‘We’ll come to Greece, I promise, providing I’m not pregnant again.’
‘You’re trying?’
‘Maybe…’
‘Sophie!’ Despina yells from the hallway. ‘Are you ready?’
‘One minute!’ I call back in Greek. ‘Sorry Candy, I’ve got to go, the Kakavetsis big day out
remember.’
‘Have fun.’
‘Give Jake a big kiss from me and I’ll speak to you soon.’
I grab my bag and a couple of beach towels from the cupboard and close the bedroom door behind
me.
‘Aleko! Sophie! Takis! Where are you?’ Despina’s shouts bulldoze through
O Kipos
. ‘Lena’s
here!’
I collide with Alekos coming out of the bathroom. ‘It’s like a military operation,’ I say as we head
downstairs.
Despina stands outside the kitchen door surrounded by bags, deflated lilos, a picnic hamper and
three beach umbrellas.
‘Where’s Takis?’ she asks as we squeeze past her, stepping over the bags into the sunshine.
‘I’m here,’ he says with a sigh from the shadowy kitchen.
Lena sits on the patio with her husband, Spiros, shaded by the grapes, her hands resting on her
seven-month bump. Yannis is running round in circles on the grass, seemingly chasing an invisible
something.
‘Let’s go!’ Despina yells. Yannis whoops and runs to the car as fast as his legs can go.
…
Platamonas Castle overlooks one end of the beach. Pale yellow sand stretches endlessly in the other
direction. It
is
a military operation setting up camp. After lugging our bags and umbrellas as far as
Lena is prepared to walk in the heat we find a spot a few metres from the sea and Despina sets about
organising us.
‘Get the mats out, Takis. Start blowing the lilos up, Aleko…’
I open one of the umbrellas and wedge it in the sand for Lena.
‘I love this,’ she whispers. ‘Mama won’t let me do anything. It’s almost worth the uncomfortable
nights and swollen ankles. Yanni, no!’
Yannis watches the sea lapping at his toes.
‘Wait until we’re settled, Yanni, and then everyone can go for a swim.’
I’m as eager as Yannis. It’s unbearably hot even in the shade. We discard our clothes and fling them
over the umbrellas. Tanned flesh is on show in swimming costumes, bikinis and shorts. Alekos and
Spiros sit in the sun blowing up the lilos, their faces turning beetroot. Takis takes his mat and spreads
it out on the edge of our camp, and without a word, lies down and closes his eyes. Despina props herself
up on a lilo next to the food.
‘Swim first, eat after,’ she says.
‘Can I go swimming now, Mama!’ Yannis cries, jumping about in front of Lena and kicking sand
everywhere.
‘Let Uncle Aleko put your wings on first, Yanni,’ she says.
Alekos catches hold of Yannis, lifting him effortlessly as if he’s a rag doll rather than a wriggling
four-year-old. Alekos tickles his stomach and he giggles. His laughter is infectious. With his water
wings on and his feet back on the beach, Yannis grabs Alekos’ hand and drags him into the
shallows.
Spiros finishes blowing up the lilo and sits down on it next to Lena and curls his arm round her
shoulders. ‘Aleko can entertain Yannis for a while,’ he says.
I wade into the warm water.
‘Look at me!’ Yannis says. He knocks a blow-up ball to Alekos.
‘Well done, Yanni.’ The sand sinks between my toes and the water gets cooler the deeper I go. I
launch myself on to my lilo and lie stomach down, bobbing up and down on the gentle movement of the
sea, my fingers trailing in the water. Alekos is only wet up to his thighs, while Yannis is shoulder deep.
They tap the ball between them. Yannis charges through the water to retrieve it when he
misses.
‘Yanni,’ Alekos says. ‘Put your hands like this.’ He straightens his fingers and taps them together.
‘Hit the ball with the tips of your fingers.’
I rest my head on my hands and drift, moving away from them with the current and watch tiny fish
dart beneath the clear plastic of the lilo.
…
‘Yanni wants a baby brother,’ Lena says as I sit down next to her and rub myself dry with a towel. She
rests her magazine on her bump.
‘What do you want?’
‘Truthfully, a girl. Maybe you could supply Yanni with a cousin to play with.’ She smiles knowingly
at me. ‘One day, before he gets too old to play. I’m sorry, I sound just like Mama.’
Despina is delving into the picnic hamper in-between Takis and Spiros who are both
snoring.
