September 2012
Deity.gr
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She was unpacking her suitcase cursing herself for her
cowardice. For one more time she didn’t manage to pass the
house door and shut it behind her back for good. After
emptying the suitcase, she kicked it hard and it disappeared
under the bed. She slammed the closet door and made her way
to the kitchen. Although a little late, Myrto started her daily
routines, even though it tiered her and made her whole body
ache, she didn’t have the strength to break free.
She started peeling potatoes. It was getting late and she didn’t
have time to prepare anything else. Any moment now, her
daughter would come home from school.
“Thankful y my girl loves French fries” she said to herself.
She gazed out of the window. Her mind playing games with
her. Her thought wouldn’t let her relax. Her life had become
unsavoury. Nothing seemed to please her. She wanted to leave,
but she always changed her mind at the last second.
“Were would I go?” she thought.
The serious problems had begun two years ago, when her aged
husband got a mistress. No, he didn’t sleep around. That she
might could have forgiven. His mistress was the card deck. And
how could Myrto compete with that?
The financial problems didn’t take long to start. The few
savings they had in their bank account in case of emergency,
soon disappeared. Her husband’s salary stopped two blocks
away at the casino he used to go and never made it home.
Along with the financial troubles, came the anger, the fight for
every little thing, the tears, the “I’l leave if you don’t change”,
the violence. Because even this point he had reached. Hitting
her because he couldn’t land with his mistress and letting out
his anger on his wife.
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And he loved her. He even got to the point to threaten her
father, that if he wouldn’t let her be his wife – his father-in-
law never liked him, he would commit suicide. They met at the
wedding of a distant cousin of Myrto. He was a friend of the
groom and, because he was already thirty five, as soon as he
saw Myrto, he decided to leave the bachelor life behind him
for good. Up to two years ago, things were going well. But once
he got into card games, everything changed. At first Myrto
blamed herself. She thought that because of her pregnancy,
that wasn’t the easiest one, and her devotion to her daughter,
she neglected him. But a visit to the bank and a “We are sorry,
your bank account is empty” from the employee, what if she
made him check two and three times since she had no idea
about her husband’s whereabouts, made her final y
understand the reasons.
Her eyes fil ed up with tears. She was in a dead end with no
hope in the horizon. Emptiness. She felt numb, fading from the
daily psychological misery. At almost thirty, she had left
everything behind to raise her daughter and take care of her
husband. Not this one, the one she had met two years ago at
her cousin’s wedding. The one who took her into his arms two
years ago and promised her love forever and respect. The
dreams and ambitions about a big career in court, as she had
excelled law school, took the backseat. And as long as things
were good, she didn’t mind. Now on the other hand. .
The oil started sizzling in the pan. Its sound made her stand
up. She dried her eyes and threw the fries into the pan. She
heard the sound of keys on the door. Her daughter run into
her arms. She hugged her tight. She asked her how school was
and told her to go wash her hands so they could eat in a few
minutes. Her mother appeared in the door of the kitchen.
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“Thank you for getting her from school.” Myrto said and
turned around so she couldn’t see her red eyes.
“Were you crying?” she asked her and sat down.
“You don’t understand”.
“Myrto, don’t give up like that. Give Giannis a little time”.
“Time? You want me to give him some time? And what do you
think I’m doing two years now?” Myrto answered, trying to
hold back her anger so the child wouldn’t hear and continued:
“what else do I have to do for you to understand that this can’t
go on anymore? Wait for him to put me into the hospital?”.
“I didn’t say that, but we.. ”. Myrto didn’t let her finish her
sentence. Her body was shaking in anger, like a fish out of the
water.
“I don’t care what you do. I wil leave one day, whether you
like it or not”.
The conversation stopped when the girl entered the kitchen.
Myrtos’ mother was very image oriented and a divorce would
crack the perfect family image she presented to her friends
and acquaintances. She often mentioned a lot of examples
from women her age who suffered such things and worse, to
convince her not to break up the family. Once Myrto actual y
found the strength to leave, but when she asked her for help,
she turned her back to her, discreetly of course, but that didn’t
change the fact that she turned her her back. And so, having
nowhere to go, Myrto went back.
After they ate, the girl went to bed, fol owing her schedule
that imposed at least two hours of sleep at noon. Her mother
left, without any further words. Myrto laid down on the couch
in the living room and heard the keys on the door a few
minutes later. She took a deep breath and pretended to be
asleep. She didn’t have the strength and spirit to face him. A
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few minutes later, the sound of plates breaking in the kitchen,
made her jump up. He entered the living room and started
swearing cal ing her lazy, because he thought that French fries
were a mere food for him. She asked him to stop so the child
wouldn’t hear them but he didn’t seem to care. After he cal ed
her names she never could image him saying, he slammed the
door and left. Myrto dropped on the couch crying, wishing she
would die, since she couldn’t stand this situation any longer.
The next morning, after dropping her daughter off at school,
she decided to take a walk in the park nearby. She couldn’t
stand going back home. She sat on a bench and no matter how
hard she tried, she couldn’t hold back her tears. Suddenly she
felt somebody next to her. She raised her head and saw a
young man offering her a tissue. She looked at him and he
smiled. But she had no time to thank him. He disappeared
without saying a word.
At noon, her mood had brightened up. The presence of the
young man, even those few minutes, was stuck in her head,
driving away her husband’s image and what she was going
through because of him.
“Wanna go get an ice cream?” she asked her daughter when
she picked her up from school.
“But it’s Tuesday” her daughter answered puzzled. Friday was
ice cream day.
“A little change doesn’t matter” Myrto answered and her
daughter stormed cheerful into her arms.
Mother and daughter enjoyed the ice cream so much they
didn’t notice their faces that were ful of cacao cream. When
they looked at each other they burst into laughter. Myrto
opened her bag to get a tissue. She found the one the young
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man had given to her at the park. Her surprise was big when
she saw a phone number on it. .
The deep blue of the Aegean Sea was stretched in front of her.
Smal waves were splashing on the ends of her feet, making
the August heat bearable. Her salt-covered, well-shaped body
was left in the arms of the Greek Sun God, who fil ed her body
with streams of sweat, whilst the straw hat was protecting her
face. The beach bar a few meters behind her, was playing soft
music, since the tourists hadn’t showed up yet. Her phone
started ringing. She slowly stood up from her towel. Vaso
informed her that she had an appointment in the afternoon.
She was the one who urged her to close down the law office
and go to the beach. She closed the phone and turned her head
to look at Dimosthenis who was teaching her daughter to swim
without arm floats. Antigone looked at her and smiled. Myrto
returned the smile and laid down on her towel again. She was
smiling a lot lately.
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