Chapter 5: The Cantankerous Cook
The owner of the Golden Seal Inn paced back and forth looking over his employees‘ uniforms. They stood in line professionally dressed in white linen jackets with large cuffs. The owner, a stubby Asian bear named Poe, called his employees to attention. The Inn received a letter two weeks ago that Ping, the Judge of Commerce, and his twin brother Ming, would be arriving with nearly one hundred of their friends. The Golden Seal Inn prided itself on being the most prestigious living quarters in all of Shavron. The exterior of the building was painted a canary yellow and blue, a pathway made of red stones was laid across the entrance of the Inn; and just for show, two employees were posted out front to raise flags to welcome the guests.
"Now," said Poe, rubbing his hands together nervously, "This is the big day. One of our great leaders will be arriving at any moment. Now I want to make this clear, our judge will be bringing his brother, Ming, with him. They are twins and we must not get them confused, Ping is the judge. Remember, we must do our best to please our betters, isn't that right?"
"YES, SIR!" shouted the employees in a jubilant cry.
However, among them was a rambunctious little creature named Ricco. The ringtail was not paying attention to the owner's words; he was daydreaming of summer days away from work until he was interrupted.
"Ricco," called Poe, " did you hear what I said? Are you paying attention?"
"Yes I was." he said a little annoyed.
"Then, what did I say?"
"You said that we should do everything in our power to suck up to the two nincompoops and play nice until they leave."
"They're orangutans, orangutans!" said Poe, " If they hear you talking about them like that, it could be the gallows for you. By my word, Ricco, I don't know why I keep you around."
Ricco raised his head with a prideful grin.
"I know why you do: I'm the best cook you've got."
"Yeah, that's right," said Poe, getting in his face. " You better be very good today...and wipe that smirk off your face!"
The owner turned his attention back to the whole group. Orders were dictated that every silver fixture was to be shined to perfection, floors were to be scrubbed in every nook and cranny, and all tables were to receive a white linen cloth. With Poe‘s meticulous eye, his employees went to work.
Ricco with the help of is cooking team, prepared the lunch and dinner orders that were sent in advance. It wasn't more than an hour when they heard distinctive trumpet calls within the distance. The instruments signaled the arrival of the judge in the streets of Upper Shavron. Within moments there was a knock at the door; all work came to a abrupt halt.
"It's them, everyone to their places quickly," said Poe.
Once the employees took their places, the owner swung the door open to greet the royalty that was there.
"Welcome to the Golden Seal--"
"What's wrong with you, got wax in your ears? How come you took so long with the door. Get out of my way!" said Ming.
The bear was taken aback by the orangutan's hostile attitude. He was dressed elegantly with a cloak made of blue silk and he had gold studded wrist and ankle braces to match. The ape hobbled in on his long arms to inspect the main floor. A dissatisfied sneer swept across his face
"Ugh, you call this luxury! All the fixtures are shined all wrong! I don't like silver at all! Brother, I want to stay somewhere else! This is suited for peasants and the meager creatures. I hate it!"
The owner stood by nervously, abased from his guest brutal criticism. He felt an episode of faint coming upon him, but one of his employees pulled his shirt and suggested trying to show Ming to his room to change the subject. The owner's confidence returned and he proceeded to address the orangutan.
"Ming, let us show you to your room. We have the best rooms in all of Shavron, none can rival us."
Ming looked at the bear with a look of indignation.
"Room? The gutter would be a step above this. My room better look good, from what I've seen already I'm staying in a rundown shack!"
The owner was gravely insulted, he stood as erect as a pole. A deep burning rage began to germinate in him. If it was anyone else, he would have taken him outback and beat some manners into him, but the brother of a judge demanded respect; no matter how insulting he was. The owner controlled his temper the best he could.
"You three help Ming to his room," he said with a pause, " I'm sure he will find the accommodations to his liking despite his peculiar taste in luxury."
Ming darted up the stairs as some of the employees took his bags. The ape continued to scrutinize, pointing out the most trivial of matters. It wasn't long after that that Ping arrived. He was carried on a litter that came through the double doors of the Inn. The litter came in slowly as four other orangutans struggled to walk under the weight of the judge. Each step was uncertain and it didn‘t help that Ping shouted insults at them when the litter dipped. The girth of the judge of commerce proved that he looked as if he had eaten most of the commerce himself. The litter was lowered easily to the floor. The carriers stood erect, panting to catch their breath, and the fat ape rolled off the litter. "Weaklings, have you no strength!"
The fat ape was wearing a colorful turban of green and orange. A ring was on every finger; and frequently he would hold out his hand so that some poor soul would kiss one of them, to further his ingrained pride. Around his neck hung the crest of commerce and a silk shirt was his cloak, but from the looks of it the garment was too small : for his chunky belly would stick out and jiggle whenever he moved. The Inn's employees did their best to keep a straight face; even the owner was nearly moved to hilarity.
"Who's the owner here?"
"I– I am," Poe said catching himself before he laughed, " welcome to--"
"First of all," Ping said interrupting, "I want my dinner by six, my clothes washed and dried within the day, and a midnight snack of toasted bread and jam; my brother will take the same. My friends," he said pointing behind him to the large crowd, "will have those orders too, they better be done or I will be very displeased."
The owner shouted the orders to Ricco; the ringtail rolled his eyes.
"Dinner won't be ready until seven. Tell the ninny—uh— our judge to give me more time."
The request put Ping in a raging fit, he walked up to the owner and pressed his finger at his chest.
"You tell that cook that dinner will be ready by six or I'll put all of you out of work!"
"We will try," Poe said humbly.
"You won't try, it will be done."
The owner nodded his head in submission. The ape went upstairs and the employees took his baggage.
