The Ebb Page 9

  The woman seemed understandably startled, but she gave a polite smile. “Well, thank you, that’s awfully kind!” She was British, judging from her accent. The little girl, an angel with pale blue eyes and blond hair, reached up with her little hands to get the ice cream, her face a picture of delight.

  Once the girls set off again, Dora put out a hand and rested it on Sofia’s back. “Is this how much you despise him?” She looked quite amazed.

  “Oh yes! And then some.”

  “You could have given it to me, you know!” said Nana, licking her chocolaty lips. She hadn’t even finished her own cone yet. Her sister patted her hair and shared a giggle with Sofia at the reminiscence of their own childhood, when an ice cream still seemed like the ultimate goal in life.

  Nana tutted them for laughing at her expense, and with a few more giggles shared among them, they carried on with their leisurely stroll, until they reached the iron bridge over the river. From there, they took the narrow path to Messi, passing by olive groves and quaint villas, all the way to the river mouth. It was lined with anchored fishing boats and caiques. The setting sun gave everything a warm, orangey glow. The beach tavernas and the bars on the surf looked even more romantic in the twilight. Their antique lanterns swayed gently in the breeze, and the faint flames of the tea lights at the tables flickered feebly. In the background of this enchanting landscape, Sofia’s pyramid-shaped mountain looked ghostly behind a veil of darkening mist, as the evening light diminished.

  Chapter 14

  The girls returned home early for dinner that same evening. They were now sitting outside in the yard on the concrete pavement. Dora and Nana’s mother, Aunt Rini, was cooking her famous bourtheto in her tiny kitchen. It was bound to be a triumph, cooked with local fresh fish. No doubt, the tomato sauce was going to be extra spicy again. Her kitchen was situated across from Gran’s. Both women were in Aunt Rini’s kitchen chatting away, and Sofia put her head in at the door to have a look. The tantalizing smell of fresh fish cooked in tomato sauce made her feel ravenous. Sofia wasn’t keen on spicy food, but always made an exception for Aunt Rini’s bourtheto.

  Granddad was sitting outside at the table with Uncle Lilis. They were having ouzo with meze that Gran had just brought out. Uncle Lilis was one of Granddad’s favourite nephews, whom he had taken under his wing since the death of his parents. He had helped him financially more than once and had also provided him with moral support on many occasions.

  In return, Uncle Lilis had shown his gratitude by treating Granddad to his favourite delicacies every time he visited from Corfu town. That morning he had brought him a large delicatessen bag full of herb-sprinkled olives, smoked cheese, spicy salami and, of course, Granddad’s favourite pastirma. They were all laid out on the tray before them. Granddad nodded appreciatively with every bite, as Uncle Lilis delivered an anecdote with his legendary ability to amuse his audience.

  He was quite the jokester. He loved a good laugh. Once, he found a bikini top on the beach, and later entertained the whole family by parading up and down the yard, dressed in a frilly skirt and a wide-brimmed sunhat of Aunt Rini’s, as well as the bikini top, stuffed with two lemons. When he didn’t dress up in drag in the most unexpected moments during family gatherings, he relayed comical anecdotes from his work in the police force, and was in general an inexhaustible source of hilarious jokes.

  Sofia returned to the yard to report to her cousins that the meal wasn’t ready yet, making them both frown with dismay. They were all getting very hungry, and she brought them some bread and cheese with pastirma to munch while they waited.

  They were playing cards to pass the time. Nana was glued to the wall, opposite her cousin and her sister. She was paying extra attention to stop them from looking at her hand. Still, the more she guarded it, the more the others tried to have a sneaky look in order to tease her. Each time it was her turn to play, Nana would take a few moments to stare into the others’ eyes in turn, arching a single brow, then she’d smirk self-indulgently before putting down a card.

  The girls teased her no end for the whole act and took turns to lean forward, chortling, trying to look at her cards as Nana complained and shrieked in an ear-piercing volume. The sound of their laughter rose over the mossy roof tiles, where the fragrant vapours of Aunt Rini’s bourtheto fused with the oregano-scented mist that came down from the mountains.

