Macha's Journey

The shop was busy, and the line extended out the door and curved down the street. As she drew nearer, she heard shouting coming from inside. Her eyes widened, and she rushed through the circular door.

A black-haired woman with blonde highlights stood at the counter yelling at Fatima and Aponi. Spit flew from her lips as she screamed, "You ugly b.i.t.c.hes! I don"t know why the King even let filth like you into our city. I hope you get deported." She pointed a finger at Aponi, "Especially you! Your people killed our people. You"re nothing but despicable Toowoomba filth."

This comment caused another female customer two places back to address the angry woman, "Show some respect. The war is over and Aponi has been working here for years. She"s a citizen now you know."

The irate woman spun around and scowled at the portly customer who spoke up. "Freaking people like you are the problem. You accept immigrants. They are taking our jobs and making our streets unsafe."

Macha rushed between the two customers.

She turned to address the black-haired woman, "h.e.l.lo, I"m the store owner. If you have any problems, please, let"s talk about it outside." She used a calm voice and put on a dazzling smile.

When the angry woman saw Macha, she pointed her finger in Macha"s face. "You"re the store owner? You? You can"t even speak Yenafocee properly! This shop is a haven for immigrants! Disgusting! I refuse to pay for this slop."

She then took the triple chocolate pie that was placed on the counter and threw it at Aponi.

Fatima was folding boxes, so she had one in her hands. Her quick reflexes allowed her to catch the pie in the box before it could splatter and make a mess.

Aponi ducked. The aggressive outburst shook her. No one had ever talked to her like that before.

"Now listen here..." Fatima began.

The situation continued to escalate and Macha interrupted Fatima. She positioned herself so she stood in front of the angry customer, "Please, calm down. Let"s step outside and you can tell me what happened." She did not want the situation to get any worse.

At this point, Unai strolled out from the kitchen. He wanted to know what all the commotion was about. When he stepped behind the counter, the woman spotted him.

"What is that thing?" the woman screamed. She pointed her finger at Unai. "It is absolutely hideous! Why did it come out of the kitchen?"

Her eyes became wide when she spotted the furball with green hair all over its body and looked like some sort of weasel. It was disgusting, and she thought it needed to be dragged into the streets and put out of its misery.

This comment about Unai"s appearance made Macha angry. Unai was perfectly healthy and had a beautiful coat. Her voice lowered, devoid of its earlier friendliness. "I"m going to have to ask you to leave."

After saying this, many of the customers murmured their approval. They were angry about the outburst and that the woman was making. It also angered them that she was making their wait take longer.

The woman was on the Committee of Public Safety and worked with the King from time to time. "Excuse me? Do you know who I am? I"ll have you know that I work with the King." She put her hands on her hips, "What"s your name? I"m going to write a letter to Captain Tyr about this place. It"s making the guild look bad. I don"t know how he can stand to have such a disgusting shop in his district."

The man behind her motioned to the stained gla.s.s window, "Are you stupid? Look at the window! Everyone knows Unai is the pie maker. Come on…"

Macha could not believe that this woman was threatening her in her own shop. Her eyes blinked a few times.

Giving a chuckle, she put her hands on her hips. "That"s nice and I"m Macha Swat. If you really feel we"re doing a poor job, I implore you to write that letter. You can even tell the King about this pie shop and how terrible we are. Now, please leave. I will not charge you for the pie you ruined." Her eyes narrowed after daring the woman to write the letter.

Out of anger, the woman raised her hands to shove Macha. It had been many years since someone talked to her with such rudeness.

As soon as the woman laid her hands on Macha"s chest, Macha stepped backward. She went with the push so she would not lose her balance. She then grabbed the woman"s wrist and pulled it behind the angry customer"s back, raising her arm high her. The attack had been unwarranted, so she shoved the woman towards the door so business could continue.

As they made their way to the circular door, she said as sweetly as possible, "I am sorry you did not enjoy your visit, but I must insist that you leave."

Before crossing the threshold, the woman looked over her shoulder and yelled, "Oh you will hear from me. When you close down, you"ll know it was because of me."

When they were out the shop, Macha released her. She bowed and said, "Please have a good day."

SLAP

The loud sound filled the streets. The angry woman smacked Macha across the face and stormed off.