Lena leans towards me. ‘Mama went on at me from the age of eighteen, when was I
going to make her a grandmother? Even when I wasn’t with anyone – especially when I
wasn’t with anyone. Alekos was expected to work in the restaurant; I was expected to get
married.’
‘And she expects the same of me now.’
‘You’d better set the date sooner rather than later. You’ve been together three years, that’s two
years too long in Mama’s mind without a wedding or a pregnancy, or both preferably.’
‘I was saying exactly that to my friend Candy this morning.’
She gasps and her hands fly to her bump. ‘Baby’s on the move.’
She places my hand on her perfectly rounded and hard stomach. I feel a kick. Shivers wriggle up my
arm.
‘Alekos is good with Yanni,’ she says.
‘That’s because he’s a big kid too.’ I watch him scoop Yannis up in his arms and carry him from the
sea to the beach.
‘More!’ Yannis shouts.
‘I have to rest,’ Alekos says. ‘I’m not as young as you.’
Yannis’ bottom lip juts out in a sulk. Alekos puts him down and he sinks on to the
sand.
‘Yanni, you’ll be covered,’ Lena says. Yannis falls sideways and rolls, giggling, until his skin is
covered with grains of sand and the only clean bit left is his face.
‘I have to go back in now,’ he says.
‘My Mum never wanted to be a grandmother,’ I say, watching Despina brush down a giggling
Yannis. ‘She thinks she’s too young.’
‘But you’re not.’
‘Despite being only twenty-eight? My biological clock is counting down fast. At least Despina thinks
so.’
‘Lena, Sophie, Aleko,’ Despina says. ‘Food!’
I’m writing today’s specials on the chalkboard above the restaurant bar. It’s ironic that I’m the only
foreigner in the place and yet I have the neatest Greek handwriting. The swing door to the kitchen
slams open and Despina marches into the restaurant followed by Alekos.
‘But Mama,’ he says. ‘If the band are in the corner next to the bar we gain two tables seating an
extra eight people.’
Despina halts and surveys the restaurant. ‘But then the band will be obscured by the pillar and
squashed in the corner between the bar and the fireplace. I don’t like it. We put them where they’ve
always been.’
I finish writing the main course specials on the board and start on the sweets.
‘Mama, it doesn’t make sense putting the band where they’ve always gone. It’s November, we
should have as many tables available inside as we can. We’re always fully booked. And having the band
next to the bar is the answer.’
Eleni, one of the waitresses, is on the other side of the room laying the tables. She glances at Alekos
and then me before swiftly polishing the cutlery again.
‘Alekos does have a point,’ I say, putting the chalk down.
‘Sophie, it’s okay, it’s Mama’s restaurant, it’s her decision.’
‘I know it’s her restaurant but that doesn’t mean she should completely disregard a good
idea.’
Despina folds her arms. ‘I’ve been running this restaurant for over twenty years. I know what works.
It’s the success it is for a reason.’
‘It doesn’t mean that change is a bad thing.’
‘Sophie, leave it,’ Alekos says. His fists are clenched and he stands rigid in front of Despina with his
back to me.
‘You should listen to Alekos more,’ I say, challenging Despina. Eleni slips from the restaurant down
the stairs to the toilets. ‘He’s suggesting moving the band from one side of the room to the other to
gain two extra tables. That’s simply good business sense. He’s not suggesting you paint the walls
pink.’
Despina’s foot taps the tiled floor. She smoothes down her apron. She might be about to
give in when I say, ‘You may have been running this place for twenty years but Alekos
has been working his arse off as a waiter for you for over ten years with very little thanks.
You could at least give him some credit and stop treating him and his suggestions like he’s
ten.’
‘Don’t you dare lecture me about my son.’
‘How can you expect me not to defend my fiancé when you put him down all the time? You’d be
the first to defend him if it was the other way around.’
‘Mama,’ Alekos says quietly. ‘I’ll put the band where they’ve always been.’ He turns and looks at
me. ‘Come with me.’
He storms into the kitchen and I follow. He stops at the bottom of the apartment stairs. ‘Why can’t
you keep quiet?’
‘Aleko, I’m sorry, but can you not see the way she treats you?’
He looks over my shoulder and doesn’t say anything.
‘Why are you so ungrateful?’ Despina says from behind me. She goes over to the oven, heaves a tray
out and a rich aroma of roasting lamb is released into the kitchen.
