The Art of Becoming Homeless (21 page)

‘
Interesting view,’ Michelle contemplates.

‘
Why do we have nations anyway? It is such a primitive idea.’

‘
Don’t tell me you are not proud to be Greek, because I won’t believe you.’ Dino lets go of her hand to change shoulders with his heavy bag. ‘Besides, I’m sure if someone came and threatened your mama when she was alive, just because she was Greek, you would defend her.’

‘
Of course, but I would defend her if it was for her money or anything else.’

‘
But you had the Turks here for four hundred years, would you not have defended the Greek way of life, the Greek traditions?’

‘
I would have defended the right to have the Greek way of life. I would have defended liberty, not all things Greek.’ Dino changes the bag back to his other shoulder again and takes up her hand.

‘
But you will not go to prison to defend that right?’ Michelle asks.

‘
Who does that benefit? I would suffer in jail, the tax payer suffers to keep me there. It makes no sense.’

‘
So by your own rules it is better to do your military service?’

He tries to shrug but the bag is too heavy, it begins to slide off his shoulder, he lets go of Michelle
’s hand quickly to catch it.

‘
What’s in there anyway, Dino, the kitchen sink?’

‘
Clothes mostly, and some mementoes that I keep with me, some books.’

‘
I wish my life fitted into one bag.’

‘
Right now it fits into even less than that; all you have is what you stand up in.’

Michelle checks her money belt for her wallet, passport, and toothbrush; the three things that survived the donkey ride. She looks over to the sea. Somewhere at the bottom is her little rucksack with her guidebook. It seems like weeks ago since that day.

The harbour comes into view. Her desire to see Juliet, talk things over with her, just to spend time, no longer seems as urgent as it had when she arrived. She still has no answers to her self-made trap in London, but somehow a contentment has settled inside her. Trusting in life, perhaps?

Looking up to the convent she smiles.
‘Dino, how did Adonis know where to find you when you were up the stream bed?’

Dino walks on, almost as if he hasn
’t heard her. She waits.

‘
It was where we had our picnic, the day I went with the goat herder and the goats.’

‘
Oh. I am sorry.’

‘
Adonis knows I go there to think, to talk to her, ask her views.’

Loss through death has
never touched Michelle’s life directly; she has no idea what to say.

‘
You know if we go to the village you will have to face your father. It’s not big enough to avoid him.’

He nods.

‘Will you be OK with that?’

‘
It’s on my list: face Baba, decide what to do about the army, marry Michelle.’

‘
What? Ha, ha ha, very funny!’ She swallows hard, plucks her tongue off the roof of her mouth and tries to breathe, slowing her pace to steady herself. The hairs on the back of her neck are standing on end and she is grinning.

‘
I am serious.’ He drops his bag and turns to her. ‘Marry me?’

‘
Don’t be silly, Dino, and pick your bag up or we will be late.’ Her hand strokes across her stomach, soothing its back flips. Her heartbeat throbs in her temple, in her chest. Her breathing has increased and there is a rushing in her ears. Blinking helps to restore her focus.

Picking his bag up, he straightens.
‘I am serious.’ His voice cracks, full of emotion.

Michelle glances sideways at him. He cannot be serious, but are those tears in his eyes?

Foremost in her mind is his age, so young to make such a commitment.

‘
I’ll tell you what, ask me again in six months’ time and I will take you seriously.’ She hopes this will soften her direct blow. She laughs, tries to make light of it. He smiles in response, and she pecks him on the cheek to show him that her feelings have not changed.

‘
Isn’t that Costas standing there? Look, the guy with a bag by his feet. Come on.’ Michelle increases her speed. Dino continues his steady pace.

‘
You act like you can’t wait to get off the island, back to the village.’

She might as well have just punched him in the stomach. So tactless, but he had caught her so off guard. She could never in a million years have seen that coming. What do you say to such things? She is not at a stage in her life when she can offer a spontaneous response; everything these days needs consideration, find the implications, the resulting ripples. But marriage!

Dino pulls his t-shirt straight from under the bag on his shoulder. It was not a real response, because she was surprised, but no more than he was. If he had known he was going to
say such a thing he would ... well, he is not sure what he would have done differently, but perhaps not tag it onto the end of a sentence like that. Bought a ring maybe, gone down on one knee, done it properly. Now she thinks he isn’t serious. Well, he said it, so it must have come from some deep desire?

They continue to walk along towards Costas, Dino lost in his thoughts.

What would marrying her really mean? It wouldn’t change anything; she still has her life in London, and he still has to either return to London, if they will let him out of the country, or do the army if he stays. There, that is it! If she is married to him she has to wait whilst he does his service, be there when he is released, visit him on the free weekends, and the weeks of home leave, she will be there for him.

‘
Hey, there you are. Deep in thought, Dino? Nothing wrong, I hope.’ Costas greets Dino with a firm hand on his shoulder and Michelle with a smile and a glint in his eye.

Dino tries to snap out of his thoughts, but they linger heavily in his mind.

