Little Cherine Book 01 - BPost047
All the girls were waiting for us as we walked in and they began to clap for us as the room filled with the sounds of their mirth.
481
The days had so swiftly passed I nearly forgot my promises.
We returned to Aghia Napa. Cherine was able to pinpoint them and though we saw them from a distance it was obvious they are deeply in love. They quickly stood up when they saw us, their faces filled with anxiety but, I was pleased to see, no fear.
“You kept your word.”
“We always do Andrea.” Cherine spoke for the first time.
I did not speak, knowing my silence would be unnerving. Finally she could not contain herself, her voice a nervous squeak. “We did as you said. We did not tell anyone and we did not .. we did not…make love.” She was blushing and I was amused to see him blush too. I did not respond, just waited.
“What do you want us to say?”
“How about the need for revenge?”
“Oh god!! Please, that was …” Wordlessly they just stared, not knowing what to say.
I sighed and they paled. “I was hoping you had learnt that hurting another human being can never give you satisfaction. How can you expect me to help you further if you do not know that?” Cherine distracted me by whispering in my mind in a slightly mocking way that I was not being fair, that even now I had to keep teaching her and she has so many examples from me already. I knew she was saying it deliberately to make me go easy on the couple.
I leaned forward, my elbows on the table, my fingertips touching as I spoke to them. “You have found each other. I think the love you both feel, despite your youth, is strong and will last. Why not be satisfied with that? To follow my path can be difficult and heartbreaking. Are you interested for the power you are hoping it will give you?”
He answered me with a question of his own. “It was you that saved that couple who crashed their motorcycle wasn’t it? He is a friend of mine. He says they were both dying. His girlfriend remembers hanging on the fence with the railing sticking through her, but she does not even have a mark. It must have been you.”
“Yes, it was.”
“If that is the power you are asking if I want - yes, it is. To be able to save lives, that is a gift that… that may help me to live with what I tried to do to Britta. If you had not saved her…”
His head hung in misery and shame and she tightened her arms around him, her face defiant as she faced me and spoke just like a teenager. “You have to help us.”
“I do not have to do anything. You are the ones who have to do whatever is necessary to convince me to want to help you.” Cherine spoilt it for me, she sent me a picture of that wise dwarf creature from Star Wars, Yoda, with my face adjusted to fit it, making me smile. I got the message and she was right.
“The two of you have a champion. I hope you prove her right.”
As joy lit their faces I thought to myself, she really is lovely. Cherine kicked me under the table. I waited a few seconds and kicked her back. She squealed in pain and shock. They looked up, scared again.
I grinned. “Britta, I was thinking how beautiful you are when she kicked me. So I kicked her back.”
That broke the tension, making us human to them I guess.
“I do not have the time to keep coming here to you. If I give you the tickets, can you come stay with us in Athens for a week or two?”
“Robert!”
482
“Don’t worry, I’m not trying to get another pretty girl into our bed. I do have to get working again love and you have school…it is better they come there. Once they have danced, they can decide whether to continue with it or I wipe their memories of us.” I looked at them sternly. “What I said earlier still stands. If you talk to anyone you will be putting us in danger. You do not tell even your family. I will not be forgiving if you put my loved ones in danger. Am I very clear on this?”
Weeks had passed, but we had a short time before school starts and I still wanted to travel again with my girls before our holidays are over. We decided to return to Israel. I found the prospect of this trip rather boring, not really understanding why Dommi wanted to go. However, she had grown up religious and I had no wish to take that away from her. If the other girls also want to see where Jesus lived and died, so be it, just being with them will give me pleasure.
From Tel Aviv we caught a bus to Jerusalem. The driver was very proud to show us the orange trees and the forest higher up, telling us of how the original Israelis who arrived after the Second World War had to water each of those trees until they were old enough for their roots to find moisture. He talked of the struggles they had been through, but from the weakness of his emoting, it was obvious he was repeating stories from his parents or teachers. Still, it is nice to see people can take pride in creating life out of a desert instead of creating deserts out of where life had been. It is also sad how quickly the meaning of their sacrifices is lost to the next generation.
