LAST SEEN: Inconsolable after his beloved Rancor’s death.
OPENS: Malakili was only a child when his parents brought home Petunia. The Rancor was a consolation for the news they were about to deliver. His parents were separating.
Petunia and Malakili were inseparable from the start. She would wait by the door all summer long when he was at camp. Petunia would sit on the sidelines with Malakili when he wasn’t picked for Dodgeball. She bought him his first pair of leather chaps.
As Petunia and Malakili grew older her appetite became insatiable. Malakili could barely afford to feed her. When his leather tanning business was forced to close, he drove Petunia to the Rancor shelter and prayed his best friend would be adopted before she was euthanized.
Purring in the rain, Petunia fought Malakili’s grip on her leash. She wouldn’t budge.
Malakili crawled into Petunia’s arms and cried knowing that he could never let her go.
A man approached them. He was there to adopt a rancor. Was Petunia available?
Malakili said he had made a mistake. They were going home.
The man with his tail wrapped around his neck offered Malakili a deal. Jabba’s Palace needed a new Rancor. It was clear that Malakili knew how to properly care for Petunia. In exchange for her, Jabba would hire him as Petunia’s Keeper. Their financial woes would be no more. And they would be together. Forever.
Jabba also offered Malakili a job securing his dungeon arena. Concerned with flaws in the design, Jabba was worried that a prisoner could escape. He was especially concerned about the doors.
Malakili, overenthusiastic yet underqualified, promised his best.
“Not even a Jedi could escape!”
THE END