Julie Brown Walker

Julie Brown Walker

I would like to take you back and tell you a story
that my mother told me in1959 when I was 21, about these two girls that
she knew who were the best of
friends and what they went through when they went
to the big city in 39. Ones name was Julie Brown Walker. Everyone who
knew her called her J.B..
J.B. lived in a small house in Mississippi.
She lost her eyesight at the age of five and walked with a limp. The
doctors said maybe someday she would be able to see when technology
would be
more advanced in the future but would always walk with a limp.
This story took place in 1939,
J.B. was 19 and lived with her parents in this little house tucked way
back in the trees sheltered by
a hill with a beautiful creek running alongside the home. She lived
there all her life and only had one real good friend that was with her
most of the time
and very often would stay over all night. There were two homes on this
property, J.B. lived in one and
her friend Kay lived in the other home on the same property near each
other. Once a week they would walk a half mile to the main part of
town, which was very small with just a few stores and a small gas
station a small restaurant and a large warehouse at the end of town.
When they were there, they would collect the week's mail. Anything just
to get away
from their home so they could talk and be closer to one another. Kay
would hold J.B.'s hand and tell
her all about the beautiful different colors
of the trees, and bushes alongside the road,
and the clouds in the sky and all different shapes of the clouds and
how the wind would move them
back and forth through out the sky. As they were walking towards town,
J.B. would tell Kay quite often as they were together how much she
appreciated
her helping her to understand all these different things that where
surrounding her in life and would hold her hand real tight and tell
her, I don't know
how I would have made it this far without you being
in my life. I just love you for being there for me and
for just being my best friend. J.B. and Kay arrived in town and were
sitting in front of this little store in
town drinking a root beer.
J.B told Kay that her uncle wanted her to come and visit him in the big
city, and when I go, I want you
to go with me. He knows you, I will have my mother write him and tell
him you're coming with me.
Kay said right away she could not go. J.B. said,
look you are going, your my best friend, your like my sister. Kay said
to her I would do anything for you,
but I can't go with you to the big city. J.B. sat there
in front of the store with a real sad look on her face, with tears
brimming in her eyes. J.B. raised her head up and in a crying voice
said to Kay, we are friends, we do everything together you have to go
with me,
"Is it because I can't see and walk with a limp,"
or are you embarrassed to be with me, is that the reason? Kay said in a
"high voice," heavens no,
I can't go a day without being with you, I would go
to the end of the world for you.
J.B. you know that we have never been out of this little town and it's
different out there, you are
"white and I am black" do you know what we will
go through in the big city. JB said we will go and we
will face everything together, I am pretty sure
nothing will happen and I doubt it if anybody
will say anything. Kay said, are you kidding, your
white and I am black, your blind and walk with
a limp and it's 1939, it sounds pretty scary to me.
J.B. said things will be ok, we are going to the
big city, I know it's scary but I am sure we will be ok.
Kay thought for a few seconds and in a low voice
said, ok I will go. Around three weeks later when
they arrived at J.B's uncle's house, he and his wife
and family were real happy to see them both.
Her uncle's wife had all this food cooking
and a few hours later everyone sat down
and had a beautiful feast. They all had a real good time and talked way
into the night.
The next morning after having a real nice breakfast, Kay and J.B. went
out on the town walking all
around for hours. Everything was going real nice
and they were both having a real good time.
As they were looking at the different stores they decided to stop and
get a few doughnuts.
They walked up to this little counter that said doughnuts and coffee
for sale, as J.B. and Kay leaned on the counter to talk to the guy
selling doughnuts they were both laughing about how many
doughnuts they should get or should they be eating them at all. Kay
laughed and said let's not worry about our weight today as they turned
leaning on the counter giggling back-and-forth and asked the gentleman
for two doughnuts, one for me and one for my friend, he said sure one
for you but your friend has to go around the back in the alley where
there is a small window, she can order from there, she's colored and
cannot order from the front here, she should know that. J.B. said real
sharply, no we did not know that, we are from a small town and they
don't treat people like that from where were from.
He said well you both better go back to that little town, you are in
the big city now and she's colored so if she wants a doughnut she has
to go round the back.
They both turned and walked away Kay was crying saying to J.B. I don't
like the big city I wish you could see.There are two water faucet's
coming out of the side of that building with signs over them, one sign
says white on this side and one says for colored on the other. I can't
believe what is going on here in this big city said Kay, I have
experienced some prejudice in our little town but nothing like
this.
They kept walking down the sidewalk being real careful but it was a big
experience for both. Kay was holding J.B's. hand and explaining all the
different stores they had in this town and different things that Kay
would see through the windows and
all the beautiful lights all over the town. They were having alot of
fun, trying to forget what happened
with the doughnuts. J.B. said, what is that noise I hear? Kay said,
it's a huge bus I read about them in the newspaper, it has to be at
least 20 ft. long.
I have never seen one. J. B. said, she wished she could see it. She
told Kay she was getting
a little tired. Kay, let's sit down and rest. J.B. said,
yes I want to sit down, but better yet let's get on one of those busses
and go to a big park. About that time J.B. said; that sounds like that
big bus, yes,
it's pulling up J.B. said; Kay, ask the driver where there is a park
close by where we can sit
down and rest. Kay ask the driver when he pulled
up if there was a park nearby, the driver said there is a big one a few
blocks down the street.
J.B. said, let's get on the bus and go down there,
Kay paused for a few seconds then said ok.
As Kay helped J.B. to get on the bus then started
to follow her up the steps, the driver stopped Kay at the first step
and said you can't get on this bus,
JB turned around real sharply and said why not ?
The driver looked at J.B. and said, don't you know ? Are you blind,
"yes I am" The driver said, well I don't care, she's colored and I
don't want her riding on my bus. As soon as the driver said that, Kay
"screamed" and started crying, J.B. stumbled back down the
steps to be with Kay and grabbed each other and
both fell on the cement they were both crying and
so upset. J.B. yelled out to the driver that he was
a no good person, why would your company hire
you to drive this bus, your a horrible person to say
something like that to my friend. The driver laughed and shut the door
and drove off.
Kay said I told you something like this might happen. J.B. said, you're
my friend and that guy was a jerk
and stupid. Let's walk down to that park, it can't be very far. On the
way to the park Kay was crying and said I'm sorry you had to hear that
from that driver, laying her head on J.B's shoulder as they walked she
said I am black and I am proud of it, but it is
hard being black. J.B. said, forget what happened back there wiping the
tears from her face Kay said,
I wished I could, things like that have happened
to me before. J.B. said, I only hope that you
and I will always be friends until we die. A few days later they went
back to their little town where they stayed the best of friends and
were never apart
from that day on.

A few years after my mother told me this
story, she passed away. I just had to find out what happened to these
two women. After working 40 years now retired from a large newspaper
company where I would write small articles about things that would
happen here and around the country. I finally had the time to track and
find them. It had been over 40 years since my mother told me that
story. I would often wonder through the years about these two women and
how their lives turned out.
After a while I found them still in Mississippi.
I had been told they were living at a home for the elderly for a number
of years. The head supervisor
at the elderly home told me they had both passed away a few weeks
before I arrived there and both
died a day apart. She told me as far as she knew
they had always been together all their lives even
to the end. Neither one had ever married or had anything, no property,
no home and were
penniless. The only thing they had was their
friendship and devotion for each other and both
lived to be in there late 80's.

Story by Norman Clifford 1-4-2003