As Popo walked towards the bar, she glanced about quickly to see if there were any customers close by but luckily, most of them were sitting in the far corner. There was no one currently sitting at the bar. It would have been bad for business otherwise.
‘How are we going to catch it?’ the waitress asked her nervously.
‘You leave this to me,’ Popo told her briskly. ‘Why don’t you go and wipe the tables and by the time you get back, I should have taken care of our unexpected friend.’
The waitress nodded in relief and took her tray, walking towards the few customers.
As Popo entered the bar, she heard the odd tinkling of glass as if someone was rubbing them up against each other. Squatting down in front of the glass racks, she stared as far back as she could, hoping to spot the unwelcome rodent. She saw it.
It was looking at her beadily, its nose twitching. It appeared bold, completely unaffected by Popo’s presence. It started to run along the back of the rack, its body squeezing between the glasses and the backing, causing the glasses to rub against each other.
Popo grabbed a large paper bag.
‘Now you just come here and stop causing trouble!’ she said, opening the bag, facing its mouth towards the rat. The rat ignored her and continued trotting.
‘Don’t you be stubborn now. At least it’s me here and not that big dumb Jovelisi. He’d just step on you where as I’d throw you outside!’
‘I’ll take my chances thank you!’ a voice said.
‘Oh you would now? And do you know that if your presence is spotted by a customer, health and inspection officers would come here and close this place down? You come here now!’ Popo hissed.
‘Will not. You said you’d show me this place and yet you prefer to tell that violent kid stories! How dare he think that I’d be eaten by that big dumb scarecrow? I thought it’d have been obvious by now that I was the brains behind everything!’
‘Well, he had a point. Your name wasn’t in the title,’ Popo replied calmly.
‘Well it should be! The next time you relate that story, I want you to call it The Stupendous Rat and his Stuffed Dolls!’
‘If you don’t come here now, you are going to be the squashed rat in this paper bag!’ Popo growled. ‘Now get in here before the waitress comes back!’
‘All right I will but before I do, make sure you put the leftovers in first. That waitress left bits of cheesecake by the dishwasher!’
Popo glanced quickly at the dishwasher and saw the sweet desserts that the rat had eyed. Getting up quickly, she hobbled to the dishwasher, chucked in the treats and shot back to the rat.
‘Now get in,’ she said, opening the bag. Rat practically shot in. Popo crumpled the top of the bag quickly, walked over to her handbag and threw the paper bag in.
‘Easy now,’ came a muffled voice. ‘You’re mashing up the cheesecake!’
Popo removed her apron and hung it up behind the door of the bar. Carrying her bag with her, she headed into the staff room where she commenced to wash her hands. Then once she had dried them she walked out. She met the waitress on the way.
‘Oh Popo, did you manage to kill the rat?’ she asked.
‘Yes I did and I threw it out in the skip outside,’ Popo replied. ‘I’m off home now but it’d be better if you gave those glasses a wash. You never know what diseases that pest was carrying!’
From somewhere in her bag, she felt teeth trying to gnaw their way through. ‘Well I have to go now or else I’ll miss my bus!’ she said brightly. ‘See you tomorrow eh?’
‘Ok Popo. Moce. Thank you for killing the rat.’
Popo nodded and quickly made haste for the door. For an old woman, she could certainly walk fast.
