Stone Butch Blues

One day on the subway, Jess is attacked by a group of three teenaged boys who beat her nearly unconsciousness. She wakes up in the hospital, her broken jaw wired shut. Before the staff can finish treating her, Jess absconds and makes it back to the apartment building, where Ruth nurses her to health. When Ruth tries to call Jess out of work, she inadvertently calls Jess “she,” thus costing Jess her job. Jess again has to find a new job, a task made harder by her having to communicate with a broken jaw. By Christmas, she is a great deal better, has a gift for Ruth and confesses her love. Ruth says she loves Jess too and the pair celebrates the holiday and their new commitment with Ruth’s drag queen friends.

Jess decides it is important that she apologize to Frankie for being unfair and judgmental to her about her relationship with another butch woman. When she calls Frankie up, Frankie is startled but glad to hear from her. Jess struggles to offer an appropriate apology for her narrowmindedness, but Frankie assures her, “You don’t need words with me, Jess. I know” (275).

Ruth and Jess decide to make a trip to upstate New York together. Ruth wants to visit the family she hasn’t seen since her grandmother died. Jess hopes to reconnect with Gloria, Scotty and Kim. Since they are unsure where they will be able to use the bathroom on the road without facing harassment, they joke that “the world is our restroom!” and they will just go as needed wherever they can (278).

Ruth’s family is glad to see her though they call her Robbie. They are also welcoming to Jess. After a short stay, Jess leaves Ruth with family and tries to call Gloria but Gloria refuses to speak to her. Jess decides to visit Jan and is shocked and hurt when she realizes that Edna is now with Jan, after telling Jess that she needs to be alone. After a brief, tense visit Jess goes to see her old friend, Grant, with whom she also experiences tension, as Grant is loudly critical of the use of hormones Jess tried in the past.

Jess learns that Butch Al is in the mental hospital and resolves to go see her. The hospital staff is not very encouraging of their visit, except for one elderly woman. This woman leads her to Butch Al, who has suffered a stroke and no longer speaks, the staff tells Jess. Instead, Butch Al simply stares into space, looking as if “she suffered from emotional cataracts” (287). Despite her coma-like appearance, Jess begins talking away. Butch Al looks at her and then later growls: “Don’t bring me back” (287). Jess tries to explain all she’s been through since she last saw Al. She tells Al that Jackie still loves her, that Jackie thinks of her every day, a lie that seems to bring Al comfort. Al squeezes Jess’s arm and then resumes her staring into space. Jess thanks the old woman for letting them talk.

When Jess returns to pick up Ruth and drive back to NYC, she gets to know Ruth’s family some. She talks with Ruth’s aunt, who makes them pies to take home. She also promises Ruth’s mom that she will take good care of her child. 

One day, coming up from the subway, Jess hears a woman speaking through a crowd of people. The woman talks about being taunted and later raped for being openly gay. The crowd invites Jess to speak and she shares her experience. As she is speaking, she notices her old friend Duffy among them. The two catch up and decide to find a place where they can talk and really discuss themselves and their lives. Jess reminds Duffy that he never answered her question about whether or not he is a communist.

Back at home, Jess mulls over her life experiences. She thinks of Theresa, of the paths she’s taken. She decides that if she had to live life over again, she would make the same decisions.