Wanting the best for my girls I had wanted to book at the King David hotel. The problem was that we needed to show passports. It meant we had to ‘jump’ back to Paphos at the end of our day and back in the next day. I was keeping my eyes open for a secluded spot close by, where a short taxi ride would get us back to town. As we came around the corner and we saw Jerusalem spreading ahead of us, I saw olive groves to this side of it. There did not seem to be any people in there, but it worried me. I decided we should just ‘jump’ back to Tel Aviv whenever we want to visit. At least until I have found another safe spot.
I admit I looked at the city with a jaundiced eye, not impressed by it at all. Once in the narrow streets, we paid for a tour which claimed we would follow by foot the route Jesus was supposed to have taken when carrying the cross. When the vague mark of a hand impression in rock was pointed out to us as the spot where Jesus had rested his palm when he got weary of carrying the cross, the sense of history that had begun to stir in me dissipated. This was so obviously a ploy to attract religious people, get them to spend money when coming to the city. I guess it did not hurt the churches, of all denominations, as those who came for religious reasons probably gave more to the church when they return after the experience of having seen where Jesus was born, retraced his steps to the hill where he was crucified (it did surprise me that the route he took was assumed to be this narrow way we were on, when none of the churches could pinpoint the hill he was crucified on - though I believe the Vatican did take soil to Italy, claiming it came from the hill where Jesus was crucified).
Even the cave he was buried in, the churches could not agree on. It seems it depended which denomination you belong to, for each seemed to decide on their own spot where he had been buried, mostly depending on which piece of land belongs to them - one of these spots was actually a cave inside a church! I got more cynical by the moment; I could not even give praise to the churches for having organised their money-making circus professionally.
As can be understood, my attitude was depressing Dommi. I genuinely regretted this, but her own credulous faith was also depressing to me - which I admit goes against my own beliefs, but my disappointment in the various religions was making me small-minded. The others tended to side with Dommi, but otherwise tried to stay neutral. I accepted it, for I could remember my childhood and how the story of Jesus had inspired me too.
It was neutral ground that came to our assistance. We found the Wailing Wall and as I stared, watching the Jews, I looked up at the hill above, where the Temple was supposed to have been, now occupied by a Moslem mosque, I felt the history, saw it through the eyes of Jew and Moslem and had to include the Christian. What bloodshed in the name of the same God! How He must have despaired - He gave us free will and a brain, but for some reason man refused and refuses to exercise either, allowing individuals of powerful personality to blind them and turn them into fanatics. I thought, the Bible/Koran should have said God gave free will and the power of reasoning only to a choice few. The rest were somewhere down there on the scale with sheep. I am not being an elitist, for I acknowledge that I too have spent most of my life as a sheep and would probably still be one if I had not met Cherine.
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Diana and Wendy were also touched and awed by the history. To be able to look so far back in time and be at places were people we still know of, walked two thousand years ago, is inspiring. I said so. Dommi asked, does that include Jesus and the Apostles?
I had to honestly answer. “Yes. Dommi, I do accept Jesus did exist as a historical fact. I honestly don’t know if He was who He said He was. I think that has to remain a matter of faith. Same as Mohammed is to the religion of Islam. What upsets me is the hype put up by the churches, hype that I am certain Jesus would have been the first to denounce. The feeling of being where He walked, the founder of a religion who has affected so many generations, without necessarily having to know this was the exact spot He rested His palm, or where He was crucified. Just to know that He walked this ground, His eyes saw these hills, that does give a feeling akin to religious awe.”
A big man standing by us, from his clothes and accent an American tourist, got aggressive. “Are you trying to compare our Christian religion to Islam. Are you comparing Mohammed to Jesus?”
I shrugged, trying to make it obvious I am not interested. “Not necessarily.”
“You some kind of atheist?”
“What I am is my business. Or did your country fight two world wars and invade other countries, all for the purpose of giving you the right to dictate what I am allowed to think, believe or say?”
He was taken aback by my attack. My slight form often misleads bullies into expecting me to eat humble pie. I’ve had too many bloody noses during my childhood to change now. There were too many soldiers and police around for him to use physical violence so he decided to argue instead of using his massive fists.
“Then tell us, as a non-believer, which religion is the correct one, the true religion - Christianity or Islam?”
“I notice you do not include Judaism within your question? Sort of insulting to our hosts isn’t it? Still I will try to answer as honestly as I can, though not on the basis of your actual question - after all, if I am an atheist how can I claim one religion is the true one and not the other?” I nearly laughed at the sight of Cherine standing by me, her fists held tightly against her hips, my tiny girl ready to take on this Goliath to protect me. “What if I were to ask and answer the following question? Of the three religions which do I prefer and for what reason? Would that satisfy you?”
