Excerpt from “Monterey Pop: Summer of Love.”  The year is 1967 in San Francisco.

When she woke up on Thanksgiving morning she was thankful for some time off work.  The café was closed and she had the whole day in front of her.  She thought about calling Sandy or Suzi to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving, but didn’t want to disrupt their holiday.  Marla walked down to the corner and picked up a newspaper, made a pot of coffee and drank it while she spent the morning curled up in a chair reading.

By late morning she was bored and stood at the window, staring down at the street.  Even the Hell’s Angel’s house was quiet.  Marla liked having the Angels living next door.  Their presence kept the more psycho elements of Haight society at bay and off the block.  The Angels were always friendly to her and she had gotten to know a few of them from talking to them on the street.  She always had a smile for the boys when she walked down the sidewalk.  Today, however, there wasn’t a single bike or biker to be seen.

Unlike her, even Hell’s Angels had someplace to go on Thanksgiving for dinner.

She put on her new peacoat and locked the door behind her.  The wind was blowing down Ashbury and she was glad when she turned the corner onto Haight.  Most of the shops were closed for the holiday and there were few people on the street.  She gave a panhandler she met a dollar.  He looked hungry and it made her feel good to be able to help him.

A few blocks ahead, Marla saw a group of people, huddled together for warmth, staring in a restaurant window.  She joined them and saw they were enviously watching people eat their holiday dinners.  The restaurant had few holiday diners; usually it would be filled with tourists.  She looked at the menu displayed in the window and then saw the special.

Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings $2.99!

She walked into the warm restaurant and stood waiting for a table.  When the owner, a middle aged, portly man with graying hair, who reminded her of Vern somehow, came walking up, he waved the audience at the window off, but it did no good.  They held their ground and continued to stare.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“About what?”

“Those kids.  They’ve been standing there for almost half an hour now.  No cops around to chase them off.  Force is working a skeleton crew today so they can be home with their families.  I’d chase them off myself, but there’s too many of them, if you know what I mean?  I don’t want trouble.”

“What’s your name?” asked Marla.

“Tomas,” he replied.
“Well, Tomas, why don’t you feed them?  It’s Thanksgiving.  Give them something to be thankful for.  Be good for your Karma.”

He frowned and said, “I’m not running a soup kitchen here.  It’s hard to make a living running this place when you don’t have any customers like today.  I had to send home two of my waitresses.  I mean, don’t you think I’d rather be home with my family like those cops?  Drinking beer and eating turkey?  I gotta be here.  The rent is expensive here on Haight.  I can’t afford to close even for a day.”

“The restaurant business is tough, isn’t it?”

“A lot of work.”

“You’re slow today?”

“Won’t even break even after I pay the overhead.”

Marla looked out the window and did a quick head count of the hungry looking kids and determined that she could easily afford to feed them all.  She wondered if she could negotiate a better deal on Thanksgiving dinners for the hungry of the Haight.

“I’ve got about $150 in my purse and you’ve got an empty restaurant.  How many people can we feed for $150?” Marla asked.

“I see where you’re going with this.  Let me see…”  He stood and thought for a moment.  It was mid-afternoon and the street was deserted.  There would be no rush of tourists seeking Thanksgiving dinner in the Haight that afternoon.  That was becoming apparent.

“What’re you going to do with all those left over turkeys?  You can only sell so many sandwiches tomorrow.  Let’s feed some hungry people.”

Tomas thought a little longer and said, “Seventy-five maybe eighty.  I like what you’re doing.  Giving something back to the community.  Tell you what, I got enough turkey for at least a hundred dinners, turkey’s cheap, especially when you buy a bunch of them.  You chip in your $150 and I’ll make up the difference.  How’s that sound?”  Tomas was smiling and he sounded excited.  “We’ll serve turkey dinners until we run out of turkey.  How’s that?  The community’s been good to me.”

“Works for me,” Marla said with a smile.  “Let’s get started.”

Marla and Tomas walked out the door and the group that had been looking through the window started to break up and move down the street.

“No, wait,” Marla cried out to them.  “Come here.”

They turned around and came back to where Marla and Tomas stood.

“Are you hungry?” Tomas asked.

They all mumbled something in the affirmative.  It didn’t matter what they said, their appearance gave them away.

“Good, why don’t you come in and get warm,” Marla said.  “Tomas and I want to buy you all dinner.”

“Really?” one girl asked.  “I haven’t eaten in two days.”

“Really,” replied Marla. “Well, Happy Thanksgiving!  Come inside and we’ll get you something to eat.”

The group followed her in and Tomas said, “You can sit anyplace.”

Tomas watched Marla tie on an apron.  She looked at him, smiled and said, “I’ve got a little experience at this.”

Tomas smiled and said, “I guess we better get busy.”

The word quickly spread through the Haight and there was soon a line stretching down the street.  People volunteered to wait tables, cook and wash dishes after they ate.  It was late afternoon when they finally ran out of turkey and energy.  Everyone pitched in to help clean up, and after the last of them left, only Marla and Tomas were left.

“You want a beer?” he said.  “I got some in the cooler.”

“Sure.”

“That was a nice thing you did today, Marla.  Thanks.  You made me a better person.  I haven’t felt this good in a long time.  It was nice to give something back.”  Tomas smiled and took a long hit off his bottle.  “All those happy faces made it worthwhile.”

“Don’t forget that you deserve most of the credit.  I just helped you out.  What would you have done with all that turkey anyhow?  Thrown it out?”

Marla put her coat on against the November chill.  She kissed Tomas on the cheek and smiled.  “Nice meeting you, Tomas.  You’re a good man.”

“You want another beer?”

“No, I gotta get going.  There’s something I need to do before it gets much later.”

Tomas was nice and she had enjoyed meeting him, but on the walk home she realized how much she missed Sandy’s companionship.   San Francisco wasn’t the same without her and she dreaded going home to the empty apartment, but there was something she needed to do before it got too late.
She walked up the steps and unlocked the door.  She turned on the light and looked at the clock.  It was almost six-thirty.  Still early enough to call.  Marla picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hello, Aunt Suzie?”