Over the Christmas break, Melba cannot get Minnijean’s suspension out of her mind. She had hoped to have a relaxing time with her family and enjoy the Christmas holiday. However, the problems caused by integration still hang over her.

She receives an invitation to a party sponsored for the Little Rock Nine by the Delta Sigma Theta Professional Women’s Sorority. Quietly, this national organization had decided to adopt the Little Rock Nine as a special project. They bestow presents from all over the country to honor the nine, which makes Melba feel as if what she is doing is very important. In her diary, she writes: “Tonight I feel love from my own people. Everybody tried to make us happy. There’s the tiniest flicker of hope and joy inside me. Maybe things will work out” (153).

A degree of normality returns when her grandmother reassembles the nativity scene she inherited from her mother. The family sings Christmas carols, shares gifts with one another, and goes through their family ritual of temporarily allowing somebody in the family to have a special gift that belongs to someone else.

Vincent visits on Christmas Eve. Melba notices that she and Vincent have less in common.