  Gran was preparing the salad in Aunt’s kitchen when her phone rang.

  “Sofoula mou! Could you get this please?” Gran called out.

  Sofia put her cards face down and rushed inside. Behind her back, she heard giggles. Nana had the notion to retaliate by taking a sneak peek at Sofia’s cards, but Dora had been too fast, slapping her wrist playfully to keep her away.

  “Hi, Mum, how are you?” Sofia’s voice echoed cheerfully from inside. “Yes, we’re all fine, thanks! And you?” A short pause. “Aunt Rini, Uncle Lilis, and the girls are here too.”

  “Give her my love, won’t you?” shouted Aunt Rini from her kitchen.

  “They’re sending their love, too. Aunt is in her kitchen making bourtheto for tonight!” After another short pause she shouted out, “Mum says she’s envious!”

  “Tell her to come over, and I’ll make a big pan just for her,” teased Aunt Rini in response, as she added lemon juice to the finished meal.

  As soon as her mother passed her father over, the smile faded from Sofia’s lips. It was now time to do something difficult, the one thing she had been dreading all day. She was going to call them later that night when it was quiet, but they had beaten her to it. She wished now that he wouldn’t get awkward, not with everyone else witnessing. She couldn’t bear the thought of yet more awkwardness and besides, by now she felt she had grown too old to even have to endure it.

  “Hi, Dad! How are you?” Her voice came out cheerful. “Yeah, I’m great. I saw Uncle Yiannis today, he says hi. And Uncle Lilis is here with the family. How are things at the restaurant?”

  As she listened to her father, she raised her eyes from the floor tiles, then peered through the window netting to meet Granddad’s eyes. He still sat with Uncle Lilis, and although he was silent, his eyes were egging her on. During lunch, they had spoken about her dad. Granddad expected her to do the right thing and inform him that she was starting a job the next day. She didn’t think she needed her father’s permission but could see his point. She squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, summing up the courage to broach the subject. This is harder than I thought!

  “Listen, Dad, I’ve got some great news!” Once more, locking eyes with Granddad outside, she tried to sound as elated as possible. Her hope was that if her father could only see how happy she was, perhaps he wouldn’t have the heart to oppose in any way. She prayed it would work but, at the same time, felt outraged that this was even an issue. She wasn’t going to ask him for his permission. She was simply going to announce this to him. It was done. She had already decided.

  She turned around to see Gran coming in. The old woman approached and nodded to her encouragingly. Sofia’s lips twitched nervously then, and she looked away. The moment was hers, and she needed to concentrate as she did this. Her eyes sought the opposite wall, and she steadied her gaze there, trying to focus.

  “I’ve got a job! My first job, Dad!” She placed a hand on her chest, willing her heartbeat to calm down. Her eyelids fluttered, and she turned around again. Gran’s face was a picture, as she waited. She seemed so nervous, as if she was literally holding her breath for her granddaughter.

  Sofia’s face revealed nothing as she listened to her father’s answer, and then, much to Gran’s relief, a bright smile finally bloomed on the girl’s lips.

  “It’s on the beach. I’ll be helping Jimmy at the water sports pier.” As she spoke, she searched Granddad’s face outside. He wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were twinkling under the bright electric light of the yard.

  “Yeah, yeah of course. Thanks, Dad!” she added, saying to him a cheerful goodbye bef
ore passing the receiver on to Gran.

  A few seconds later, Gran put the receiver down. “Bravo, agape mou! You did the right thing!” she exclaimed, opening her arms to hug Sofia. Gran was relieved but also very proud of her, for the way she had handled herself. Her son was taken aback by the way Sofia delivered the news.

  ‘She seemed so determined’, he had said to Gran on the phone. Naturally, Gran had seized the opportunity to assure him Jimmy was a lovely man who was bound to be a good employer. She’d also made sure to mention how excited Sofia was about the job, and how beneficial it would be at her age to have this newfound sense of responsibility.

