Trouble at Tante's

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Kayla dropped the tray in front of the Klingon. "Get it yourself," and stomped away.

She had been a waitress for the better part of her stay on Starbase Conqueror, the entire time waitressing at Tante Maria's bakery. In all of her time here, she had not met someone so unfriendly and uncaring as this customer.

Her wrist was still red from where she had ripped her arm from his grasp. She immediately considered filing charges with Starbase security, but knew that people like her were never taken seriously. She was treated as a vagrant - a drifter. The fact that she actually had quarters and made a living mattered little. She was a young woman... girl ... with no family. While her beauty worked in her favor, the fact that her father was an incarcerated criminal had spread quickly, and therefore, the level of respect in others eyes had diminished almost as quickly. She eventually decided that she wouldn't press charges.

Which would have been fine had the Klingon not immediately complained to Maria... of "Tante Maria's", who had been looking for a good excuse to get rid of the waitress. Uncle Max always came to the now twenty year old Bajoran girl's rescue, but this time, he wouldn't be able to condone her behavior.

"YOU WHAT?" Tante yelled at Kayla, listing a series of explicatives that were so horrible that the universal translator either didn't understand, or chose not to understand.

"Told him to get it himself..." Kayla replied in a timid voice. She knew this would happen. The customers were always right, reassured by the fact that there existed a silly sign behind the counter confirming it. It was hidden neatly below the ordering console so every worker could see it. Everyone saw it, and nearly nobody had a problem with it, except of course for Kayla. Kayla found that the customers were often wrong, and she had no issue with telling them that.

"That's it!" Maria cried, "that's it!" she kept repeating herself a few times while trying to calm herself.

"You're out!"

"But he grabbed me, and asked me to ..."

"I don't care! I saw the way you slammed down your tray. I don't care what the reason is." She violently ripped the sign from the wall, and held it up like it was a god-given tablet of truth.

"You cannot follow this. You never could!"

"But he wasn't right!"

"See!" she shook her head in disbelief. "Get out!"

"But my handbag... it's still in the back!" Kayla started crying.

"I'll have it sent to your quarters. Now leave." Tante was holding a broom, and swept the pathway that existed between the two, getting closer and closer with the broom. She symbolically made a sweeping motion toward Kayla, demonstrating her wishes.

Kayla left with her hands in her face, trying to hide the tears from the passersby. When she had walked a little ways away, to where there was less traffic, she propped herself in the corner of a bulkhead and started sulking.

"I'm sorry father," was all she said between sobs. "I'm sorry."

Her father was all she had -- the job was her only hope of paying his bail. Her case was hopeless now. If only she had some friends to fall back on... but even that was hard to come by on a training Starbase. With so many people coming and going, nobody stuck around long enough to form a long-term relationship. She was a victim of her circumstances, with no ray of light. All she could do was cry, alone, on the Promenade, as she came up with her next move.

[Lorna Holsen]

Lorna was enjoying a rare day off and was looking round the starbase Conqueror was so huge that it was easy to forget about the stars. She had been enjoying herself so far. She had been to the gym and was now in relaxed civilian attire strolling along the Promenade with the intention of doing a bit of shopping.

She noticed the hunched figure of a young woman who seemed to be sobbing. Lorna walked over to her recognising her as the waitress from Tante Maria's who she had met on her first day on the base. She knelt at the girl's side.

"Kayla, are you all right? Is there anything I can do to help?" Lorna asked although it was perfectly obvious that the girl was quite a long way from 'all right'.

[Deleted]

Kayla wiped her tears from her eyes will her balled up fists before she looked up to see who was talking to her. She didn't immediately recognize the officer, but the face was somewhat familiar. Sniffling, and using a tissue to wipe her nose, she slowly recognized the officer as Lorna, someone who frequented the Bakery.

"I... I don't know what to do." The waterworks turned back and, and Tiara Kayla fought hard to stop them.

