Confessions of a Wild Child (5 page)

I am not convinced, but what the hell, I have to learn to move on. I moved on after my mom’s death even though I was just a child. I clearly remember Gino’s words – ‘Don’t ever forget you’re a Santangelo. Never let ’em see you crumble.’

Yes. I am a Santangelo, more like Gino than I care to admit.

Gradually I put what happened to Liz out of my mind and begin to enjoy the summer.

Chapter Nine

T
he Stanislopoulos villa, located on its own private island, is spectacular. Perched on a bluff overlooking the azure-blue Mediterranean, there are endless terraces and incredible views. The Stanislopoulos luxury yacht rests in the bay. Olympia’s dad, Dimitri, is an imposing man with a deep suntan, craggy features and a prominent nose. Handsome, I suppose, in an older-man kind of way. He greets me with a kiss on each cheek, then a third one for good luck, followed by an all-enveloping hug. He smells of very expensive aftershave, cigars and strong liquor.

‘Welcome, my dear,’ he says in a loud booming voice. ‘Any friend of my Olympia’s will fit right in here. We are all one big happy family.’

After that he more or less ignores me, which is OK because Villa Stanislopoulos is teeming with people. Relatives and house guests, attractive older women in designer beachwear, and a bunch of noisy kids. Apart from a sour-faced French girl we are the only teenagers.

‘Who are all these people?’ I ask. ‘They seem to change daily.’

‘I know,’ Olympia agrees, with a nod of her blonde head. ‘All you gotta do is smile while attempting to avoid the old letches. They’ll try to grab your ass given half a chance, so move quickly. They’re ancient and not so nimble.’

She was right. The older the man, the more his hands seemed to be about to wander.

Gross! Ancient Greeks in mankinis exhibiting protruding bellies and pathetic packages while lying out by the infinity pool to further their leathered suntans.

This is not the vacation I had hoped for.

‘Isn’t there anywhere else we can go?’ I ask restlessly after a couple of days. ‘Y’know, like take off for the day? Explore somewhere different?’

Olympia gets the hint. ‘I was waiting for you to give me the word,’ she says. ‘After what happened to Liz and all . . .’ she trails off.

‘I’m about ready for some fun,’ I say, determined not to feel guilty about Liz for ever. Unfortunately Liz chose the path she wished to take, and much as I’ll miss her, it’s time to move on. I refuse to keep blaming myself. Besides, I know how Gino would act, and some times I’m more like my father than I think.

‘Not to worry,’ Olympia replies with a jaunty wink. ‘I’m plotting our next move right now!’

*  *  *

Our next move suits me just fine. A Riva motorboat trip from the island to the mainland – a popular vacation resort teeming with tourists and boys, boys, boys!

We’re supposed to stick with one of Olympia’s aunts who has accompanied us, but that’s not the way it’s going down.

Aunt Alethea is a blonde languid woman, who seems more interested in perusing the shops than spending time with us. She graciously hands us money, tells us to go enjoy ourselves, and reminds us to meet her at the dock at six thirty p.m. ready to return to our island.

‘Your aunt is way cool!’ I enthuse.

‘That’s ’cause she has a boyfriend she secretly meets up with,’ Olympia reveals with a knowing smirk. ‘It’s all very under the radar – he’s black, and she doesn’t want anyone to know.’

‘Then how
do
you know?’ I ask, quite impressed with this nugget of private info.

Olympia gives a mysterious smile. ‘I have ways of finding out everything, so . . . if you’re hiding anything . . .’

I immediately flash onto Gino telling me that my name is Lucky Saint, and not to mention my true identity to anyone. ‘It’s for your own safety, kiddo,’ he’d assured me. ‘Listen to what I say. Got it?’

As usual, I got it.

Now I wonder if Olympia knows who I really am? Lucky Santangelo, daughter of the infamous Gino. The girl whose mother was murdered, and whose father is notorious.

And if she doesn’t, should I tell her? She’s my first close friend and it might be a relief to be truthful.

I decide against it. Who knows how she’ll react.

We hit a crowded beach and mingle. No security. No watchful eyes. Simply two girls out to have a fine old time. Olympia is way into it; so am I. We pay for a couple of loungers, strip off our cover-ups, and lie out in our bikinis. Olympia all blonde and curvaceous, me so dark and lean. We make an inviting couple.

