Criminally Good Cake

A rash of break-ins have put the small sleepy town of Morris Mill, Georgia in a strangle hold. The once overly friendly citizens who always kept their doors unlocked and open to any visitor have started to lock down their homes. A once thriving farming town was gaining notoriety due to a talented baker winning an international baking contest. Once the contest aired on television the town received an influx of tourist activity. For months this was a blessing upon the town, but with a rise in tourism a rise in criminal activity followed. Over the past few months a few homes near Main Street were broken into to, and people are starting to get concerned. The local law enforcement has been on the case, and soothing the city’s collective fear. It was working, until the latest break in.

“Mrs. Jones I know you are all kinds of upset right now. I assure you that we members of the MMPD are doing all we can to find this criminal.” Sheriff McGuire said before taking a long drag on his cigarette. The middle-aged brunette dyed blond woman promptly removed the burning stick from his mouth and dunked it in the bubbling fountain in the lobby of her nail salon.

“Sheriff, Jones Nail Art has been a staple of this town for twenty years! I won’t have some petty criminal ruining my name and running off my business!” She yelled out as she paced. The sheriff waved in his crime scene team to began processing and Mrs. Jones was following them every step of the way. Getting in the way is more accurate though. After contaminating any form of evidence they might have obtained the sheriff had enough, growing red in the face with anger as the sweat poured from his bald head.

“Now Maisy I need you to stop messing with my crime scene!” Sheriff McGuire said finally in a fit of rage.

“I was just making sure your crew didn’t miss anything.” She replied shocked at him now with imaginary pearls clutched upon her chest.

“Head over to the Vestal Bakery and have some donuts and coffee. She’s been cooking it up for us since we’ve been doing this aggressive investigation. That’s just right kind of her if you ask me. So go on down there and let her know that I sent you. I’m sure she’ll treat you right.” The sheriff pleaded with her. After a few moments of careful consideration, she agreed to his plan. It was an obvious ploy to get rid of her, but one can’t resist the all of Vestal Bakery for long.

The line was already hitting the street outside of Vestal Bakery. Ever since the owner, Devin, won the ‘International Bake-off” her bakery and the town have seen a healthy influx of business. A change so drastic that the young business owner had to move to a bigger building on Main Street just to accommodate the orders she was getting. Devin took a lot of pride in her craft as well as being the first black owned business to take up residence on Main Street in sleepy old Morris Mill. Every morsel seemed magical when it popped out of her oven. The women of town were envious and some jealous of her many skills. From her hot and cold desserts to her breath-taking beauty she had the town in her benevolent grasp.

“Miss Beautiful could I please have a refill of coffee?” One of the bakery regulars asked in a flirty tone. This was her usual morning even during this unusual time. Another would be suitor came calling wowed by her truly captivating brown eyes, perfect sister locks that surrounded her beautiful face. She’s caught many of her patrons studying her supple brown skin and she only smiled never truly indulging in their whims.

“Your refill is going to have to wait sugar, I’m here on behalf of the Sheriff for your famous coffee and donuts.” Mrs. Jones said boisterously walking into the bakery. Devin put her hand on her him and watch Maisy Jones saunter over to the counter.

“Mrs. Jones I’ll decide when I give refills to my wonderful patrons. What’s going on over at your Salon?” Devin asked whilst pouring coffee for the waiting man. Mrs. Jones began regaling her with the tale of the harrowing robbery that she barely survived whilst sleeping peacefully in the apartment above the shop.

“It was so frightening to see that my safe was ransacked. I hope nothing like this happens again.” She said fanning her face pretending to be flustered. A few of the male patrons came to her aid and consoled her as she happy filled her plate with the donuts Devin placed in front of her. Devin tried to not roll her eyes as she smiled at her story.

“Well help yourself. I hope the thief is caught soon.” Devin said before continuing to fill orders for her clients. The day continued on like normal until close of business. That’s when all the businesses on Main Street started to display unease. Business owners started to shutter their stores when they never did before. New locks and chains were being added to store fronts now. The town was starting to look terrified at night now. This didn’t stop Devin from working on one last project in her store. Her last baking assistant left for the night leaving her to finish her latest masterpiece, A four tiered chocolate cake. She coated it in a chocolate buttercream icing and adorned it in gold flakes and emerald flowers at the request of the client. She spun the cake around one last time to check for any flaws and smiled at a job well done.

