Page 64 of Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Book
“Logan Walsh had a copy ofTheCatcher in the Ryewrapped in the cover ofManhood—I’m pretty sure he got it from here,” Crystal said.
“TheCatcher in the Ryewas on Lula’s banned book list.”
Crystal looked up at him. Her eyes were the turquoise of bubbling springs and hidden pools. How could he never have noticed before?
“I borrowed a book I thought wasThe Rules,” she said. “It turned out to be a banned book about witchcraft that was wrapped in the wrong cover.”
Jonathan reached into the library and pulled outThe Art of Crochet. He opened it up to the title page and showed it to Crystal. “Look at this.Gender Queer. Literally, the most banned book in the United States.”
“I’ve read it. It’s very sweet,” Crystal said. “It’s hard to believe we live in a world where parents let their kids beat sex workers inGrand Theft Autoand then worry that a graphic novel about a nonbinary person is going to screw them up.”
“Do you think Lula did this?” Jonathan asked.
They both laughed at the question.
“Oh, hell no,” Crystal said. “Somebody pulled a prank.”
Jonathan smirked. “But it’sherlibrary,” he pointed out.
Crystal caught on quickly. “Which means she’s responsible for what’s in it.”
“Exactly,” Jonathan said.
“A lot of people would think she was in league with Satan if they found out. It wouldn’t be very nice to expose her.”
“Lula was the reason Elliot had to leave town,” Jonathan said.
“I suspected as much,” Crystal told him. “That settles it. She deserves whatever she gets.”
That evening over multiple Negronis, Jonathan and Crystal composed a Facebook post.
“Should we create an anonymous account to post it?” Crystal asked when they were finished.
“No.” Jonathan was adamant. “We’ll use my account. I want her to know that I did it.”
Lula Dean says she started the Concerned Parents Committee to protect our town’s young people from pornography and propaganda. This morning, I am sad to report that Lula may be the biggest pervert of all. Just last night, I stopped by her library to borrow a wholesome book. I choseThe Art of Crochet. When I opened it, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Inside that perfectly wholesome cover was the bookGender Queer. I can only imagine what might have happened if one of the sweet, innocent, impressionable teenagers I teach at Troy High had stumbled across a book about nonbinary people. Of course I immediately checked the other books in Lula’s library. Inside the wholesome covers were books about everything from CRT to witchcraft. What was Lula Dean thinking when she did this? When did she start hating children and set out to destroy our town?
They scheduled it to post the following day at 7 a.m.
The next morning, Jonathan woke to the smell of coffee for the first time in years. He could hear Crystal humming, her song growing louder as she approached the bedroom.
“It’s a beautiful day,” she said, handing him a cup of coffee and planting a kiss on his lips. “Check your phone. All hell is breaking loose.”
Chapter 27
The Handmaid’s Tale
Before she died, Melody Sykes’s mother begged her to finish college.
“Do not make the same mistake I did,” she pleaded with her daughter. “I placed my trust in a man who wasn’t good enough or strong enough to bear the weight. Please promise me that you’ll have the tools to look after yourself if anything ever goes wrong.”
“I will, Mama,” Melody had promised. She would have said anything to be excused from her mother’s sickroom.
When lupus made it impossible for her mother to perform her wifely duties, Melody’s father decided it was time to move on. Her parents divorced, and her mother settled into a spare room in Melody’s grandmother’s house. Melody and her siblings went to live with their father, so no child support was awarded. The little bit of alimony her mom received went straight toward medical bills. She had worked as a homemaker for twenty years. She’d never held another job.
It may have looked like bad luck to some folks, but Melody knew better. Her father had informed her and her siblings that their mother had lost God’s favor. Terrible things like lupus didn’t happen to those who walked the right path. Somewhere along the way, Melody’s mother had been led astray. It didn’t make sense, but neither did a lot of things. You trusted your father to tell you the truth. If he chose not to, well, he had his reasons.
Melody figured she was perfectly safe. All she had to do was stay righteous and God would reward her. With his protection, no harm could everbefall her. So she spent as little time with her mother as possible. Her father was blessed, and she preferred to stay with him in the light of the Lord. Her dad said Melody’s beauty and brains were a sure sign of God’s favor. All she had to do was look at her mother to see what happened to women who didn’t live as commanded.