“If your reasoning is any good.”
“Ah, reason, back to my original discussion. Be that as it may, let’s see. I think I would choose one of the Christian ones. Christianity has been through the growing up stages, it passed the adolescent age of excesses, by saying that, I’m talking about the inquisitions and tortures. It passed through the age of youth when it inspired wars and the killing of others just because their doctrines, not their faith, were not exactly the same. It seems to be mellowing into the equivalent age of a middle-aged man. It tries to tackle social injustices, hunger in Third World countries and so on. It is becoming a gentle religion - except for countries like Ireland.
As an outsider and knowing nothing about Judaism, I would say their religion resembles a man in his sixties. Too steeped in traditions and deadlocked. What also troubles me about it, is that throughout their history the old testaments were written and added to. Why did they stop after Jesus was born? Has their vengeful God stopped talking to them? As for Islam, now that is a religion I would not want to see myself forced to becoming a part of. They are as Christianity was a thousand years ago. In the main they are intolerant of other beliefs. They are still the adolescents of religions - they are an old religion too, but their doctrines do not allow them to mature.”
I could see I had lost him. He suddenly smirked. “For all that intellectual crap, one thing comes out clearly - Christianity you accept is the true religion.”
Satisfied, he walked off.
484
There was soft laughter and an elderly Jew smiled at me. “You flummoxed him, but then he is a man of brawn not brains. I would love to argue your presentation of each of the three religions over a cup of coffee. Maybe it would help if you understood the other religions a little.”
“I fear you would show me up for the ignorant idiot I am. I usually do not discuss religion as I believe it is purely a matter of faith and faith cannot and should not be bought by argument. I hope I did not say anything that was insulting to you?”
“Oh no. A thinking man trying to use reasoning, who expresses an honest opinion, is never to be misconstrued as insulting - whether I agree with you or not?” The twinkle in his eye and his voice would have had me sitting arguing for hours, but I had my girls to think of. This was not what they had come here for. I explained it to him and he wished us a good day and left us.
Back in the Paphos hotel I found a message from Themi. He asked that I call back.
“Themi, anything wrong? My mother alright?”
“Everybody is fine. Robert what have you been up to in Cyprus?”
“Why?”
“I had a call from a Mr Petsas. He has corresponded with me in the past. He is an ex businessman who got interested in the paranormal. He told me that something happened there. First there were reports about angels appearing at a secluded beach then days later, a story about an accident by a couple on a motorbike. Though there was blood, even pieces of internal organs left on a metal spike, both the injured turned out not to have a scratch on them. He claims a foreigner, with the same description as the 'angel’ of Athens pretended to be a doctor and healed them. That was you?”
“Afraid so. We were staying at a hotel at the scene of the accident. I could not just let them die.”
“Commendable, but this man is a bulldog Robert. He has already spoken to the young couple; checked your false registration at the hotel, knows you were at a disco that night with a large number of beautiful teenage girls. He is determined to find you and he has the money to follow any trail you left.”
As I stayed silent, my premonition confirmed, he sighed. “You changed the girls didn’t you, but you left yourself as you are.”
“Worse, I left Dominique as she is. The others wanted to be teenagers so I made them about eighteen.”
“This time they have your description. He faxed me a sketch made by one of the locals who remembered you. It is a good likeness. Should we get together with Alki soon?”
“I’ll be at my house in about an hour. I’ll call you.”
The girls had all followed the conversation. While the others were dismayed and a bit frightened, Dommi and Cherine were not. Dommi because of some misguided trust in me and Cherine because she had decided on a course of action. She was determined to find this man and make him forget all about us.
“Cherine love. A short time ago I would have agreed with you, actually your idea is constructive. For some reason I keep remembering the man who shot you. I messed with his mind and look at what happened. Tell you what, if Themi and Alki think we should do it, I’ll help you.”
I paid the bill while the girls collected our few possessions, put them in suitcases and we left. We had to dump the suitcases a few kilometres away and we ‘jumped’ home.
“I really loved it in Cyprus, do you think we will be able to go there again for a holiday?”
