On What Grounds

Mrs. Darla Branch Hart got what she wanted, too, even if Mrs. Engstrum did not. You see, Anabelle’s stepmother filed a ten-million-dollar wrongful death suit against Richard Engstrum, Senior. This news even made the pages of The New York Times.

It was one of the few times a New Yorker with the Engstrums’ Upper East Side address didn’t want the Times’ attention—I tell ya, publicity’s a real bitch when it’s the wrong kind.

The Village Blend was mentioned in the papers, too. The New York Post headline said our coffee was “to die for.”

“Aw shucks,” I told the reporter, “it’s all in the grounds.”

But even with my tasseography, I didn’t see this one coming. I mean, I remember Anabelle telling me she’d learned how to handle garbage. As a nude dancer, I have no doubt she thought she could. One kind of garbage. The obvious kind. Just not the other.

As I’ve said before, packaging can be deceiving. Anabelle’s mistake was not understanding that there was a kind of garbage that masks its odor with five-hundred-dollar-an-ounce toiletries. And the hard truth is, when you decide that you’re clever enough to play with garbage—bad smelling or sweet smelling—you’re fooling yourself if you think you can walk away without some of it rubbing its stink off on you.

I just wish Anabelle had stuck to the high road. She was a diligent worker. She had the seeds of good character. And she had come so close to achieving her dream. But sticking to the high road can be a difficult business, even for good people. The altitude alone can exhaust you.

Not long after these events, I opened the Blend one morning to find Dr. Foo waiting. We made our usual small talk, but he saw I was rather low. When he asked me why, I confided everything I’d learned about Anabelle. Not her death—he already knew about that—but her fall.

He said he was sorry, and he also said something about how he himself was still learning how to accept that sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we cannot help the people we care about. As a medical resident working in St. Vincent’s intensive care unit, he’d had many challenges along those lines.

“How do you cope?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I find a way to grieve then try to let it go. Like the Buddhist saying, ‘You must close the book.’”

“I guess there’s something to that,” I admitted. “I mean, life goes on, and the people who are still alive need you.”

“Just as the people in your life need you,” he said.

And so I grieved for Anabelle Hart, and I still remember her in my prayers, but I accept that it is now time to close her book.

To me, she will always be young and beautiful and graceful—and sadly—misguided and ruined and dead. I just hope she felt a measure of peace when the crime of her murder was solved, and that wherever she is now, she has perpetual music and an unending expanse of smooth and level floor.

Recipes from The Village Blend

The Village Blend’s Caffé Cannella

Place a very thin slice of orange at the bottom of a cup.Pour a steaming hot, dark-roasted coffee (Italian or French roast) onto the orange slice.Stir with a cinnamon stick, which remains in the cup to continue flavoring the beverage. Let steep for a minute.Add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon to taste. (Additional sugar is optional.)

The Village Blend’s Raspberry-Mocha Bocci

1½ ounces raspberry syrup

1½ ounces raspberry syrup

2 ounces freshly made espresso

7 ounces steamed milk

Sweetened whipped cream

Sweetened ground cocoa

Shaved chocolate curls

Raspberries

Pour the syrups into the bottom of a 12-ounce cup.Add the espresso.Fill with steamed milk.Stir the liquid, lifting from the bottom to bring the syrups up.Top with sweetened whipped cream, sweetened ground cocoa, and curls of shaved chocolate. Serve on a saucer with raspberries.

Clare’s Cappuccino Walnut Cheesecake

(Or, what to do with your leftover espresso!)

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

32 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 eggs

¼ cup sour cream

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup strongly brewed espresso (bean optional)

1 teaspoon instant coffee

TOPPING FOR CHEESECAKE

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

? cup heavy cream

¼ cup espresso

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Sugar to taste

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Combine walnuts, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the butter in a bowl and mix well. Pour mixture into 9-inch springform pan and press onto bottom. Set aside.In a food processor combine cream cheese and the rest of the cup of sugar. Mix until light and fluffy and completely combined.Add flour and eggs, one at a time.Add sour cream and cinnamon.Dissolve the instant coffee into the espresso, then add to cream cheese mixture.Pour into the pan and bake for approximately 1 hour (some ovens may require ten to fifteen extra minutes). Shake gently to test. Cake will be firm when done. Top will be lightly browned. Cool completely.

TOPPING

Heat all ingredients and stir until melted.Drizzle topping over the cooled cheesecake.Chill cheesecake before serving.

Black Russian

A cocktail made with two parts vodka and one part coffee-flavored liqueur (such as Kahlua). Serve over ice. For a White Russian, add cream.

Screaming Orgasm

 (also known as a Burnt Toasted Almond)

 A cocktail made with one-half ounce Kahlua (a coffee-flavored liqueur!), one-half ounce amaretto, and one-half ounce vodka. Add 1 cup chilled heavy cream. Shake in a container with chipped ice. Serve in a tall, frosted glass.