The attack stung, but it was better than a customer or employee getting hurt. The last thing Macha wanted was for someone to be seriously injured.

She closed her eyes and calmed her anger. She had seen it coming, but decided to accept it. It was more important that the woman vent her frustration with one attack than possibly throwing a stone at a window. Macha also accepted the attack because she had been a bit rough with the woman.

She watched the customer storm off down the street. After the woman turned a corner, she returned to the pie shop.

The atmosphere in the shop was still full of tension. The customers hesitated to order and the staff seemed lost. Macha apologized to the customers. She then reminded Aponi and Fatima to continue taking orders. As an apology for the long wait, she included a free lollipop with each pie.

As a tribute to her mother, she learned how to make the large lollipops that were as big as her head. The children in the neighborhood loved them and she had experimented with different flavor combinations. Her favorite was the peach and raspberry flavored lollipop.

****

After the pies had been sold out, and the shop closed, Macha helped them clean up.

While she wiped a table, she consoled the staff, "Don"t worry about that woman. I"ll take care of things."

Aponi nodded but did not say a word. She felt upset by the remarks the woman screamed at her. Ever since she moved, she viewed Ma.r.s.eille as her home. The people in the shop had become a sort of family to her, so the words had been hurtful and stung.

Macha put down the rag and opened her arms. "Come. I won"t let anything happen to you guys."

Unai ran to be embraced in Macha"s arms. The woman"s insults scared him, but he trusted that Macha would never allow anything to happen to them. She was small, but the biggest woman he knew. The light and hope she gave him could eclipse the sun.

Seeing Unai happily hugging Macha, Aponi stopped restocking the shelves to join the hugging session as well.

As her arms encircled her two, "The woman seemed important though," she said meekly.

Fatima kept her eyes on the floor and continued to sweep. She thought the whole hugging thing was silly.

"Fatima... come! You know you want to..." Macha joked. She remembered the woman did not do hugs, but it was still fun to tease her.

The mood improved and eventually the others went up to their rooms.

Macha straightened up the candy section, and she asked Fatima, "What happened today? Why was that woman so upset?"

She needed to know the details so she could prepare to answer Tyr"s questions. Self-important people always thought the world should bend to their will. She had no doubt in her mind that there would be a letter.

Fatima reached into her pocket and rolled a cigarette. She shuffled her feet as she walked out the back door. After placing the rolled tobacco between her lips, she took out a small rod from her pocket and used it to light the end of her cigarette. Her lips sucked in the air and the paper glowed.

A puff of smoke escaped her lips as she explained, "She was angry when I said we ran out of the lemon crunch pie. She said she would wait and that we could make a fresh one. I explained that it"s on a first come first serve basis."

Fatima placed the cigarette between her thumb and forefinger. She took a deep drag, then blew a stream of smoke out from her lips.

"I then explained that the only way to ensure she got what she wanted, was to order the pie at least one day in advance. She then explained that she was Lady something-or-the-other and on the Committee of Public Safety. I said that was impressive, but she would still need to put an order in a day before. That comment set her off."

"I see," Macha nodded her head.

She held her breath as much as possible because she did not like the strong smell. Fatima always chose such strong tobacco to use. Macha had to ask that Fatima only smoke after work, so their customers would not smell it.

Macha continued, "Don"t worry. Tyr won"t be angry about that."

After a pause, she added, "I noticed you getting angry. I understand but make sure never to hit a customer. If they get rough with you, try to just kick them out of the store. Only if they pull a weapon or attack another customer, will it be all right for you to hurt them."

"Understood," Fatima replied.

She took another drag from the cigarette and closed her eyes. While she did think about violence, she did not want to resort to that. The words did not bother her, but she did not like when Aponi seemed upset by them.

While she was not worried about the Captain being angry, she worried about the King. "Do you think the King will pressure Captain Tyr to shut us down? I heard they"re related is that true?"

Macha patted Fatima"s shoulder. "Don"t worry. Freyr wouldn"t do shut us down. He loves our pies too much. Freyr and Tyr are cousins and both of them wouldn"t shut us down over something as silly as this."

Keeping silent Fatima flicked her cigarette. She realized if the King was cousins with the Captain, then Macha probably knew him well. She also noticed Macha referred to the King by his first name, which meant they were close.