Big Lu's Girls Give a Party
by G. Sam Carr

The First National Bank calendar on the wall beside the kitchen doorway was on the
last sheet for the year 1936. Although it was past noon, breakfast was just being served at
the Mecca Rooms in Deadwood.
One by one the inhabitants of the house straggled in to take their customary seats at
the oak table. Big Lu sat at the head of the table with Stubby Jones at the opposite end.
Angie, Penny and Trixie were at her right, across from Winnie and Lottie.
Aunt Sadie poured steaming coffee from a big granite pot, then moved to the stove to
turn the sizzling bacon.
Winking at Stubby, Big Lu smiled and said, "You sure are one lucky fella, living here
with seven beautiful women.
Skinny and not much taller than a midget, Stubby played piano, served as general
handyman and was Big Lu's playmate and chauffeur. "Ain't complainin', but you all sure can
run a man ragged," he replied.
The five girls in their brightly colored kimonos ignored the banter between Lu and her
lover. They were used to it, and besides, none of them were fully awake. Angie, the petite
18-year-old, turned to Penny and said, "I can't wait for Christmas to get here. We don't have
to work on Christmas, do we?"
Conversation abruptly stopped as all eyes shifted to Big Lu who was glaring at her
newest girl.
"Now I realize you've only been working here for a couple months, Angie, but you'll
have to learn you're living a different life now. Our job's to provide companionship for lonely
men, especially at Christmas, and that means sacrificing our own wants and wishes.
Angie's wide-eyed look challenged the madam's smug pronouncement. "Why?" she
asked. "Christmas is the birthday of our Lord. What could be more important than that?"
Unused to questions from her girls, Big Lu heaved her massive 300-pound frame from
her chair and snapped, "Because I say so. Sadie, shake a leg and get them eggs on the table.
I'm beginning to lose my patience."
"Ah, lay off the kid, Lu," Stubby said. "Give her a chance to learn the ropes."
"Yeah, Lu," interjected Penny, a big-boned woman in her forties. The oldest and
plainest of the girls, Penny still brought in the most money. Word around Deadwood was she
was the best buy in the business. "I've worked every Christmas for the past twenty years and
I wouldn't mind having the day off myself."
Encouraged by Penny's audacity, the other girls murmured agreement, to Lu's visible
displeasure. "Why d'ya want the day off? Think you can go to church? Hell, they'd throw you
right out on your ear. Like I just said, our place is right here in this house, giving comfort to
our customers."
Trixie, usually quiet and shy, spoke up. "Two nights ago I was entertaining one of the
crew leaders from the CCC camp and he told me there was eight or nine corpsmen who
couldn't go home for Christmas. Maybe we could invite them to a party."
"You outa your mind, girl?" asked Lu. "Those boys only get to keep maybe twenty-
five cents a week out of their pay. They sure can't afford to come here."
Lottie pushed back her bright red hair and joined the rebellion. "Why do we have to
do everything for money? You say our job is to give comfort to men. Well, them CCC'ers are
men, ain't they? And I guess they're plenty lonesome, away from home at Christmas."
Pug-nosed Winnie, a plump blonde, asked, "Why can't we take the day off and give
them a Christmas party."
Even Aunt Sadie joined in. "Sho' nuff. I can cook a big turkey and all da trimmings."
"I'll get a big tree," said Stubby.
"And maybe we can give them some presents," added Penny.
Much to everyone's surprise, Big Lu finally nodded agreement. "I'll get some wool to
knit them some nice warm scarves. But we gotta shake a leg here. Christmas is just a week
away. Stubby, you take the car out to the CCC Camp at Roubaix to see how many boys
we're talking about and ask the commanding officer if he'll let 'em come to town for a party."
Slightly more than an hour later, the phone rang. Standing on tip-toes to reach the
receiver, Sadie listened, then called out, "Miss Lu. It's Mr. Stubby wantin' to talk to you."
Big Lu waddled across the room, held the receiver to her ear for a minute, then
shouted, "What the hell does he mean it wouldn't be proper? You put that Major Stevens on
right now!"
Big Lu quickly interrupted the major's opening comments."Those boys are all over
eighteen, ain't they?" she asked. Huge jowls shaking, she nodded to confirm what she was
hearing, then said, "Look here, Major. You've been in my place more than once and you've
always been treated with respect. Now, I'm asking you real polite to let them boys come to
this party. I give you my word there'll be no hanky panky and they'll have a Christmas they'll
never forget. Now, how about it?"
A smile crossed her face. "Thanks, Major. Now please put Stubby back on. Stubby,
while you're out there you cut us a tree and get the names of the boys who'll be coming."
"Call the girls, Aunt Sadie," Lu said as she hung up.
By the time Lu finished telling them the CCC boys would be coming to a party, the
girls were beaming like they'd won the Irish Sweepstakes. She let them bask in their pleasure
momentarily, then brought them back to reality with a brisk reminder. "Christmas is less than
a week off and we'll have to work our butts off to get ready."
"Don't you worry 'bout da food, Miss Lu," said Sadie. "I'se got it all planned out. Soon
as I clean da kitchen, I'll go down to Goldberg's to order a turkey and get da rest of da stuff.
And I'll start bakin' cookies today."
"What do you want me to do?" asked Trixie.