Although they are not in Olympia’s class, I now have boobs – hardly huge – but in my eyes just right.

Before long a boy – accidently or on purpose – trips over the end of Olympia’s lounger. Mister Cool he’s not, although he is kind of interesting-looking with long flaxen hair and a crooked smile.

‘Sorry,’ he says in accented English.

Olympia throws him an appraising look and deems him acceptable to flirt with. ‘OK,’ she says. ‘What’s going on in this place? Anything exciting we should know about?’

‘Tourists?’ he questions.

‘From LA,’ I say.

‘I can show you around,’ he offers, quickly latching onto what he sees as two hot babes out to have an adventure.

Olympia, who is fluent in both Greek and English, decides that she is also from LA and speaks only English. Olympia gets off on screwing with her would-be conquests.

He happily buys it.

‘You play the table tennis?’ he asks.

We both nod, although I know for a fact that Olympia has never played in her life. I happen to be a champion, having indulged in nothing but endless games with Dario for what seems like years.

‘You come play with me and my friends,’ he says, proffering his hand to Olympia.

‘OK,’ Olympia says, allowing him to pull her up. ‘You got a name?’

‘Borus,’ he says.

‘I’m Olympia,’ she says. ‘And this is Lucky.’

I can see she’s kind of into him, and since he tripped over Olympia first, I guess I’m supposed to back off. She has dibs.

I only hope he has some cute friends, ’cause I’m in the mood to play, and I don’t mean ping-pong. Almost has become my favourite game.

Borus’s friends turn out to be a mixed group, with girls outnumbering boys, which I find quite disappointing.

They are all gathered at the top of the beach where there are several ping-pong tables set out. It seems that they are in the middle of a tournament.

Borus has totally zeroed in on Olympia and I’m starting to get that left-out feeling. Now that I have experienced my power over boys, I’m hungry for more.

I check out the group. There is one boy who instantly attracts my attention. The problem is that he appears to be with a girl.

Shame
.

Or is it?

It’s not as if they’re married or anything. He probably just picked her up on the beach like Borus did with Olympia.

I go for a move, full of confidence I never realized I had. Striding over, I say, ‘Hi. I’m Lucky.’ I say it to both the girl and the guy so that she doesn’t get all pissy on me.

‘Wassup?’ he mumbles, looking me over with a moody expression.

‘Are you American?’ I ask.

‘’S’right,’ he replies, brushing back a lock of dark hair that’s practically falling into his eyes. Dark eyes too, just my type.

The girl throws me a dirty look. She has short brown hair and wears a not-very-flattering polka dot bikini.

‘Hi.’ I repeat my greeting to her.

She pulls on Mister Dark Eyes’ arm and attempts to drag him away.

He’s not having it; he shakes free and grins at me. ‘Lulu doesn’t speak English,’ he says. ‘She’s French.’

‘Then how do you communicate?’ I ask.

He winks at me in a very knowing way – ‘How d’you think?’

‘I think you should dump her and come play ping-pong with me,’ I suggest.

Bold!
Even I am startled by the words coming out of my mouth.

‘You do, huh?’ says Mister Dark Eyes.

I can tell he likes my attitude. ‘Oh yeah,’ I assure him. ‘I promise you will not regret it.’

And that is how my big vacation hook-up started.

Chapter Ten

H
is name is Brandon. He’s eighteen and he’s from Queens, New York. He’s visiting Greece on vacation with his parents, and he’s major sexy. I inform him that I am seventeen, soon to be eighteen myself.

Naturally he believes me. I have turned into a totally smooth and convincing liar – especially when it comes to fudging my age. After all, if he realizes I’m only fifteen – game over.

After I show off my prowess at ping-pong with Brandon as my partner, Lulu glares at me and runs off in a tearful huff. Not my fault.

Olympia and Borus, Brandon and I buy time on a couple of pedal boats and take to the sea, whereupon pedalling becomes secondary to full-out kissing.

Brandon is a great kisser, better than Ursi.

I like it! I like it!
Why have I waited so long?

After a while Brandon informs me that he has to have dinner with his parents but that we should get together later on the beach. Sounds like a plan to me.

Once we hit land I confer with Olympia, who I discover is equally anxious to spend more time with Borus.

Question – how do we deal with Aunt Alethea and our six thirty p.m. rendezvous to return to the Stanislopoulos island?

