Lulu's Cafe: A Novel

by T. I. Lowe

  Crowley rolled his eyes, which were nearly hidden under the brim of his tattered ball cap. “Great, now I guess I have to share my pie.”

  His oddly-colored eyes held Leah’s eyes captive for a few seconds before she lowered her head. They stood in a tense silence as Crowley exuded intimidation. The young woman turned on her heels and left without another word. Crowley let her. He knew, without any doubt, Lulu would have hit him over the head with that pie, if she knew how rude he had been. He was a southern gentleman by nature, but something came over him when Leah was around. He didn’t trust her, and he couldn’t let his guard down.

  Chapter Eleven

  It was the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the café was packed. Leah was refilling Ana’s glass of tea when she glanced out the window and noticed a grungy little man pedaling up on what looked like an oversized child’s tricycle. A misshapen trucker hat sat lopsided on top of his greasy brown hair. He pedaled up on the sidewalk and nearly took out one of the round planter boxes.

  “What in the world is that?” Leah motioned towards the man.

  “That is Jessup Barns. He’s our little town’s drunk,” Ana said.

  Leah fidgeted at the word drunk.

  Ana sensed the change in Leah’s demeanor. “Don’t worry ‘bout ole Jessup, honey. He’s harmless. Well…to everyone but himself that is.” She laughed.

  They watched as Jessup struggled to dismount the bike. His leg got caught on the seat, making him face-plant into a container of mums.

  Ana continued laughing at the Jessup show. “That contraption he rode up on, which seems to be beating him up at the moment, is his liquor-cycle.”

  “His what?” Leah continued to watch the train wreck on the sidewalk. She just couldn’t look away.

  “Jessup can’t have a driver’s license on account he can’t keep from getting DUI’s. The sheriff permanently suspended it. Jessup tried to get around on a regular bike, but had a pretty hard time keeping it upright. So one night he raided Crowley’s barn and came strolling up on that thing the next day. You have to give it to him, it’s fairly creative.” They watched him finally get up from the sidewalk.

  “He’s got a cooler strapped on the back, and the metal basket mounted on the front is for whatever he sees fit.” They studied the basket as Jessup emptied beer cans out of it into Lulu’s sidewalk trash bin.

  “At the moment, it’s his trash can. But after visiting Lulu, it will become his grocery bag. He’s a pet project of Lulu’s. She thinks she can save him. I hate to break her heart, but that poor thing is just too far gone.” Ana concluded her commentary on Jessup and returned her attention to her salad.

  Leah moved back to the counter, mumbling to herself, “Aren’t we all a Lulu pet project?”

  Jessup stumbled through the door, bringing along with him a stench of body odor and stale beer.

  “Good afternoon, Jessup. I got your food right here.” She handed him the white bag as she moved him back out the door. She had to get him out quickly before people started gagging. And gagging was never a good thing for business.

  He mumbled a thank you and handed her a crumpled dollar bill.

  “Jessup, the drugstore had a huge buy-one-get-one free sale. Now I’m stuck with all this free mess that I don’t need. You think you could help me out and take it off my hands?” Lulu rushed behind the counter and grabbed a large grocery bag full of toiletries. She handed it to him through the door.

  “I guess I could help you out, Miss Lulu,” Jessup agreed as he took the bag and peeped inside. “That’s mighty kind of you.”

  “Now don’t go wasting my kindness, Jessup.”

  “No ma’am.” He placed both bags into his rectangular basket and haphazardly climbed onto his oversized tricycle. From the front window of the café, the ladies watched as he slowly made his way over to a bench by the river to eat lunch and inspect his free loot from Lulu.

  That afternoon at closing time, Lulu and Leah were cleaning up when Crowley ambled in, laughing.

  “What’s so blame funny, boy?” Lulu asked as she continued to wipe down the counter.

  Crowley stood by the front windows. “Looks like Jessup is trying to turn the river into one gigantic bubble bath.”

  This got the two women’s attention, and they quickly made it over to the windows. They saw Jessup, waist deep in the river, with a thick ring of foam encircling him. His hair stuck straight out all over his head, covered in more white foam.

