Document text
Aveci)or6.-zs
Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview
FORM A
Circumstances of Interview
STATE New York
NAME OF II,ORKER Frank Byrd
ADDRESS 224 West 135th Street, New York City
DATE November 29, 1938
SUBJECT"Betty" --Social Ethnic_ Human Interest Story
1. Date and time c' interview
2. Place of interview
3. Name and address of informant Submitted by staff -writer
4. Name and address of person, if any, wno put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forms, each
bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material refers.)
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
STATE New York
NAVE OF WORKER Frank Bryd
gmowss 224 West 135th Street, New York City
DATE November 29, 1938
SUBJECT "Betty" Social Ethnic Human Interest Story
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
Luigi's speakeasy did an all night business but you had
to know what to say before they'd let you in. Whenever the bell
rang, Jimmy got up and peeped through a little hole in the door.
Well, he did the same thing the night Betty walked in. It was the
first time I had seen her. I won't forget it. She was the kind of
girl men fight for...and like it; but on a Harlem police blotter,
they had "prostitute" scribbled opposite her name. Not that she
looked like one. Her eyes were a pale, lovely blue; her hair, soft
and brown; and she had the sauciest two lips in the world. Another
odd thing about her was the fact that she never carried a watch.
I suppose it was because time meant nothing to her. She was in love.
The boy's name was Bill.
When Jimmy opened the door, Betty, eyes sad, pocket book
under arm and looking tired, hesitated in the doorway before walk-
ing to the far end of the room. No one looked up apparently but
several pairs of eyes followed every movement of her graceful body.
Movements emphasizing primitive appeal and simple loveliness.
"Ofay in a Harlem hot spot peddling her youth away for
a nigger man", a party of white and colored people whispered.
3
It cost her $200 a month to keep him in a sanitarium there.
For a long time she was able to sell enough stories and
piece out her income with a little ghost-writing here and there,
but when she finally had to look for a job, she found they were
scarce.
That, of course, was before she began coming to LuigiJs.
After that, she didn't have to worry about bills and money. She
always had more than enough.
Men loved Betty. When she smiled at them, they did any-
thing she wanted. Many of them wanted to marry her but she only
looked at them with a little amused smile playing about the corners
of her mouth.
A hijacker once gave her two truckloads for a kiss. A
boy from Park Avenue lost a l000 bet on her. He thought she'd say
"yes" when he asked her to marry him,. and she knew his family was
one of the oldest in the Social Register. On a week -end party once,
she fought a man. He insulted her. He thought she'd be flattered
instead.
Betty had to have money..for Bill. So she got it. Noth-
ing else mattered to her. Men brought it to her and were happy be-
cause it made her smile. Even though it was a long time ago, I
can still see her smile.
But the reason I tell you this is because she came to
Luigi's new place on the Avenue last night and it was the first
time I had seen her since the old days. She certainly was not the
same carefree Betty I once knew.
Bill, of course, did not come back.
"He was too far gone", the doctors said.
4
The kid is still very good to look at and while she
was perched on the stool at the bar, one of the men who used to
know her walked over and said something. She shook her head,
meaning "no". Then he pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket
and showed them to her.
0
I could see her reflection in the mirrir and what her
A.
lips said was: "I don't need it."
The man went away puzzled. He couldn't understand such
a complete change. He couldn't, of course. He never knew about
Bill.