Читать книгу Melina Breaking Free - Dimitra Mantheakis - Страница 10

Leaving the bus terminal the youngsters decided to have a coffee at the village square to wind themselves down from the emotionally charged moment. When they sat down Paulina said “We’ve grown up and our group has started to scatter! First Mary got married and we see her once in a blue moon, now Sarantos, and who knows who will be next…”

“Probably you with Dina,” said Iakovos. “Did you hear anything back from New York?”

Dina replied that her uncle, who was the priest at the main Orthodox church in Brooklyn, had managed to get two scholarships from the Greek expatriate community for the School of Film, one for Paulina for acting classes, and one for her Dina for costume design. They had also found free accommodation for them for a year. It would be up to the girls to decide when they would go.

A thorny issue was how their parents would react, the girls having purposely avoided telling them anything in order not to find obstacles in their way, but the two girls realized that they could not keep putting off telling their families about their plans for ever. They already had open tickets.

“I was right when I said we would be left alone here!” commented Iakovos melancholically, knowing that even if he wanted to leave the provinces his family obligations would not allow it. Urania and Sofia were shaking their heads thoughtfully. On the one hand they were happy to see their childhood friends spreading their wings to their future, but on the other hand they regretted losing companions with whom they had been together from nursery school. They knew that their absence would be very obvious. Only Melina, sitting quietly in her chair, hardly made a sound. She was already hiding a big secret from her friends and it would be sure that she would never ever reveal it - her night of sex with Sarantos. She loved him, she felt for him; guilt and bitterness stabbed at her, knowing that Sarantos was leaving because of her, but she would never admit it. She had deprived him for many years of a more permanent place next to her, putting aside every emotion that could commit her. Emotions were one thing; harsh reality another. She had fought many battles in her life until today; she had been splattered with the mud of humiliation and was determined not to wage another fight that had to do with her personal life. From now on she would chase after what was easy, what was painless, what was comfortable. The night with Sarantos was a present that she gave first to herself and then to Sarantos. She wanted to be flesh of his flesh, a piece of his soul; she wanted to lock inside her forever the mental and physical integration with her fellow traveler of all these years that her difficult decisions and the need to distance herself had made her send away, even after their magical coming together. She wasn’t worthy of honest, good-looking, pure Sarantos, and he wasn’t the right man for her. He was lacking in those prerequisites that she had laid down and which came down to just one thing – money. And there couldn’t be a bigger obstacle for long suffering Melina…

Two hours later the group broke up. It was time for their afternoon rest. Dina was determined not to put off telling her father about her plans any longer. Whatever he did, whatever prohibitions he may try and impose on her, she would leave. When her father came, she courageously told him all about her plans. She expected him to react violently, but what his tired face showed was worry and agony.

“Where will you go, a mere girl, to a strange land at the end of the earth, my child? Are you out of your mind?” he said to her.

“I won’t be going alone, father. Paulina will be with me. My uncle has arranged everything for us, school and accommodation. There is nothing here for me to do professionally and I want to work and improve my life. Please don’t stand in my way. You’ll ruin my future!”

Her father listened to her as she spoke without uttering a word. He saw that the die had been cast. Dina, obstinate by nature, could not be convinced to change her mind. Besides which, he had no alternative to offer her. He was just a poor taxi driver scraping to make ends meet. For him to marry her off would be difficult. There wasn’t a dowry with which to tempt a husband. If he went against her wishes, she would run off secretly, and he knew that his daughter would have thought of this too. He was forced to agree and to let her leave…

The two next hours went by with advice being given and to the pointing out of various things to her. Dina was very willing to listen to advice. The much desired green light had opened the way to new prospects for an optimistic and hopeful future…

When Paulina returned home she found her mother Vaggelio cooking beans. The relationship between the two women had for many years been tense. Paulina never understood or ignored Vaggelio’s sexual behaviour that infuriated, belittled and shamed her. Each new affair of Vaggelio’s caused such tension and anguish in her that even when she went out with the group to the village square her mind was driven to such despair by the whispers and hints that she thought that even the trees were mocking her. How many quarrels, how many bitter words, how many tears had been wasted. Vaggelio would not change her tune and would never change her habits until she grew old when not an attractive male, but any male, would come near her…

Paulina felt no obligation to update her about her decisions. She had no respect for her. She didn’t even know if she loved her though she bore the title of birth mother. All she wanted to do was simply to announce that she was leaving, more concerned for her sisters who would be left behind to carry the burden of their mother’s behaviour and the social sarcasm that accompanied it until they themselves would come of age and be able to disappear to avoid the long term outcry and the endless comments of their fellow citizens.