  “No. That fool is wasting my kindness, is what he’s doing.” Lulu slapped her palm on the counter, making both Crowley and Leah laugh harder. Leah held her healing ribs cautiously. “He is supposed to get his nasty butt cleaned up with that stuff.”

  “Looks like he’s washing to me, Lulu,” Crowley said, causing Leah to laugh more as he joined in.

  “The two of you laugh it up.” Lulu clutched at the ruffles of her frilly apron. “You think fishy river water is gonna help get the stench off his hide?”

  Crowley shrugged. “It’s got to be better than nothing.”

  “Yes. Then he’s gonna climb out and put back on those beer-stained, sour-smelling clothes. Yes, Crowley Mason, that’s got to be better than nothing,” Lulu said.

  Crowley bolted out the door and ran across the street to the riverbank. The six-foot-four-inch giant was comically trying to look inconspicuous. The two ladies watched as he gathered up the filthy clothes Jessup had left by the liquor-cycle. Jessup had his back towards the riverbank, so Crowley was able to grab the clothing, undetected. He held the clothes out at arm’s length and jogged about three storefronts down, dumping them into a garbage bin. He turned and jogged back to Lulu’s and headed straight to the kitchen, still holding his hands out.

  Hands on hips, Lulu shook her head when he blazed past her. “What are you doing?”

  “Bleaching my hands!”

  A few minutes later, Crowley came back into the dining area, smelling like bleach and grinning. “You’re welcome,” he said.

  “Yes, Crowley. Thank you for going and getting that drunk arrested again for streaking through town.”

  The again caught Leah’s attention. She wondered if this was a recurring problem. Leah watched as Crowley infuriated Lulu even more by tickling her sides. The feisty lady slapped his hands away until he decided to take a seat on a stool. Leah was amused at how the tiny Lulu was giving Crowley a run for his money. She detected that Crowley found it amusing too. Leah felt relieved to know that the little woman did know how to frown, as she caught Lulu shooting Crowley a look that Leah hoped she’d never encounter for something she did.

  “He’ll be okay. He’s got his tighty-whities on…” Crowley paused. They glanced back out the window and watched as Jessup, dripping wet, pedaled away from the river. He seemed to give no thought to the disappearance of his clothes.

  “Well, tighty-tans are more like it.” Crowley laughed and looked at Lulu. “Some airing out will do him good.” He jumped up from the stool and popped his head out of the side door as Jessup passed by. “Be sure to put some deodorant on!” Crowley yelled.

  Jessup raised a hand in acknowledgement and continued to pedal down the street.

  As she headed into the kitchen, Lulu muttered, “Putting perfume on a pig.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Leah was sick and tired and aggravated and couldn’t stand it any longer. She truly hated to ask Lulu to help her out with it. She had already asked so much of the generous woman. At closing time a week after Thanksgiving, she finally couldn’t take it any longer.

  “Lulu, I can’t take this another second or I think I may have to scream.” Leah raised her casted arm.

  Lulu laughed. “I’ll see what I can do about that.” She went back to reheating a large bowl of her famous tomato herb soup and grilling two cheese sandwiches.

  “Who is that for? It’s closing time.” Leah paused before heading up the stairs.

  “Crowley. He had a long day. He should be here soon.”

 
Before Leah could ask why, a tall man dressed in an expensive dark-blue suit sauntered through the door and relocked it behind him. She was taken aback to realize it was none other than Crowley Mason.

  “Someone die?” Leah asked Lulu.

  Crowley said, “No, but I’m sure the defense lawyer is going to wish he were, by the time his client gets done cussing him out.”

  “I take it the judge ruled in your favor,” Lulu said.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Well, congratulations, young man,” Lulu said as she served him his late lunch.

  “Thank you. I’m starving.” Crowley loosened his designer tie and quickly tucked into his meal. Leah just stood there, shocked that he actually had shoes on that covered his toes. His unruly locks had been styled with gel, and he was clean-shaven. She stared for a moment and then eased upstairs, thinking her cast could wait. She had felt slightly intimidated by Crowley from the get-go, but now she felt completely overwhelmed by him.