  When Gran went outside with Sofia, she watched as her husband took his turn to cuddle his granddaughter and share her relief.

  Gran thought how unfair their son was on his daughter. She knew only too well the cause of his fears, and in a way she understood, yet she was glad for this breakthrough. After all, Sofia was a student now and was planning to go abroad for her master’s degree in a year’s time. Sooner or later, her son would have to trust his daughter, to finally let her go and, what’s more, to free himself from his own demons of the past.

  Chapter 15

  1937

  In the next few months, Laura and her mother grew infinitely happier. Their lives improved dramatically. To start with, the main purpose of their relocation to the seaside had been accomplished. Ruth was in fine health again. Despite a few asthma attacks due to hay fever in the early spring, it was nothing the good doctor couldn’t fix. Doctor Barnett had come recommended by Meg and other people Laura had come to know on the Pier.

  Work at the Pavilion had proved to be an absolute pleasure. Laura didn’t even mind having to work overtime sometimes. Besides, she needed all the money she could get, as her mother’s past medical history never ceased to make her feel uneasy. Thus, she didn’t spend more than was necessary, unlike other girls she knew. Having a sensible head on her shoulders, she took to saving for the proverbial rainy day while paying for her keep in the house, both for her and her mother. Although the initial plan was for them to relocate as soon as they could, in the end, Maggie and Meg expressed the wish for them to stay at the house for good. It was an offer that was made by precious new friends by then, so Laura and her mother were only happy to accept.

  While the three girls were away at work every day, Ruth spent most of the time in the back garden where she took up vegetable gardening. She tended the front patch too, creating flowerbeds that made passers-by stop in awe sometimes, to enjoy the colours and the fragrances. Ruth wasn’t only a passionate gardener but also a fabulous cook. When the girls returned tired from work, she treated them to her fine roasts, pies and cakes, more often than not, using fruit and vegetables she grew herself.

  She hadn’t had the chance to do gardening for a great number of years, not since leaving Cornwall in her youth where she grew up on a farm. But, married life had soon led her to London. Her dreary existence in a filthy flat ever since, hadn’t allowed the luxury of sweet-smelling earth and the joy of watching saplings come to life in the sunlight. The past months had proved to be a miracle in Ruth’s life. Clean, fresh sea air filled her lungs these days, restoring her health noticeably since many years.

  An even greater miracle had taken place in Laura’s heart. Since that first time, Christian had walked her home every evening after work. For the first week or so, she’d reward him with a kiss on the cheek every night before watching him walk away with a wistful look in his eyes. And then one night, he finally plucked up the courage to do what he had intended to do from the very first time. As soon as she kissed his cheek, he pulled her close to him again and kissed her passionately on the lips.

  The world spun around them in the chill of that spring night, so much that when their lips finally parted and they gazed at each other’s eyes again, it seemed to them both like they had just awoken to a new world. It was a world where the two of them had always been together, a world where the thought of ever being apart again seemed inconceivable.

  And the months passed and the kissers soon became lovers. Christian was the first man to ever know her that way. Of course, she wasn’t his first but by far, Laura was the only one he had ever truly loved. Christian shared a converted flat with Paul in an old house, and Laura took to visiting him there. In his bed, she became from the very first time, the only woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

  Yet, the things she often spoke of, made him unsure about expressing this desire. She loved him too, of course. Her expressions of love and newfound passion were sincere. And yet, often wrapped inside his arms, naked and warm, she expressed her dreams for the future, but these spoke less of Christian and more of so many things he neither desired nor understood. For example, she was forever talking about the upper class spectators at the Pavilion, the ones that got picked up at the end of the show in their fancy carriages and luxury cars, to be escorted back to their mansions and country estates.

  As Christian listened, it always seemed to him that these people’s coach drivers and chauffeurs knew their place in the world better than she did. Of course, times had long changed and there weren’t such indelible, fine lines between social classes any more. Still, it seemed incomprehensible to Christian that all Laura seemed to want is to be like them: rich and powerful. She described them in every possible detail. The lords, the earls, the businessmen, the millionaires, and all the exquisite samples of female companions that they showed off like prized trophies.

