Maz Kanata's Journey

Taking Charge

The droids had taken over. Maz and her friends were escorted to the jailhouse. The familiar smell of food and drinks lingered. Maz looked in her hand to see if she had a key in her many cards. A droid slapped a card with a golden key down in the middle of the table and laughed triumphantly. They were saved! As the group rejoiced at this minor victory, Maz heard her doors open. She sprang up, went to the counter, and grabbed some cups of water to hydrate whoever is passing through. Two humans in clunky armor entered through the doors talking and laughing. They took a seat by the window and accepted the water with thanks. Maz came back to her table and picked up her cards. She saw that they were replaced by a new hand of bad cards and she looked at the group.

"Okay who did it?" she asked. "I have a tavern to run and I can't have some moof milker messing up my cards," she said, stealing a phrase from her old friend Han.

She stared each of them down until she reached a Jawa. Staring into its beady yellow eyes, she could tell it was him. The Jawa muttered something and returned her original hand of cards. The group snickered at her and Maz couldn't help but feel disrespected. Hiding her feelings, she went to the counter to help the new arrivals. As she left they burst out laughing and Maz clenched her fists. She heard the leader of the group, a droid with a flat face and rusty body parts slap the table making a metallic sound.

Maz spent her day filling orders. She knew better than to speak out about the rowdy group of creatures and droids. It would most likely end in a fight and she couldn't afford having this at her tavern. As she cleaned the mess one of the group members spilled, she saw her reflection in the water. Her big round glasses surrounded her eyes. Her orange wrinkly skin and her small mouth didn't resemble much of someone who would take charge. She sighed.

The next day was the same. The rowdy group entered the tavern talking and laughing loudly. She scowled and let them sit wherever they liked. By the time they ordered her to get them more drinks, she was angry. They had already knocked over two tables, spilled five drinks, and made 1 customer leave. She got the drinks for them and they gulped them down. She didn't realize they had poured some on the ground until she slipped. The platter of glasses she was holding fell to the ground with an ear splitting crack. That was enough to make Maz go overboard. She leaned into the group with both her orange hands on the table. She looked at every one of them and told them what needed to be said.

"Enough," she said. "I'm not going to let you get away with being rude at my tavern. Some customers are polite and understand that it is hard to run this place but not you." Some of the creatures looked awkwardly at their drinks but the leader just sat there, it's flat face emotionless. "And you. Get out of my tavern."

The droid just sat there willing her to go on. "Now," Maz said looking directly at it. The group was silent and the droid slowly got up and left.

The next day, the group returned without the leader. They entered silently and asked a droid for drinks instead of her. They were still rowdy and loud but they weren't rude to her. As they left, she realized that she had to take the lead when it came to people like this. She was used to being silent and just letting things happen to her. She now knew that she had to be the one to stand up for herself because nobody else would. She smiled as the group left, she had a feeling that things would get a lot better now.