BADASS WOMEN IN HISTORY SERIES
Just A Little Respect
Exploration into the life of Maya Angelou, part 3
At some place in your life…you reach your breaking point. We all have one. There are things we can effectively deal with and there are things we cannot: whether it’s micro-aggressions, racism, misogyny, or just office space jealousy and downright pettiness.
Maya Angelou had reached her limit. By age eighteen, she had survived growing up in the Deep South and dealing with very racist White people who wouldn’t have blinked an eye at un-aliving her if given the slightest provocation or excuse, she had survived being sexually assaulted by her stepfather, she had grown up and taken jobs that were formerly closed off to people of color, and she had a child all at eighteen years of age. Reading through her memoirs, you get the sense that she had lived several lifetimes. I would think that she was deserving of some respect if not some basic human dignity.
Sadly, there are people in this world that are incapable of giving people either. They think they are above a specific class of people and make their disdain known.
Maya got a job in a restaurant that specialized in Cajun-Creole food. This is where she learned to use lies of omission or outright. She had no experience in cooking but let the owner know she had worked for a White family down in Arkansas which was true, but she had gained no specialized cooking skills or experience. She said words in a sentence and let the owner fill in the blanks. One of the head cooks must have picked up on her lack of cooking and taken her aside to show her the different seasonings that went with various dishes and which dishes were most in demand. Eventually, she was proficient in both the kitchen and waiting tables.
As in most restaurants, if you work in one long enough, you come in contact with some pretty interesting characters. You get to know the regulars and what their personalities and preferences are.
Finally, she moved to Los Angeles and her restaurant experience led her to get a job at the Hi Top Hat club. Of course, she lied about her age. She wasn’t about to let her age stand in the way of providing for her son who was almost one at this point. While she was working there, two women, Beatrice and Johnnie Mae, who frequented the club, took an interest in Maya. They got acquainted with one another and eventually were on familiar speaking terms. At one point, one of her co-workers pulled her aside and told Maya that those two were lesbians. Maya wasn’t shocked by this. She was well-read at this point and was somewhat familiar with the existence of lesbians. One Friday night, they both invited Maya over to their house after Sunday services. Throughout the day at their house, they were rude, crude, and ridiculously loose lipped about their personal affairs. They made a sarcastic to-do about her having graduated but only managing to get a lowly job waiting tables. One of them admitted that they were able to finance their lifestyles “on their backs” as sex workers. They used a less politically correct term. They told Maya that their landlord was a deacon of the local church, and his older son was wont to dress in women’s clothes. The landlord hated gays and took his anger out on these two women and had threatened to evict them soon. He didn’t like gays and blamed the two women for his son’s eccentricities. They were gay so they must be guilty for his son…somehow.
By this time, Johnnie Mae was getting worked up and excited with the telling of this gossip.
N***ers make me sick and n***er men make me sicker than that. -Johnnie Mae
To say that Maya was shocked would have been an understatement. The sentiment wasn’t but for the fact it was coming from them.
I hated that word and never believed it to be a term of endearment no matter who used it. -Maya Angelou
As the day dragged on, Maya was offered to join in smoking marijuana with them. She had never tried it before.
Before dinner was over, Maya promised herself she would get back at the two of them. She excused herself to the bathroom as the effects of the marijuana started to diminish. She had had three large helpings at dinner and could have had more. As she washed her face, she began to formulate a plan. She reasoned if they were whores, she might as well help them in that endeavor and benefit at the same time. She left the bathroom to tell them of her plan.
She told the two that she could have the house and utilities transferred to her name and they could stay and earn their living by “turning tricks”. She would provide the Johns by hiring cab drivers under the table to bring the customers to the house four days a week. If each trick were twenty dollars, the cab driver would get five, and seven fifty would go to Maya, and the other would go to the two of them to split. Thankfully, the two of them let greed get the best of them because they agreed which allowed them to have a place to stay and extra spending money, but the two of them were stupid and caused trouble which ended the enterprise in a matter of months and could have brought them under the scrutiny of the L. A. vice squad. In that time, Maya was able to buy her own car with cash, and quite a few outfits.
Maya’s revenge ended up being beneficial to all parties involved. She never lost her head to rage which she would have been more than entitled to.
Maya got her revenge but not in a spiteful way.
Thank you for reading. Below are the first two articles about Maya Angelou in this series. 🌺
Part 1
Part 2
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