“Perfect! This will definitely be the star of young Mina’s birthday party.” Devin said proudly as she started to gather up her supplies to start the cleaning process. She began piling things into the sink but a noise from the front end of her bakery gave her pause. She grabbed an icing spatula and held it defensively. She paused and rolled her eyes at her decision and dropped it in exchange for an actual knife. She walked up quietly made her way towards the front and saw a hooded figure riffling with her cash register. Unfortunately for the thief Devin already took a sizable deposit to the bank earlier. Less than two hundred remained in the register.

“Darn it!” a young female voice said in anger as they slammed the register closed. Devin hid herself as the criminal whirled around in search of a safe now. Devin hid in a nook used to hang up coats and the criminal crept right past her. She pushed into the back of the bakery searching for a safe, but stopped when she saw the cake on the counter. She removed her hood revealing she was a young girl with ratty brown hair and soft looking skin. She was like a frail flower, in desperate need of care.

“Wow…” she said in awe of the cake as she approached it.

“That is one of my best if I do say so myself.” Devin said emerging from her hiding place. The girl whirled around in fear and frantically began looking for a way out. She saw the knife in Devin’s hands and began to panic. Realizing this Devin placed it on the counter, raising her hands to show she is now unarmed.

“Calm down, I just want to talk. Do you have a name?” Devin asked now slowly approaching her. The girl calmed herself some but never stopped searching for an exit.

“Let me guess, you already called the cops right?” She responded finally. Devin walked over to a cabinet and pulled out two plates setting them down gently.

“No. I don’t see a need for it. Do you want a piece? Also back to the name question from earlier…’ Devin said with an inviting smile on her face. The girl looked her up and down trying to find the trick that Devin was trying to pull. She watched her as she slowly cut two sizable pieces of the luscious chocolate cake and set them on the plates. Devin slid one over to her with a fork following next. Devin didn’t press the issues, she dug her fork into the cake and took a healthy bite of it. As the delectable taste and textures wrapped themselves around Devin’s tongue she gasped in ecstasy and gestured at the thief inviting her to do the same. There was a silence that washed over them as the thief contemplated taking a bite until her stomach growled. She embarrassingly took a huge bite of the cake herself now. The first bite of food she’d had in a few days was this amazing chocolate cake and it was simply rapturous.

“Oh. My. God. This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” She exclaimed before wiping a tear from her eyes.

“Glad to know I helped with that, your name?” Devin pressed now. After a few more bites Devin sliced her another piece and sent it her way.

“Lily Johnson. Look I didn’t steal anything from you technically could you let me go?” Lily pleaded. Devin tapped the handle of the fork on her chin for a moment as she paced back and forth.

“No I’m not going to do that.” Devin said sternly.

“I knew it! I knew you already called the cops!” Lily said dawning the hood again and preparing to run through Devin if necessary. Devin raised her hands again to calm her.

“You look like you could use some help kid. How about you come home with me and get cleaned up. Return the stuff you stole, and work in my bakery to repay the money to the businesses you robbed these past few weeks.” Devin said smiling at her. Lily’s jaw dropped at what she just said. Her tough exterior finally gave way to the sixteen year old girl that she was and she started crying. Devin cautiously walked over and hugged her now. Without hesitation the poor kid gave into the warmth of the hug and crumbled crying.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Come on Lily. We have to get you home and cleaned up. Get some real food into you and sleeping. Because of you we have an early day tomorrow replacing this cake.” Devin said laughing at the situation. With that Devin finally locked up her shop and took Lily home. She learned that she’s been on the streets for a while now, and resorted to theft to try and survive. After a hot meal and a shower she fell asleep quickly, but rose eagerly the next day. She was a quick learner in the kitchen and once her story was explained to the rest of the staff, minus the robbery parts, they all adopted her.

Sheriff McGuire walked in with his usual grumpy before coffee face and ordered his usual black coffee and glazed donut. Lily poured him a glass and placed the donut before him with a smile on his face. He looked her over now and raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Haven’t seen you here before…” He started before sipping his drink.

“She’s new, and planning on being her a while. Get used to her and have another donut.” Devin said placing a fresh hot one down for him. Lily smiled radiantly and continued to serve the guests, happy to have a chance at life with people who care.