  Leah headed straight for her after-work shower. Forty minutes later, she was freshly dressed in a favorite pair of yoga pants and a wide-sleeved, black tunic shirt. She was about to cozy up on the sofa to read when she heard a knock. She opened the door to find Crowley, leaning on the doorframe, holding a mini Dremel rotary tool and a pair of scissors.

  “Someone order a cast removal?” he asked as he waved the tools in front of her.

  Leah held her hand out to take the tools. “Thank you.”

  He ignored her and walked on into the apartment. He pointed to one of the chairs at the dining room table and told her to have a seat. Crowley set the tools on the table before removing his suit coat and neatly placing it across the rocking chair. He removed his tie and tucked it into one of the coat pockets.

  Leah noticed the Hugo Boss label and tried not to be impressed. “You’re a little overdressed for a cast removal.”

  “I can manage a cast removal just fine in a suit.” Crowley rolled his shirt sleeves up.

  “You and Lulu are a lot alike.”

  “From spending too much time together.” He pulled his seat closer to her left arm and sat down. He tried to lay her arm onto the table so that he could get a good look at the cast, but she was hesitant at letting him.

  “It’s okay. I’m an expert. I once removed my own cast the very same way.” Crowley reassured her with a slight smile that reached nowhere near his vividly blue eyes.

  “How’d you break your arm?” She reluctantly placed her casted arm onto the table.

  “Skateboarding accident. I was trying to be like Tony Hawk and pull off this epic stunt,” he said. “Lesson learned.” He nodded his head meaningfully as he turned on the battery-operated tool, which whined like a dental drill.

  “What lesson was that?” Leah cautiously watched the little saw close in on her arm.

  “I’m not Tony Hawk.”

  “So, you broke yours when you were a teenager?” she asked, a little worried that it had been a long time since he performed his cast removal. The little saw blade looked dangerously sharp. She was no wimp, but had no desire for unnecessary pain. She felt she had already endured enough of that mess to last a lifetime.

  “Nope. Just last year,” he said. “And no, I’m not too old to skateboard.” Crowley flashed a mouth full of perfectly white, perfectly straight, teeth, causing Leah to hold her breath without realizing it. “How’d you break your arm?” he asked with a knowing look that revealed he knew wouldn’t receive a proper answer.

  Leah answered him as honest as she could afford. “Stupid accident.”

  “How ‘bout we get rid of this stupid reminder then,” he said as he pushed the little saw blade into the cast. Once he drilled the length of the cast, Crowley used the scissors to snip through the protective gauze wrapping between the hard outer shell and Leah’s arm. With the cast removed, Leah sighed and satisfyingly scratched over her itchy arm.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” The cast had nagged her ruthlessly.

  Before Leah could pull her arm off the table, Crowley caught a glimpse of a burn scar on the palm of her hand that had been hidden under the cast. It covered a good portion of her palm. He gathered her hand, palm side up, into his hand to inspect it. Running his index finger over the length of it, he asked, “What on earth caused that?”

  Leah tugged her hand free from Crowley’s hold upon it. “Another accident. Happened over four years ago. It’s all healed up now, but I just can’t get rid of its reminder.” Unable to meet his intense gaze, she tried to laugh, but it fell miserably flat.

  After a few apprehensive moments passed in silence, Crowley shook his head and stood.

  “Thank you again, Crowley. I know you’ve been working all day and have to be tired, so it was kind of you to do this for me.”

  “No big deal,” he said as he picked up the cast and threw it away in the kitchen trash.

  “How long have you been a lawyer?”

  He paused by the table to gather up his tools. “I was born a lawyer, but I’ve been licensed for ten years. I battled my way through being a criminal prosecutor for nearly six years before I hit a complete burnout. Being surrounded by scumbags day in and day out is for the birds. I just handle your run-of-the-mill law stuff now like divorces, wills, and estate settlements. Sometimes my lawyer buddies upstate talk me into taking second chair on a big case they are tackling.” He scooped up his jacket and draped it neatly across his arm.

  “Is that what you did today?” Leah asked. The guy had totally surprised her. A skateboarding lawyer…

  He was about to answer, but stopped. “What’s this, twenty questions? Is my turn next?”

