***Chapter 5 from my novelette, --- "The Saucy Sweethearts Of Storyville"...

 

   Belinda Honey Bee liked to dress up with big or fancy  hats. She thought a big beautiful hat made any woman or girl look so pretty, especially if there were loads of flowers on the hat. Belinda was a very small woman, which was one of the reasons she was called "honey bee"; she was tiny as a bee and buzzy as one too, with her little girl voice, and, of course, she was also only four feet, ten inches tall. 

   And, Belinda adored flowers, like a bee does, --- yes, like some of the girls at Lulus White's house loved jewelry. The greatest gift a John could give the very sweet Belinda was a bouquet of flowers with the morning dew still fresh on it. Belinda was often so delighted with the gift of a bunch of flowers that she forgot to ask for her fee, and, --- then, the John could easily get a free one. Many of the Johns knew this and took terrible advantage of it, which made Madame Lulu very angry.

  Of course, Madame Lulu could never fire Belinda because the poor girl would surely starve or get into trouble, wandering the streets, aimlessly asking for food and a place to stay. Even the hardened Lulu White had some heart and conscience, and, in her own rough way, took very good care of her girls After all, beautiful soiled doves can be very difficult, with their many admirers; few normal people would have the cruelty to step on a wounded butterfly, fluttering on the sidewalk. Seldom did a man have the hardheartedness to even hurt the tender feelings of Belinda Honey Bee. So, she was very well protected, sometimes too well protected...

   Norton Donaldson fiercely defended Belinda.

He was actually obsessed with her, had asked her to marry him many times, was infuriated that she twittered and said "no" each time. So, Norton went to Madame Lulu to plead his case, saying that Belinda was "not in her right mind," and that he wanted "custody" of her. Madame Lulu had laughed and said that Belinda was able to take care of herself, --- bathe herself, feed herself, required no "nursing care," and was Norton thinking of turning Belinda, who was twenty two, into his slave? And, he certainly couldn't adopt since she was years from being a minor! 

   Finally, very wealthy Norton offered Madame Lulu a obscenely huge sum of money, saying he would "cherish Belinda for the rest of her life". Then, Lulu, fed up with these antics, had Michel show Norton out of the house. But, Norton couldn't stay away long, and soon he was back, wanting "time" with Belinda again, and again, and again. It made Lulu nauseous to see them together; she recognized the beginnings of "madness" in Norton. Lulu told Chief Of Police, Vern O' Grady, and he nodded. frowning. Vern had experience with what frustrated men could do to helpless women, --- oh, yes, he did. 

   Murders and lesser, but equally violent crimes, of course, did take place in free-wielding "wicked" Storyville, but they were usually, quickly, hushed up. Citizen's action committees constantly talked about shutting Storyville down. But, like Mayor of New Orleans, Martin Behrman, said, "You can make it illegal, but you can't make it unpopular," --- which, of course, was the real reason for the start of Storyville: to create an area of legal prostitution, to control the swelling vice, --- if possible. 

--- Copyright by Antoinette Beard/Sorelle Sucere, 2021.