When they sat down at table Paulina told them of her plans. She was leaving the town for good. Vaggelio was taken aback but did not put forward any objections. The relationship between her and her daughter had been a pot that had been boiling for many years. Maybe it was better for both of them for their daily conflicts to end with one of them leaving, for the good of the younger children.

“Do whatever God tells you,” she said to Paulina. Her younger sisters burst into tears and begged her not to go away. Paulina was resolute. One day they would understand that her choices were very limited, or to be more exact, only one – to flee in order to save what was left of her personal pride and dignity that her hot-blooded mother, according to her, had soiled.

A month later the two girls left to chase their dream. Dina’s father would drive them to Piraeus in his taxi in order for them to avoid the ordeal of travelling by public transport. Kisses and hugs again; an emotionally charged scene, again, at the parting from friends and relatives. Paulina and Dina held back their tears in order not to appear weak because they wanted the last image they would project of themselves before leaving to be of two dynamic young women who had no fear of the unknown and would be prepared to work hard and conscientiously for a successful future.

The group of youngsters, decimated by the absence of Sarantos, Dina and Paulina, felt like someone who was slowly but steadily losing their limbs, one by one; losing parts of their childhood, one by one. First there was Mary, married now, who couldn’t share in their life and limited herself to meetings for a coffee at her house, or at birthdays and holidays, then Sarantos, and now Dina and Paulina. Those left behind were Iakovos, Urania, Sofia, Melina and Mary, who, as soon as her friends’ taxi was out of sight left for her home because she had to cook lunch for Anestis, her husband. Sofia told the others that she was starting work on Monday at the Town Hall. The Member of Parliament who had been approached by her father had kept his promise to him for fear of losing votes and the young woman would from now on have a secure job and an assured, albeit small, wage and would not have to worry in the future.

Urania, on the other hand, was in constant conflict with her father, the headmaster. Despite the fact that she had finished high school at the top of her class, she stubbornly refused to sit her university entrance exams. The only thing she wanted was to marry for love and have a family. She didn’t want to work anywhere. Her parents were driven to distraction by their disappointment, but for hard-boiled Urania it was all just water off a duck’s back.

“However much you insist, you won’t get anywhere! I am going to live my life as I want and not as you have planned!” she declared after their last argument the previous evening. Her father was so incensed that he threatened to throw her out of the house.

“I’m not prepared to have you in my way, lazing and not wanting to do anything!” he shouted at her.

“I’ll look after the house, I’ll cook, I’ll help in the field, and thus mother will get some rest,” Urania answered back. With her mother Maria’s intervention, matters calmed down somewhat. Her father went to lie down with the bitter certainty that a worthy and cultivated brain would go to waste and would limit itself to mundane, commonplace, working-class chores.

After Mary’s departure the four remaining members of the group stayed behind in the square to drink a coffee. Iakovos became the brunt of jokes by the girls because of the way he noisily and hurriedly sucked up his cold instant coffee through the straw, having to go and help his mother at their small haberdashery. He soon left and the three girls stayed behind, looking curiously around them at the faces of various unknown of people sitting near them and at the passers-by. The tourist season had begun and a number of foreigners had arrived at the attractive seaside town.

“Finally, we are going to liven up a little!” commented Urania, scrutinizing a good-looking Scandinavian tourist with interest. “I’m fed up with seeing the same faces again and again! Isn’t he a dish?” She asked her friends, pointing out the object of her admiration. They agreed and carried on commenting on every new arrival that passed in front of them.

Melina took little part in the incessant chatter. Her eyes were focused on a shiny expensive-looking sports car. The vehicle stopped a few meters away from the girls. Its driver, a handsome man of about thirty five locked it and went to sit at the next table, ordering a coffee.

“Cool guy!” whispered Sofia so as not to be heard by the man. Melina could not take her eyes off him. She was impressed by the flashy car and realized that she also liked its driver. It looked like the stranger was flush with money. At some moment the man turned and looked without interest at the girls making them hurriedly take their eyes off him. His gaze, concealed by his dark fashionable sun glasses stopped at Melina. Her unpolished, almost wild beauty impressed him. “Nice piece!” he thought. “I hope she also has a good body.” From where he was sitting he could only see Melina’s face. The rest of her was hidden from view by the torsos of the other girls.

