Dimitra Mantheakis - Melina Breaking Free

“What’s wrong, my son? Are you ill?” she asked him.

Sarantos shook his head in negation.

“Come, tell me what is happening?” his mother said, drawing him to the wooden bench in the shade. Sarantos was so bound to her that he knew that she would listen to him with her heart and mind. He told her in a few words what had transpired with Melina and the developments that morning. Eleni listened without speaking. When he finished recounting his story she said to him.” My son, I have known Melina from when she was born. She is neither superficial nor a girl to indulge in casual sex. She has been through hard times in her life and both you and I know of these difficulties. Perhaps she is afraid of committing herself because she hasn’t got the strength to continue living in poverty and misery. And you, Sarantos, even if you married her, couldn’t change her life for the better. You haven’t got the means to do so. I know that you have been in love with her from the time you were a child but it seems that for Melina that is not enough. What is most likely is that she has exhausted her reserves of strength and doesn’t want to take you on board only to dump you later. Don’t bear a grudge against her, my son. Don’t let your pride blind you and lead you away from the reality of the situation. Of course she wanted you when she came to you without any reservations, but she didn’t want what would follow. Give way to your anger and justify her! It seems that the girl could not do anything else!

Tears involuntarily ran down Sarantos cheeks as his mother spoke. Eleni wiped them away and kissed him gently on his brow.

“Mother, I can’t stay in this town any longer. You must understand that, I am finished. There is no room for me here anymore!” Sarantos murmured.

“Relax, my boy, and together we will find a solution. Let me think and we’ll discuss it again. Go and lie down now and we’ll talk later.”

Sarantos, obedient as a child, walked off towards his bedroom. She remained alone and ruminated over her son’s confession. She understood his hurt as memories came back to her of Sarantos as a little boy, still in shorts, when he would often say to her when they were alone, “When I grow up I will become a judge and marry my Melina!” And Eleni would laugh at the seriousness of these childish declarations, but she herself had looked on the young girl as her future daughter-in-law. She couldn’t understand how any woman could ignore this strapping young man with his handsome face, good character and the charm that his presence radiated. And Eleni was objective in her judgment!

She herself had leaned on this mutual understanding and love for years, on the love coming from her son, to face her own martyrdom. The moment had now come for her to stand steady as a rock in his own moment of emotional turbulence because she knew of the lifelong love of Sarantos for Melina and she had seen the depth of his feelings for her. She feared that her son would wither away because he would not be able to avoid seeing Melina, without questions being raised, because they were both in the same tightly-knit group of friends. She was sure that his wound would bleed however much he tried to come to terms with the fact that his dreams had been shattered. The wisest thing would be for Sarantos to distance himself from the town. But where should he go? They had no relatives or friends in Athens, and there wasn’t enough money to send him away to study as the young man fervently desired. It was then that she remembered Paschalis, her cousin, who was well established in Australia with flourishing businesses, who, on many occasions when he travelled to Greece had told her that he would gladly invite the whole family to come to Australia. But Mitsos, her husband, wouldn’t have a word of it. He didn’t care about his children’s future and about better living conditions. He was very happy to continue emptying bottles of wine, playing cards at the café with his friends, and exerting himself in the bedroom…

Eleni sprang up resolutely. She knew what she would do. She would write to Paschalis. But there was another matter to be settled. She needed to find money for the expensive boat ticket, which under no circumstances did she want to request from her cousin. She would ask for the money from her father, explaining the reason to him, in a roundabout way. The truth was that the previous year when her teacher father had retired and offered her half his golden handshake compensation, Eleni out of pride had refused the money. She would go straight to her family’s village now to settle the issue, if indeed the offer that had been made the previous year was still valid and her father had not used the money for something else. She would talk to Sarantos only when the matter of his ticket funding had been settled as well as the issue of his living expenses for his first few weeks in Australia.

Without saying anything to anyone after what had happened that afternoon, she boarded the bus for her village. Half an hour later she walked into her parents’ house. They were worried to see her in front of them without any warning. Usually she visited them on Sundays with her children. Mitsos never accompanied her because he couldn’t stand the sight of her parents. They had similar sentiments for their son-in-law whom they considered a good-for-nothing, and for the big, or rather unforgiveable, mistake on behalf of their pampered daughter, whom he had, in their opinion, turned into a spineless little woman without any character. Eleni took her father aside and said that she needed the money, asking him if he still had the ability to help her.

“The money is for you, my child. We are old and don’t need it. Tomorrow morning I’ll go to the bank and withdraw it. Only, I want us to meet somewhere out of doors so that I won’t bump into Mitsos and have some sort of argument develop”.

They agreed to meet the next day at noon outside the main church. As agreed, her father gave her a bulging envelope, wishing her “May everything go well for the boy!” Eleni, overcome with emotion, kissed him gratefully and went back home. She called Sarantos and told him what she had done. Sarantos was visibly relieved as she spoke and his reaction calmed Eleni. She had harboured a fear deep inside her that his statement “There isn’t enough room for me here!” that her son had blurted out were merely words of disappointment, bitterness and of the moment. She immediately sat down and wrote to Paschalis. Sarantos went to his grandparents while waiting for a reply. He didn’t feel like meeting his friends or, of course, Melina, who would be with them…

Fifteen days later Eleni’s cousin wrote back saying that they were eagerly looking forward for Sarantos to come and they were already preparing the guest house for him to have his own independent space. Eleni bought the ticket for her son’s long trip. Her soul mourned her coming parting with Sarantos, but above all and everyone was his peace of mind, his own mental stability. His departure was at the end of the month, in ten days time. Sarantos returned to the town from the village and informed his friends of his decision to emigrate. Everybody was saddened by the news. Melina, at the other end of the table, cast him a sorrowful look, without making any comment, something that Sarantos interpreted as only regret at the departure of her childhood friend. Her face was very serious, in fact so expressionless that the young man could not discern any other emotion there.

When the day came for Sarantos to leave, his grandparents, his family and all his friends went to the bus station to see him off. Mitsos, his father, was noticeably absent. He had provoked great arguments, swearing and shouting that now that he needed extra hands to help him in the fields his son was running off overseas. Eleni for the first time raised her voice and warned him that if he continued like that she would take the children and also leave with Sarantos. Mitsos cowered, but was constantly drunk and refused to wave him off at the bus and didn’t condescend to say even a simple “goodbye” to his son. When the boy was walking across the yard towards the street gate of the house he shouted “I don’t want to see you ever again!”