Chapter 35
35
‘I’m not sure about the truck,’ Janette remarked after they had disembarked in the parking area.
‘I am sure about the truck,’ Siobhan commented. ‘It should come with sick bags like they have on the plane.’
‘Really?’ Molly asked, shutting the driver’s door with her hip – another thing that needed fixing. ‘I’m getting used to it.’
‘And it smells,’ Janette added. ‘Of?—’
‘Death,’ Siobhan added.
‘Siobhan!’ Janette exclaimed. ‘That’s a bit inappropriate considering it belonged to someone who is sadly not here any more.’
‘Dead wet blankets?’ Siobhan offered.
‘Ooo, look at the bell tower of that church. Isn’t it beautiful?’ Janette asked, wandering across the rutted ground and getting her phone out of her bag.
Molly looked at her watch. They were a bit late. Christos had texted her when they’d got back to Kassiopi from Football Beach and said to meet at eight o’clock. Well, she couldn’t help the engine of the truck being unable to decide what speed it was going to go – fast when another car was facing them around the bend, slow when they had a clear straight road ahead.
‘Why are we here again?’ Siobhan asked. ‘Apart from the pretty village thing and a free dinner?’
‘I don’t really know,’ Molly admitted. ‘But Christos’s Auntie Maria is very nice. She’s spiritual and into herbal remedies for things.’
‘Did you tell her you work at a pharmacy?’
Molly shook her head.
‘Maybe she has something traditional to help with these mosquitoes,’ Siobhan suggested, slapping her hand to her arm as another insect suckered itself to her.
‘Have you sprayed with repellent?’ Molly asked.
‘Three kinds in three separate sections to see which one works the best.’
‘Mum! We can take photos later,’ Molly called. ‘We don’t want to be late.’
* * *
Christos looked at his watch. Molly was late. Or was she even coming? She hadn’t replied to his last message about the time to meet. And he was currently holding off from drinking the very last sip of ginger beer in his glass, so they didn’t have to move just yet.
‘Are we not eating here?’ Angeliki asked, handbag on her knee and looking agitated.
‘No,’ Christos answered.
‘Well, where is the party for Old Theo? Another taverna?’
‘Mama,’ Magdalena said. ‘You are very impatient tonight.’
‘I am getting concerned that Old Theo will be another year older or dead in the ground before your brother finishes his drink,’ Angeliki said with a tut. ‘I also do not want to bump into Maria.’
Magdalena laughed a little too hard and then began to cough.
‘What is wrong with you?’ Angeliki asked her.
‘Nothing. I just… you know… Auntie Maria lives in this village that is very small. It is possible that we will see her,’ Magdalena continued.
‘Perhaps we should go. Or I can quickly say my best wishes to Old Theo and then we can leave.’
‘Mama, no,’ Christos said hurriedly. ‘That is… disrespectful.’ The minute he said that word he internally cringed and knew how his mother would react.
‘Disrespectful?’ Angeliki queried.
‘I am sure Christos did not mean that,’ Magdalena said quickly.
Before he could say anything to get himself out of this rapidly deepening hole he saw Molly, Janette and Siobhan arriving, saving the moment. He got to his feet.
‘Where are you going?’ Angeliki asked, turning in her seat.
‘Our friends are here!’ Christos announced.
He didn’t wait to hear anything else from his mother, he just rushed from the taverna’s outside area and hurried up to Molly. Before he thought too much about it he enveloped her in a tight hug.
‘Is everything OK? I’m sorry we’re late, it was the truck and?—’
‘I am so glad you are here,’ he said, not letting go.
‘O-K,’ she said.
‘I don’t know how to thank you for this,’ he whispered. ‘But I will find a way.’
Finally, he stepped back and greeted the others. ‘ Kalispera .’
And then, from across the space, his Auntie Maria’s front door burst open and there she was, standing on her threshold in a bright emerald-green dress that skirted the floor. In one of her hands were tiny cymbals on strings. She knocked them together and they made a high-pitched ting that drew immediate attention.
‘ Kalosithrte! ’ Maria called out.
‘ Skata !’ Christos heard Magdalena exclaim.
His eyes went to his mother who was already out of her seat and powering to the exit.
‘I knew it!’ Angeliki yelled. ‘This has nothing to do with Old Theo! This is that witch’s idea! And she wants to get everybody here to stamp her authority all over poor Vaggelis’s service!’
‘What’s going on?’ Molly asked him.
