Lagniappe

by CommanderBayban

Summary:

Peri, a newcomer to Elwood City, meets up with classmates at a diner in town—until someone crashes the party.

Peri was announced into the Sugar Bowl by the twinkling bell over the front door. It was a bright and cheerful place with plush red booths and walls brimming with vintage posters and memorabilia. Bar stools gave patrons a front row seat to towering ice cream cones and the kitchen staff, whose concoctions wafted from room to room to the delight of Elwood City’s finest tastebuds. An older, bespectacled man was behind the counter preparing a sandwich. Peri could smell the pickles loaded between the two thin slices of white bread, drooping like desiccated cacti spines over a hunk of fried and pounded meat. He swiftly and skillfully wrapped it in wax paper and offered it to the puggish customer at the front of the line, who was already supping down a large malt.

Peri approached the counter, the straps of her backpack crinkled between her paws. Not an hour after school was let out, there was already enough of a line to make one wonder if it was Saturday. Many of the booths, too, were warm with hungry patrons. This was obviously the happening place to be, made doubly evident by the illuminated jukebox in the far corner. She rocked on her heels. Did they have Elvis in stock? Sinatra? What about the Go-Go’s and “Proud Mary” Tina Turner? Her English teacher had already branded her an “old soul”, just one of many who’d realized that this little girl preferred Crawford over DiCaprio.

It was her turn to order. She squinted at the laminated menu handed to her. There were club sandwiches, meatball subs, salads, and veggie burgers; nachos, heros, ice cream sundaes, and loaded fries. The drink selection was just as spectacular as the main fare. There were more options than her favorite diner back home—but home, as her mother would say, was now Elwood City.

Ultimately, she chose a small vanilla soft serve with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. After a long first day at her new school, she deserved a little sweet treat to tide her over before dinner. The cold, glass bowl safe between her paws, she traversed the checkerboard floor to a vacant seat in the back of the diner, but was caught midway by a familiar sight approaching her from the bathrooms. That was Francine, wasn’t it? They sat beside each other in homeroom and made their acquaintance over a mutual love of rock and roll.

“Hey, Peri!” she said. “You here alone?”

Peri nodded. “I was going to see if the jukebox had any Elvis. He’s my favorite, especially his jumpsuit era.”

“It’ll cost you a quarter. Why don’t you come sit with us when you’re through?” She jutted back her thumb. Not ten paces behind Peri was a table crammed with equally familiar faces: Buster, Arthur, Brain, Muffy, and even Binky. Of course she’d love to join in! She donated her quarter to a good cause and, when the King’s rich croons truly thrust the diner back in time, she slid into the booth beside Francine. It was a tight squeeze with four to a seat, but the presence of smiles and welcomes showed no one really minded.

“How are you getting along in Elwood City?” Muffy asked, biting into one of her curly fries.

“As well as I can,” said Peri. “This seems like a nice place even though none of my old friends are here.” She lapped the sprinkles off her ice cream. “I really want to visit the library after school tomorrow if I can. I’m big on books and I’ve read all the ones I brought.”

Binky put a pause to slurping his milkshake. “The new librarian is weird.”

“He doesn’t even go by a real name!” Buster put in, his mouth coated in strawberry ice cream. “Only ‘Doctor’. Doctor of what?!”

“I bet you he’s up to something,” said Arthur. “He seems to know every book off the top of his head. That’s not even possible.”

Brain was the lone dissenter. “Well, I think he’s very knowledgeable. When I came in to research Greek mythology, we had an entire chat about Theseus and his quest to slay the Minotaur in the labyrinth."

Binky scratched his head. “I don’t remember that part in the David Bowie movie?”

Muffy stuck up her nose. “Well, I heard he’s attending the school board meetings to make the reading and writing tests more difficult. You guys will have to study up.”

Francine turned to her friend with a look of utter incredulity. “Since when did you care about school board meetings?”

“My parents told me. They know everything that goes on in the city.”

Suddenly Buster blanked like a television cutting to static. His wide eyes were pointed towards the front entrance, his fur blanching whiter than usual. “Oh no. The clown has come to drag us into the sewers.”

“Good evening, children,” said a sunny voice. At the first whiff of the color explosion upon the man’s three-piece suit, Peri went stock stiff. He was a tall man with sharp pointed ears and a cloud of curly blond hair. This was the town’s librarian? He was far cry from the demure, bespectacled ladies she was used to running libraries.

“Shouldn’t you be at the library?” Binky asked.

The man’s ears pinned slightly back. “I’m not a caged animal, Mr Barnes,” he said. “I am permitted a walk home every now and again.” And he smiled at Brain. “I hope you’re enjoying Sophocles.”

Brain swallowed a bite of hamburger. “Oedipus at Colonus has been a bit challenging, but I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot!”

“Excellent, I’m glad to hear it. Do share your thoughts the next time you come and see me.” He then turned to Peri, whose attempt at making herself scarce was blown. “Now, who’s this?”

“I’m Perpugilliam,” she said, meekly, “but my friends call me Peri. I’m new in town.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, young Peri. I’m the Doctor, preeminent librarian of Elwood City.” He set down a large travel-size container and a styrofoam cup. “Let’s see, hmm. You strike me as a classics sort of girl.” He opened one side of his coat, then the other. Rather like a bootlegger skulking New York City with a rack of CDs and sunglasses housed on their person, dozens of books lay within little pockets sewn along the patterned lining. “No, these won’t do.” He stuck his hand into his outer pocket, then the other, and removed a small trade paperback.

“Right, here you are.” He set it beside her with a jaunty tap of its cover. “I think you’ll enjoy that one. Now, as much as I’d love to stay and chat, I’m expecting Dewey for dinner tonight and I mustn’t keep him waiting!” There was a cheeky glint in his eye as he said this, and he went on his way.

Arthur shook his head. “In a past life he was Mary Poppins.”

Peri picked up her book. The cover was plain, smooth brown, the leftmost side outlined with wild grasses that stretched from border to border. A Girl of the Limberlost, it read. She had never heard of the book, but the back cover, describing a lonely girl who finds solace in nature, fit her to a tee. How did he know?, she wondered. Did he know? She looked behind her, but the weird librarian was already gone.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 27 of To the Stars Prompt Fest