"Only ninety eight guests to go," Poe said wiping his brow.
The Asian bear made his way into the kitchen. Knives were slicing through fruits and vegetables. The fragrance of butter, sugar, fruits, cream, and salt filled the air. Ricco went to and fro inspecting each dish like a detective, making sure that every ingredient worked together to create a masterpiece.
"This dish needs more sugar, one cup will do, and you, " he said running over to a novice chief, " Whip the cream; don't stir—ah, out of the way, tend to the vegetables, I'll handle this!"
"Dinner must be ready by six," implored Poe.
"SIX!" cried the ringtail, displeased that his request was not granted, "I'm cooking for one hundred I need that extra hour! Get some backbone and tell that fatso to wait!" Ricco said slamming his fist on the table.
"Don't argue me, just make it happen."
Poe left the kitchen as he heard Ping taking on his brother‘s practice of vicious analysis of anything and everything.
The meal, to Ping‘s dismay, was served at six fifteen. The other guests had already arrived and were waiting for the main courses. Immediately a line of covered silver platters came from the kitchen. Ricco lead the way, with a pep in his step, as his team came to attention in front of the crowd. The platter tops were removed in unison and the guests were delighted, except for Ming and Ping: they were never impressed with anything, even if it was done perfectly. When the two orangutans received their plates, they snatched them and greedily shoveled the food into their mouths. It wasn't long before everyone's attention was directed at Ming and Ping: both apes spat out the food on the floor and were making a scene.
"Who made this slop?" cried Ming. "Where's the cook?" said Ping.
Ricco made his way through the tables. "What's the problem?"
"This is garbage! What kind of a cook are you anyway? There's too much salt in this dish! I gave you a list. Can't you read, you moron!"
Ricco lost his temper and shouted back at the orangutan. It was a three way back and forth bickering: for Ming jumped in to defend his brother. The owner ran over to stop the arguing.
"All right, Ricco, that's enough. I'm sorry, Ping, we'll fix you order very soon, it will take only a few minutes."
The owner and Ricco turned their backs to head to the kitchen when they were splattered with food. Most of it hit Ricco in the back. The ringtail turned around in ire as the bear held him back from attacking Ping. The orangutan placed the empty plate on the table. "You can wear your mistake for all I care; something for you to think about. Get our order right this time!"
Ricco was trying to break Poe‘s hold, but it did little to help.
"Let me go, let me go! I'll kill him, I'll kill him!" he shouted as he was pulled into the back room.
The crowd showered praises upon the orangutan. It was always a delight to see the upper class get the better of subordinates.
"Good jog, Ping," said one guest," that's the way to keep the commoners in their place."
"I try, but it‘s so demanding," he said placing the back of his hand to his brow playfully. The crowd laughed and continued with their meal. The owner took Ricco, kicking and fighting, out the back door into the street.
" Calm down, Ricco, calm down you little hot head!"
Ricco broke from Poe‘s grip. There was a brief stare down, and then Ricco darted towards him. It was a short scuffle between the two until Ricco was pushed on his back. "Don't ever get in my way!" said Ricco shouting, "What do you think you‘re doing?!!"
"I'm helping you out," said Poe, " that judge could have your head on a platter by tomorrow if he wanted to. What's the matter with you challenging him like that?"
The owner came over and extended his hand, Ricco took it reluctantly and was helped to his feet.
"I hate their guts– all of those snobby wretches!"
"Not all of them are bad, you know that," said Poe, " I wouldn‘t have been able to start this inn without one of them."
"That‘s beside the point," said Ricco, "Just keep that ape away from me."
The rest of the night went smoothly, to everyone's expectations. During the week the aristocrats continued to make the lives of the employees a living nightmare. Insults were given constantly, guests would complain over the most trivial of mistakes and demanded either a flogging or termination of employment to remedy the error. On the last day most off the guests had already left, except for Ping and Ming. Of all the creatures, the employees were glad to see the orangutans leave; but before they did, Ping wanted to have all the employees in the main lobby. The judge held out his hand so that his ring finger was up. At first no one clearly understood why he was doing this; but then, the thought came to light. One by one, the employees kissed Ping's ring; even the owner was reduced to the demoralizing practice. There was one employee left that was not about to give in to the ape‘s arrogance. Ricco stood with his arms crossed as he looked on. Ping looked at him and called him out.
"Get over here and follow suit, cook."
Ricco did not move. Poe came over to counsel him.
"Listen to me very carefully," he said in a whisper, "We can all get back to a normal way of life when he leaves. Just kiss the ring and he‘ll go away. Don‘t make things difficult, Ricco."
Ricco lowered his arms and slowly walked over to Ping. A prideful grin came over the orangutan's face.
"That's right, not so tough now are you?"
The ringtail stood in front of the judge. Both eyed each other; a deep hatred between them.
"Kiss!" Ping said raising his hand to Ricco's mouth, " You better do it."
Everyone looked on at the silent battle ahead. Some, deep inside, wanted Ricco to punch the judge right in the face; others silently pleaded for the ringtail to comply to the orangutan's wishes so their lives could return to normal.
"I said kiss my ring!"
With a flick of his head the ringtail said,
"Kiss your own ring, you fat chimp. Leave us and take your knuckle headed brother with you!"
Ping's eyes widen and his hand shook as he pointed at Ricco. "Y– you– you---common trash!"
"R-I-C-C-O!!" Poe yelled in frustration.
Ming jumped to strike Ricco, but the ringtail ran for his life as Ming gave chase. Tables were thrown over and the chase went out into the streets. Ricco had a speed advantage over the orangutan. He left Ming in the dust as insults were hurled at him from behind. The cook finally got his dream of summer days without work, even if it running for his life to attain it. But his flight would take him to Eldos lake, where his real life would begin.