After the break Larry asked, “Where were we? Oh yes, the status quo.
“So, the power arms of the status quo were basically the city commission, Police Chief Ortega, and Judge Judd.
“The black leaders realized that if black people stopped riding the buses it would seriously affect the bus company’s bottom line, even to the point that the bus company could go out of business. That was their leverage.
“However, people still needed to go to work. After all, they had to eat. The black community was organized with many preachers and some business people as leaders. They organized citywide carpools to get people to work.
“Pretty soon the city commission wrote some rules that made carpools an illegal transportation system, and Chief Ortega started to arrest some of the movement leaders. Judge Judd was overseeing the cases and put stiff fines on a half a dozen carpool drivers after they spent some short time in jail. To reemphasize, the movement was waiting out the Supreme Court decision but didn’t want to give in to the city on the boycott. So, they continued it.
“But the city was not going to accept the November ruling of the Supreme Court. Even though by December 1956 segregation of buses was now illegal in Montgomery, in Tallahassee neither the city commission nor Chief Ortega were throwing in the towel. The black community decided to try a ‘front of the bus protest’ and recruited people to ride buses near the front. The purpose of this boycott was to test the drivers and the bus company.
“In most cases the drivers asked some of the passengers to sit behind the painted line, but if the riders refused then the drivers did not press the issue. So, the city commission and Police Chief Ortega were becoming dissatisfied with the bus company.
“By December 27, Chief Police Ortega decided to arrest some of the bus company drivers for not enforcing the city segregation rules. They also arrested the head of the bus company, Mr. Carter, a white man.
“A second front of the bus protest was organized, and the police found out about it. This time Chief Ortega decided to personally sit at the front of one of the buses, daring any of the black riders to challenge him and face arrest. While the bus was waiting at the stop just near our house—this house—Chief Ortega was on it. To his surprise, Miss Jasmine gets on the damn bus! He’d like to pee his britches!”
Miss Jasmine said, “Now, Jackass—Larry—I’ve told you time after time what happened. I honestly had no idea that Chief Ortega was on that bus. I was just out with the other protesters. When the bus door opened and they saw the chief, they froze and didn’t dare get on. I decided not to be afraid. I stepped into the bus with little Roberta and paid my fee, all under the gaze of the chief, although to me he’s still the sheriff.
“We looked at each other and then the chief said, ‘Miss Jasmine, you look well. That Leopold did right by you. And a mighty fine daughter you have. They say she sings in the choir.’
“‘Well, yes, Leopold did take care of me. And Roberta is a beautiful child. But I didn’t get on this bus to talk about Leopold. I got on the bus to make a point.’
“‘And what is that point, Miss Jasmine?’
“‘Sheriff Ortega, Chief Ortega, I am going to show people the proper way to ride a bus. I am going to go to the back with my daughter where the black people belong. And you are going to sit up here where the white people belong. All by your lonely ass self! C’mon, Roberta, we are going to the back of the bus!’
“I led Roberta with one hand and put my other hand on Chief Ortega’s chest. Not to push him down like in 1937. Just enough force to signal ‘make way.’”
“You mean to tell us after all that struggle you go straight to the back of the bus and sit down as an example?!” said Rosemary, obviously exasperated.
“That’s right,” said Miss Jasmine. “I went to the back of the bus with Roberta. Just like I used to sit in the back seat of his police car for eleven years. With dignity and respect! We rode all the way around town with Chief Ortega at the front. When we got back to the starting point, I got off with Roberta and didn’t look back at the chief. Roberta asked me ‘who is that man Mama’?
“That’s a story for another day,” I told her.
That was a Friday. It was also the only time I saw him.”
Miss Jasmine took a sip of water and continued.
“For one day everybody in town had the same narrative. It was: “‘Unlike Rosa Parks, when push came to shove Miss Jasmine went to the back of the bus,’ they were saying.
“This narrative was so sweet to the white community and so distressing to the black. When we went to church on Sunday people tried to be polite but couldn’t hide their disappointment with me. Even people in the choir seemed to not acknowledge Little Roberta.
“The Reverend started his invocation. ‘Let us pray.’
“In the short silence before Reverend James could utter another word, Roberta A. stood up and said, ‘She was being ironic, for Christ’s sake, you damn fools! She was riding on the back of the bus ironically!’
“Roberta A. was about to stomp out of the service when Kat Sulleman chimed in ‘Amen’ and started to stomp out with her.
“Then Miss Amy said, ‘Now, Miss Roberta, are you telling us that Miss Jasmine was putting one over on Chief Ortega? She was just being ironic?’
“‘That’s right,’ said Roberta A. ‘Ironic.’
“The congregation and the whole choir were whispering: ‘Now I get it! She was being ironic riding the bus! Brilliant!’
“By the next day the black people in Tallahassee had a new narrative. I was an ironic heroine who wielded irony against the segregationists. My bus ride was showing the illogic of keeping blacks in their place!”
Everyone was quiet. Sensing they had come to a stopping point, Whale jumped up, ran to Larry, and barked once, then ran to the door.
“Well then, Whale says it’s break time,” said Miss Jasmine. “Let’s all take a stretch.”
