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Rey was awoken suddenly by a slam of the door and Unkar yelling at her "Get up girl! Time to go to work" as he walked through the kitchen.
Rey got up slowly, her small body ached from lying on the floor. She rubbed her eyes trying to get herself awake; they burned from crying so much the previous day.
"Move it!" yelled Unkar, shoving the small girl towards the front door causing her to trip and fall.
Rey yelped as she slammed into the dirty floor.
Unkar just chuckled "frail human" shaking his head and motioning to Rey to get up.
Rey began sobbing as she stood up and dusted some of the dirt off.
"Stop that crying!" barked Unkar "I'm sick and tired of hearing your crying. If you keep on crying I'll give you something to cry about!"
Rey tried her best to stop and began sniffling in response. She walked to the speeder and got inside as Unkar did the same. They drove to Nima outpost and then walked to Unkar's shop. Unkar unlocked the door and turned on a single light over the work area of the shop. He then opened a closet door and pulled out a broom and a hand scrub brush.
"Here" he said while handing her the broom. "You can start by sweeping the floors, then I want you on your hands and knees scrubbing the grime and dirt loose, after that you can sweep up all the stuff you scrubbed loose. When you're done with the floors you can start scrubbing all the parts in that work area over there" he said and pointed to the work area that had the light turned on over it.
Rey grabbed the broom, barely being able to use it as she was so small. Unkar sat in a seat near the open window waiting for customers.
It took Rey over an hour to sweep up the shop. The entire time she felt her stomach growling from not haven eaten since the previous morning. She then got on her hands and knees and began scrubbing the floors loosening up all the things that had been stuck on that floor for who knows how long. Her knees began to hurt her but she kept going as she didn't want to anger Unkar and she wanted to make sure she ate today.
Rey scrubbed and scrubbed. Hours pass by before she knew it, her knees bruised and aching. It was midafternoon when she finally finished with the floors. Rey was feeling weak and had a huge headache. She felt like she was dying of thirst.
"Can I have some water please?" she asked Unkar
Unkar looked at the girl and noticed that she appeared as if she was going to pass out. He thought to himself and came to the conclusion that it was to his benefit to give the human girl some water so that she could continue to work.
"Fine" he sighed and handed her a bottle of water.
Rey grabbed the bottle with both of her little hands and drank the entire thing instantly. She immediately felt relief as the water went down her throat. Goosebumps formed on her skin as her body took in the water she so desperately needed.
"Now get back to work, we only have a couple of hours left and you haven't even started on any of the parts that need cleaning. I should have known a human girl wouldn't be able to carry her weight around here. Pathetic, scrawny, little thing" he said while shaking his head and turning back around in his chair.
Rey sat in the chair in front of the work area but she was not tall enough to see over the table properly and be able to work on the parts. She grabbed some old books that was in the corner of the room on the floor and placed them on the chair. She then climbed on top of the chair and sat on top of the books. She began scrubbing the parts one at a time.
Unkar turned around and notice what the girl had done in order to work. 'Hmm, smart girl' he thought to himself then turned back around to tend to the upcoming customers.
Rey worked and watched as people came and went. Some bought parts but at the end of the day she noticed that more and more people came with parts to sell. She watched as many were given small packets of food instead of money as payment for the parts. Unkar had a large amount of these food packets stashed in a safe that came up from underground. The safe would come up out of the ground and open when Unkar placed his hand on a sensor. Rey figured it must be some sort of hand print recognition key pad.
A couple of hours later Rey noticed the sun starting to go down. Unkar got up off the chair and walked over to Rey. He looked at the small pile of parts she had scrubbed, maybe 3 or 4 of them.
"You better learn to work faster girl, and learn it fast if you want to survive here" said Unkar. He then motioned to Rey to get up and go to the speeder, which she did without question.
When Rey got into the speeder she almost immediately fell asleep. Unkar got in and rolled his eyes and shook his head at seeing the young girl fast asleep in the passenger seat. 'She acts as if she did so much today' he thought to himself, disappointed with how little the girl could do. He turned on the speeder and began driving back to his home as the sun began to set on the horizon.
"Get out girl, you still have chores to do" said Unkar as he parked his speeder next to his home.
Rey got up and followed him inside the house. Once inside, Unkar pointed to the broom in the corner of the kitchen. "Get to sweeping" he ordered.
Rey grabbed the broom and did what he asked. She ended up collecting about 4 bags of garbage and dirt. It took her about 2 hours to do.
"Alright girl, time to eat… although you really haven't worked that much today, definitely not enough for a full portion" he said. "But I don't want you passing out on me either…then what use will you be to me?"
Rey watched as Unkar began heating up the food. Her mouth watered with anticipation. Her stomach growled with emptiness and desire for any sustenance.
Unkar brought over a plate of the green meat stuff she had seen him eat before and two rolls of what looked like bread, one clearly twice the size of the other. He placed the smaller roll and one small piece of the green stuff on her plate, taking the rest (about 7 larger pieces) for himself. He also gave her a cup of water to go along with the meal.
Rey quickly grabbed the green meet thing she was given and took a bite from it. It was one of the worst tasting things she had ever eaten. It was slimy and had a pungent taste that made it hard not to spit out. Rey was so hungry though that she fought back the urge to gag and finished the small piece he had given her. She ate the piece of bread just as fast and to her relief it did not taste as bad as the green pieces. Washing everything down with the cup of water, it took her about 2 minutes to finish her small meal. The meal was definitely not enough to fill the child but at least it had calmed her hunger pains for the moment.
"Now that you're done you can start cleaning the dishes" said Unkar which entailed scrubbing each dish with a brush then blowing them clean with a high powered and high temperature air nozzle.
Rey looked at the pile of dishes on top of the counters and tried to figure out how she would be able to reach them.
"Do you have a step stool I can use?" she asked
"Do I look like I would have or need a step stool around here? You're just going to have to figure it out, and if you have half a brain maybe you will" said Unkar as he continued to eat
Rey felt a bit insulted but she knew not to show it. She had been taught humility and respect for others all of her short life and she was determined to follow that even if others didn't.
Rey looked around and quickly came up with a plan. She grabbed one of the chairs and pushed it over to the kitchen counters. She climbed on top of it and began cleaning the dishes.
"What do you know… you DO have half a brain!" laughed Unkar
Rey paid little attention to the insult and continued to work. 'Maybe if he sees what a hard worker I am, he will like me and be nicer to me' she thought.
She continued working for another hour before Unkar said it was time to go to sleep and that he was going to turn off the lights. Rey had finished about half of the dishes and the place was already looking a bit less cluttered and a bit cleaner all together.
Rey walked over to the spot on the floor with the bed sheet and laid down. The lights went off soon after Unkar walked into his room. Rey was already beginning to feel hungry again but she was too exhausted to care. She curled up with the bed sheet and fell fast asleep.