Joseph - Chapter 2

The second chapter of Lady Sings the Blues, an autobiographical novel by Billie Holiday, introduces the audience to Billie's teenage years and her adolescent growth. It is a period of her life defined by prostitution, imprisonment, redemption and rebellion.

The chapter begins with Billie's mother leaving her in Baltimore again, after it becomes apparent that together they cannot make ends meet. After the death of her cousin Ida, Billie is called to New York by her mother. When she is supposed to take the train to Long Branch, the rebellious Billie decides to visit Harlem, the mecca of a jazz community which she wishes to belong. She never gets there, however, as she is quickly scooped up in Penn Station by a social worker and brought to a halfway house. Although we don't learn much about this social worker, she provides the most important commentary on Billie at this point in her life. Billie writes, “'I know you,' she'd tell me. 'You're smart'” (Holiday, 22).


Her mother quickly discovers her whereabouts and with no place to live, decides satisfy Billie and take her to Harlem. She gets Billie a room in an apartment belonging to Florence Williams. She says, “I hadn't emptied basins, laid out lifebuoy soap and towels in Alice Dean's place in Baltimore for nothing. I knew what was cooking. But Mom didn't” (Holliday, 25). Billie's Mom had bought her a room in one of Harlem's largest brothels. It's apparent in this passage that young Billie had no qualms with the prospects of being a call-girl, regardless of the nightmarish experiences with Henry, Mr. Dick, and the boy who took her virginity. She preferred “white cats,” as she called them, and turned down Negroes after one romp that left her bed-ridden and sick.


Unfortunately for Billie, her refusal to bed a Negro by the name of Big Blue Ranier ultimately got her arrested and imprisoned. Billie writes, “So they hauled me off to jail, not for anything I did, but for something I wouldn't do” (Holiday, 27). It was at court that Billie was judged by Magistrate Jean Hortense Norris, who had the honor of being the first female Police Judge in New York. Ms. Norris believed that women misunderstood society and needed to be reformed. Billie was sent to work at a hospital, but quickly wound up back in front of the judge, after pushing a flirtatious lesbian down a flight of stairs. Ms. Norris was not as lenient this time, and sent Billie off to Welfare Island, a women's prison.


Life for Billie on Welfare Island did not seem as difficult to her as one would think. It is apparent that she enjoyed working in the kitchen there, but was still a piece of meat for the lesbian inmates. After she punched one for making a pass at her, she was sent to solitary confinement. Ironically, she was let out of solitary by leading on one of the lesbian matron's who worked at the prison. She says, “If it hadn't been for this nice dikey matron, I don't know if I would have made it” (Holiday, 31). Although Billie is unattracted to women she is willing to fake attraction in order to get what she wants.


After her release from prison, Billie coaxes a cop to buy her clothes and give her some money. When she refuses to pay him back, he beats her and she flees to Jamaica, Queens. It is here where she begins to sing in clubs while hiding from the abusive cop. We also learn that Judge Norris is under investigation and ultimately thrown off the bench. Billie is satisfied with this result, as she writes, “This was the old dame that sent me to jail as a 'wayward woman.' This was the character who told me I was a bad character. She should have gone to jail herself, but she never did” (Holiday 33-34).


Throughout this chapter, we learn that Billie does not cry or get emotional when she is threatened, harassed, arrested, or even sent to jail. Instead, she is resourceful, independent, and relies only on herself. She is not afraid of life's path upon which she walks, and makes the best of every situation. She does not let anyone stand in her way, and is willing to risk her life to protect herself. Is Billie's independent, rebellious attitude a result of the numerous physical and sexual abuses which she experienced as a child? Or is it a result of time spent at Alice Dean's listing to the victrola while she supported herself scrubbing kitchen floors and white steps?