"You can go to Ben Franklin and buy lights for the tree Stubby's bringin' in," Big Lu
answered. "Angie, go up to the Methodist Church and ask Reverend Anderson to loan us
some song books with Christmas carols. It's been so long since Stubby played a religious
song he's gonna need some music to go by." She paused for thought then added, "If the good
Reverend isn't inclined to loan us the books, you remind him where his piano came from."
Turning to Penny, Lu instructed, "You go buy some wool so you and I can start
knitting scarves. Get enough for some gloves too."
"I'll help Sadie with the cooking," volunteered Lottie. "I love to bake and, if I say so
myself, I'm pretty good at it."
"Y'all tryin' to steal my job?" Sadie's broad, white-toothed smile lit up her coffee-
colored face.
"I know what I can do," Winnie said. "When I was a kid, we used to decorate the
tree with strings of popcorn and cranberries. They look real good on a tree and I can do that."
Winnie blushed with pleasure as Lu patted her shoulder. "Good idea. I think we've
got things under control for now, but don't forget, if you're taking a day off, so you'll just
have to work harder every night. And to get everything done in time, you'll have to get up
earlier in the mornings."
Party preparations were well underway and running smooth as Sadie's vanilla ice
cream when the phone rang the next morning. "Da police chief wants to talk to you, Miss
Lu," Sadie announced.
"Well, I'll be damned! Trixie's in jail!" Lu muffled the mouthpiece against her ample
bosom while repeating the chief's story to Aunt Sadie. "That sanctimonious son of a polecat
at the Ben Franklin said he wasn't selling any Christmas decorations to a whore. The chief
said Trixie went wild, threw a left jab at the jackass and was still screaming and cussing
when they hauled her out."
Big Lu gave a small chuckle as she told Chief Brown she'd get back to him, then
clicked the switchhook for the operator. "Connect me with the mayor's office, please," she
requested.
The mayor was on the line almost immediately. "John, you've got a problem," Big Lu
announced. She related the chief's words, then added, "You know that new playground you
got your name plastered all over? How'd you like it if I told the people of Deadwood just
who put up the money to buy all that equipment?"
Lu listened for a moment before saying, "I thought you'd feel that way. Now you tell
your chief to turn my girl loose and furthermore, I'll expect a delivery of Christmas
decorations up here within the hour. Thank you, John. Hope you can pay us a visit again
soon."
Looking as if she'd just slain a giant, Big Lu waddled back to her apartment and
calmly resumed knitting.
By Christmas Eve morning, the Mecca Rooms were decked out for the holidays. In the
parlor corner, a blue spruce glittered with tinsel, lights and glass balls. Winnie's strings of
popcorn and cranberries draped the branches and a glass angel with outspread wings rested on
top. Beneath the tree were several packages wrapped in brightly colored paper.
Stubby Jones, cigar sticking out of his mouth, was at the piano softly playing "Silent
Night." Trixie and Winnie sat on the floor thumbing through the borrowed hymnals. Big Lu
and Penny were furiously knitting the last two pair of gloves. They'd run out of brown wool,
so these gloves would be blue, the color of the afghan that until today covered the back of the
settee. Angie, exciting as a kid awaiting Santa Claus, ran from room to room, humming
carols.
In the kitchen, Sadie, flour smudges on her dark cheeks, bent over the open oven to
stick a broom straw into a yellow cake. Satisfied that it was done, she used her long apron to
lift the hot pan to the stove top. Lottie sat at the table cracking walnuts for the frosting. The
sideboard was covered with plates of cut-out cookies. Steam rose from the fruit and sweet
potato pies on the dining room table. Jugs of cider stood on the floor beside the stove.
Outside, a light snow drifted down, putting the final touch to the holiday scene.
By three o'clock that afternoon, the light snow had become a raging blizzard. Main
Street traffic was at a standstill and a shroud of gloom settled over the Mecca Rooms. All
except Angie were convinced there was no way the CCC guests could make it into town.
"Miracles can happen on the Lord's birthday," Angie said bravely. "I'm sure the storm
will stop and the boys will get here."
But the storm raged throughout the night. Not a single customer climbed the stairs to
ring the bell. Before midnight, all the residents of the Mecca Rooms were sleeping soundly.
Christmas morning broke clear and dry, true to Angie's predictions. But Big Lu,
looking out from the front bay windows, knew the six-foot drifts could not be cleared from
Main Street that day.
Looking around at the long faces, the bulky madam was determined to cheer her girls.
"Well, no sense in all this food going to waste. We'll just have a party for ourselves and if
any of our regulars make it downtown, they can join us."
By eleven o'clock the smell of turkey wafted down the long halls. Irrepressible Angie,
still hoping for a miracle, suggested Stubby go downstairs to shovel out the doorway. "We
don't want the boys tracking a bunch of snow up the stairs," she said.
Stubby thought she was crazy, but decided to humor her. He was tossing a last shovel
load of snow away from the door when he glanced up Main Street, then ran upstairs to call
the girls. Crowding around the front windows, they could see nine skiers in heavy army
overcoats sliding down the street.
By the time they'd removed their skis, the girls were gathered at the top of the stairs to
greet them. Soon as the introductions were made, and mugs of mulled cider distributed all
around, Angie held her mug in the air and innocently borrowed a toast from another
Christmas story:
"God bless us, everyone."