Page 11 of A Curvy Carol

I sat down and looked around. “Where are the Christmas decorations? Everywhere else I’ve been has had about five different Christmas trees and enough tinsel to make the world’s biggest tangle.”

Carolynn shook her head. “That’s because the owner of this place is Scrooge.”

I looked at her. “Scrooge? I thought that was your name.”

She let out a surprised laugh and then playfully hit my arm. “It might surprise you to know there’s one person in town who hates Christmas more than me.”

“Are you being serious?”

“As a heart attack,” she quipped, pulling out a menu from the holder with the salt and pepper shakers and all the little sweetener packets. “His parents owned this place, back when they were still alive. They passed away a long time ago, so he’s run it since he was really young. People say he was never the same after his parents died. Hence the nickname Scrooge. He’s a good guy, just doesn’t like Christmas anymore.”

A middle-aged guy with a backward hat walked out of the back. He wore a flannel shirt, and he just had that sort of worn look, like life had put him through the wringer one too many times.

Someone at the counter opened a laptop and asked him a question making his eyebrows draw together. “This place is for eating only,” he said gruffly. “Not some internet café.”

I gave her a skeptical look.Scrooge did not look like he belonged on the “nice list” to me.

“No, I mean, he’s also pretty cranky most of the time too,” she added in a whisper. “But that’s Scrooge. He’s harmless, really. And he’d do anything for you if you really needed him. Just keeps to himself most of the time.” She glanced down at the menu, although I had a feeling everyone in this town probably had it memorized.

“Hm,” I said, curious. But I picked up the menu and started going through it.

Heavy footsteps sounded nearby, and we looked up to see Scrooge approaching. “What’ll ya have?” he asked, getting straight to the point.

“Two orange sodas,” I said, glancing at Carolynn.

She opened her mouth, but then nodded.

He left with a grunt.

We kept looking at the menu. It had all of your standard stuff.

“It’s pretty basic,” Carolynn said. “You know, Scrooge is always open to suggestions on how to improve it though.”

“Really?” I asked, studying her. This place looked kind of untouched by time.

“Oh yeah.” She nodded. “He’ll even give you a free meal if he uses one of your suggestions.”

Before I could ask more, Scrooge was back with our drinks.

He set them down and stood there. I looked up at him, waiting for him to say something, only to realize he was waiting on us to order.

I turned back to the menu. “Uh, I’ll have the burger and fries, please.” I noticed the menu said they were crinkle fries, and without really thinking about it, I added, “You know, you should really call them Kris Krinkle Fries.” Maybe I would get a free meal out of this for both of us.

Silence.

I went on. “You know, Kris Kringle. Like Santa Claus? KrisKringleFries. Perfect for Christmas in Garland.”

Scrooge’s lips settled into a hard line, and Carolynn’s mouth fell open a bit as her eyes darted between us.

“Christmas,” Scrooge spat out, “is the worst time of the year. Did you know that? This town is downright foolish for buying into it so much. Just making corporations richer, year after year.”

My mouth fell open too. “Oh, uh… I think it’s kind of nice.”

“Nice?” A vein in his neck bulged.

I shifted in my seat. “Yeah. All the lights and stuff? It’s pretty.”

Scrooge pointed to the door. “Get out.”

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