Chapter 64 Lee
Lee
Regan had told the girls she wasn’t allowed any more visitors. Lee wasn’t sure if her sister was lying, but Flora seemed to buy it. Lee kept uneasily mum. That evening, after Flora’s lentil soup (which was delicious), Lee, Charlotte, and Flora went for ice cream in the neighborhood.
(Lee texted Isabelle to ask if she was OK, and Isabelle sent a text back saying, yessir im good. Isabelle was of age: Lee gave the text a thumbs-up emoji but internally gave Isabelle a shrug emoji.)
The ice cream café was tucked between a pharmacy and a store crammed with tchotchkes, its front window displaying evil-eye pendants.
“What is the deal with the evil eye?” said Lee, looking at the rows of blue glass charms that seemed to stare back from every surface—clipped to key chains, embedded in silver jewelry, painted on ceramic tiles, and even adorning the handle of a coffee cup.
“It’s totally real,” said Flora, lifting her slim wrist and showing a beaded evil-eye bracelet.
“Nico explained it to me—the eye protects you from jealousy and bad intentions—like if someone gives you a nasty look or wishes you harm, the evil eye deflects it. Even Nico’s parents, who are professors, they still have them hanging all over their house.
Nico was serious about it when he gave me this one.
He said I needed protection walking around Athens as a foreigner. ”
“A charm bracelet to ward off bad luck?” sniffed Charlotte. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I need one,” said Lee, thinking of all the internet trolls and jealous actors who wished her harm…and also of Regan’s fury.
“Well, I’m not going to not ward off bad luck,” agreed Charlotte, and they went into the store and bought bracelets that matched Flora’s.
At Da Vinci Gelato, Lee ordered her new favorite flavor, Kaimaki, which was creamy and slightly chewy with a pine-like herbal flavor. She added cherry syrup on top. “I should learn to make my own ice cream,” she mused.
“You should,” Charlotte agreed, tucking into a chocolate scoop. “But you won’t.”
“Mom’s never been here,” said Flora. “Let’s bring her as soon as she comes home!” The trio fell silent—this was the first time any of them had said “when” with such certainty, and not “if.”
“She’s going to love this place,” said Lee.
“Is her favorite flavor still pistachio?” asked Charlotte.
“Yes,” said Flora.
“She always got pistachio! Even as a little girl,” said Charlotte. “Such a sophisticated palate.”
Lee smiled at her mom, who added, “Lee, you always wanted Oreo.”
Lee, certain she’d just been insulted but not clear on the details, asked, “Wait, what’s wrong with Oreo?”
Charlotte shrugged, making a moue with her bright lips. “A bit pedestrian,” she noted.
Lee exhaled hard through her nose and did not respond.
On the walk back to Regan’s apartment, they chatted about Charlotte’s new favorite Greek game show, Rouk Zouk; Flora’s upcoming school trip to Nafplion, a walled city in the Peloponnese; and Isabelle and Anastasia, who were, according to Isabelle’s Instagram, eating sushi at a nightclub on a beach (im good indeed, thought Lee).
When the three women arrived at Regan’s apartment, Lee could see Yassus hiding in his cozy spot behind an oleander shrub, waiting for Lee to be alone before he approached.
As Charlotte rummaged through her oversize rattan purse from the J.Crew Factory outlet store (it was really more like a picnic basket than a purse), Flora blurted, “I’m just so happy!
Mom’s OK and it’s like…it’s like we’re a family! ”
“We are a family,” said Lee.
“I suppose I’m the elderly matriarch,” said Charlotte.
“The glamorous queen,” said Lee.
Charlotte raised her eyebrows, considering, then nodded.