by Ashton Lee
So most people thought it was an adorable idea to line up Liam McShay, Celice McShay, and Denia Place in their strollers with their proud parents on the stage of the library’s mini-auditorium for the club’s most original idea to date. Nearly everyone who had ever attended a meeting of The Cherry Cola Book Club was there—even the head honcho of Cherico, Councilman Durden Sparks, with his wife, Evie—for it would be politically unseemly for him to stay away and not put in his two cents. Wasn’t kissing babies the ultimate political cliché?
It was true that it would be a good while before any of the trio of infants could read a book, much less review one. But that was beside the point. This particular meeting of The Cherry Cola Book Club was a joyous celebration more than anything else, and everyone was onboard, including children’s librarian, Miriam Goodcastle, standing on one side of the stage dressed as Mother Goose, to open the program officially. Long-time front desk clerk and director’s assistant, Renette Posey, stood on the other side, costumed as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.
“Ladies and gentlemen of The Cherry Cola Book Club,” Miriam began after tentatively tapping the mike, “we have here before you the future of our library, as well as the future of all libraries. Mothers and fathers, entrust your children to me so that they will soon have their noses in books instead of technology. I say give them rhymes and it will give them reasons to read on. In continuity there is always great strength.”
Then it was Renette’s turn for a brief moment in the sun. “Fairy tales have their place as children grow up, but if these babies learn as much about the real world as I have working here with Maura Beth, they’ll do just fine. So now, without further ado, we call upon the parents of these babies to introduce to all of you the Second Generation of the Cherry Cola Book Club.”
Maura Beth and Jeremy smiled and pointed toward Liam in his stroller as planned. “This is Paul William McShay, and this is his official initiation into The Cherry Cola Book Club,” they said together. “May Liam read all the books in the entire world worth reading.”
Everyone laughed and applauded simultaneously.
Next, Elise gestured toward her little daughter’s stroller. “This is Susan Constance Celice McShay. Celice, I’ve decided to call her; and even though we’ll be leaving soon for Evansville to resume our lives up there, whenever she visits Cherico with me, she’ll be in this library reading something, I have no doubt. And that alone will make her an official, bona fide member of The Cherry Cola Book Club. A love of literature and good food sums it all up.”
After another round of applause, Periwinkle spoke up for herself and Parker, glancing down quickly at her notes once or twice. “Ardenia Bedloe Place, meet your Cherry Cola Book Club family. You were named for your wonderful grandmother, and she loved being a part of this amazing group. You’ll find everything you need to know about the world here, including the meaning of acceptance by truly good people. We can’t wait for Denia to get to know all of you personally.”
Another round of healthy applause followed—and then a surprise. From stage left on cue, the Brachles entered, with Justin holding their son, Markie, in his big, muscular arms. The little tyke was a few months away from his terrible twos, and his parents had decided it was best to keep track of him by not letting his wandering little feet touch the ground.
“Don’t forget about us,” Becca said. “We’re a bit ahead of the other three, but we can’t wait to bring Markie to his first story hour in the not-too-distant future. We know it will be something special.”
James Hannigan of The Cherico Market popped up after a final burst of applause and said, “I guess I’d better start including baby food in my free samples on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Whadda y’all think?”
“I’ll be there,” Becca said.
“And I speak for The Free Sample Sisters when I say that you’ve got a winner,” Maura Beth added in the midst of all the laughter and buzzing that spread throughout the auditorium.
Then it was time to retire to the break room and the potluck buffet everyone had brought to catch up on the latest news. Fortuitously, all four of the second generation had been perfectly silent angels throughout the brief ceremony. But that did not stop at least one of them from coming to life, spitting out a pacifier, and crying now and then as everyone moved along the line with their plates and appetites on hand.
“I think you outdid yourself today,” Councilman Sparks told Maura Beth as he helped himself to a couple of slices of smoked turkey breast. “I didn’t think you could top what you’ve done in the past, but Evie and I agree, this was a pretty special idea. Looks to me like Cherico will never be without The Cherry Cola Book Club with all these little newcomers.”
