“Laissez les bons temps rouler”, she thought as she flicked her eyes to the rearview mirror to check traffic behind her, did a U-turn and began looking for a parking place.

~*~*~*~*~*

The parking lot was near full and as she drove around toward the back, she noticed that all of the cars seemed to be filled with women, and young women at that. “ This is crazy, she thought, “ A women’s club? No way. I need to take my sorry *** home, climb into bed with a good book and call it a night”. Just as she reached the front of the lot and was preparing to turn right onto the busy boulevard, she heard the music. Low, but unmistakable. The sound of an accordion being played like nowhere else in the world. Zydeco, the sounds of home.

DP had been away from New Orleans , and her Creole heritage, for a long time, but it was a city that once in your blood was there forever and the music, well, the music was and had always been the link with her past.

“ What the hell,” she thought as she backed up found an empty space and parked, “ I’ll have something quick to eat, make a donation and get home in time for the 10:00 news.” Checking herself out in the rearview mirror before getting out of the car, almost made her change her mind. Her hair had been tousled by the wind and the small fine lines around her eyes reminded her that she was a good 20 years older than any of the girls she had seen gathering at the door.

“This is silly DP, she thought to herself, “ You’re here to get some dinner, nothing else.” DP did not do clubs. She had her work and her home and that was enough. Besides, going to clubs looking for women was undignified.

As she walked through the front entrance, she began to relax. Kit’s place was not at all the kind of place that one thought of as a nightclub. This place had character. Or maybe, she just thought so. The smells from the kitchen immediately brought to mind, Granmere’s Sunday dinners where the gumbo pot had sat simmering on the stove, It had always been prepared the day before so that all the fine subtle flavors of the ingredients could mix and blend to get that just right savory flavor of good Creole cooking.