The Nook

On a bright spring morning as colorful and delicious as ripening grapes on a vine, Fiona was happily strolling to her favorite place in Culver City. Listening to a jazzy number by Louis Armstrong as she bopped along, Fiona was lost in a world of her own thoughts as she imagined what her first day as the new owner of The Nook would feel like. She had known the place well as a patron, but she remembered her conversation with Maggie, one of the previous owners, about the secrets there that lay hidden waiting to be discovered. Fiona was boiling over with the anticipation of possibility and prosperity.

The days of inconsistent income from spotty art gigs were coming to an end. Now that Fiona had The Nook, she didn't have to rely entirely on her art to pay the bills. She could pick and choose the projects she truly wanted to work on, which freed up her time and energy in a way she hadn't enjoyed since art school. She could finally relax a little and devote her free time to things she loved doing instead of wasting hours racking her brain to create side hustles to supplement her income.

Fiona loved getting lost in a great book, and she'd recently took up writing. She wasn't what anyone would call a natural, but she enjoyed the feeling of putting pen to paper and watching the trail of inky loops and swirls trailing behind her antique fountain pen. Even if her work was less than poetic, she enjoyed the process. Fiona was ferociously curious and was always looking to learn something new. She was a living and breathing encyclopedia of random facts, which many deemed useless, unless they were lucky enough to have Fiona on their pub quiz team.

As the last few verses of Louis Armstrong's "Aint Misbehavin" played in her earbuds, Fiona approached The Nook for the first time as owner and proudly jingled the keys from her pocket. She took a deep breath in through her nose to smell the familiar aromas wafting through the air and took a slight pause before fitting the key into the lock. She wanted to imprint everything exactly as it was now into her memory forever. It was the beginning of a new chapter not only for Fiona, but also for The Nook.

As she walked through the door onto the black and white checkered tile floor, she felt a wave of awe and disbelief that this place was actually hers. Fiona thought back to the drizzly evening only a few weeks prior when she happened to sit on a decaying, prohibition-era style chair in the far corner of the cafe. It was her fortuitous and fateful discovery that led her to where she stood in that moment. The chair had been hiding in plain sight as a facade for a secrete cache of money that was hastily hidden after an illegal transaction involving bootleg gin and barrels of beer.

The money had been crumpled into tiny wads and shoved into the seat cushion, sewn in with a ledger, to hide the cash from whoever was in pursuit of it. Fiona had a vague idea of what Prohibition was all about, but she felt that she owed it to herself to read up on it. After all, it was this monumental era in history that was responsible for her recent good fortune. Fiona decided that she would peruse The Nooks solid oak, built-in bookshelves for something that would shine a brighter light on the era that banned the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol in America.

After the cafe was set up and open for business, Fiona told Cherie, who was minding the counter, that she'd be in the office working. Fiona assured her she was ready to help in case they got busy. At once, Fiona darted to the back of the cafe to look for a book that might give her a deeper understanding of the infamous era that banned the sale of booze in America. She didn't have to search for long.

As if it was just waiting to be spotted, a forest-green, hardcover book titled, Last Call: Life and Times in the Era of Prohibition, caught her eye as a ray of sunlight beamed through the window and illuminated the book as if it were under a spotlight. She quickly snatched it up and headed to the tiny office upstairs where she could read in relative peace.

It was slow for a Wednesday morning, and Fiona was able to read without interruption well into the afternoon. She thought she knew a decent amount of information about Prohibition, but there were definitely some interesting facts she'd never heard of before. Some of these shocking tidbits were worth keeping in her memory bank for her pub quiz trivia nights.

For instance, she had no idea that Prohibition was the only amendment to to ever be repealed from the constitution. Prohibition fell under the 18th Amendment, was ratified in 1919, and was signed into law by 1920. However, it was repealed December 5th, 1933, marking the first time in US history for an amendment to be struck from the constitution. This was in part due to the Great Depression and the government's increasing need for revenue from tax dollars. The tax they placed on alcohol after prohibition was abolished was labeled as a "sin tax", which remaining supporters of prohibition hoped would deter the American people from drinking as much.