Half an hour later the girls stood up and started for their homes which were in different directions. The man was waiting to see Melina stand up, to judge her as a whole. “She has a very feminine body!” he noted, feeling a wave of desire to possess the girl overtake him as it coursed through his veins. As soon as the young woman had gone round the corner he got up and quickly went to his car. He followed Melina’s passage from the opposite side of the street.

“I hope I can stop her somewhere to say a couple of words to her,” he thought. Ten blocks further on the girl turned left into an uphill dirt road. Stepping on the accelerator not to lose her the man approached and said to her “Miss, can I talk to you?” Melina did not reply, but smiled almost imperceptibly. The stranger pulled up the car at the side of the road and started walking next to her.

“Please go away!” Melina said to him. “My neighbours will see us and I’ll be in trouble with my family.”

“Tell me your name and when we can meet. My name is Paris and I’m from Athens…”

“Oh, so he is from the capital!” noted Melina. “That’s positive.” She turned and looked at him directly, studying his face. He had attractive regular features and when he smiled there was a flash of perfect white teeth. Paris lowered his sunglasses, resting them on his nose and his eyes, blue as the spring sky, fixed themselves playfully on her.

“Have I passed the test?” he asked her. Melina laughed. He was very cute and spontaneous. “I’m Melina,” she said.

“You couldn’t be called anything else, pretty and sweet as you are!” he teased. “When will I see you again?” he asked her.

Melina opened her mouth to refuse but his hand reached out and squeezed her elbow.

“Please don’t say no! I only want ten minutes of your time!”

The truth was that Paris had impressed Melina from the first moment. She told him she would meet him at sundown at eight where the beach ended and the rocks began.

“I’ll find the spot, Melina,” he saidblowing her a kiss as he entered his car and in a few moments he was gone around a bend in the street.

Melina looked around to see if there was a neighbour on a balcony or at a window. Luckily she didn’t see anyone. She went home and spent the next few hours until eight bringing back again and again the image of the stranger, impressed as she was not only by his appearance and by the expensive car that gave him more status in her eyes, but also by his relaxed manner and his easy ability to approach the opposite sex. Yes! She liked Paris and wanted very much to see him. Immediately though an unpleasant thought came across her. What would she wear for their meeting? She had such a limited set of clothes! She went to the makeshift wardrobe that contained all the family’s wear and started searching through the section that was hers. She looked at two or three items that were hanging there. As designs they were not worth talking about and were so worn by time that they would look as if they had come from a waste bin, even though they had just been washed. Her heart tightened again. How tired she was of not even having the essentials, how disgusted she was by poverty and its constant privations! It was so unfair that she couldn’t buy a new, even cheap, dress and to have to make do with hand-me-downs or clothes borrowed on special occasions from her friends and being dependant on others’ charity.

“When will this martyrdom, this humiliation, end?” she wondered for the thousandth time.

She found a T-shirt and a skirt that didn’t show signs of constant wear. She would wear these at the meeting that she was determined to attend. She washed her hair which gleamed when she let it down over her back. She would have wanted to have lipstick to brighten up her lips, but it was an item that was beyond her means.

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll be a natural beauty!” she sarcastically said to herself. At ten to eight she was already at the spot where she was to meet Paris. On the way there she thought that she may be going to the beach for nothing and the most likely outcome was for the chap not to show up at all; that his whole approach had been nothing more than a joke on her. Her heart leaped when she saw his car parked at a distance and him standing next to it and smoking.

“Welcome!” he said to her when she approached.

“Do you want us to stay here or to go somewhere else?” he asked her.

“Let’s leave here as soon as possible not to be seen by anyone!”Melina said. “I don’t feel like provoking gossip and causing problems…”

Paris opened the passenger door, put up the car top and sat behind the steering wheel. In a few minutes the car was swallowing up the country road and the wind as it rushed in through her open window was tousling the girl’s rich mane of hair. Paris sneaked glances at her.

“She is very beautiful and unaffected, despite the rags she is wearing,” he thought.” Imagine what she’ll look like if properly dressed and if she goes to have her hair done and face made up! She’ll be a true Goddess!”

Melina on the other hand thought that his light-blue long sleeved shirt suited him well while his discreet aftershave blending with the smell of the leather seats gave her a sensation of pleasure. It was the first time she had been in such a fine car; it was the first time that she experienced such luxury and she wanted to savour every moment. She was greatly flattered by the fact that this cosmopolitan man had noticed her and had chosen to go out with her.

“Do you know somewhere where we can eat? I’m a stranger here and haven’t any idea of things around here.”

