Being Shirley (21 page)

“Really? 1953? But that’s so recent.” Annie shook her head in disbelief.

“I know. It seems unbelievable.” They both stared out to sea at it for a moment before Carl continued to read. “And in the peak summer months, between twelve to fifteen hundred people visit it. Spinalonga is also known as Kalidon and sometimes referred to by the locals as the island of the living dead.”

Looking out at the busy water scene with boats toing and froing from the island, the statistic wasn’t all that surprising. Annie shivered despite the sizzling midday sun. It was really quite stunning and she could see why it was one of Crete’s main draw cards, standing guard in the harbour the way it was but it had had such a sad history too. Imagine spending your whole life ostracised as a leper out on that arid mound, knowing that a short boat ride away a whole other world was going about its day-to-day business. She shook her head, glad when Carl pulled on her arm to haul her over to one of the many souvenir shops dotted around the township. As he led her into the closest treasure trove of tack, he announced he wanted to take a Greek music CD home with him. “So I’ll think of sunnier, happy climes when I’m huddled by the fire in the long winter months ahead at home with a plateful of moussaka. Do you think Mama will give me her recipe?”

“She might, if you sign a secrecy agreement. And anyway, you’ll be huddled by the fire eating moussaka with David, so I won’t feel too sorry for you.” Annie picked up a paperweight.

“Has this one got that song from
Zorba the Greek
that gets played at Zumba sometimes?” Carl waved a CD at the bored shopkeeper, who held his hands out to demonstrate his lack of understanding. Carl clicked his fingers and lifted his leg in what he obviously thought was a demonstration of Greek dancing. The shopkeeper nodded and looked at Carl as though he was considering putting one hand on his non-existent under-the-counter panic button. While he rang the CD up and popped it in a brown bag, Annie held the paperweight up for inspection. It had a teeny replica Greek monastery inside it; she shook the globe and watched as little gold flecks swirled around inside it, the relevance of which she wasn’t sure other than it was pretty. With a wish that it was a fortune teller’s ball, she placed it back on the shelf and headed over to their next port of call, the travel agent’s.

It didn’t take long to sort Carl’s return sailing out and with his tickets purchased for a boat leaving in two days’ time, they decided it was time to have a drink and maybe a bite to eat too.

“It looks nice over there.” Annie pointed over at the edge of the wharf to where the sea wall was lined with seats and tables. “Hey, look—isn’t that Alexandros?” She held her hand up to her brow as though saluting and squinted into the sun towards the tables the man and his female companion had just gotten up from. “My God, she could be arrested for indecent exposure!” she screeched as the woman he was with wiggled her way over to the restaurant kiosk to pay. “It’s definitely him.” Alexandros leaned up against the wall with that unmistakable languor of his to wait while their bill was paid.

“Gigolo!” Carl exclaimed. “He gets a free lunch and goodness knows what else when he entertains Eleni’s female guests.”

“How do you know she is from Eleni’s?”

“I saw her this morning at breakfast—a bleached blonde floozy if ever I saw one, with a chest you could stand a pint of beer on. Hard to miss her.”

As the woman tucked her purse back into her shoulder bag, they watched the scene like a fascinated pair of voyeurs. Alexandros draped a casual arm around her shoulder and as they turned to stroll off into the horizon, both their eyes widened. “Really, what is she thinking: a G-string? They’re so nineties!” Carl exclaimed.

Once they had gotten over their shock, they took themselves over to the same café and flopped gratefully down onto the twin two-seater couches. A coffee table separated them and they enjoyed the respite from the sun that the wide umbrella offered while they waited for the young girl, ponytail swinging as she rushed about with menus, to head their way.

“I wonder if they have a loo over there.” Carl gesticulated to where the actual restaurant area whose seating they were ensconced in was.

“Bound to—why, do you need to go?”

“No. I just like to know there’s one handy. That’s all. I find it comforting since Athens.”

Annie looked across at him fondly. She really was going to miss him.

Their menus arrived with a flourish and as she glanced over the list of alcoholic beverages, her stomach rolled. She’d just have to toast Carl’s departure with a glass of lemonade, she decided and took him up on his offer to share a plate of club sandwiches. The drinks didn’t take long to arrive and after they raised their glasses to both safe travels and a bright, romantic future for Carl and David, she took a grateful slurp of the cold, sweet fizzy. The water lapped at the sea wall next to them and looked so tempting that she put her glass down and slid off the couch to sit on the damp stone. She dipped her toes in the clear water and noticed the swarms of tiny fish hoping a stray breadcrumb or two would float their way.

“Watch they don’t nibble them,” Carl admonished as he looked at her feet.

“People pay good money for a fish foot massage. They eat all the dead bits of skin and mine are a bit dry from all the walking around in jandals we’ve done lately. Here fishy, fish, fish.” Annie made a kissy noise and Carl shuddered in disgust.