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“Hell, we can go whenever you want to. I bet you want to go collecting fossils on the mountain. Now that we have been there, we can ‘jump’ directly whenever you want. To tell you the truth, until this happened I was actually considering moving there. It would be so much better for all of you to grow up in that environment.” I shrugged. “Guess I cocked this one up.”
Marian had prepared supper for all of us and we first ate. Themi, my mother and Natalie were silent, but it was not noticeable - my girls chattered excitedly about our experiences. When I told them about the American and how Cherine came to my side, ready to protect me, Alki took her hand, made a fist of it and kissed it.
“My sweet lion cub. You would have won of course, he did not have a chance against you.”
“Alki stop encouraging her!” I laughed and told Marian I too would have bet on Cherine.
When we told them about the Swedish girl and her local boyfriend and that I had promised to send them a ticket, Themi grew agitated.
“You cannot do that!! It would be like inviting this Petsas guy to your home. A direct link. Gammoto! You told them they were coming to Athens?”
“Yes.”
“I bet you he will be here within the next few days.”
“Not because of Andrea and Britta. They will not speak to anyone about us.”
“You are naïve if you think so. You think a young Cypriot boy will leave without at least telling his parents and friends where he is going?”
I was feeling more foolish by the minute and knew I was not hiding it very well when Cherine came to stand by my side.
I asked, “What makes you think this man is so dangerous Themi. Even if he has the money, what has you so convinced he will do anything about it?”
“From his past history. He is an amateur and is over-enthusiastic. He is desperate for recognition by those in the field of paranormal research. He has jumped the gun a number of times, not bothering to make certain of his facts and made a fool of himself, and will be desperate to sink his teeth into something real just to rub our noses in it.”
Alki asked. “How did he make his money?”
Themi frowned. “I found out about that. It is not clean money, but nobody can do anything about it. After the invasion by Turkey, when most families from the northern part of Cyprus had nowhere to live and what money they had was a few items, like jewellery they’d grabbed before running to the Greek side, he took advantage of a lot of the refugees. Nothing strictly illegal. Still, he is an unpopular figure in Nicosia where he lives.”
I asked, “Any chance we could dig up some of that dirt and threaten him with it?”
“It will only confirm he is on the right path. Many have tried to get him to buy their silence. He does not give a shit, as he says. He is not interested in popularity. Only in making himself a name as a man of intelligence, someone who was able to first prove the existence of ESP.”
Meli walked in. The door had been open so that Marian and Dommi could hear if the babies cried.
“I would like to write a story for him.”
“What!”
“Daddy, what if we make him believe something completely wild. How about aliens from space. Give him proof, but point him in the wrong direction. He makes his claims, is proved not only wrong, but in a way it makes him look like he made up the evidence. Nobody would believe him ever again.”
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I smiled at her, loving the imagination she was showing. “Gia sou Meli mou - just keep reminding me not to get on the wrong side of you ever. You’ve not only got a great imagination, but you sure have a mean streak.”
She did not even smile. “Anybody threatens you, yes I do!”
“Oh no, I can see the family resemblance Cherine.” The others chuckled, but not Meli and Cherine. Luckily Dommi spoke.
“Roberto, I called Nicko while you were putting away your sketches. He said he is coming at about ten. It is now ten and he will be here any moment. I told him we have a problem and he wants to help.”
I quickly changed Diana, just taking off the edge of that haunting beauty of hers.
Themi, in the meantime, explained, “Melina, we cannot do anything like that. He will become vicious and will be out for revenge. It does not pay to make fools of men like him.”
“He sounds like my daddy.” The fear in Wendy had her trembling, her teeth chattering. As fast as I jumped up to get to her, Alki was faster. He folded her in his bear hug and soothed her. The pain and fear brought out the protector. Everyone gasped as it became visible, a white light that filled the room. My anger had got the better of me and I was about to set it on this Petsas, whoever he is.
Dommi and Diana put their hands on me. “Stop it Robert. This is not the time to get angry.”
Diana added softly, “You said we must always use our brains and we must never hurt anyone.” Even as they spoke to me, their eyes were fixed on the visible signs of the protector. The protector withdrew to a corner of the room as I calmed down.
That was the moment Nicko chose to arrive. As he was welcomed I saw his eyes on Meli, who had adopted the age of about eighteen. I saw the signs again and knew we have jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
“Dominique, aren’t you going to introduce me to your lovely friends?” Meli was totally oblivious to him, but that did not put him off.