  She shut up quickly. “Thank you, again,” she said.

  Crowley took this as his dismissal and headed out the door. “No problem.” He waved without turning back towards her and was gone.

  ****

  The following week, it hit without warning in a pretty remarkable way. The full-blown Christmas season had entwined its way into every nook and cranny of Rivertown. The entire town was full of tradition and festivity. The paper had devoted an entire section to reporting all the coming events. There would be a cookie swap at the bookstore—with free coffee served to the participants, a live nativity scene would be on display each Thursday and Friday night at the First Baptist Church, and the annual floating Christmas parade on the river would be the night of the Christmas Jubilee. The festivities list was endless.

  The town was all abuzz in an excessive way about the traditional Christmas decorating contest. Leah discovered that Lulu took the contest very seriously. Lulu even hired a few part-time holiday helpers. She had Leah and the helpers drape twinkly white lights from every surface, inside and out. The dining tables were covered in beautiful patchwork tablecloths, made up with various deep reds, olive greens, creams, and golden tones. The café staff wore matching aprons with rows of color-coordinating ruffles at the bottom and Merry Christmas Y’all embroidered across the front. Elegant salt and pepper shakers, shaped like Christmas trees, sat on top of each table. Lulu also ordered Crowley to shuffle the tables around a bit to make room for an enormous tree to be placed upfront. It took several days to cover with lights and ornaments and ribbons. Old-fashioned Christmas carols spilled from the café’s speakers from the day after Thanksgiving until New Year’s Eve.

  Leah was astonished at the town’s transition. Lulu went the traditional route with her décor, and Ana went completely in the other direction. Her main color scheme was hot pink and lime green with accents of zebra print and silver. She had incorporated brightly-colored feathers and beads in the same color scheme in her artificial white tree and wreaths. Leah loved it and had secretly cast her vote for Ana. A large voting booth had been set up by the bank, where security cameras could keep an eye on it. Yep, the town took their decorating contest very seriously.

  The bookstore was another one of Leah’s favorites. Nick, the owner, decorated several three-foot trees in various book themes. Leah’s favorite
was the apple tree, with lots of different herbs tucked along the branches, created to honor Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. Leah had fallen in love with her magical stories. There were many more book-themed trees on display, and people enjoyed grabbing a cup of coffee and walking around, admiring the trees like they were pieces of artwork, which Leah considered them to be.

  The drugstore, bank, church, and library went with the simple tradition of green garlands and white lights. Not a storefront or home for that matter went bare.

  Crowley jumped on board too. Multicolored icicle lights hung from the roof and porch of the brick townhouse. Green garland, with more multicolored lights, neatly draped from the porch banisters and around the doorframe. In the small yard off to the side, he had placed three Christmas trees in a staggered triangle—one twelve-footer, an eight-footer and one four-footer. He had the local teens decorate them in different themes. The girls covered the eight-foot-tall tree in all glitter and gold. Crowley commented that it could be used as the disco ball at the Holiday Dance, causing the girls to giggle. The boys tackled the smallest tree quite literally with sports-themed decorations Crowley had personally ordered at their request. They also wanted blue twinkle lights on their tree. The grandest tree was a group effort with multicolored lights and covered in all types of toys. Leah and Lulu watched in amusement as the kids, resembling a bunch of elves, surrounded the giant tree with stepladders in various heights. Each tree had a sign posted in front identifying it, to the kids’ delight. The girls’ tree was The Disco Tree, the boys’ tree was named The Sport’s Fan Tree, and the group tree was named Santa’s Workshop Tree. The project took an entire Saturday to complete. After the youth revealed their creations at sunset, Lulu and Leah treated them to homemade popcorn balls and warm mulled apple cider.

  Leah tried to isolate herself away from all of the holiday cheers to no avail. Lulu would have none of that and dragged her out into the midst of it all. Leah gladly stayed after closing to help prepare the treats for the youth, but had insisted on not helping deliver. Of course, she ended up doing as Lulu said and had stood in Crowley’s yard for several hours getting to know some pretty great kids. One of the kids cranked up some music at one point, and everyone broke out in dance around the trees. Once that began, Leah snuck back to her apartment.