By the time lunch was produced, Annie decided the fish were probably full and that it was her turn to eat. She hauled herself back up onto her seat and eyed the platter. “Whoa, it’s huge!”

“Heard that before, sweetheart.”

“Carl!”

He winked and tucked in. Despite the amount of food, they still managed to plough their way through most of the triangle-filled pieces of bread and admired the stunning outlook as they ate.

“It’s a slice of paradise, isn’t it?” Annie mumbled.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, and yes it is.”

She finished chewing and swallowed this time before she announced, “That was yum but I’m stuffed.”

“Me too.” Carl dropped a crust onto the plate and leaned back in his seat. He was a Buddha-like mirror image of Annie, whose own arms were wrapped round her stomach as she moaned that she really shouldn’t have had that last sandwich.

“Look over there.” He sat up, suddenly animated, and Annie swivelled round in her seat to watch as a little choo-choo train pulled up at the beach opposite where they sat.

His eyes sparkled like a child who had just been handed a lollypop. “Shall we?”

“Yes, let’s.”

***

“We shouldn’t have bothered. It was a bloody rip-off,” Carl muttered as they disembarked the train. Nevertheless, he gave their hostess, an overtly friendly Greek woman whose monologue they could barely decipher as they’d chugged along the coastline, a smile that said we had lots of fun. The train had only gone a short distance up the road and the highlight had been waving at the odd child and over-enthusiastic holiday-maker on the pebbly beaches as it toot-tooted at them. “No wonder she’s so bloody happy she’s coining it,” he whispered out the side of his mouth as they walked away in an unspoken agreement to follow the path that looped around the waterfront.

“I did pick up that Sheikh something or other likes to stay in that luxury villa up there when he comes to Elounda.” Annie pointed up at the sprawling hillside complex. “Oh and Leonardo DiCaprio likes to water ski but then Kas already told us that.”

“Bully for Leo. I don’t know about you but I’m about ready to head back to Eleni’s to put my feet up for a while.”

“We might get that trip out to Spinalonga with Spiros, seeing as Alexandros is obviously back on dry land.”

Carl frowned. “Don’t mention we saw him when we get back. I get the feeling that it might stir the pot.”

“No, I won’t. You’re right; besides, I think Kas has enough on her mind with Mama at the moment. She doesn’t need to be worrying about what the Cretan Stud gets up to when he is supposed to be working as well. Let’s just pop into that gorgeous bakery we saw earlier and pick up something nice to take back for dessert tonight.”

The sea breeze cooled the hot air and left a tang of salt on Annie’s lips as the Bikakis family’s little runabout boat that Spiros had taken her and Carl over to Spinalonga on made its return trip. She was glad she’d worn her cap or her hair would have been tangled beyond redemption by the time she got back to Eleni’s. As the island retreated into the distance, she gripped the wooden seat and wished for the first time in her life that she had a bit more padding on her bottom as they bounced over the waves. Spiros shouted over the noise of the engine at Carl and pointed out different points of interest along the peninsula as Spinalonga got farther away and the shoreline closer. Annie’s mind was still on the island, though.

The crowds had dispersed a little by the time they had dragged the boat ashore on the island, thanks to the lateness of the afternoon. Spiros, after arguing over the entry fee with the gatekeeper, who would not budge in his insistence that local or no local, he should pay, opted to sit on a rock in the shade of a tree near the water’s edge. He was content to read his book and leave them to explore the broken cobbled streets on their own. The very emptiness—apart from a straggler tourist or two and the odd lizard skittering past—of the crumbling buildings that had once housed a functioning albeit ostracised community hinted at the isolation the people who had dwelled here had lived with.

They picked their way under stone archways and through stone walled gardens now filled with nothing but scrub leading them into decrepit creeper clad houses made of pile upon pile of rocks. It was difficult to reconcile the buildings they explored now with the busy community the plaques and photographs inside the rooms they wandered freely depicted them as having been. The human spirit was indeed incredible. Annie noted the smiles on the faces of those captured on film, despite their hardship. There was a strange beauty to it all, she decided, as they followed the main path round the island. They paused when they reached a viewpoint to marvel at the three-sixty-degree vistas it offered up. It really was breathtaking, they agreed, and Carl had mumbled something about being able to think of worse places to see out your days. Annie had thumped him, pointed across to the mainland and told him that some of the people living here had left their families behind and had to live with them forever in their sights but out of their grasp.

As they stumbled across the open cemetery with its rows of unnamed rectangular graves covered in stones, even he was chastened. They were both quiet by the time they arrived back to where Spiros was engrossed in his book. On their approach, he bent the page to save his place and shut his book. He took note of their sober expressions. “Yes, this place, it sometimes has this effect on people.”