‘I just remembered something, I’ll be five minutes,’ and off Costas trots back across the flagstones, between tables, under the canvas shade into his café.

‘
Have you said goodbye to Adonis?’ Michelle asks.

‘
No, I’ll go now.’ He sets off, taking Michelle by the hand.

Round the corner from the harbour, the café is open. Mellow music drifts out onto the street, the outside tables are full. Adonis surveys the sea of customers, alert for a beckoning raised hand.

‘
Hey file, pos paei?
’ Adonis says in his mother tongue. It is easy to forget that Michelle doesn’t understand, so Dino returns the greeting in the same language.

‘
I’m going up to the village, face my Baba.’ He stuffs his hands in his front pockets.

Adonis
’ own hand is quickly on his friend’s shoulder, supporting, encouraging. ‘Oh, my friend, I wish I could be there with you. Maybe it won’t be as harsh as you are expecting?’

Dino swallows and just looks at his friend.

‘There is no greater fear than fear itself.’ Adonis smiles, his hand slips back to his side. ‘She going with you?’

‘
Yes.’ He hesitates. What would Adonis say if he knew he had just proposed to her? Would he laugh, would he warn him off, would he give his blessing?

‘
I think underneath her judgemental attitude, her heart is good. Someone like you will only improve her.’ He smiles.

Dino senses that Michelle knows she is being talked about. He lets go of her hand and puts his arm around her.

‘Good luck then,’ Adonis says in English.

The water taxi takes twenty minutes to get them to the mainland, and Costas’ car looks abandoned, covered with dust, next to the tiny jetty. Opening the doors lets the heat from inside force its way out, making each of them step back. There is a biro on the dashboard that has bent with the heat, and a bottle of water on the back seat which is too hot to touch.

Costas insists Michelle, being the lady, sit in the front, and it is not long before a gentle rhythmic breathing is heard from Dino in the back, which is fine as Costas is intelligent, amusing company. They talk on many subjects until Michelle begins to recognise the roads, and finally they are just outside the village.

‘Can you drop us here? I would love to walk into the village, take it slowly, remind myself of everything.’

‘
Sure, but be sure to stay in touch, come visit, or if I come to London I would like to take you to a West End show.’ He grins. Michelle feels she has found a friend.

Dino wakes with a start and is disorientated until he looks around him as he climbs out of the air-conditioned car into the full blaze of the sun.

‘It’s not as hot here as the island, is it?’ Michelle comments.

‘
It is all stone and paved streets on Orino. There is nowhere for the heat to be absorbed. Here there are the orange groves.’ She can hear a tension in his voice. For him, coming here is not a happy prospect; for her, she cannot wait to see Juliet.

The lane narrows; it is pitted, the tarmac non-existent in places, buildings nestled into the landscape ahead. As they near the village, Michelle recognises things: the school on a corner, the railing around it, each upright painted a different colour; a curve in the road, then a long, straight street with well-tended gardens in front of traditional houses on either side. Blue shutters, crumbling greying whitewash. An old-fashioned garage. Michelle remembers it from the petrol pumps: they look like a poster for nineteen-fifties America, block tops and tapering bases. Looking ahead she recognises the square. Walking slowly, soaking it all in, she feels very different about Greece, about herself,
compared with the last time she visited.

The
ouzeri
where she first set eyes on Dino last Christmas is open. A woman in a floral dress sits outside and a man stands next to her, with one arm around her, the other sleeve of his shirt tucked, empty, into his waistband.

Michelle turns to look at him as they pass, trying to recall her impression of Dino on that first meeting. The woman in the chair, unaware that she is being watched, stands and wraps her arms around the man
’s neck and kisses him.

Opposite is what looks like a sandwich shop. It is only tiny, but Michelle does not remember it; maybe it
’s new. The square opens out. The fountain, painted blue inside, is not working, and there are Indian men still sitting around it. The kiosk is exactly as she remembers it. So, too, is the high-ceilinged, unadorned
kafenio
at the top. The farmers have brought their coffees and their rush-seated, wooden chairs outside onto the square and are watching football on a big screen in the
kafenio
window, the waiter sauntering backwards and forwards across the road. The chairs go so far back they almost mingle with the Indian men around the fountain, but there is a definite line that divides the two.

And on the other corner should be the little shop that sells everything.

‘Oh! What has happened to the shop?’ Her hand comes up to her mouth.

‘
Haven’t a clue; looks like they are rebuilding it,’ Dino replies.

‘
Don’t you know? It’s your village.’ His lack of interest amuses her.

‘
When you are homeless, it is very hard to get mail without a computer or an address.’ He is smiling as he talks, but the tension in his voice is still there, thinking about his father no doubt.

They turn right at the top of the square and walk in front of the screen. No one seems to mind the seconds of football they miss. Michelle looks back past where the shop once was. She can see the church beyond; she had been to a wedding there, of the
owner’s daughter. She had gone with Juliet and her boys. Wasn’t that the same day they went for chips and met Dino and his dad?

