French Cup: A Neighborhood Story

Chapter 42: -Kazuya- Crab With a Knife

Snow seemed like it would drop any second outside. The clouds were heavy and a dark gray, making three o'clock look like night time had already come. The sun was completely blocked out, just like our mood in here.

"Well, I'd better go back to my store. I don't want to be caught up in this," Ayane said, holding what remained of her ice cream sandwich cookie in her hand. She didn't move an inch, still leaned against the counter. 

"Do you want another frappe?" Nikki asked her, seeing she wasn't moving.

"Yup."

I stood there, too, an Oreo frappe in my hand. It was an Oreo frappe kind of day. We all needed a pick me up. 

"Hey, put some of these cookies in there," Ayane said, pointing to a dish of festively wrapped cookies that she'd bought to bring to her part-timers. "I bet that would be delicious."

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Nikki said, smiling a little. He hadn't smiled all day. Just thinking of Charlotte, like we all were. Thinking about Zombie Walk, everything. Everything was a smack in the face of what was really happening.

We could all go on with our days. We could pretend that we were thriving, doing better than our best. Carrying on as usual. But, Charlotte closing her doors marked more of an end than it already had been. The old hotel had closed, and with it so many of our friends had to go. Hanako and Chidori had to leave, along with others who'd lost their businesses and clients. It really brought home that there were only a few of us hanging on.

Three years ago, we'd felt that first blow. Before the hotel was sold, our mentor, Lady Elizabeth had gotten too sick. She was living with AIDS, but you'd never guess it if she didn't tell you. She'd been living with it for twenty years. She wasn't ashamed of it, and at Pride she'd hand out red ribbons to remind people that there was AIDS awareness worldwide, handing out flyers about PrEP, too. She was an advocate in our neighborhood. On our counter we'd have bookmarks telling people about HIV/AIDS, and still today part of our profits went to donation to help those living with HIV/AIDS. It was her legacy. But, one May, she'd gotten Pneumonia from a simple cold, and she was gone shortly after, her immune system not able to deal with it after a dip in health. She'd been in her sixties. We were devastated and still were, but we'd carried on for her. Made sure her shop wouldn't close. We'd tried everything, gaining ownership over her lease. We continued on for her. Fighting for her memory.

Even so, we'd barely been able to hang onto this place. So many people had wanted the space. Their purposes sounded ridiculous compared to our mission, what we were doing it for. 

As I thought about her, sipping on my frappe, she gave me courage. A memory of her hands on her hips again as she wore a cute apron, trying to determine what was wrong with the room. Remembering her leaping around, rearranging our mismatched chairs to cause them to make some sense. It made sense to her, whatever it was. 

We had to keep fighting. Remembering her face, how much she loved this place. What she'd worked for. So many of us lost the fight, losing our businesses and having to go someplace else in shame. Dispersing, defeated. Wasn't there any way to keep going? Would it be over some day? I didn't want that to happen. I'd keep fighting for everyone. Help them sell whatever they needed to sell, buying whatever I could, too. Coming up with new ideas to help them. 

As I stared into space, the bell above the door chimed. My eyes went to it immediately, and what I saw...

A light snow had begun to fall. It was all over Gyeong-Wan's coat. He was breathing heavily, holding onto the doorknob. He sometimes lingered in the doorway, pausing. Was he nervous? Hesitant? I could only guess. My mouth opened to greet him.

"Boy, is it snowing?!" Ayane called to him loudly over Nikki noisily preparing her frappe. 

Gyeong-Wan nodded wildly, gesturing outside. He knew he wouldn't be heard over the machine. He was so cute... Behind him in the park, I saw a gray striped tabby cat prowling around. Was it too cold for it? Gyeong-Wan closed the door, the cold air ceasing. He went toward us, making his away between the seats. 

Suddenly nervous, I turned away from the counter, going to our hot water maker. I grabbed a mug, preparing hot chocolate for him. He liked our dark chocolate mint the best after the special spicy one I'd showed him. I only had the supplies right now for the mint. I wanted it to be done as soon as he reached the counter, but that wasn't possible.

The machine Nikki was working at finished as I was completing my task. Gyeong-Wan had been speaking, but I only heard it now. I was stirring his cup, marshmallows floating at the top, as I turned around. 

"They're not very friendly. I wanted to tell you that. They're not snooty. Hmm. What's the word. They have money, they're not a typical Karen who's newly rich. They know their place in the world, so they're demanding in that way."

"Are they? I can't tell the difference," Ayane said, taking her new frappe from Nikki and sipping on it like it was the stuff of life.

"Oh, I know the difference. There's definitely a difference between how someone newly rich and someone who's old money treats you. There's two kinds of old money, too. There's the kind who's comfortable and friendly. They look like you or I. Well, maybe not like me... They're wearing normal clothes, you know, like a t-shirt and sandals. You'd never guess they have money, but they spend it like everything's free."

"Ohh, I see. And these aren't those types."

"No, they're pretty severe. They think they're clever." He let out a breath, grinning at me. A blush snuck onto my cheeks as I handed him the mug. "Thank you. Oh, this smells wonderful. I've been wanting this all day. How did you know?" He lifted it to his nose, breathing in so much, then letting it out in a very relieved sigh. It was as if he'd received a million massages, his entire body relaxing, his shoulders going way down as he sipped delicately.

"Hi," I said, suddenly shy. My hands gripped my long apron under the counter, starting to play with it in my nerves.

"Hi," he smiled. His mouth probably tasted like chocolate and-

"Um, uh, do you want to go to Chirp's later?" I asked, trying to get my mind off his mouth. The taste of it...

It was amazing, how he became my world the second he walked in. I'd been so sad, thinking about Lady Elizabeth and Charlotte, the neighborhood as a whole. But, he changed that the second the bell chimed above him. Distracting me from too much sadness. He made my world bloom again. That's what it was. Incredibly, that's what it was. A hope coming in with him. Something different among the sadness. Strange to realize this now. It happened every time. It only made me blush more.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry. You wouldn't believe the day I had. I want to tell you all about this new group staying with us. Ever since what happened at Zombie Walk, I've been thinking about the groups that stay with us. The wedding group, the 5K. I need to tell you about them before they come. Really, I'm sorry... Maybe if I'd told you about the 5K, what happened might not have happened. I feel responsible-"

"Ridiculous!" Ayane cried out, smacking him hard on the back. He was strong, though, he could take it. 

 He let out an "Oof!", the liquid in his cup jumping anyway.

"None of that was your fault! Don't think that at all!" Ayane barked, but she was being kind. "It was those people's fault! I get what you're saying about the differences between people, but to me they're all the same! It sounds like these new people will cause the same kind of trouble, no matter the motivation!" She turned to us, holding her frappe with a vise-like grip, reminding me of a giant, angry red crab in her brick red jacket. "I have to go back to my store! I'm going to tell them about these new people before we get any."

"They'll probably be wearing expensive suits," Gyeong-Wan said quickly as she turned to go. 

"Thank you very much, I'll keep that in mind." She left in a huff, carrying her cookies precariously and her cup tight against her chest like someone would take it away from her. As she went over the threshold she called back to us. "This cookie frappe is very good! Put it on the menu!" 

The door shut closed behind her retreating form, our shop suddenly silent without her.