How does Melba survive her year at Central High School in Warriors Don't Cry by Beals?

Melba is able to survive her year at Central High School, when she was one of the Little Rock Nine desegregating the school, by remembering what Danny, a soldier from the 101st Airborne Division who was sent to the school to protect the African-American students for a while, told her. He said to her, "Warriors survive" (page 163), and she faced the segregationists as a warrior would face his or her opponents. Even when the 101st Airborne was sent back to Kentucky and the segregationists thought they could force the African-American students to leave Central High School, Melba says, "the warrior growing inside me squared my shoulders and put my mind on alert to do whatever was necessary to survive" (page 182). She dealt with everything that happened to her like a solider would. When her locker and its contents were sprayed with ink, she quickly asked for a new locker and books without brooding about it. When she was kicked in the shins, she did everything she could to stay mobile. It was not a mode that was necessarily comfortable for her, but it allowed her to survive in a very hostile climate for the school year. 

How did Melba escape from her house in Warriors Don't Cry?

Melba Patillo Beals’s memoir “Warriors Don’t Cry” chronicles her experiences as one of the famed Little Rock Nine, a group of black high school students in Arkansas who were selected to integrate the all-white Central High School.

Because of all the threats from the community and Governor Faubus’s thwarting the Little Rock Nine from entering the school on their first attempt, Melba and the others are assigned military protection from the 101st Airborne Division, so ordered by then-President Eisenhower.

The answer to your question depends on which time Melba goes to Central that you want to discuss. To ensure I answer your question, I will explain all three.

The first time, Melba’s mother drives her to school. Of course, the mob prevents her from entering and both Melba and her mother escape in their car. The second time involves Mrs. Daisy Bates, the president of the local NAACP chapter, who also runs an independent, pro-integration newspaper. Mrs. Bates and an associate drive two cars to the school with all students inside. While the students make it through the first day, they have to be smuggled out of the school to avoid violence from the white mob that has gathered outside. After a legal battle, Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to ensure the next time the Nine go to school, things will run smoothly.

The plan for this final “first day” is to meet in the morning at the house of Mrs. Bates. Once all nine students arrived, fifty armed soldiers from the 101st escort them to Central High School. Once inside, each of the Nine is assigned a personal bodyguard to provide further security throughout the school day.