She first introduced him to Natalie. His eyes widened.
“Natalie your friend? The little…”
“…fat girl.” She ended for him.
His cheeks reddened, “I’m sorry, but you look so different!!”
“Thanks to Robert. He found my heart had a problem and I was going to die within months. After he made me go to doctors to prove it to me, he then cured me. This was part of his cure.”
“I’m glad for you Natalie. At last you can teach those snob friends of my sister a thing or two. I bet they must really hate you now.” He laughed and turned his eyes to Meli whom he had been glancing at all along.
Dommi went and whispered to him. She explained that Meli is part of our circle. She did not have to explain further. He turned to me and his eyes were shining. Trying to make a joke of it he said to me. “I think I could grow to hate you Robert. How come you keep getting all these beautiful girls for yourself.”
“Meli, please return to your room. Nicko has to meet you as you really are.” Aware now, she left us. Marian got up.
“Come Nicko, I would like to introduce you to my daughter.” When he came out his face was sickly pale.
“Damn you! A baby!!”
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“Nicko it is going to take about sixty years before she grows to look the way you saw her tonight. She was projecting. There is no way she can stay like that. Would you have a baby with short moments of seeing her as a woman?”
“I still say you are a bastard - but you are my sister’s bastard, so I guess I’ll have to live with it. I’m warning you though, any more beautiful girls you’ve nabbed for yourself and I’ll….” His voice trailed off as Tina and Rosie entered, their eyes sparkling with laughter.
“Uncle Nicko, you did not say hello to us when you came into the room to see Meli.”
I could not remonstrate with my darlings for having a sense of humour, but I was beginning to fear they are going to end up turning him against me.
Cherine sensed my worry and went up to him, standing with her hands on her hips. “I’m real. What you see is what you get - except you’re not getting any. Okay?”
He stared at her a moment then broke up with laughter. He grabbed hold of her. “Okay. You really are a minx. Robert was right. Bet you make his life hell.”
“Sometimes. He’s not complaining though.”
The tension had faded and the protector vanished. That brought up his head. “What was that!”
“My protector. It came here for Wendy.” He now saw her being held by Alki and sobered as he realised that she is afraid, still huddling against Alki for protection.
“That is the thing you used against me?”
“It is not a thing. It is a part of me.”
“Yeah sure, whatever! All I know is, I feel sorry for whoever you are sending it to. Looks like you will not need me after all. I don’t think Wendy has anything to fear. Wendy, have you ever been present when that thing of Robert gets into action?” Even as he spoke he recalled how we had found her and bit his tongue.
“It is the memory of her father that has her cowering Nicko. Maybe we better explain.”
Dommi got Themi to explain to him.
“Nicko we are hampered by our own rules. We cannot act against him, we must not hurt him to save ourselves, especially since he has not done anything yet to harm us.”
“Boy you sure changed since school. I seem to remember you doing quite a few really mean things. It might be why I wanted to become your friend - I found some of your ideas clever.”
I grinned, “That is how I remember you too. Guess it is part of being a child.”
“Not in us!” Diana spoke up.
“Too true, but then you are a pretty special bunch of girls. I don’t understand why Robert deserves you all, but…” He shrugged.
Dommi took his face by the chin firmly. “Because he is Robert, that’s why. You too could find yourself girls who would want you just because you are Nicholas, if only you would open yourself to loving them, instead of just wanting to use them for a few nights.”
Nicko turned to us. “You see, that is the problem, Greek girls grow up into Greek women! Even little sisters.”
The conversation then turned serious. We spent a couple of hours discussing the problem and Nicko helped me feel a bit better.
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“Themi you are wrong. If that man has tied the appearances in Cyprus to the ‘angel’ of Athens, it would not matter whether the couple talk or not. He already will know who my sister is. It will not take him long to find out who Robert is.”
I felt I was relieved of some of the guilt, but I was still short of a solution. Grimly I told him, “That still leaves us with the problem of how to handle him. The only solutions presented up to now involve either destroying the man, blackmailing him or messing with his mind. I will not condone any of them. There has to be a way that is also ethical.”
