"It was her doing" Kael says. Drying and arranging the hip of plates in front of him
"Who?" A tall young man with dark hair who was his dishwashing partner asked
"The pheonix, pluton or whatever you guys call that thief"
"Ahh the Phantom. So let me understand you. The Phantom stole your money and you knew this person did steal your money, but you still decided to come to The Chamberlains, The most expensive restaurant in Leaf port, to eat?" His partner squinted his eyes
"How would I enter any restaurant to eat if I knew I didn't have money?"
"You tell me"
Kael's inability to pay his bill got him a job in the kitchen. In other words he was going to pay up by rendering services for a week tops.
The kitchen was another hall of its own. It's like the whole restaurant was this big hall, half was used for eating and the other half was the kitchen.
The cleaners focused on washing and drying the plates, the chefs on their burners and the waitresses moved once in a while to hand out and collect orders placed by customers.
"But I'll tell you this my friend. You are crazy lucky the boss was in a good mood today. If not, you would be in the stomach of Boba"
"Boba? What's that?"
Kael asked
"It's the town beast. The executioner of criminals and your case my friend, is the kind that gets you a free ticket into Boba's cage"
Kael proceeded to nothing afterwards and focused on the dishes in front of him. His thoughts dwelt more on how to get back to this phantom thief the Marines left to be running wild however he liked.
"This full turn person, is there a specific time he strikes or does he do it anytime he wants?
"Hmm…I don't know about the time but one thing is certain about the Phantom. His targets are always the street hawkers." His dishwashing partner stopped and looked at him with a look that clearly showed he was holding in a laugh "Wait you wanna catch the Phantom?"
"I'm going to make him pay. Nobody takes what's mine and runs free"
"I'll tell you one thing my friend…" He continues to wash "...many have tried, and no one has ever succeded"
As the two went on with their chitty chat the main kitchen door flung open. Taka, the head waitress, rushed inside fighting for air.
"Fang is here" She blurted out, making the whole kitchen go dead silent.
The back door leading to the boss's office slammed and a blonde short man walked out. Oscar Chamberlain. The owner of the restaurant
"Did I just hear Fang?"
"Yes Chief" Taka replied "And he has requested all the girls at his table, we are short staffed" Her breath faded
Chamberlain bit his tiny fingers in tense, he looked towards the dishwashing section "Six guys on dishwashing duty get yourselves cleaned up, and prepare to step out! You too new guy" He pierced his gaze at Kael "We need every hand we can get now"
"Who's Fang?" Kael asks
"Ahh? You must be new then. Figures why you still think the Phantom is someone you can catch" he teased but stopped the moment he saw Kael wasn't in any mood to take his jokes "Fang is a pirate. The last of the three commissioners in Leaf Port. He's a scum, trust me you wouldn't wanna get involved in his shit"
"Pirate. But I saw a whole lot of Marines at the docks"
"Right. Pirates, Marines. Both are the same to me. The only difference is one is a legalized bunch of thieves."
"I'll change that" Kael whispered
"What did you say?"
"The Marines, Pirates and World Government. I'll change all of that" Kael clenched hard" I will change everything. The world order"
Leonard couldn't stop himself from looking at Kael's burning red eyes. There was something about him he couldn't resist, it was hypnotizing. And in that moment he was already lost in it
Taka was seen walking towards him so he had to snapped back from his day dreaming to prevent some nagging sessions
"Well that my friend is one hell of a dream. But for now let's make sure to get these food to those hungry customers out there okay?"
Kael was offered new blue trousers, white shirt and a blue blazer he wore above it. His hair was gelled to the side. A large circular tray was handed to him and a full course arranged neatly inside it
"Your table is six mine is four…" his partner said "...let's do our best out there"
***
The hall was almost vacant, likely because of Fang's arrival. Those who remained were men who came alone, and they were all seated far away from the Sofa table.
Fang was popularly known for taking any woman whomever he took a liking to. It didn't matter if she was married, had kids or even below age. No one dared to take their wife or daughter out on the same streets he walked.
Kael made his way to table six, gently arranged the meal on the table, looked at the man on the chair and walked out on him with no words. He didn't know the courtesies that came with being a Waiter.
On his way to the backroom he stopped and took a quick look at the Sofa table
"So that's the Fang?"
A bald man with a weird spiky mustache. He wore a purple suite with guns strapped under his belt. Together on the sofa table with him were all the female staff, and a girl in a purple gown at the edge of the sofa with no presence at all.
Kael watched as he made the girl – one of the waitresses feel uncomfortable, touching her and pushing himself on her.
Another lesson he learnt from Aunt Ripley, was to always treat girls nicely. Kael didn't think about any consequence for the actions he was about to take. He kicked forward and appeared in front of the Sofa table looking down at Fang
"Let go of her. Now"
The hall turned into a graveyard in a second.
One of the customers dropped his spoon and the sound echoed through every corner of the hall
"Who the hell are you" Fang voice was dry and hollow "Get off my face before I kill you brat"
"You'll have to let them go first…" Kael swept his gaze at all the girls with him, "...all of them"
"Huh?? Who the fuck do you think you're talking to"
Fang pulls out his gun and points it at Kael's forehead "You…you are just a worker here, how can a worker talk to me – the Poisonous Fang that way?! I'll kill you boy!!"
Kael's eyes trailed the gun in Fang's hand
"Guns aren't used to make threats, you know?"
"Huh?"
Kael's hand blurred, he picked up a table knife and was about to plant it into Fang's skull
"Now now gentlemen there must be some kind of a misunderstanding here" Kael's dishwashing partner appeared in their midst, smiling with both eyes and mouth. He turned to Fang "Mr. Fang, I'm so sorry for my subordinates' misconduct and as remuneration your meal today will be free. How do you see that?"
A vein popped on Fang's temple, his head was already brimming red "I want this brat's brain fed to my bear. Maybe in his next life he'll learn a bit of fear"
"Now let's be calm Mr Fang, wouldn't that be too troubling for you, I mean a man of your prestige to trouble himself over a lowly dishwasher, that's… demeaning for a man of your status don't you think? How about this Mr Fang. A month. Every service we render here will be free of charge for a month"
Mr Fang turned to the tall young man "I decide to pay my bills here, you can't make me pay if I don't want to. Now get out of my way before I kill you too"
Fang touched his shoulder prompting a punch to his face that sent him crashing through the walls and on the streets.
"Talking to a scum like you was already too nauseating for me. Then you had to stain me with your filthy hands" His hands were steaming hot and stained with Fangs blood
Kael was unsure where to even start. He turned to his partner and said "That was a crazy punch erm…"
"Leonard, Leonard Chamberlain"