Betty Before X

A girl named Loretta is Phyllis’s new best friend. Betty still misses Phyllis but doesn’t dwell on it. Betty and Suesetta go to the record shop to buy music, since they can’t listen to Phyllis’s collection anymore. Betty thinks with excitement about when she’ll be grown up and how she’ll dress. They buy records with Betty’s savings. On the way home they talk about the next month’s boycott. Suesetta is nervous because this time they’ll be at the actual business they are boycotting, asking people not to shop there. No matter what happens, they think it will be worth it. Betty reminds her that Mrs. Malloy often says, “Some people have to feel the pain in order to believe in the medicine” (168).

There’s an ambulance in front of Suesetta’s house when they arrive. Uncle Clyde had a fever and has collapsed. Inside, Betty puts on the Billie Holiday record and listens to the sad music as she worries.

Clyde has tuberculosis and is in quarantine at the hospital. Suesetta’s mother is struggling, since she is close with her brother. Soon, Suesetta goes to the Jerry’s Market boycott with Betty. When they arrive, Mrs. Ruth is passing out flyers and telling people why they are boycotting. Some people listen and get back in their cars, deciding to shop elsewhere. Some people ignore her completely.

The manager comes out and tells them to stop harassing his customers. He screams at Mrs. Malloy, and Betty has “never seen anyone filled with so much hate” (173). Mrs. Malloy tells Betty and Suesetta to get in the car and look straight ahead. In the car, they watch a crowd surround Mrs. Malloy and Mrs. Ruth as Mrs. Peck is trying to calm them. Then Mrs. Malloy quickly gets in the car and waves to the others as she drives away saying that all that matters to her is that some people went to another store. When she says, “We raised awareness today” (174), Betty is unsure if they are making a difference.

Suesetta comes over to Betty’s house that afternoon. In Ebony, Betty reads an article about Duke Ellington and his Carnegie Hall performance. Everyone in New York loves him. Suesetta sees another advertisement for bleaching cream and asks Betty if she thinks about bleaching. When Betty says she likes her complexion, Suesetta says it “seems like everyone wants to change something about their looks…brunettes want to be blondes. People with curly hair want it to be straight. People with brown skin want—” (176). Betty stops her. She says God made everyone the way He wants them. Trying to change something about the way God made you would make Him sad.

They return to boycott Jerry’s Market twice a month. Each time, the manager forbids them from passing out flyers. It’s been four months since their initial protest and the store still refuses to hire Black employees. Betty tells Kay that nothing is changing. She thinks Black people should say more and be more assertive. Betty is tired of acting like she’s not angry and repeats that the day was a loss, even if Mrs. Malloy says they raised awareness.

Kay says maybe the problem of racism can’t be fixed, at least, not quickly. Betty wants to know why people hate them and says that she’s tired of waiting for the harvest they’re promised if they sow good deeds. She listens to music and sews, which has become a great source of relaxation for her. Betty thinks, “Sewing is where I make the decisions. I enjoy building new creations. And even when I mess up, I just pull out the thread and start all over until I get it right” (179).

Mrs. Malloy invites Betty to run errands with her. While they’re out, Betty notices the different types of skirts that women wear. On the way home Betty says she wants to do something nice for Suesetta’s family. They don’t have much money, and more than once Suesetta hasn’t bought ice cream when she’s out with Betty. She always has an excuse, but Betty knows that Suesetta skips the ice cream because she can’t pay for it.

Betty wants to get them groceries. She and Mrs. Malloy buy groceries, make a basket, and take them over to Suesetta’s house. That night, Betty thinks about the manager at Jerry’s Market. She believes that there is nothing good about some people. She counts her blessings, including her hands, the front porch conversations with Kay, and her records.

Pastor Dames announces that Deacon Willis passed away. He had tuberculosis like Clyde and hadn’t been sick for as long. After church, Betty talks to her sisters and asks how everyone’s doing. Ollie Mae’s birthday is close, and Betty knows her birthday is her favorite holiday. She has an idea for a gift she can make.

In July, she finishes a blouse and skirt for Ollie Mae, but Betty doesn’t know how she’ll react. After church, she asks Ollie Mae to come to the parking lot. Ollie Mae resists opening the boxes that Betty has for her and says she can’t accept. She doesn’t want Betty spending money on her. As she walks away, Betty says she wanted to show her she appreciated the sewing machine. Kay approaches and holds Betty’s hand. Betty asks Kay, “What’s the point of doing unto others as you want them to do for you if this is what you get in return?” (188). She’s tired of scriptures and sermons about sowing and reaping, because Ollie Mae won’t ever change. She even says the Housewives’ League is failing to change things.

Kay talks about how hard it was to farm in the South. There was so much work to do to prepare the ground before they could plant the garden. Kay was impatient, and sometimes it took three years for seeds to show growth. There was always other work to do while she waited. Sometimes they’d lose everything to a drought. However, she says, “Just because you have a bad season doesn’t mean you stop planting” (190). Kay thinks that scriptures about the harvest are as much about the foundational work that leads to the harvest as they are about the rewards that the harvest brings. 

When Clyde returns from the hospital, he is thin and moves slowly, but he smiles. As they pray over the food, Nina thanks God for the Malloys and their help with Clyde. After dinner, Betty writes a letter to Ollie Mae. She leaves it on her doorstep with the gift boxes and thinks, like Kay said, that she is simply watering the soil.

A white woman named Rebecca Olsen knocks on their door the next day. She and her husband just opened a bakery nearby and want to know how they can support the efforts of the Housewives’ League. Betty is stunned as she listens from her room. Mrs. Olsen guarantees that she’ll hire Black people and treat them equally. She asks Mrs. Malloy to consider her a friend. At church that Sunday, Mrs. Peck asks Mrs. Malloy to tell the story about Mrs. Olsen’s visit. Many people give testimonies of gratitude. Then Ollie Mae stands and thanks God for His goodness. Betty sees that, beneath her blazer, Ollie Mae is wearing the blouse and skirt that Betty made. They fit perfectly.