Dommi smiled gently at me. “For a man who mocks religion you follow very strictly the …”
“Dommi, sorry to interrupt. You are confusing the issues. Any sane person, maybe especially one who does not believe in any particular religion, has to form a set of values that suit him and his beliefs. In our case, we have an unfair advantage over the rest of humanity and if we are to see ourselves as a step in the right evolutionary direction, instead of the threat mankind will think we are, we have to impose on ourselves our own strict moral and ethical values.”
My mind was not entirely on the conversation, for I was worrying; I was watching Nicko who for some time had been staring at Diana. His face lit up suddenly and I recognised the excitement from our schoolboy days.
“I think I have your solution. Diana I have been rude, staring at you. I did because I felt at the back of my mind that you held the key, but I could not work out what it was. May I explain without offending you?” She nodded, not really knowing what to make of his comments. “I have a very vivid recollection of how you truly are. Your appearance tonight, it is a coarse version of you - designed I would bet, by Robert, to keep me from being attracted to you, not that he has succeeded, for all it does is remind me of what you truly are like, but at least this way it is bearable.
Robert. I would suggest you make a coarse version of yourself and Dominique and keep the babies by you. The other girls, they must stay elsewhere.” There was an immediate clamour of protest from all, especially Cherine. I put up my hand in a signal that they must stop.
“We listen to Nicko first.”
“Thank you. I understand it will be difficult and I am sorry. Now, as I was saying. Make yourselves a coarse (τραχύς ) version of yourselves, so that he believes you are the person you present yourself as. Do not wait for him to find you. You call him, tell him you understand he is looking for you and invite him to visit.
He will come. Admit you were at the accident, but claim you did not really do anything. You were only acting, the same as when you fooled the doctors here. Explain how bad the market for your work has been and admit that you are broke. Suggest that if he pays you, you can make a few convincing appearances which will make him a name for himself. Let him see you as a greedy, grasping man without any morals. I think that way he will be more interested in exposing you for the fraud you are, which should suit you?”
“What if he agrees to play along, more interested in making a name for himself?”
“Again, you play along, but with a fatal flaw that Themi trips you up on, making you and Petsas look like frauds. It will hardly matter what you do for years to come - everybody will know you are a fraud and think you are just playing a trick on them, while he will not be able to blame you for everything going wrong.”
I felt as if a weight had dropped off my shoulders. “I think I like this! I hope he does play along. Nicko is right. After something like this, I could raise a man from his coffin at his own funeral and everyone would believe it was a trick. We would buy years of safety.”
Cherine began to cry. Tenderly I put my arm around her, “Don’t cry love, we will only be apart for a week or two and I am sure you will be welcome to stay here with your mum and Alki, which means we can still meet every day. You all could even ‘jump’ over to spend every night together.”
“I’m not crying about that!! I do not want the whole world to think you are a fraud. It is not fair!!”
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Alki put his hand up for silence. “Cherine, you are right. I think we are all very proud of Roberto and it would pain us all to see him mocked and reviled as a fraud. But you know what? It would make me even prouder of him - and one day the whole world will know of the sacrifice he made for us. Cherine, he has to make this sacrifice, you are all becoming too active. People will soon start to talk and governments will put two and two together and they will be after us. If he has made himself look ridiculous, a trickster, a fraud, they will ignore whatever he and all of us do for long enough for us to become strong enough to protect ourselves and our babies.”
“But why Robert?” she cried.
“Because I am the one, love. Through my own mistakes I have drawn attention. You know that I will cringe when I am laughed at, scoffed and reviled for being a crook (στιγματισμένος ως απατεώνας), but the people who love me, they know the truth. That is all that matters to me. As long as you believe in me love, I’ll be happy.”
I turned to Alki, as this would affect him too. “Alki. If I am the laughing stock we hope I’ll be, no one will want my work. You will have to find others to replace me.” Now I turned to Dommi. “Sweetheart, I am going to eat humble pie and ask you to support us.”
She began to cry. “You will not eat humble pie. You will not!! You make me very proud that you asked me.”
Alki said, “Robert, you will never need for money. You are all my family. It would also make me proud to help. Just tell me what you need and it is yours.”
Cherine hugged me, her face still streaked with tears and she whispered to me, “You also have all the money you put for me. It is yours.”
I think I would have been able to control myself if Nicko had not also spoken.
“File mou (my friend), you helped me when I did not deserve to be helped. Do you think I too would not give all I have to help you? Please allow me to be a part of this; it would make me very proud.” I broke down and wept.