As she had often in the past where Councilman Sparks was concerned, Maura Beth decided to be gracious, overlooking the years of calculated opposition she had faced from City Hall regarding both the old and new libraries she had directed to the best of her ability. “Thank you, Durden,” she said, taking a huge spoonful of broccoli and cheese casserole. “I’m very proud of my legacy, and I know you’ll never mind greeting new taxpayers.”
“Hey, that’s a good one. And I’ll be the first to admit it,” he continued. “I was wrong about a lot of things. So maybe I did think libraries were a thing of the past at one time. Live and learn, right? ” He offered yet another of his trademark, reelection smiles that had worked so well for him over the years, along with that dashing touch of gray at his temples.
Maura Beth flashed her teeth at him a bit too broadly. “Oh, yes, indeedy. Got to learn from those mistakes.”
“And I’ve been meaning to compliment you on how fast you regained that cute little figure of yours,” he said, stepping back just a bit for a quick once-over while Evie gave him a look of disapproval as she stood behind him.
That remark gave Maura Beth pause as well. It echoed much too uncomfortably that awkward stretch when Councilman Sparks seemed bound and determined to get rid of her library directorship in order to get her to come to work “under” him. He had even fired his loyal, long-time secretary, Nora Duddney, to set up the sequence. Maura Beth had, of course, figured out what he was up to fairly easily and maintained her distance, and Nora had later come to her aid in forcing City Hall to come up with the money to build a millennium-worthy library. Of all the women in the world Charles Durden Sparks had gone to bat and set his cap for, Maura Beth Mayhew McShay was surely his supreme strikeout.
“Let’s don’t go there,” Maura Beth said, wrinkling her nose at him. “I’ll settle for the library legacy compliment, if you don’t mind.”
Councilman Sparks knew better than to antagonize her and quickly changed the subject as the two of them moved farther along the line. “Well, I can’t wait to dig into this delicious food.”
“Yes, Durden, let’s concentrate on the potluck, shall we?” Evie said, nudging him vigorously.
Then Maura Beth shut the conversation down with a smirk. “Yummy sums it all up, doesn’t it?”
* * *
Would wonders never cease? Mamie Crumpton had finally given in and accepted the fact that her once-subservient sister, Marydell, had gone to work for Maura Beth as a front desk clerk over a year ago and seemed none the worse for wear. The Crumpton Family name had not been besmirched one iota by one of its scions doing low-paying work, serving the general public and even liking every minute of it. No one thought less of the Crumpton sisters of Perry Street because one of them no longer sat on settees all morning and afternoon ordering servants around and having them wait on her hand and foot. What Mamie had insisted was so very far beneath a Crumpton had actually given Marydell a brand-new life away from her domineering sister, getting her out of the house for a breath of fresh air and much-needed perspective.
Gradually, Mamie had realized that she was never going to get the toothpaste back in the tube. Once Marydell had tasted the freedom of making up her own mind, she was not about to give it up. Well, at least Mamie had been a library user all al
ong—attending the meetings of “Who’s Who in Cherico?” that Voncille Nettles Linwood had supervised for so many years. To Mamie’s way of thinking, it was not as if Marydell had gone to the extreme and become a fast-food worker at a drive-through or one of those robotic greeters at a big box store. How would the aristocratic Crumpton name ever live down that sort of thing?
For her part, Marydell no longer gave a hoot in a handbag what her sister thought. She had said only yes and no so politely to her for so many decades, staying in the background while Mamie paraded around Cherico in her one-size-too-small gowns and drooping pearls, that she was determined to make up for lost time. She now had opinions about everything from politics to religion to fashion to food; and, furthermore, she had turned out to be a very helpful front desk clerk because of that. Eclectic had become her middle name, and Mamie had decided to find something else to complain about and to try to control.
