is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cEgun on,\u201d he said as he entered what was probably his fifth stop today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A woman stood behind the bar drying glasses. She was probably in her late forties. Her black hair, pulled tight into a bun behind her head, showed a few streaks of silver running through it. She wore a loose-fitting t-shirt that looked like it might have been as old as Kepa. The words \u201cNegu Gorriak\u201d were emblazoned across the front. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBarkatu,\u201d she said without looking up. \u201cBut we are closed. We open at 2. Come back later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not here to eat or drink,\u201d replied Kepa tentatively – the woman gave off an almost hostile vibe. \u201cI was hoping you might be looking to hire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHire?\u201d replied the woman quizzically as she put the glass down and looked up. Her striking grey eyes almost seemed to pierce Kepa. \u201cWhat do you mean, hire?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m\u2026\u201d stammered Kepa. \u201cI\u2019m trying to find work,\u201d he finally belted out. \u201cAnything really.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo you know how to cook?\u201d asked the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnly what my ama taught me,\u201d replied Kepa sheepishly. He wasn\u2019t sure why, but this woman really made him feel uncomfortable. She exuded a confidence, a power, that took him off guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEtorri,\u201d barked the woman as she passed behind the bar to the kitchen. Once there, she pointed at the stove. \u201cMake me a tortilla.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa scanned the kitchen, locating a pan and the fridge where he assumed the eggs would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow do you like it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery good question,\u201d replied the woman with a smile. \u201cMost people don\u2019t bother to ask. I like mine just a little gooey inside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa smiled as he hefted the pan in his hand. \u201cThe same as me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He cracked the eggs and peeled the potatoes. Soon the pan was sizzling. He knew it was a risk, but he decided he needed to do whatever he could to impress the woman. He flipped the tortilla in the air and caught it dead center in the pan. Moments later, he was plating a slice and handing it to the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot bad,\u201d judged the woman as she took a bite. \u201cDo you think you can do it any faster?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProbably,\u201d replied Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOso ondo. Come back tomorrow around 12.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Kepa was about to leave the bar, he turned to see the woman back behind the counter, continuing to dry glasses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEskerrik asko,\u201d he began and then paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIratxe,\u201d she replied. \u201cSee you tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weeks had passed and classes were about to begin for Maite. Kepa had continued to check out the local bars to see if anyone could use a bartender or waiter, but so far, he hadn\u2019t found anything he liked. Or rather, no one had seemed to like him. He had been let go from his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1NF","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6924,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6923\/revisions\/6924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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