Dimitra Mantheakis - Melina Breaking Free

“ My dear parents,

I am sorry to cause you pain but I am leaving for Athens. It is impossible for me to carry on living under these conditions. When I find work I will send you a little money for the children. I hope you will understand me and not hold my leaving against me.

With kisses and with my love forever,

Melina.”

She folded the letter carefully and put it into her pocket. Then she found a worn travel bag and packed her few personal belongings. She covered it with a blanket and went out to phone Paris. It was 9 a.m. and he was still asleep.

“I’m coming with you, Paris,” she said. “Come in an hour to the end of my street to pick me up.”

“I’ll be there!” he replied and got up to start packing his suitcase. He paid his hotel bill, hurriedly drank a coffee and started off for Melina’s house. At 10 a.m. on the dot he saw her running towards him holding onto her travel bag. Paris opened the door for her and placed her bag on the back seat.

“Leave quickly so they won’t see us!” she said to him out of breath.

The man put his foot down on the accelerator and in a short time the car was beyond the town’s limits.

Mrs. Magdalini, a neighbour of Melina’s who was hanging out her washing on her balcony saw the sports car and the girl with the travel bag getting into it and hung over the railing with great curiosity to see what was going on. She looked at the driver and noted he wasn’t from their parts. He was a total stranger.

“Now where has the blessed girl taken off to with the stranger?” Mrs. Magdalini wondered, anxiously. She went indoors and told her invalid husband about what had happened. “Should I inform Mr. Nikos, Melina’s father, Manoli?” she asked him.

“Stay where you are and don’t meddle in other people’s business. Whatever they are going to find out let them do it on their own. I’m not in the mood for an altercation!” Manoli said to her firmly.

“My husband is right,” the woman thought. “Mr. Nikos may be insulted and get angry if I tell him what I saw. Let it pass! We’ll soon find out what happened. “

In the afternoon when Melina’s parents returned home they found their daughter’s letter on the table. They almost collapsed when they read its contents.

“What a mess the wretched girl has landed us in,” cried her mother with sorrow in her heart. “Who will stop people gossiping now?”

“I thought we had been through everything, without this happening. Our daughter taking off!” said Mr. Niko sternly.

“What do we do now?” asked the mother. “Where will we find her to bring her back?”

“We can’t do anything,” the father replied. “She is over 18. She isn’t a minor for us to call the police. Whatever was to happen to us has happened! We’ll have to wait for her to contact us sooner or later.”

A few hours later the town was buzzing with gossip. Two or three other villagers had seen Melina in the sport car and had told everyone.

“The cart owner’s daughter has run away with a boyfriend!” they repeated in the cafes, each one adding his own pinch of spice to make the story more interesting. Melina’s parents didn’t have anywhere to turn with shame and worry. Their daughter had never caused any problems in the past. She hadn’t given anyone the slightest excuse to comment or gossip about her before and had always stood out at school because of her high marks and for her obedient and pleasant character. This unexpected turn shattered them and they didn’t know how to handle it or how to face up to public outcry. For their daughter to run away in such a manner, with someone unknown at that, was not only a heavy burden, it was an unbearable one for these conservative people whose only possessions were their good name and their moral life. Their heart was wrung by their daughter’s criminal thoughtlessness that had demolished the last bulwark of defense that they had in their society. At this moment even the worry of what would happen to their child and in whose hands she was had been superseded by the anger and indignation of the shock she had sprung on them. Mr. Niko would have wanted to have the young lady in front of him and to give her the hiding of her life. Instead of that he banged his fist on the table, swearing and uttering curses and empty threats while the rest of the family shrank into a corner, deeply hurt by the sudden calamity that had descended on their home…

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