Penélope Varela's Questionnaire

Pen lives in Maple Valley, WA.

They live there because that's where their mentor lived, and that's where their condo was given to them after his death. Originally, Pen moved there because she wanted to disappear after getting out of jail, and make sure her former gang wouldn't be able to find her. So far, that has succeeded! The one who found her instead was a chef who owned a restaurant that hired and trained anyone in the area that was down on their luck - whether homeless, an ex-con, or both as in Pen's case at the time. Fast forward a couple decades and she's living in a condo above the restaurant that she owns.

Right now Pen's primary source of income is her restaurant that she owns. It's a tough business, but she keeps it afloat. Almost all of her income goes back into the business and into helping her employees or others that need a pick-me-up in the community. Both of those things need quite a bit of money, unfortunately, as she makes sure her employees are paid a living wage - even the servers - and training and helping out any of her employees that run into problems, like a car breaking down, as well as doing community free lunch events and other donations, charity deals, etc.

Pen has spent a lot of time since she started her work in the cooking industry learning about what the real cost of everything is to not just her and the people around her, but to the environment as well. That's why at her restaurant, as much as possible is sourced locally - to diminish the negative impact of her business on the planet. She's started to realize, however, that she can't do enough like this. She's killed before when she ran with her gang, and she's realizing that maybe using those skills for a better cause might be the best thing to do. After all, the list of people who are really making climate change happen is a fairly short one...

I would say the most defining event of Pen's life was falling into a gang as their getaway driver, or maybe when she started doing more complicated work for them, or maybe when they betrayed her and let her take the fall for a murder she didn't commit. But to be honest, the most defining moment of her life is after all that, when she was homeless after she got out of prison and walked into a restaurant that had a "pay for someone else's meal" cork-board program so she could get some food for the day, and ended up talking to someone in there about her life. She found out at the end of the conversation that he was the owner, and that he wanted to hire her and train her to cook.

The manager at her restaurant is called James Worth, and he is a large part of the reason she feels comfortable accepting contracts and putting her life on the line. He is kind, skilled, and good at looking past one's circumstances to see one's self instead. If anything happens to her, she knows James will take good care of the place, and he's the only name on her will.

She is also friends with the local grocer, Anne. She helps Anne make sure as much of her stock as possible is obtained in sustainable ways, and Anne gives her a bulk discount on restsurant supplies in return. Without Anne, her restaurant would have to make the difficult decision between staying profitable and being sustainable. Together, they make sure that decision stays as far away as it can.

The other helper in that goal is a nearby mute hermit named Edith that hunts in the woods and sells her catches to the local butcher and the rest of town.

Pen's childhood was... not great. She didn't finish high school because her mom got sick, and she dropped out to help make money to care for her. As a hispanic kid in the south, there was an easy option that she fell into. At first it was just moving things around when needed, but as she got a bit older they put her in the driver's seat and started giving her more roles. Taught her how to use a knife and a well placed threat to get what she needed. But really she stopped being in her "childhood" at around 14 years old. So, before that... Well, it was alright. Not a lot of money, and strict parents who thought they knew what was best for her. Back when she attended school, she fit in great - she was always good at getting into the clique when needed. As evidenced by... well. Anyway. She fit in fine.

Pen has been in love before, yes. There was a girl in the gang. They watched each others' backs. Until they didn't. Turns out her back was more important than Pen's. There was another, too - in prison. She had a cellmate for a long time, and they were both in vulnerable places, emotionally, when they met. So they helped make each others' days more bearable. Until she died. Official word is she slipped in the showers. Happens sometimes, it seems. So, Pen's had about enough of that. No more romance. No more attaching yourself to people who will just betray you or die.