Like Bees to Honey | gxg

6. A Bit of a Mess

Marie shook her head over the pile of splintered wood and scattered jewellery that was all that remained of her stall. The crowds had dispersed when it became clear there would be no more samples, and the teenagers whose roughhousing had led to the mess had disappeared in the chaos, too fast for anyone to catch them. Riley and Otis both vanished, too. Sabina and Mel were left to face Mr. Chibana's wrath alone.

Somehow looming menacingly despite his very average height, Mr. Chibana looked from one to the other. "I expect to see this cleaned up before either of you go home tonight."

Sabina accepted the broom he handed her. "We'll clean it up, but we didn't make this mess. Where did those kids go? Why can't they help?"

Eyebrows bristling fiercely, Mr. Chibana shoved a second broom into Mel's chest so that she was forced to grab it. "If I see those troublemakers again, they'll be banned from the market for the year. I can ban you too, if you'd rather not take responsibility."

Sabina shut her mouth. She had only been in charge of the market stall for a week. If she got banned over this, her parents would never trust her to handle it on her own. Her whole plan would be ruined.

To her surprise, Mel spoke up. "All we did was hand out some free samples."

Mr. Chibana turned the weight of his disapproval on her, but she didn't flinch. "You violated market guidelines by serving alcohol to minors."

"I wouldn't call it serving. Those cups were tiny."

"Not to mention the general state of unruliness and disorder you created with this stunt."

"You mean the crowds? All those people who got excited about being at the market? Who then walked by all these other stalls and probably bought things?" Mel swept her arms out at the vendors who were closing up around them in the scorching afternoon heat. "Isn't that the whole point of offering the award? To make people want to be here? That's what we did."

Sabina wanted to kick her. Even if she did have a point.

Mr. Chibana hmmphed. "This is not the sort of behaviour I want to see from a Best Vendor winner. And I must say I'm particularly disappointed in you, Sabina. I expected better from someone who has been with us for so long."

She looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

"I'm disappointed too, little bee," Marie said, as Mr. Chibana left. "I thought you had better judgement."

"I'm sorry," Sabina said, shame finally sinking its claws into her. "I'll help fix your table. Please don't tell my parents about this?"

Marie peered at her from under thin eyebrows. "They won't hear it from me. Do you mind if I step away for a moment? I'm a little shaken up."

"Of course. I've got this."

Sabina turned to find Mel watching her, twirling the broom between her palms. Her anger bubbled up. "Why did you have to keep arguing with Mr. Chibana?"

Mel shrugged. "Watching you crumble in the face of authority gave me second hand embarrassment."

"A mature person acknowledges when they've made a mistake. And then they fix it."

"Come on," Mel said with a laugh. "Those kids had like three sips of cider. If they couldn't handle that, then I'm horrified to think what might happen at this beach party Otis keeps talking about."

An unexpected giggle rose in Sabina's throat. She didn't want to admit that she couldn't handle three sips of cider, either. That one sample had gone straight to her head. Swallowing her laughter, she propped her fists on her wide hips. "You could have got us banned from the market."