Another interesting thing to note was that women were largely at the forefront of the prohibition movement. They were tired of their husbands coming home intoxicated, which could often result in domestic abuse and poor financial decisions which often led their household into the deathly grasp of poverty. In the end, women's participation in the promotion of prohibition acted as a segue into Women's Suffrage. Their passionate demonstrations largely contributed to a new opinion of those who supported prohibition, believing that a woman's right to vote could greatly influence the passage laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol. In turn, women promoting prohibition paved the way to earn women the national right to vote. Fiona never missed an opportunity to vote and felt a new sense of gratitude and admiration for these brave women who made her right to vote a reality.

Even more shocking were the loopholes in these laws once they were passed. At no time was it illegal to consume alcohol during prohibition. The illegality was strictly limited to the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol. One could drink freely in their home under the guise of medicinal or religious purposes. It was how a person obtained the booze and got it into their home that was of primary concern. It was more than likely that these methods were illegal.

The Volstead Act was written alongside the 18th Amendment to ensure that an adequate supply of alcohol would still be produced for research, medicine, and other lawful industries and purposes. Although this act was originally vetoed, it was eventually overruled by congress. Under The Volstead act, you could legally consume booze already in the home if it was in your possession before prohibition was signed into effect. Physicians could prescribe alcohol for medicinal use. Wine was still legally manufactured and used in religious ceremonies, and each head of household could legally produce up to 200 gallons of wine for personal use. To keep some businesses from completely tanking, vineyards got creative and started to sell "grape bricks", or grape concentrate complete with instructions on how NOT to turn it into wine. How sly, Fiona thought.

Twelve years later, in 1932, a man by the name of Franklin D Roosevelt would soon be elected as the 32nd president. He campaigned for the repeal of Prohibition. He argued that the original intents and purposes of the 18th Amendment were a failure and instead caused an eruption of organized crime, corrupt politics, and an increase in the illegal manufacturing of alcohol. Liquor was being sold in underground, seedy, secret establishments called "speakeasies", which the government was ill equipped to regulate and/or tax. Some of them were run by the mob and crime bosses such as the famous Al Capone. Interestingly enough, A close relative of Capone was on the prohibition commission, supposedly working against him. It is estimated that the alcohol being sold on the black market during this time brought in about 3 billion dollars. Dollars that could not be taxed.

Revenue from taxes was desperately needed at that time to wrench the country out of an economic depression. There was a growing sentiment that the ban on alcohol wasn't doing anyone any favors....except maybe Al Capone and his cronies. After F.D.R was elected, upon the government's decision to repeal the 18th Amendment, it is said that President Roosevelt ushered in the end of prohibition by proclaiming, "What America needs now is a drink!" Well cheers to that, Fiona giggled to herself.

Another interesting thing Fiona learned was how speakeasies were bringing people together in new way which was not widely accepted at the time. Before prohibition, drinking in a saloon was a man's activity, while women largely stayed out of such places. It was also not common for white and black folks to socialize in the same establishments. These speakeasies were breaking gender and race barriers long before The Civil Rights activists in the early 1960's. Men, women, black or white, were drinking, socializing, enjoying the new sounds of jazz and dancing together. In Harlem New York, where jazz was really starting to take off, these underground clubs were often referred to as black and tan clubs. The young people of that age were beginning to break the old paradigms and usher in a new era striving for racial and gender equality.

A knock on the door startled Fiona. She was deep in thought imagining being in one of these black and tan clubs, dancing the night away while sipping bathtub gin. Cherie was at the door asking to get off early, as there hadn't been a single customer in over an hour. Fiona checked the clock. It was nearly two. She'd lost track of time. Had it really been nearly 6 hours since they had opened?

Fiona apologized to Cherie with a sheepish smile acknowledging the time, and allowed Cherie to clock out so she could go home. Fiona should have been down there keeping an eye on the cafe, but she couldn't stop reading. She vowed to be of more help tomorrow and followed Cherie down the spiral staircase to take over before closing time.

After Cherie left for the day, Fiona drank in her surroundings from an entirely different perspective. She looked at the empty corner where the lumpy old chair used to sit. She knew the chair belonged in that spot and chided herself for ever taking it back to her studio. She resolved to bring it back the next morning and reached for the rotary dial phone.

"Hey Charlie. I was hoping I could ask you for a favor..."