Olympia immediately comes up with a plan. That’s what I love about Olympia – she’s always thinking ahead.

‘Our story is that you ran into a cousin you haven’t seen in ages,’ she announces. ‘Which means we have to stay for dinner, and they should send the Riva back for us at eleven.’

‘Great,’ I say. ‘D’you think your dad’ll buy it?’

‘’Course he will, he’s so busy with his guests,’ Olympia says, tossing back her long blonde curls. ‘There’s no way he’ll even notice we’re missing.’

It occurs to me that Gino and Dimitri are very similar types of men. Handsome macho dudes who care only about themselves. It’s no wonder Olympia and I have forged such a close friendship – we’re sisters from another life.

‘What’ll we wear?’ I ask, realizing that all we’ve got are the bikinis we’re standing up in, plus flimsy cover-ups.

‘No prob,’ Olympia says, groping in her purse and producing an Amex card. ‘While the boys have dinner with their families, the girls’ll go shopping! Right?’

I’m so glad I have a friend like Olympia, she’s on it all the way.

*  *  *

Later we meet up with Aunt Alethea at the dock. Olympia’s aunt looks flushed and slightly dreamy-eyed. She’s forty-something. Do people of that advanced age still enjoy sex?

Apparently so, for it’s written all over her face that she was doing a lot more than shopping – even though she’s armed with several shopping bags.

Olympia feeds her our story and of course she buys it. We skip away from the dock, triumphant. I have to say that I’m loving every second of this adventure. I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I am finally living my life, and surely it’s about time?

We shop outrageously. Olympia informs me that her dad never checks her credit card bills, they simply get paid by an anonymous accountant who questions nothing.

I don’t even
have
a credit card. Gino’s into keeping me under strict control.

Yeah
.
Right
. That’s yesterday’s news. I am no longer Daddy’s little puppet. I am a free agent, free as the breeze! And nobody can stop me now, not even Gino.

After our shopping spree, we retire to an open-air café in a busy square. I am now wearing my new outfit of tight white jeans and a cropped red tank. Dead sexy. Brandon’s gonna love it. Olympia is in a short pink dress that shows off her amazing boobs to full advantage, nipples front and centre. All new purchases courtesy of Olympia’s credit card.

I have to say that we both look major hot.

I can’t wait to meet up with Brandon again – I’m already fantasizing about how far I’ll let him go. Not all the way of course, but with Almost there are several inventive ways to play the game without risking getting pregnant.

Olympia sips a coffee laced with her favourite liqueur. I stick to a cappuccino and a baguette sandwich – which is good considering I’m now starving. Olympia is not; she only eats when she feels like it.

Borus turns up at exactly nine, the designated time of meeting. He’s wearing linen shorts, a striped shirt and flip-flops. Hardly Mister Sex on a Stick. I imagine Brandon will look way cooler. I can hardly wait!

Borus is friendly, but I can tell he is impatient to get Olympia to himself.

I consult my watch. Brandon is late. We’d arranged to meet at nine o’clock and it is now almost nine thirty.

Olympia doesn’t want to leave me sitting in the café alone, which is thoughtful of her but I insist that she and Borus take off.

Borus doesn’t need to hear me say it twice. He grabs Olympia’s arm and pulls her up. She giggles and gives me a look as if to say – ‘What can I do?’

‘Go!’ I encourage. ‘See you on the dock at eleven.’

It seems a bit weird sitting by myself, especially when two older creeps camped out at a nearby table start checking me out. Ugh! Old men with fat bellies and lecherous eyes. I bet they’re married too.

By ten I decide that I can’t sit there any more looking like a total loser. Maybe if I get up and take a walk, Brandon will miraculously appear. It’s obvious his stupid parents are holding him up – I guess that’s the kind of thing parents do. Like I wouldn’t know.

I wander down toward the beach, and as I approach I suddenly see them! Brandon and Lulu are standing by the entrance to the plage, locking lips like there’s no tomorrow.

Oh . . . my . . . God!

For a moment I am frozen in time – a pathetic little teenager struck in the face by the reality of it all. I want to either burst into tears or seriously throw up.

Suddenly I am filled with a sudden surge of fury, and I make up my mind to do neither. Screw it! I’m a Santangelo, not stupid little Lucky Saint.