Now as they reached the shallow waters of the mainland, Annie hopped out of the boat. Her feet sunk into the pebbles below as she trudged up the beach. She watched as Carl and Spiros dragged the boat up on the bank and heard the tinkle of goat bells in the hills beyond. The charming sound, along with the buttery hues of the gentle slopes the goats roamed as they searched out blades of grass amid the rocks and soil, cleared the last of the fug left behind by Spinalonga’s tarnished history.

The blonde guest they’d spied with Alexandros earlier in the day headed down the path towards their little group as they veered off the pavement to cut across the frontage to Eleni’s. Thankfully, Annie noted, she was dressed. Her hire car keys dangled from her fingers as she waved at Spiros with her other hand. It caused her bosoms to jiggle and drew one’s eyes to an impressive cleavage that was impossible to miss, anyway, encased as it was in a tight, white number. The white showed off the mahogany tan she had acquired by lying prone in the sun over the last week.

Obviously fond of lying on her back then, and not a natural blonde, even if her boobs were real because there were telltale dark roots that showed along her part line.
Stop being so bitchy
, Annie told herself;
she’s probably a really nice girl
. The little voice continued to snipe in her head: a really nice girl who got round in G-strings when she had a bum like Kim Kardashian.
Meow—Annie!
She mentally slapped herself on the hand while she noticed that Blondie had a somewhat mousey friend with her. They were dressed for a night on the town and she felt sorry for the mousey girl; she would definitely spend her evening in Blondie’s blousy shadow. She wondered idly whether Alexandros had plans to meet up with them later.

As they walked in through the side door to the kitchen, they were assailed by a full-blown row. Kassia’s hands were on her hips and her normally wide brown eyes were narrowed as she spoke in rapid-fire Greek. The source of her annoyance was clearly her brother-in-law, who had his hands in the air as though trying to ward her words off. Mama muttered over by the stove and stirred something that despite the tense atmosphere in the kitchen smelled mouth-wateringly divine. Annie’s tummy grumbled involuntarily and she wrapped her hands around her middle to silence it. She hoped that Mama would stop stirring whatever was in the pot quite so forcibly because she was losing half the sauce over the side. Spiros pushed past her. He joined in the mix, his tone placatory as he scooped a wide-eyed Nikolos out of the highchair and sidestepped Mateo, who was busy ramming a truck into the table leg. Annie grabbed Carl’s arm and pulled him back the way they had come. She decided it might be best if they left the family to sort things out on their own.

“I’m guessing that’s over his no-show at breakfast this morning,” Annie whispered as they walked down the hall. Carl stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. He was too busy skipping the light fandango with Ms G-String. Now, that’s a sight I won’t forget in a hurry.” He yawned, his hand on the rail as he took the first step. “I am knackered. I might go and lie down for half an hour, or at least until the dust settles.”

“It’s all that sunshine and sea air.” Annie stifled a yawn of her own but knew if she lay down, she’d probably fall asleep and feel like rubbish by the time she got up again to join the others. “I might go and explore the back garden. I didn’t have a look round there yesterday.”

Carl gave her a wave and headed up the steps. “See you soon.”

Pleased to escape the tension that seeped out from under the kitchen door, Annie headed around the back of the house to where Spiros and Carl had toiled yesterday. She stood for a moment and admired the unexpected oasis Spiros had created. The air, she noticed as she inhaled deeply, was thick with the mingling scents of oregano and rosemary. A lemon tree stood sentry in the far corner of the square garden and the raised beds overflowed with a summer’s bounty of heavy, ripe tomatoes clinging on to their vines and vying for space alongside the high gloss aubergines. Across the bricked back wall, a grapevine snaked its way upwards, laden with fruit that was only just beginning to ripen. Annie snapped off a piece of rosemary and jumped back in shock as a little lizard skittered out from under the shade of a nearby leafy courgette plant.

The raised bed Carl had been helping Spiros fill yesterday had a fresh planting of lettuce seedlings that drooped in the heat. She spied a tap with a watering can next to it by the side of the house, so she walked over and filled it. She started at the sight of Alexandros as he leaned against the wall by the back door and watched her curiously.

Her face flamed and she knew it was probably the same colour as her hair. For the second time that day, she was glad it was tucked under a cap; otherwise, she would resemble one of the giant tomatoes she had just admired. Knowing that he must be well used to having this kind of effect on women, Annie turned the tap off and wished he would go away.

“I am sorry you had to hear all that earlier.” His English, while good, was not as precise as Kassia’s and his accent had a melodic twang to it that would most certainly woo the ladies.