“That little initiation makes me wish I had had children,” Marydell was saying to her sister as the two of them sat at one of the break room tables indulging in bites of turkey with cranberry sauce.
Mamie stopped just short of cackling. “You live in such a fantasy world, sister dear. As if doing a cutesy, little, fifteen-second skit onstage is all there is to bringing up a child.”
“For heaven’s sake, I know that’s not all there is to it. You completely misunderstood what I meant,” Marydell said, narrowing her eyes. “It’s the continuity I’m talking about. The fact is, the Crumpton name will be dying out with us.”
But Mamie continued to keep the amusement in her voice while the wheels turned in her head. “Why on earth are you being so morbid about it? Have you been fooling around in the library’s genealogy room again? That comment sounds like something Voncille Linwood would say to us. I can just hear her now in that superior, schoolteacher tone of hers, ‘Ooh, after being one of the first families of Cherico, there will be no more Crumptons to trod the hallowed sidewalks of Perry Street. Isn’t that a terrible shame? However will we get along?’”
Just at that moment, Maura Beth passed by on her way back to the buffet line, and Mamie got her attention. “If you have just a minute, we need your advice and counsel, Maura Beth.”
“I’m always at your service,” she said, stopping in her tracks with her gracious, librarian smile.
“Here’s what we’ve got going. Marydell seems to bemoan the fact that we are the last of the Crumptons in Cherico. Now this is your chance to lighten her load and show that her coming to work for you was absolutely the most brilliant move she could ever have made.” Mamie folded her arms expectantly. “Go right ahead. I can’t wait for your response.”
It took Maura Beth only a second to come up with a reply. “May I remind you both that the Crumpton name is emblazoned on the façade of this magnificent library? It will forever be known as The Charles Durden Sparks, Crumpton, and Duddney Public Library. The more than substantial contribution that you two made from your family fortune enabled this facility to get off the ground in the first place. Yes, Councilman Sparks saw the light of reason and finally chipped in, and Nora Duddney rounded out the trio of major contributors. But this incredible building will stand for many generations to come long after all of us are gone, and as a result, the Crumpton name will never die out. How’s that?”
Instead of applauding, Mamie was frowning. “Well, I didn’t expect you to have an answer like that, Maura Beth. Good God, you ought to go on Jeopardy! with the way you think on your feet. Do you have a buzzer hidden on you somewhere? ”
“Thanks for the lovely compliment, but you probably shouldn’t have asked me in the first place.”
Marydell had the most impish grin on her face, and she was not about to let it go. “I told you she was the most wonderful boss in the world to work for. She always knows what’s going on and what to say to everybody who walks in.”
Mamie seemed more resigned than anything else. “Yes, I suppose you two were meant for each other—a match made for all those stacks. In the meantime, you’re right, Maura Beth. The Crumpton name on this building is a pretty nice accomplishment if I do say so myself. I’m quite sure our parents would have approved of the way we spent their money.”
“There you go,” Maura Beth added. “That’s the right way to look at it. And I promise you if Marydell ever gets tired of working tirelessly at the front desk without complaining even once, I’ll gladly let you take her place for the exact same salary. When it comes to the Crumpton family, I’m an equal opportunity employer.”
“Don’t push it,” Mamie said. But her tone was not really snarky. Like Councilman Sparks had realized some time ago, she knew she had met her match.
* * *
Locke and Voncille Linwood had finished eating and making the rounds, paying their respects to all the babies in the strollers and to squirming little Markie Brachle as well. His attention span was waning by the second. Now, they were sitting at one of the tables in the midst of a pleasant conversation with Maura Beth and Jeremy, catching their breath.
“You don’t think The Cherry Cola Book Club will ever start reviewing children’s books, do you?” Voncille said, pointing to Liam’s stroller and the other ones across the way.
