Obi Anyanwu

The Benefactor

Aurelia ‘Ory’ Brooks, 32, was working as a waitress at Hammond’s Caribbean Café in East Harlem for five years. Friendly, charming, helpful, confident were the words of her customers, most of whom would confirm her good looks, disarming smile, proactiveness and social skills as her trademarks. She was the first to open up shop and the last to leave. She once talked an armed burglar from robbing the restaurant.