‘I’m not ungrateful,’ I say, looking between her and Alekos. ‘I never said that. I’m frustrated at
being here twenty-four hours a day and having very little time to myself or alone with Alekos. I’m
annoyed by the way you sometimes treat Alekos and the way he reacts to you. But I’m not
ungrateful.’
‘You have a job and a home here. We’ve treated you from the moment you arrived like
one of the family, but you make it clear you can’t wait to leave and I don’t understand
why?’
‘Why? How can you not understand us wanting some independence? I love working here and I
appreciate all you’ve done for me, but I thought
living
here at least was temporary.’ Alekos
remains quiet and it doesn’t seem like he’s about to back me up. I figure now’s as good a
time as any to release everything that’s been on my mind for the last few months. ‘I’ve
been working here so much I’ve not had time to concentrate on what I really want to be
doing.’
‘And what about Alekos? Are you going to drag him away from his work, his family and his
home?’
‘I’m not dragging him. We both want this. To have a place of our own.’ My voice trails off as
Despina huffs. ‘What happened out there,’ I point to the restaurant, ‘just proves it. He’s got great ideas
and passion for what he does and is fantastic with people but you stifle him. He’s only still here because
you put pressure on him to stay. He doesn’t want to be a waiter forever. Let him lead his own
life.’
The spoon she’s using to baste the lamb clatters on to the work surface. She swings around, her
cheeks flushed. ‘You little…’ She doesn’t finish the sentence and instead unties her apron
and chucks it on the side before pushing past Alekos and clattering up the stairs to the
apartment.
‘Why did you say that?’ Alekos asks.
‘I’m only stating the truth. Something’s needed to be said for a long time. She’s holding you back,
Aleko.’ I reach for him but he shrugs me away.
‘Is it really me she’s holding back or you?’
‘It’s us Aleko. We’re going to get married, start a family. Surely we’re not going to be living here
when we have children?’
‘Of course not.’
‘You’ve got to break away at some point, however hard it is.’
He takes my hand. ‘Come on, let’s try and make peace with her.’ We go together up the stairs and
open the door to the apartment.
Despina is pacing the living room and talking at Takis who is sitting on the sofa in front of the TV,
looking bemused. As soon as the door closes behind us Despina looks directly at Alekos. ‘I wish you’d
fallen in love with a good Greek girl!’
‘Mama!’ Alekos says.
‘Well, it’s the truth.’
Forget about keeping the peace. ‘So you want a good Greek girl for a daughter-in-law. Someone who
will happily live here, no questions asked, and do everything you want her to do. What do you want,
Aleko?’
Despina and I turn to Alekos.
‘I want you both to be happy,’ he says quietly.
‘And how are you going to make that happen?’ I ask.
‘I don’t think I can.’ He takes hold of my hands. ‘Why did you move to Greece, Sophie?’
‘To be with you.’
‘Then why’s that not enough?’
‘Because I know you’re not happy here. I know you’ve got ambitions. What about your music?
What about everything we talked about on Cephalonia? Do you not want that anymore?’
‘Mama needs us here.’
‘No she needs
you
here.’
Despina tuts. ‘You’re the chef, Sophie, I need you.’
Alekos’ cheeks flush red and his eyes flicker away from his mother’s. I hate her for that comment.
Alekos is so desperate to please her and prove himself at
O Kipos
and I know me being in the kitchen
makes him want to impress her even more, because I’m the one getting the praise, from Despina and
the customers. She’s proved that again today.
Alekos steps forward and holds my face in his hands and rests his forehead against mine. ‘The thing
I want most is to marry you. Let’s concentrate on planning our wedding. The most important thing
right now is you.’
‘Your problem, Sophie,’ Despina says, ‘is that you don’t speak to your mother. So how can you
possibly understand what it means to be a close family?’
‘Despina!’ Takis suddenly stands and joins his wife in the middle of the room. ‘That’s
enough.’
She waves him away with her hand. ‘All I mean is our culture is not like yours in England.
Families stick together. Grown-up children live with their parents. All Alekos’ friends still
do.’
‘That’s not exactly true Mama. Nikos doesn’t, neither does Demetrius.’
‘Nikos works in Athens, that’s different. Demetrius and Katrina live with her parents in
their small apartment, which makes life difficult but they still manage. We have a large
apartment.’