. Patti Lynn’s family has money, but the Pykes hardly have any money, and the 10 Pyke kids don’t look healthy. Eula has a brother, but he’s as toxic as her father.

A man who’s either “light-skinned” or “suntan-skinned” stops, and Starla lies to him. The man determines that the truck is fine and warns them about the “touchy” environment, causing Starla to think about the anti-racist activism and news stories on TV.

The truck works, but it drifts to one side. They spot a rundown service station, and a skinny teen with a “crop of pimples” says that the truck suffers from a bent tie rod and a bad clutch. Starla wonders if they can give $4.75 now and the rest later, but the teen refuses to “give credit” to a Black person. Eula says that she can find a job and get the money, but Starla thinks that’ll take too long—Shorty might stop by and discover Wallace. Eula cries, and Starla comforts her.

Eula lies down and stares at the sun before they get back in the truck. Starla lies to Eula, claiming that Mamie died last week and that she’s returning to Nashville to be with her mother, but Eula senses her lie. The truck stops working altogether, and Starla suggests walking to a house and asking for help. Her father did that once, but Starla’s father is white, and Eula is Black.

Eula thinks it’s best to sleep outside on the truck bed because bears and wildcats won’t bother them—they don’t have enough food. Besides, Eula and her mother used to sleep outside on the property of a judge who employed Eula’s mother.