Maura Beth laughed and then took a sip of her cherry cola lime punch, the club’s staple drink. “That would be Miriam Goodcastle’s department. In a way, her story hours do that at the beginner’s level. But our club will stick to what the adults like to read—and what they like to cook and eat.”
“Do you think your library will ever allow an adult beverage or two into our meetings?” Locke said, making a gesture with his hand of tossing one back. “There are times when I’ve wanted a good, stiff drink to go along with all the back-and-forth and such the club brings out in people. Are there any laws on the books that forbid spirits on the premises, so to speak?”
“I’ll have to look into the fine print.”
Voncille gave him a playful nudge. “Now, Locke, you don’t want to get our Maura Beth into more trouble, do you? After all, she’s been through quite a lot since she came to Cherico seven or eight years ago. We’re so lucky she just didn’t up and leave town and go back to New Orleans for good. She was put through the mill by Councilman Sparks and his cronies.”
Locke seemed to be reviewing the recent past in his head before he spoke. “That’s true. All those ultimatums you got from City Hall, fighting to keep the old library open, all that thunderstorm damage to the roof that came along, scrapping to get the new one built, and then picketing from that crazy church group last year when it finally opened. A lesser woman couldn’t have made it through all that. You’ve sure earned your keep here in Cherico, Maura Beth.”
“She sure has,” Jeremy said, coming to his wife’s defense. “But thank goodness it looks like everything’s finally calmed down, and the future looks bright for us and the entire town. We just finished talking to Ana Estrella over at the buffet table, and she said the Spurs ’R’ Us plant out at the industrial park will be opening up in another month. Those cowboy boots’ll be flying out the doors to the whole world and truly putting Cherico on the map. Maurie and I are looking forward to raising our children here, no matter what.” He paused to let that sink in to the Linwoods and added, “Oh, yes, we’re going to have more than one, believe me.”
“I think that’s wonderful,” Voncille said, clasping her hands together. “Maybe big families will be making a comeback in the millennium. When I was growing up as a Baby Boomer, it was never in question, but things seemed to have slowed down a bit recently.”
“We’re planning on at least two, maybe three,” Maura Beth added, looking at Jeremy affectionately. “I was an only child, and I didn’t particularly like it. I remember specializing in imaginary playmates. My mother even had the Times-Picayune print an account in the social column of a birthday party I had for one of my imaginary friends. I think I named her Mrs. Figgie Newton, and she was turning five, as I recall. Not that that was a bad thing, y
ou understand, but I do want to try the sibling arrangement and see how that works out for us.”
“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” Jeremy said in somewhat of a monotone while averting his eyes.
“You and Elise, for instance?” Maura Beth said.
“On the whole, I think it’s worked out now that we’re all grown up with our family responsibilities. Doesn’t really matter how we got there. The point is that we both finally grew up and left our sibling rivalry behind. It’s really something that’s been long overdue.”
“At any rate, we’re going to try for more than one,” Maura Beth told them, sounding completely carefree. “That Second Generation of The Cherry Cola Book Club is going to be something special, I’m happy to tell you.”
* * *
Over on the other side of the room, Elise and Alex were having a quiet little conversation with Connie and Douglas while Celice was cooperating splendidly, sleeping quietly in her stroller.
“We sure are gonna miss you,” Connie was saying between bites of broccoli and cheese casserole. “The old lodge just won’t be the same without you and the baby. Sometimes I felt like I was back working in a hospital again—but without any emergencies or meds to administer or telemetry to monitor with a vengeance. Without the possibility of a flat line, it’s all good.”
Elise reached over and patted Connie’s hand affectionately. “Well, you did make sure that I took all my vitamins every single day. But you have no idea how much your kindness and TLC has meant to me.” She included Douglas with a quick glance his way. “You’ve both practically been saints over there in The McShay Home for Wayward Mothers.”
Laughter broke out around the table, and Douglas said, “That’s funny, but you know you’ve just been family to us.”
Elise nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, I have to say I’ve learned a thing or two about how that really works.”