The Doctor did her best to calm down the civilian. It took awhile, but eventually Kayla reran the tissue over her eyes and began talking.

"I haven't told many people this, but my father is currently in jail." She posed herself as a very strong person as she spoke. She was not ashamed by her father's incarceration. It was the result of their unfortunate circumstances. Truth-be-told, he was a good man. "I've been trying to work," she blew her nose, "excuse me," she took her time continuing, "I've been working to make enough money to get him out of jail."

The problem wasn't quite clear, but Kayla continued.

"And now.." tears started flowing, but she swallowed the lump in her throat to finish her sentence, "I have just been fired."

Her head buried into her hands, and she cried uncontrollably again. The Bajoran girl was in a tough place in life. Her only hope would be to find a new job, one that she was successful at, and continue to earn money. If that didn't happen, she would be forced to skip to a new starbase in search for work.

[Lorna Holsen]

"I haven't told many people this, but my father is currently in jail." She posed herself as a very strong person as she spoke. She was not ashamed by her father's incarceration. It was the result of their unfortunate circumstances. Truth-be-told, he was a good man. "I've been trying to work," she blew her nose, "excuse me," she took her time continuing, "I've been working to make enough money to get him out of jail. And now.." tears started flowing, but she swallowed the lump in her throat to finish her sentence, "I have just been fired."

It was a good part of Lorna's nature to want to help people and she wasn't really able to cast too many aspersions; after all she'd served time in the Brig as had many of her friends. She wrapped an arm around the Bajoran woman's shoulders and spoke softly.

"What happened?" Lorna listened sympathetically while Kayla told her story.
(Kayla: I'll leave it to decide whether to write exactly what Lorna gets told or not)

She wondered exactly what she could do to help, but she was definitely going to do her best. She didn't like the idea of anyone hurting the young woman like that "I am going to help." Lorna said "If you want to talk to security I have a friend or two I know would take you seriously." She looked at the way Kayla was holding her arm "And to start with, may I have have a look at your wrist?"

[Deleted]

Kayla held out her right hand, still covering her face with the left. There was a slight bruising on the arm, but it wasn't from the Klingon. It was from dropping a stack of trays from the top shelf of the supply closet in the bakery.

"I don't wish to press charges," she managed to sob. "I just want..." she sniffled, "I just want to work." The word 'work' started a new flow of tears. She wasn't uncontrollably crying, but the tears made their way down her cheeks as she continued.

"Tante doesn't like me. She never did." Kayla's nose cringed up at the thought of the wretched woman. "Her husband liked me though. He was nice. I don't know what I did."

Over the past year or so, Kayla had gotten herself into a decent share of problems at the bakery, with this incident being the final one. She had ruined chances of being the morale officer when Angel Paris offered it to her last year due to her flirtations with a marine cadet that was waiting for assignment there.

There were countless incidents such as these, too many to count. Each time, Tante would react (overreact, if you ask Kayla) and threaten to have her job removed. Uncle Max would always come to her rescue. That lifeline, however, wore thin over the months. After awhile, he was getting tired of defending the young Bajoran girl.

Kayla reiterated her original position. "I just need work, otherwise I am going to have to leave."

[Lorna Holsen]

Lorna checked Kayla's arm over, there was some bruising but nothing serious. She could drag the girl to sick bay but it woudln't be worth it. "I just want to work."

"Tante doesn't like me. She never did." Kayla was in tears as she carried on. "Her husband liked me though. He was nice. I don't know what I did."

Lorna didn't know Tante Maria personally but did not think she was the type to simply take a dislike to someone there had to be something behind that. "I just need work, otherwise I am going to have to leave."


"I think we should have a word with Tante Maria," Lorna said. Kayla did not seem entirely happy with the idea.

Lorna wanted to know what had gone on, she felt that there was more to this. If this didn't work then she could give her a job as an orderly, not that she was going to mention that yet she doubted Kayla would react well to something she might perceive and pity or charity.