Fire from the Rock

Sylvia breaks the news to Gary that she has been added to the list of students who will integrate Central High in the fall. At first, Gary is pleased because he assumes they will both be on the list. Once he hears that his name is not on it, he is furious. Miss Washington stops by the Patterson house after dinner to check on Gary and inform the Pattersons that Sylvia is on the list. Sylvia’s brother and father insist that this is no job for a girl. They both express a desire to protect her. Sylvia’s mother is the only one who asks her what she thinks. Her mother also says she is proud of her. Sylvia writes in her diary that she is ready to start making decisions for herself.

While attending church, Sylvia and her siblings hear their father, the pastor, support Sylvia to be one of the students who integrates Central High. Sylvia is shocked by her father’s words. He speaks of how he has been afraid and angry all his life but that now is the time for the children to change the world. After church, Reggie calls Sylvia his “girlfriend” and tells her that he will be going to Horace Mann High School and she should, too.