‘Just… you know… the usual Baros family drama. Give me one second.’ He hurried towards his mother. ‘ Mama , wait.’
‘I will not wait. Why should I wait? Wait for what?’ Angeliki spat, moving at considerable speed.
‘Wait and see what Maria has to say,’ Christos suggested.
‘I know what she will say. She will say I do not listen to anyone about anything. She will say that I work too much. She will say that her way is the right way. Her way! With all the spiritualism which is in conflict with the church!’
He had often seen his mother agitated and ready to do battle over the pettiest of disagreements, but he could not remember having seen her this worked up about a falling-out with Maria. ‘Mama, please.’
‘I do not know what you want me to do! Play a role and pretend everything is OK for the sake of these people Vaggelis has connected us with? That is why they are here, am I right? To stop me launching plates at my sister, to behave myself!’
Christos watched his mother, paid attention to her body language, listened to what she was actually meaning rather than the words she was saying. He said nothing and let her continue.
‘I cannot be here on display!’ Angeliki exclaimed. ‘Looked at and examined! People searching for the cracks!’ She put her hand to the wall of a ruin and it seemed to emphasise the point. ‘They looked at me this way when your father left and now Vaggelis has gone they look at me again the same way, like I am the cause of the loss!’
‘ Mama ,’ Christos said. ‘Is that how you really feel?’
‘I do not know how I feel!’ Angeliki said, hands going out in the air. ‘I do not want to feel!’
Christos stepped forward then, closer to his mother, shielding her from public view. ‘ Mama , talk to me,’ he urged softly.
‘Because we are so very good at that in our family,’ she said, wiping hurriedly at her eyes so the unshed tears could not escape.
‘It is never too late to begin,’ Christos told her.
‘Are you telling that to me or to yourself?’ Angeliki asked. ‘Because your thoughts are tied tighter than Vaggelis’s fishing lines used to be.’
‘That is fair,’ Christos agreed with a nod. ‘But we all have a chance to change. Whenever we feel ready.’
He had no idea who this new version of himself was, but he did know that since he had been back in Corfu there were pieces of him that were coming to the surface asking to be dealt with and, slowly, he was beginning to realise that perhaps they deserved that chance.
His mother sighed and it wasn’t a sound of frustration, nor was it now combative, it spoke of exhaustion and grief. He put a hand on her shoulder and held it there.
‘ Mama , if you want to leave now I will take you home,’ he said sincerely.
‘Really?’ she asked. ‘After you have gone to all this trouble?’
‘It is no trouble,’ he told her.
‘Lying about an old man’s birthday? Getting Molly and her mother and her friend here?’ She sniffed away more emotion. ‘No doubt my sister has cooked pastitsio ?’
‘And now you have said all these things out loud it sounds very stupid.’
‘ Very stupid,’ Angeliki agreed.
‘So, we will go home. We will pick up gyros on the way back and I will return here to get Magdalena and?—’
‘No,’ Angeliki said firmly. ‘I do not agree with you forcing the situation in this way, know that. But, I know that Vaggelis would not want Maria and I to be fighting. And he would especially not want us to be fighting over his service. In fact he is probably here right now, in some form or another, watching this scene and rolling his eyes the way he used to, remember?’
Christos did remember. His godfather always had the most over-the-top facial expressions, like a whole language all of their own.
‘He was at his worst with that when he was watching Olympiakos play Panathinaikos.’
‘Everyone is too scared to shout during those games. Whole families have fallen out for years depending on the results. I always prayed for a draw,’ Angeliki answered, smiling.
Christos smiled, squeezed his mother’s shoulder. ‘You are OK?’
‘I am OK,’ she said, nodding. ‘And I am not going to let my sister think she can run me out of Old Perithia with whatever those tiny little musical instruments are.’
‘I have no idea,’ Christos admitted.
‘So, we will go back to everyone who is staring, and we will eat pastitsio and then we will create some plans to make sure Vaggelis has the best service possible.’
‘OK,’ Christos agreed. ‘But, Mama , when you feel ready, let us talk, yes? Magdalena too.’
‘Oh, I do not know if your sister will want to talk,’ Angeliki said, as she linked their arms. ‘She has stopped telling me anything at all.’
‘Well, maybe?—’
‘Later, Christo… Maria, I hope the pastitsio is our grandmother’s recipe!’ Angeliki shouted.
And before Christos could say anything more, she was powering them both back towards the others outside Maria’s home.