Jeffrey Siger - Mykonos After Midnight

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The Medea sailed south, away from the harsh rush of wide open seas funneling through Mykonos’ narrow straits with neighboring Tinos.

The farther out to sea they sailed, the more ethereal Mykonos’ southern coastline became. A pearl and diamond necklace of light strung along the shore.

“Such beauty, a true paradise,” said Teacher taking off her sunglasses and looking off toward shore from the upper deck dining room.

She looked at Wacki. “You must feel blessed to be a part of all this.”

“Yes, ma’am. Absolutely.”

Those were about the only words Wacki had spoken in the two and one-half hours he and Sergey had been on board. He looked like a frightened mouse waiting for the cat to pounce.

“Did you enjoy the dinner?” She asked.

Wacki nodded. “Yes, terrific.”

“What about the wines. They were special, weren’t they? Very rare.”

“Yes, yes,” he nodded. “Never had better.” Wacki’s face now looked as if the cat were toying with him.

“And you, Sergey?”

He sat to Teacher’s right, directly across from Wacki. He reached over and patted her hand. “I cannot ever remember a finer meal, or better company.” He looked straight into Teacher’s eyes as he spoke.

“Wonderful, I’m pleased.” She did not move her hand but with the other waved to the man all in white.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Please, pour the wine.”

“More?” said Sergey.

“It is very special, a 1975 Chateau d’ Yquem. You will enjoy it I assure you. For the occasion I picked the best I could find closest to your birth year. It is a few years older than you, but the newer vintages proved sadly disappointing.”

“How thoughtful.” He smiled and tossed his head to flip his hair away from his face.

Teacher said, “I always planned to come back to Greece. I have not been here in decades, except for our brief meeting ten days ago.”

She shook her head. “Only ten days. It seems much longer. So much has happened in such a short time.”

The man produced a bottle and showed it to Teacher. She nodded.

He placed a glass in front of her, poured out a bit, and waited.

She sipped it. “Magnificent. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

The man placed a glass in front of Wacki and poured. He did the same for Sergey, and filled Teacher’s glass.

Teacher raised her glass. “To Mykonos and our soon to be Mykonos Magick.”

Sergey and Wacki repeated the toast and drank.

“I must say, Sergey, when you came to me with your idea I never thought you would be able to pull it off. It seemed so farfetched, so risky. It made no sense that you, a foreigner, could succeed where so many others had failed.”

Sergey nodded. “Thank you for having faith in me.”

“But times were different, I told myself. Foreigners with skill and proper backing could gain a foothold that a generation ago seemed impossible. And, as you pointed out, where there is little moral reluctance, the ruthless are unstoppable.”

Sergey nodded.

She looked at Wacki. “Would you like more wine?”

He gestured no.

“Please, I insist. I cannot re-cork a bottle of such quality.”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

She nodded to the man in white and he refilled all three glasses. They toasted again, and drank.

“I’m not sure I’ll be back this way.”

“Why?” said Sergey, suppressing a yawn.

“Too many bad memories. Too many disappointments.”

Sergey yawned widely, but did not respond.

“But you, Wacki. You did not disappoint me. You ran true to form.”

Wacki tried to smile but the right side of his face was twitching.

“I judged you correctly. I knew you were jealous of my great fondness for Sergey, that you would do what you could to undermine him in my eyes.”

Teacher shook her head. “But never did I think you would go so far as to lie or attempt to deceive me.”

Wacki literally shook. “I never did. I never would.”

Teacher stared at him. “That’s what I thought. And that’s why I spoke to you earlier today and asked you my one simple question.”

Sergey said, “You spoke to him before we came on the boat?”

She kept her eyes on Wacki. “Yes.”

Sergey tried to flip his hair, but couldn’t complete the motion.

“And your answer to that question is the only reason you’re still alive.”

Wacki looked unsure whether to laugh or cry.

“What was the question?” said Sergey.

“‘Did Sergey ever tell you how much he was paying Lefteris for the hotel?’”

“The little lying shit. What did he say?” Sergey mumbled more than spoke the words.

Teacher turned to Sergey. “Precisely what you said. ‘No, he handed Lefteris a note with the price and I never saw it.’’’

She kept her eyes on Sergey as she said, “Isn’t that right, Wacki?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Sergey blinked his eyes. “I don’t understand. What is the problem?”

“The problem is that the amount you offered Lefteris is not the amount you told me. Not the amount we agreed you would pay.”

“What? How can you be saying that? It’s not true. What has that little bastard been doing behind my back?” Sergey struggled to get to his feet, but the man in white pressed him back down into his chair.

“Sergey, I had such hopes for you. Such aspirations. How could you have betrayed me? Robbed me? How could you have thought you would get away with it?”

“Rob you? Never!”

“That’s what I would have thought. And why, when you failed to tell me that you already had the casino license, I still did not believe it was to take advantage of me.”

“License. What license?”

Teacher shook her head. “It does not matter any more. I found my answer elsewhere.”

Sergey’s head began to droop.

“Honest, I never-”

“Stop! Enough of your lies. I’ve seen the memorandum of understanding submitted to the ministry of tourism signed by you and Lefteris. And whether he is your accomplice in this fraud upon me or not, I have seen the price.”

“I don’t…know…what…”

Teacher rose to her feet, “You paid him only two-thirds of what we agreed. You stole from me.”

She walked behind him, took something from the man in white, and whispered in Sergey’s ear. “I thought of you as a son.You were my salvation, my chance to escape from Hell. How could you have betrayed me?”

“I did-” His words were lost in a gurgle of blood as Teacher slid the razor-sharp blade across his throat, then drove it repeatedly into his heart.

Covered in blood, she stood panting and staring at the body bleeding out onto the dinner table. She looked across at Wacki, dropped the knife, and went back to her seat at the head of the table.

She reached for her wine glass. She stared at the bloody fingerprints on her glass, and drank. She put down the glass and stared at Wacki.

“I shall take his body with me so that I may bury him at sea.”

She took another sip. “It is a tragedy when one you trust does not prove worthy.”

She stared at Wacki. “That would never prove to be you, would it?”

Wacki’s voice cracked. “No. Never. Absolutely never.”

Teacher nodded. “Good. I will be around far longer than many think. In time someone will take over for me and I hope whoever that is will be able to trust you as well.”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“For whoever follows me will likely be even more ruthless than I. That seems to be the way these days. Show how you can be tougher than your predecessor.”

She paused to take another sip. “I want you to go back to Mykonos and wait. We will forget about this hotel deal. Sergey will simply disappear, the hotelier Lefteris will be disappointed, and rumors will spread but die away.