Annie shrugged, not meeting his gaze on purpose, as she tilted the can and sprinkled water over the thirsty lettuces. “It’s not as though we could understand any of it, anyway, and all families fight from time to time. It’s part of the dynamic of being in a family.” It wasn’t her place to add that of course his family might not fight quite so often if he weren’t such a lazy swine. If he helped out more instead of swanning off with a busty blonde who, if she insisted on the wearing of skimpy swimwear, really should spend a bit more time doing her glute exercises, then family life might be more congenial.

“Yes, there are too many—how you would say? Chiefs in our house.”

Annie assumed he referred to his mother and sister-in-law, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw him kick at the soil his brother had worked so hard to turn into a garden, before he sighed heavily. Then he was gone. Feeling unsettled and thoroughly annoyed with herself for letting him have any kind of effect on her whatsoever, Annie emptied the can. She watched the water soak its way into the soil for a moment before she decided to head back inside. As she caught sight of herself in the window, she realised she would need to smarten her act up before dinner but first she would brave sticking her head back into the kitchen to see whether she could help Mama with the prep work.

***

Kassia tapped on Annie’s door before she pushed it open to find her friend trying to work a comb through her hair.

“I offered to help Mama with dinner but she wouldn’t hear of it. So now I am trying to tidy myself up a bit before we eat but with my mop it’s a bit of a lost cause. Ow!”

Kassia smiled. “Your hair is beautiful—leave it.” She flopped down on the edge of the bed and apologised for the fight they had borne witness to earlier.

It was the second apology regarding the Bikakis family set-to in under half an hour, Annie realised as she waved it away. “It’s no big deal. Families fight, so what?”

“But mine is fighting all of the time lately. I was telling Alexandros he is lazy and that he needs to do his fair share about the place.”

“I thought you might be and quite right, too. Ouch! Bloody knots.”

“Your nose is very pink too, like that cute little reindeer—you know.”

“Rudolph. Cheers for that.” Annie peered into the mirror to find she indeed glowed; it was probably a touch of windburn from the boat ride earlier. Still, she’d have to be more careful with reapplying the sunscreen from now on. “Do you think he listened?”

“Pah! I doubt it. Mama, well, she never backs me up, even though she knows I am right, because she is terrified he will pack his bags and leave again.” Kassia shrugged. “What she doesn’t see is that he’ll do that anyway just as soon as he gets a better offer. So she continues to tiptoe around him. She is blind when it comes to her son.”

“A mother’s prerogative perhaps?” Annie smiled at her as she put the comb down. It was a lost cause and twisting it into a topknot, she decided that would have to do.

“No! When Mateo does something horrendous like the time he is peeing in the geranium pot, I tell him so and he gets a smack on the bottom.” She clapped her hands to emphasise her point but her grin gave away the fact that she knew Alexandros was a tad too big for smacks on his bottom from his mama.

“Did Spiros back you up?”

“Yes, in his usual way. He told his brother he shouldn’t leave it all up to me and Mama but Alexandros, he never listens because he doesn’t really care. It is all about him and his attention at the moment is on a certain blonde guest we have staying.”

“Yes, the girl with enormous bosoms. Carl said you could rest a pint of beer on them.”

Kassia snorted. “And have you seen that piece of elastic she calls a bikini?”

Annie nodded. They looked at each other and giggled. Carl tapped on the door, pushed it open, walked into the room and looked at the girls with amusement.

“What’s so funny?”

Kassia managed to gasp out between her giggles what they were laughing about and Carl joined in. He swore that next time he saw Blondie mincing past in her G-string, he’d give her a wedgie. “That will make her think twice about inappropriate swimwear!”

As she laughed, Annie was once again struck by a pang. She was so going to miss him when he’d be gone. Lately it seemed that her life had been filled with goodbyes.

“Come on, you two.” He held his hands out to them in order to haul them both off the bed. “Mama sent me to tell you that dinner is nearly ready.”

***

A colourful salad straight from the garden she had been admiring a short while ago took centre stage at the old wooden table, which had been smartly dressed for dinner. Annie gestured towards it. “That looks wonderful.”

“So do you. I like your hair up like that—it suits you.” Alexandros poured Retsina into her wine glass.

Annie’s hand involuntarily flew up to pat her loose up-do. “Oh, um, thanks.”

“Mateo picked the tomatoes, didn’t you?” His mother spoke to him in English as she pulled a chair out next to her son and sat down too. He nodded shyly over at Annie as Kassia grabbed hold of one of his hands. “Have you washed them?” She suspiciously inspected his fingernails. He nodded with such an emphatic yes that she decided he hadn’t and promptly took him off to do the job properly this time round.

A few minutes later, with the smell of soap wafting across the table, Mama, with her hands stuffed into oven gloves and satisfied her audience was in full attendance, picked up a steaming casserole dish and waddled over to the table. Annie inhaled the rich aroma of the stew inside the dish as she placed it in pride of place on a waiting pot stand before she whipped the lid off with a magician-like flourish.