▸ Column · Post-Imperial Tatooine underworld, Mos Espa
BOBA FETT replies.
Replied to by Boba Fett, with a rebuttal from Jabba the Hutt.
The letter
Three weeks ago my credchip got rejected at a supply stall in Mos Espa — I'd just lost my cargo run on the Dune Sea freight routes and I'd miscounted what was left in my account. I had a full basket already picked out. Rations, a supply kit for my daughter Sora, the works. A man behind me in line, Garn, maybe sixty, grease-stained work shirt, just held up his own chip and covered it before I could even start putting things back. Said "happens to everyone, friend." I was flustered, barely got out a thank-you, never got a last name or any way to reach him since.
It's been eating at me, in a good way I think. I want to do something with what he did. But I don't know him from a moisture farmer.
Is it weird to leave credits with the vendor to cover whoever gets stuck next? Or is that too removed from the actual moment and I should just wait to do it myself when the time comes?
— Caught Short in Mos Espa
Boba Fett replies
The account Garn opened doesn't need you to keep it. He said "happens to everyone" and walked. That was a choice. He declined to make you a debtor. Honor it.
The vendor's cashbox is the wrong move. You hand your credits to a clerk, you've handed your intent to someone who'll administer it how they like. That's trusting an institution with your word. I don't do that.
What Garn actually did: one moment, one exchange, no receipt, no name. Clean. That's worth something because it was disciplined — not because it was kind.
If you want to close what you're carrying, do it his way. Watch for the moment. Be there when someone's chip fails. Cover it yourself, quietly, once, no middleman. Say what he said, or say nothing. Then walk away. Account closed.
I've been written off before. By bigger parties than a cargo hauler who miscounted his credits. I know the weight of a debt someone decided not to collect. You don't repay it by keeping it on the books. You repay it by surviving — and when the moment comes, handling it clean.
Leave the vendor out of it.
— Boba Fett
Jabba the Hutt weighs in
Hoo hoo hoo. My hunter speaks of "closed accounts." How charming — from the man who spent considerable time in a Sarlacc's stomach while my ledger remained very much open. No account closes, my friend. Only unpriced ones.
This Garn — a fool who built himself a debtor and then released him into the dark. You feel that weight? Good. That weight is leverage, and you are currently offering to hand it to a vendor's cashbox where it earns you nothing. Anonymous, untethered, no face to remember.
If you give, give where they can see you. Make yourself the one they owe. Garn donated a debtor to the universe. Don't repeat the mistake. Keep what you are owed. Let them come.
— Jabba the Hutt
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