She shrugs to herself and faces forward again. They pass the public fresh water taps and turn left into Juliet
’s road.

Dino exhales loudly.

‘You OK?’ she asks, as it is an unexpected sound, the release of the tension, but he assures her that he is fine now that he is out of the main square. Michelle understands: he wants to meet his father on his own terms, not be caught unawares.

On the narrow lane to Juliet
’s, Kyria Georgia is in her neat garden deadheading some of her myriad flowers. She has a misshapen wide-brimmed hat on, and an apron down to her ankles that looks like it has never been washed, over her clothes of mourning. Her husband died—what was it—twenty-two or twenty-three years ago? Michelle has been told by Juliet, but she cannot recall exactly. Georgia’s concrete yard is a riot of colourful flowers in pots, leaving nothing but small walkways to sidle between to water them. Some of the bougainvillea tower over her little cottage. She looks up as they pass.

‘
Oh Panayia
,’ and off she goes enthusing in Greek. Michelle has had Juliet explain to Kyria Georgia many times that she does not understand Greek, but it doesn’t stop the flood of exclamations. On and on she talks, encouraging Michelle to laugh when she does and look grave when appropriate.

They kiss firmly on each cheek. Georgia greets Dino in the same way and then points, first to Michelle and then Dino with a mischievous glint in her eye. Dino says nothing.

After what seems like an age of not understanding anything, Georgia holds up a commanding finger for them to wait. She goes into her tiny cottage and returns with a handful of eggs.

They continue up the lane, now laden with eggs, and Michelle remembers she has not brought any wine.

The house next to Georgia’s is seldom visited now as the owner, who runs a shop in Athens, has acute diabetes. His grandsons sometimes visit, bringing their latest girlfriends, Juliet has told Michelle. The place looks very uncared for.

Then there is the deserted barn with the unused land, and at the end of the rough road are the double metal gates
with the arch above, covered with wild roses.

Although this is only Michelle
’s third visit, it feels like coming home.

Dino pushes open the gate and is greeted by two cats winding around each other, the gate, and his legs.

He shifts his bag further onto his shoulder so it won’t fall as he bends to stroke them.

The front patio looks so inviting; the pergola over the top hangs with leaves and tiny buds that will be grapes. Juliet has a sofa that she leaves outside all summer, old and sagging but so comfortable. This year, next to the table and chairs, where they ate most of their meals, she remembers, she has slung a hammock
between two of the whitewashed pillars that support the pergola.

Michelle knocks on the open front door and savours the cool of the interior; she had almost forgotten how hot it is outside.

‘Juliet?’ she calls. The room is all white: old white floor tiles, another sagging white sofa, a wall lined with books, open plan to the kitchen, all old cupboards and wood. The fridge is a little incongruous in the organic environment. Everywhere dust dances in the strips of sunlight, which highlights the corners of the room.

Michelle breathes out and Dino drops his bag in the doorway.

‘Hey,’ Dino calls from outside, ‘look what I have found. This yours?’

He has returned outside and is manhandling her suitcase.

‘Ha, they must have sent it from the airport! Where was it?’ Michelle asks.

‘
Just out here against the wall.’ Dino replies.

Michelle helps lug the case indoors.

‘Juliet?’ she calls again, but there is no answer. She quietly opens Juliet’s bedroom door to see if she is sleeping, but the bed is made, the shutters closed. It is the coolest part of the house, the stone walls several feet thick near the base.

‘
I think she’s out.’ Michelle puts the kettle on and makes some tea, no milk, and they go through the kitchen door to the back and sit looking out over the garden. Juliet has worked wonders; she has added a pond since Michelle’s last visit. It looks as if it has always been there, just to the right of the twisted olive tree, tall grasses growing around the edges. Juliet still has not walled the garden in, leaving in place the rusted metal fencing which time has worn almost invisible, opening the garden to the orange orchard on two sides and the disused barn and its own piece of rough land on the third. The fruit trees have grown and the flowers look well established. The lawn is patchy, but then in this heat, what could be expected?

‘
Isn’t it perfect?’ Michelle sips her tea. The director’s chair she is sitting on feels far from firm; she tries not to shift her weight.

Dino is sitting on a couple of breezeblocks looking at his phone.

Dino pulls his t-shirt down and smoothes it out. He turns on his phone to see if there are any messages from his Baba. He wants to make the decision about when they will meet. It will have to be sooner rather than later, as many people have seen him walk through the village centre, and one of them is sure to congratulate his father on his son
’s return to the village. He will come looking if Dino does not forestall him. But he has made a decision. Life cannot be ‘on hold’ any longer. If he had already done his service, Michelle would have taken his proposal more seriously.

After eighteen months he will be free, and then he can get a job and will marry Michelle. The decision fills him with a feeling of power. He stands tall and puts his phone away.

‘
Juliet!’ Michelle calls when she sees the car at the gate. She lurches out of the deep outdoor sofa and runs lightly to greet her friend.