"Wonka" by Mariah Picon

Chapter 6: Making Chocolate

Willy walks into his tiny room, there were a lot of buckets for the leaking from the ceiling, and the light is about to go out. Willy goes over to the barredwindow and looks out across the rooftops of the slums. The golden dome of the Galeries Gourmet seems a long way away. Daphne and Noodle appeared at the doorway.

"Hey, are you okay?" Daphne asked.

Willy smiles without saying anything. Willy turns to see Noodle has a bucket of slops, and Daphne want to check on him.

"I saved some french toast for you if you like." Daphne said.

"Told you to read the small print." Noodle said.

"Slight problem with that." Willy said.

"You can't read, can you?" Noodle asked.

"I focused my studies almost exclusively on chocolate." Willy said.

"I see." Noodle said.

"I guess you got a little bit carried away after all." Daphne said.

"For everything else, I've relied on the kindness of strangers." Willy said.

"And look where that's got you, the Staff Quarters, of course." Daphne said.

"You've got a bed." Noodle said.

Willy sits on the bed, but it collapses underneath him, making Willy scream, and Daphne chuckled that Willy felt embarrassed in front of her.

"You had a bed. Desk. And wash basinslash toilet. Water comes in two temperatures. Cold and colder." Noodle said.

"So, how much do you own them?" Daphne asked.

"Ten thousand." Willy answered.

"Count yourself lucky. I own 30." Noodle said.

"What? How do you owe them money? I thought they found you down the laundry chute." Willy said.

"Oh, they did. Took me in out of the goodness of their hearts and charged me for the privilege." Noodle explained.

"What a pair of monsters. What about you, Daphne?" Willy asked.

"They never did that to me because I'm always special to them because they were friends with my parents. They promised never to go too harsh on me, but I never got into trouble my whole life." Daphne explained to answer.

"Lucky for you too, Daphne. The greedy beat the needy every time, Mr. Wonka. Guess it's just the way of the world." Noodle said.

Noodle pours some slops into a bowl and leaves as Daphne puts the plate of french toast on the table.

"Oh, come on, Noodle, that's just your orphan syndrome talking." Willy said.

Noodle reappeared from the doorway.

"My what?" Noodle asked.

"What do you mean?" Daphne asked.

"Your Orphan Syndrome. And we are not gonna be eating any slops." Willy answered.

Willy throws away the slop in the bucket.

"I can put away the french toast if you don't want any." Daphne said.

"No, no. It's okay. I can have them for breakfast tomorrow." Willy said.

Willy picks up his sample case and puts it on the table.

"Wait. What are you doing?" Daphne asked.

"I'm making chocolate, of course. How do you like it? Dark? White? Nutty? Absolutely insane." Willy asked the girls.