Melina said that she knew a village on the side of the mountain that she had heard was scenic and had a good taverna. She herself had never been there. Besides which it was only a few kilometers away from where they were at that moment. Paris turned the wheel, following her directions, and the highly-tuned car with a murmur started up the steep road which wasn’t in the best state of repair. Fifteen minutes later they arrived in the centre of the village. Huge plane trees spread across the flagstoned square and several tables were set out in the open space while rushing water bubbled in channels to the left and right of them.

“What a lovely place!” exclaimed Melina.

“It is certainly idyllic!” agreed Paris, leading her to a table hidden behind the trunk of a huge tree. They sat down and ordered food. The platter of grilled meat gave off a delectable aroma when it arrived at their table. Melina wanted to gobble everything down in a flash, but held herself back for her escort not to see that she was famished.

Paris watched her empty the plates of delicious and well-cooked meat with such appetite. He didn’t know that at her home they only ate meat twice a year or perhaps on one or two other occasions when invited to a wedding or a baptism. When they had finished their meal they stared into one another’s eyes for a while, slowly drinking their wine.

“You impressed me from the first moment I saw you in the square!” Paris began. “I would like to know more about you…”

Melina told him, in five short phrases, everything that had to do with her. She didn’t have anything spectacular to say about herself. Her biggest accomplishment was her high school diploma. The only point at which her voice perked up was when she admitted to him that she hated the provinces and that it was her heart’s desire to leave and go to Athens to find a job to try and change her life. She couldn’t stand the monotony, the boredom and the gossip any more, nor the lack of prospects for something better. Nor did she want to marry a fellow villager and be buried, so to speak, forever in her home town.

Paris, in his turn, told her that he had an import-export company, that he travelled extensively and lived in New York for most of the time. He didn’t spend more than three or four months a year in Athens.

“You’re very lucky to be able to live how you want, and where you want!” said Melina. “God help us who live in the village and will waste away here for the rest of our lives!”

“Don’t say that!” replied Paris. “People only fail to do things they don’t want. If someone has goals and persists, at some point they’ll succeed. Determination is needed, and a little luck of course!”

“Where would I find luck? It passed by and didn’t stop for me!” she thought but didn’t say this out loud to the stranger.

They spoke for a while longer and Melina said to him that they should be getting back. She didn’t want to be late and to have to explain where she had been to her parents. At ten thirty they were back again. Melina told him to let her off before they entered town so as not to be seen. So it happened. Before she got out of the car Paris embraced her and kissed her lightly on the lips, stroking her face gently.

“I like you a lot!” he said to her, but strangely he didn’t carry on kissing and stroking her. Melina felt goose-bumps of pleasure rising on her skin when he touched her, but didn’t say a word.

“Will I see you tomorrow at the same place?” Paris asked her.

“Yes! At the same time,” the girl replied and went off.

They met every day for several days in a row. The man explained that he was passing through her town but had stayed behind only because of her since she had captivated him with her beauty. Three weeks went by. Paris, except for a few kisses, hadn’t asked for anything more. Melina felt like a queen to see this desirable man showing so much interest in her, for just a simple provincial girl and didn’t pressure her at all sexually, as other men would do, in order to bed the woman who had drawn their attention. His discreetness, his politeness, made her fall in love with him. He had everything she would want in a man. Good looks, money, manners, a life in cosmopolitan centres – Melina’s dream - travel, expensive clothes and a way with words. What made her wonder was what did a catch like this want from her, since in all this time he hadn’t progressed to even one daring caress, something that would be well received by her. Melina wanted to sexually “try” a man-of-the-world who had entranced her. She had nothing to lose even if he abandoned her the next day, which was the most likely outcome. She didn’t believe that she could conquer Paris emotionally, knowing that for sure many interesting women of his social standing would have passed through his bed. However many thoughts and questions went through her mind she couldn’t drum up the courage to ask him where he was going with all of this.

One night Paris, taking her hands in his and kissing them tenderly, said to her, “Melina, my dear, in two days I have to leave for Athens and I would like to take you with me. I am charmed by your beauty and sweet manner and that’s the reason I stayed so long in your town. I have my own apartment and if you want you can stay with me. It’s an opportunity for you to live the things you dreamed of and to change your life. Don’t reply now, please. I want you to think about my proposal and to tell me tomorrow what you have decided.”

Melina couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked him, “In what capacity will I be coming with you, Paris?

He looked at her affectionately. “In whatever capacity you want Melina, dear. As a friend, a companion, or whatever you want to call it!” the man replied.