Chapter Fifty Nine
I looked at myself in the mirror. There was definitely something of the look of a weasel. It was not pleasant to see that such small changes in details to my face and the way I stand can make such a big difference to the impression I give. Dommi I had not changed much. Just a small bitter downturn to her mouth and a hardness around her eyes - the result of disappointments from living with a man such as myself.
The doorbell rang and it was time to begin our charade.
“Mr Spetsas?”
“Petsas if you don’t mind. You are Robert, the so called angel of Athens?”
“Correct. Why don’t you sit here.” He ignored me, walking around the room, his eyes missing nothing. The empty space where the television set and the hi-fi had been, the outlines on the wall to wall carpeting where the rugs had once been.
He decided to ignore the niceties of civilised people, probably so as to make me feel he is in charge. “You have fallen on hard times Mr Teller?”
“Woman!” I shouted. “Come here. You have not offered our guest a drink.” As Dommi came in, her eyes red, he looked her up and down. He saw the baby in her arms and heard the other one crying in the bedroom. He spoke to her in Greek, at least with her maintaining a more civilised demeanour.
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“It is a pleasure to meet you. I have of course heard of your family. Please do not worry about offering me anything, your other baby is crying, it needs you. I have some questions to ask him and I will be leaving.”
So he has done his homework and knows we are not married. He must be wondering.
“Then sit down Mr Spetsas. I would like to know why you have been searching for me. It could not be because of the ‘angel’ business.”
“You were seen in Cyprus recently. You are the one who saved that young couple involved in an accident.”
I gave a bitter laugh. “You did not give me the impression of being so gullible Mr Spetses.”
“Are you claiming you did not, or that it was not you?”
“Oh it was me. I went there hoping to find somebody to finance me and I thought a ‘miracle’ might get me the credibility I needed. Fat chance.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“Mr Spetses, look around you. For a short time I was popular, my art was selling. Since that ‘angel’ story hit the headlines I am getting less and less orders. My orders came from companies, large corporations, and they now say I am too ‘controversial’! I have two babies that cry all the time, a wife who is bitter and her family do not want to know us. If you are here to expose me, I’ll give you the details for the correct fee of course. I want enough to get out of here.” I leaned over to confide in a whisper, “Her family will then just have to take her and the babies in.”
He was genuinely shocked, I probed and sensed he does believe in family and was upset that I am planning to abandon my children. “Theé mou, you really are disgusting. I had not expected…”
“Disgusting!! Fuck you. You think I want to lose my family? What am I supposed to do. She is used to money - big money! All I know is my art. Look…” I pulled out sheets of my work, thrusting them at him. “I have talent, a lot of fucking talent, but no one will buy! What am I supposed to do?”
He had no intention of looking at my artwork, but the top picture caught his eye and he leafed through them. He actually has an eye for it, I could see he was impressed and I could sense the wheels spinning as he wondered whether he could get them for next to nothing, since I am in such dire straits.
Bitterly I continued. “If her family take her back in, at least my kids will grow up at the top of society in Athens, instead of starving with me. If I could make enough money I would take them with me and create my art under a new name. That takes capital. I would have to become known before I can command decent prices and that takes time. I do not have time, I cannot even pay my rent here.”
“I do not understand, you did save those kids. I have seen the blood and…” his voice trailed away at my smirk. “Explain then.”
“No. I do not give out my secrets. I think I made a mistake, you are not here to expose me, you actually were hoping for miracles. I think I wasted your time.” I turned from him, walking to the other end of the room, staring out of the glass doors. Dommi was standing at the bedroom door listening.
“Yes, I was hoping for miracles and you have not convinced me...”
Dommi screamed at him in Greek, her voice angry with frustration, “Tote eisai vlakas (then you are stupid)!”
I turned and stared at him as he watched the door she had slammed behind her. Wearily I came and sat down, my shoulders hunched. “Did you see her on tv? She was so beautiful. Remember how she stood up for me? She believed in me then. Now she has no respect….”
“Maybe you do not deserve it?”
“Oh I do! My art is good, very good. The game with the doctors, that was just for a lark. I did not expect to profit out of it. I was hoping it would make her family change their attitude…oh well, as you see, it did not work out. If only I could have pulled off something really impressive…that takes money though.” I sat with my head in my hands.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)5th April, 2019
* posted on Steemit: 5th April, 2019
@nikosnitza
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