Chapter 8
8
‘This is crazy! Why has he written a thousand things down to give to people?’ Christos erupted.
Molly didn’t disagree. They had been listening to Katerina reading out legacies gifted in the will for almost thirty minutes. A dozen white stones collected from Avlaki Beach to be given to Mary Papadaki. Three broken wooden chairs to Milo Dolianitis. The small icon of Saint Spyridon to the church at Kassiopi. More places and names of people that Molly did not know and, occasionally, as they were recited, her mum and Angeliki would make a noise of recognition and look at each other like they were kindred spirits. It was all very very surreal.
‘Christo,’ his mother said. ‘These are your godfather’s last wishes for his things. We should show them respect.’
‘Show respect to “my blue shirt with birds to Giorgos” or “my second-best camera to Marios”. How do you even tell what someone’s second-best camera is?’
‘Christo,’ Katerina said. ‘Please be a little patient. There is a certain legal order to things.’
Molly watched Christos moving things about on the table – his water glass, then the salt and pepper pots, an index finger pushing at the olive oil – he wasn’t exuding any of the calm confidence he had displayed when they had first met.
‘…and my green dish of a snake to… Magdalena Baros,’ Katerina spoke.
‘Ugh!’ Magdalena exclaimed in disgust. ‘I hate that thing! I am literally the only person in the family who hated that thing! Why would Vaggelis do that?!’
‘Oh, he had a sense of humour, didn’t he?’ Janette said, a napkin dabbing at the corner of her eye.
‘He did,’ Angeliki agreed.
Molly watched Christos screwing a napkin up in his hand.
‘And, the final legacy, my cat, Armeena, to be shared as 25 per cent to Angeliki Baros, 25 per cent to Magdalena Baros, 25 per cent to my godson, Christos Baros and 25 per cent to Miss Molly Adams.’
What? She had inherited 25 per cent of a cat! Was this a joke?! She had to say something.
‘Sorry, what did you say?’ Molly asked. ‘How can someone own 25 per cent of a cat? Like, one leg each? How does that work?’ And all she could think of was that she had travelled all this way to Greece for part-ownership of a feline?! I mean, she didn’t dislike cats, but a quarter of a cat was not going to inject funds into her business unless it pooped golden nuggets!
‘ Theé mou! My God!’ Christos remarked, his fingers toying with a leaf on an overhanging branch. ‘I agree with Molly, this is crazy! Why are we sharing this cat? It has to be at least fifteen years old and it does not let anyone come near it, let alone four people. She is horrible and her fur falls out, and she has one overlong fang!’
‘Christo! Let me remind you that your teeth were not so perfect once!’ Angeliki exclaimed. ‘There is no need to be mean.’
‘To a cat called Ar meena .’
‘If everyone could quieten, the next clause is about what happens to everything else,’ Katerina told them.
So there was more than a piece of the cat for her? Or was she just going to listen while the best bits got given to someone else?
Everyone paused, waiting, the only sounds going on around them: soft chatter, the pouring of chilled wine…
‘I leave the rest of my estate to be shared equally, 50 per cent to my godson, Christos Baros, and 50 per cent to… Miss Molly Adams.’
There was a collective gasp then the sound of something shattering. It took Molly a second to realise that it was her who had dropped the water glass on the stone floor. Her heart was thumping. She had inherited 50 per cent of everything else this man owned apart from a few shirts with birds on, a number two camera, broken chairs and whatever else had been reeled off by the solicitor. What else was there? Money? His car? His home? Did he own a home?
As her mind spiralled, Christos spoke.
‘There must be some mistake. This woman does not even know my godfather. She admitted it herself.’
What? Molly steeled herself, sitting more upright in her chair. She didn’t know why Vaggelis had left her things, but he had left her things and she hadn’t flown over here to be swept aside just because this man didn’t like it.
‘I may not have known him,’ Molly told him, ‘or know why he has left things to me, but I can already tell from what he has left to others that he was a good person, and a good person should have their wishes honoured.’
The restaurant hubbub seemed to die down, conversations muted, the chirp of cicadas audible again until…
‘She is right,’ Angeliki announced. ‘Who are we to say what is right or wrong about how Vaggelis wanted to give away what he has.’
‘ Mama —’
‘Why are you complaining?’ Magdalena asked him. ‘You have much more than the ugly snake dish!’
‘I am not complaining,’ Christos stated.
‘You called me “this woman”,’ Molly remarked. ‘And, here I was, thinking we shared such a special bond already after yesterday.’
‘I really need to hear more about yesterday,’ Magdalena said.
‘Me too,’ Janette added.
‘Would either of you like to know what forms the rest of Vaggelis’s estate?’ Katerina asked, tapping her pen against her paperwork.
Of course she did. A tiny fizzing began in her gut but she tried to keep it small, knowing a cold bucket of disappointment could soak everything in an instant.
‘Go ahead,’ Christos said, knocking back a shot of whatever was in the glass next to his water. ‘It will likely cost more to repair or get rid of.’
Why was he so angry about being given something? Surely having something was better than having nothing? Perhaps he hadn’t grown up the same way she had, having to scrimp and save hard for anything close to a luxury.
‘The estate consists of “my cherry-red pickup truck”—’
‘Ha!’ Christos interrupted. ‘That thing has not moved in years! It will need trimming equipment to even get the vines off!’
‘Christo!’ Angeliki admonished again. She said something in Greek and Molly watched Christos’s shoulders roll forward a little as he resettled.
‘My olive tree near Old Perithia. My boat – The Greek Dynamo .’
Magdalena sniggered.
‘And my apartment in Kassiopi.’
An apartment. She had inherited an apartment. Here in this Greek village. Did it overlook the water like the Airbnb they were staying in? She was seeing serious money now. She owned property. OK, 50 per cent of it, but neither she nor her mum had ever owned property before.
‘Wow, Molly, Vaggelis has given you so much!’ Janette exclaimed. ‘I can’t begin to understand it but, well, it’s lovely.’
Christos pushed back his chair and got up, heading off the restaurant terrace and onto the road.
‘Someone doesn’t think it’s very lovely,’ Molly remarked.
‘Oh, do not mind my brother,’ Magdalena said. ‘He has spent most of his life feeling disappointed. It is our father’s fault. He was never here and when he was, well, he was not.’
‘Magdalena,’ Angeliki said rapidly. ‘We do not need to share our family business here and now.’
‘Why not?’ Magdalena asked. ‘We will be working together to sort out Vaggelis’s estate, after all.’
‘It’s OK, Angeliki, love, you don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to. I don’t think I knew your husband, did I?’ Janette asked.
‘I do not think even I knew my husband,’ Angeliki stated with a sigh.
Molly watched Christos. He was heading left, over to the small roundabout, approaching the incline that led upwards past a bar called Illusions. She got to her feet and looked to the lawyer.
‘Would you excuse me for a second?’