  As she described everything about these women, Laura used words like ‘frocks’, ‘pearls’, ‘fur’, ‘gold’, as if they weren’t mere words but lovers, lovers she would prefer to him any day, given half the chance. It made him uneasy, but he preferred not to entertain those feelings of unease. After all, he often thought, she’s just being fanciful. These are just harmless dreams. How could I ever give her what she wants? She knows that, surely, he reasoned. He believed her when she said she loved him, and that was enough to him.

  It was mid-June and that morning, both Laura and Christian had the morning off. They met up at the landing stages around eleven a.m. and, strolling hand in hand, made it down to the bathing station at the Pier head.

  Maggie was on duty there and greeted them with her best smile. “Are you sure about this, Laura?”

  “Yes, I’m positive! I have to do this some time.”

  “Christian, please talk her out of it! The water’s cold!”

  “Don’t worry, Maggie, I’ll be fine,” Laura insisted. Maggie had spent a good ten minutes back home the night before, warning her against this. She was worried for her, since Laura didn’t know how to swim.

  “No worries, Mags,” piped up Christian. “I’m not going to leave her side for a second. Besides, she’ll be wearing this!” He pointed at a lifesaver in his hand, then put it over Laura’s head.

  “Oh, God,” said Laura, cringing. “I must look very silly! Are you sure adults use these?”

  “I just gave one to an old geezer. He’s down there, look!” said Maggie.

  Laura looked down at the water and felt nauseous. The sea was swarming with bathers, rafts and dinghies. Hardly the deserted spot she had in mind for dipping in the sea for her first time ever. “Maybe this is not such a good idea after all!” she said in a panicky voice. Her eyes sought Christian for reassurance, as they both stood by the ladder that led down to the water.

  “Come on, they don’t care,” he replied with a dismissive wave, pointing vaguely at the people, who indeed, didn’t seem to notice them at all.

  “Can't I try from the shore? Dip in a bit at a time maybe?”

  “It’s not the best, having to tread on the shingle. It’s easier here, trust me.”

  “Would you rather use a bath chair and go down the ramp?” asked Maggie helpfully.

  Laura pulled a face of dismay. “No!”

  “Come on darling, you promised! Didn’t you say you wanted me to teach you? You’ll have to trust me now, let’s g
o!”

  “Oh, all right!” She flashed him a tight smile. “But give me a kiss for good luck first.”

  Christian obliged her eagerly, and then they started to go down the ladder. Maggie stood on the deck watching them, still feeling rather concerned. Going down the ladder while trying to hold the lifesaver around her, proved to be a bit of an undertaking for Laura, but Christian had the good sense to go down first. He remained one step away at all times so he could help her.

  Soon, they were splashing together in the water, and it was fun, even though it was quite cold. For a first time swimmer, Laura did quite well. Once she’d had enough, Christian escorted her up the ladder, following behind her. Back on the deck, Laura wrapped her towel around her and sat on a bench next to Maggie.

  Christian blew her a kiss and jumped on the diving board, diving in with an impressive somersault. The girls cheered and asked for another and for another after that. Smiling and feeling proud to impress them like that, Christian obliged them tirelessly, as they watched and clapped their hands, throwing himself into the air, diving in various ways and somersaulting like a well-trained professional.

  “How did you learn to do all that?” Laura asked impressed when he finally joined the girls again on the bench.

  “I used to go to the swimming club when I was a schoolboy.”

  “This is where you learned to do all that? I’m impressed, sweetheart!”

  “It’s not all from the club. I copied some of the dives from the great marine entertainers I used to watch right here when I was little.”

  “Who would that be?” asked Maggie.

  “Oh! None of the ones you get to see on the Pier these days. Those were legendary.”

  “Why? Do tell!” demanded Laura.

  “Yeah, do tell! I remember some of them from when I was little,” said Maggie.

  “Oh? Are you a local, Mags? I didn’t realise!” came the surprised response from Christian.