Dimitra Mantheakis - Melina Breaking Free

Eleni begged Sarantos not to respond, saying that it was the wine that was talking, not his father…

Eleni and his sisters hugged him with deep sorrow in their hearts, trying to hold back their tears. All of his childhood friends wept as they said goodbye. They had no idea when, or if, they would see him again. Melina, standing at the edge of the pavement, and half-hidden by the others was waving her hand. As the vehicle started off Sarantos, overcome by emotion, looked back at his beloved friends for the last time. His eye caught Melina’s face, pale and drawn. Large tears were running down her cheeks. Or was it his imagination?

In a little while the bus disappeared round a bend in the road leaving behind clouds of dust and the bitterness of parting.

Leaving the bus terminal the youngsters decided to have a coffee at the village square to wind themselves down from the emotionally charged moment. When they sat down Paulina said “We’ve grown up and our group has started to scatter! First Mary got married and we see her once in a blue moon, now Sarantos, and who knows who will be next…”

“Probably you with Dina,” said Iakovos. “Did you hear anything back from New York?”

Dina replied that her uncle, who was the priest at the main Orthodox church in Brooklyn, had managed to get two scholarships from the Greek expatriate community for the School of Film, one for Paulina for acting classes, and one for her Dina for costume design. They had also found free accommodation for them for a year. It would be up to the girls to decide when they would go.

A thorny issue was how their parents would react, the girls having purposely avoided telling them anything in order not to find obstacles in their way, but the two girls realized that they could not keep putting off telling their families about their plans for ever. They already had open tickets.

“I was right when I said we would be left alone here!” commented Iakovos melancholically, knowing that even if he wanted to leave the provinces his family obligations would not allow it. Urania and Sofia were shaking their heads thoughtfully. On the one hand they were happy to see their childhood friends spreading their wings to their future, but on the other hand they regretted losing companions with whom they had been together from nursery school. They knew that their absence would be very obvious. Only Melina, sitting quietly in her chair, hardly made a sound. She was already hiding a big secret from her friends and it would be sure that she would never ever reveal it - her night of sex with Sarantos. She loved him, she felt for him; guilt and bitterness stabbed at her, knowing that Sarantos was leaving because of her, but she would never admit it. She had deprived him for many years of a more permanent place next to her, putting aside every emotion that could commit her. Emotions were one thing; harsh reality another. She had fought many battles in her life until today; she had been splattered with the mud of humiliation and was determined not to wage another fight that had to do with her personal life. From now on she would chase after what was easy, what was painless, what was comfortable. The night with Sarantos was a present that she gave first to herself and then to Sarantos. She wanted to be flesh of his flesh, a piece of his soul; she wanted to lock inside her forever the mental and physical integration with her fellow traveler of all these years that her difficult decisions and the need to distance herself had made her send away, even after their magical coming together. She wasn’t worthy of honest, good-looking, pure Sarantos, and he wasn’t the right man for her. He was lacking in those prerequisites that she had laid down and which came down to just one thing – money. And there couldn’t be a bigger obstacle for long suffering Melina…

Two hours later the group broke up. It was time for their afternoon rest. Dina was determined not to put off telling her father about her plans any longer. Whatever he did, whatever prohibitions he may try and impose on her, she would leave. When her father came, she courageously told him all about her plans. She expected him to react violently, but what his tired face showed was worry and agony.

“Where will you go, a mere girl, to a strange land at the end of the earth, my child? Are you out of your mind?” he said to her.

“I won’t be going alone, father. Paulina will be with me. My uncle has arranged everything for us, school and accommodation. There is nothing here for me to do professionally and I want to work and improve my life. Please don’t stand in my way. You’ll ruin my future!”

Her father listened to her as she spoke without uttering a word. He saw that the die had been cast. Dina, obstinate by nature, could not be convinced to change her mind. Besides which, he had no alternative to offer her. He was just a poor taxi driver scraping to make ends meet. For him to marry her off would be difficult. There wasn’t a dowry with which to tempt a husband. If he went against her wishes, she would run off secretly, and he knew that his daughter would have thought of this too. He was forced to agree and to let her leave…

The two next hours went by with advice being given and to the pointing out of various things to her. Dina was very willing to listen to advice. The much desired green light had opened the way to new prospects for an optimistic and hopeful future…

When Paulina returned home she found her mother Vaggelio cooking beans. The relationship between the two women had for many years been tense. Paulina never understood or ignored Vaggelio’s sexual behaviour that infuriated, belittled and shamed her. Each new affair of Vaggelio’s caused such tension and anguish in her that even when she went out with the group to the village square her mind was driven to such despair by the whispers and hints that she thought that even the trees were mocking her. How many quarrels, how many bitter words, how many tears had been wasted. Vaggelio would not change her tune and would never change her habits until she grew old when not an attractive male, but any male, would come near her…

Paulina felt no obligation to update her about her decisions. She had no respect for her. She didn’t even know if she loved her though she bore the title of birth mother. All she wanted to do was simply to announce that she was leaving, more concerned for her sisters who would be left behind to carry the burden of their mother’s behaviour and the social sarcasm that accompanied it until they themselves would come of age and be able to disappear to avoid the long term outcry and the endless comments of their fellow citizens.

When they sat down at table Paulina told them of her plans. She was leaving the town for good. Vaggelio was taken aback but did not put forward any objections. The relationship between her and her daughter had been a pot that had been boiling for many years. Maybe it was better for both of them for their daily conflicts to end with one of them leaving, for the good of the younger children.

“Do whatever God tells you,” she said to Paulina. Her younger sisters burst into tears and begged her not to go away. Paulina was resolute. One day they would understand that her choices were very limited, or to be more exact, only one – to flee in order to save what was left of her personal pride and dignity that her hot-blooded mother, according to her, had soiled.

A month later the two girls left to chase their dream. Dina’s father would drive them to Piraeus in his taxi in order for them to avoid the ordeal of travelling by public transport. Kisses and hugs again; an emotionally charged scene, again, at the parting from friends and relatives. Paulina and Dina held back their tears in order not to appear weak because they wanted the last image they would project of themselves before leaving to be of two dynamic young women who had no fear of the unknown and would be prepared to work hard and conscientiously for a successful future.