When Melina left him she was confused. On the one hand the opportunity to leave the provinces was a gift from heaven, on the other hand she thought about the pain she would be inflicting on her family and the repercussions for them. Lying on her divan-bed that she shared with her sister, hearing it squeak each time she turned, and in the near-dark of the room she could see three other people lying on mattresses on the floor: her grandmother, her younger sister and her brother. The frequency of her father’s cart-hire fares had been reduced greatly and then almost exclusively only to transporting animal fodder, since trucks had entered the goods transport market and had pushed aside the out-of-date animal-drawn carts. Her washerwoman mother’s daily wages had become rarer because local households had bought washing machines. It was a matter of time before they would be left without any income at all. These miserable thoughts made her come to a decision. She couldn’t put up with this kind of life any longer and she would take her chances. The next morning when she found herself alone at home for a while because her grandmother had gone to a neighbour for her morning coffee and her siblings were playing in a nearby field she sat and wrote the following letter to her family.

“My dear parents,

I am sorry to cause you pain but I am leaving for Athens. It is impossible for me to carry on living under these conditions. When I find work I will send you a little money for the children. I hope you will understand me and not hold my leaving against me.

With kisses and with my love forever,

Melina.”

She folded the letter carefully and put it into her pocket. Then she found a worn travel bag and packed her few personal belongings. She covered it with a blanket and went out to phone Paris. It was 9 a.m. and he was still asleep.

“I’m coming with you, Paris,” she said. “Come in an hour to the end of my street to pick me up.”

“I’ll be there!” he replied and got up to start packing his suitcase. He paid his hotel bill, hurriedly drank a coffee and started off for Melina’s house. At 10 a.m. on the dot he saw her running towards him holding onto her travel bag. Paris opened the door for her and placed her bag on the back seat.

“Leave quickly so they won’t see us!” she said to him out of breath.

The man put his foot down on the accelerator and in a short time the car was beyond the town’s limits.

Mrs. Magdalini, a neighbour of Melina’s who was hanging out her washing on her balcony saw the sports car and the girl with the travel bag getting into it and hung over the railing with great curiosity to see what was going on. She looked at the driver and noted he wasn’t from their parts. He was a total stranger.

“Now where has the blessed girl taken off to with the stranger?” Mrs. Magdalini wondered, anxiously. She went indoors and told her invalid husband about what had happened. “Should I inform Mr. Nikos, Melina’s father, Manoli?” she asked him.

“Stay where you are and don’t meddle in other people’s business. Whatever they are going to find out let them do it on their own. I’m not in the mood for an altercation!” Manoli said to her firmly.

“My husband is right,” the woman thought. “Mr. Nikos may be insulted and get angry if I tell him what I saw. Let it pass! We’ll soon find out what happened. “

In the afternoon when Melina’s parents returned home they found their daughter’s letter on the table. They almost collapsed when they read its contents.

“What a mess the wretched girl has landed us in,” cried her mother with sorrow in her heart. “Who will stop people gossiping now?”

“I thought we had been through everything, without this happening. Our daughter taking off!” said Mr. Niko sternly.

“What do we do now?” asked the mother. “Where will we find her to bring her back?”

“We can’t do anything,” the father replied. “She is over 18. She isn’t a minor for us to call the police. Whatever was to happen to us has happened! We’ll have to wait for her to contact us sooner or later.”

A few hours later the town was buzzing with gossip. Two or three other villagers had seen Melina in the sport car and had told everyone.

“The cart owner’s daughter has run away with a boyfriend!” they repeated in the cafes, each one adding his own pinch of spice to make the story more interesting. Melina’s parents didn’t have anywhere to turn with shame and worry. Their daughter had never caused any problems in the past. She hadn’t given anyone the slightest excuse to comment or gossip about her before and had always stood out at school because of her high marks and for her obedient and pleasant character. This unexpected turn shattered them and they didn’t know how to handle it or how to face up to public outcry. For their daughter to run away in such a manner, with someone unknown at that, was not only a heavy burden, it was an unbearable one for these conservative people whose only possessions were their good name and their moral life. Their heart was wrung by their daughter’s criminal thoughtlessness that had demolished the last bulwark of defense that they had in their society. At this moment even the worry of what would happen to their child and in whose hands she was had been superseded by the anger and indignation of the shock she had sprung on them. Mr. Niko would have wanted to have the young lady in front of him and to give her the hiding of her life. Instead of that he banged his fist on the table, swearing and uttering curses and empty threats while the rest of the family shrank into a corner, deeply hurt by the sudden calamity that had descended on their home…