Sara Alexi - The Illegal Gardener

“I need to be like you, Aaman. I need to overcome the fear.”

There is a knock on the gate. It is a neighbour.

“Ella edo!” The neighbour clearly does not intend to step over the boundary and calls Juliet to her. Juliet jumps up and walks towards her, asking her in. Juliet returns holding a large plate brimming with meat and vegetables.

“She asked why I haven’t been to share their Easter food with them. Presuming I was busy, she brought the food to me. How kind is that?” She goes inside and returns with two forks. She pulls off the plastic wrap that covers the plate, puts it in on the table and pulls her chair close.

“It’s goat.” Juliet beckons him to join her and feels slightly smug for having remembered that he probably wouldn’t eat pork.

“So come on, Aaman, seeing as we are fighting fire tonight, what do we need to do next?”

“You are doing it.”

“What?”

“You are being brave, fighting your fear.”

“What? By coming to Greece, you mean?”

“No, by letting me in.”

“What? To do the garden?”

“No, not the garden, Juliet.” He laughs at her, and Juliet is aware that she doesn’t want to run. In fact, she wants to stay.

“What about you, Aaman? Will you return to be close to Saabira?” Juliet does not like the thought of him going.

“I do not know how I can. I have no money to return with and no money to buy the harvester. I would return in shame and I would have to try to get a job back at the shoe factory, if they have work.”

“Hang on. I think I have a plan.” Juliet scrambles to her feet, reverberating with excitement and nearly jumping on the spot. There are fireworks across the sky, but she doesn’t see them.

Aaman is not easily given hope and his countenance does not change.

“Listen.” Juliet cannot stand still. “I still need the gardening doing and…” She turns to him so she can see his face.

Aaman’s face goes slack, as this will not provide the money he needs.

“No, listen. I need the gardening doing, and this work will be paid whoever does it so it might as well be you, but better than that I have a computer and you are an extraordinarily fast learner. I am sure there will be programming courses online. You can learn by yourself and when you return, I will write you a reference saying you have been here, writing programmes for me. Ha, you will have the pick of jobs. Brilliant!”

“That is not honest.”

“Then I am formally asking you to write me a website for my translation business and I will pay you for it. Then it will be honest and you will have a large sum towards your harvester.”

She has gained Aaman’s attention; he is sitting bolt upright. He begins to smile and it breaks onto a grin as big as Mahmout’s.

“I do not need all the money for the harvester, only my portion.” He calculates on his fingers and holds up his hands to show her how much.

“Then I don’t think you will have any problem at all. You can return with the money as a programmer. How fantastic is that?” Juliet grabs her wine glass.

“To you, Aaman. No, sod that. To us! May we both overcome our fears and create a better future for ourselves.”

“And our loved ones.”

Juliet drinks it down in one.

“Right, come on.” She marches indoors.

Aaman is comfortable where he is and has no idea why Juliet has gone inside. He feels reluctant to move. He is comfortable. It takes a few seconds to lift his back from the chair. The village is quieting now, the noises are less harsh, some shutters have been closed. He stretches and goes inside.

Juliet is sitting on the sofa with her laptop on her knees. She pats the seat next to her without taking her eyes from the screen.

“Here, what about this? Teach yourself C++ in twenty-one days. Is that any good?”

Aaman is mesmerised. He reads the screen and then scans the keyboard. There seems so much to learn and it thrills him.

“What do you think?”

Aaman is momentarily lost.

“I would have to work on the garden for free to pay for the use of your computer.”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“No, it is right, it is business.”

“OK, here’s the deal, you work in the garden and get paid, and you use the laptop as a friend, because that’s what friends do. If you want me to stop being your friend then you have to ask me to stop.” Juliet laughs and the cat that had been sitting on the arm of the sofa takes the opportunity to try to walk across the keyboard. Aaman picks him off and puts him down. The second cat comes in and licks the first cat.

Aaman is grinning now, his hand eager to take the laptop and start. Juliet hands it over and shows him the basics of using Google and then stands up. Aaman doesn’t notice. He is searching and reading.

“Call if you need me.” She doesn’t expect an answer, nor does she get one. She strokes both cats and wanders into the garden through the back door.

It is spooky by night, the pole with the vine sticking up in the middle of the garden. There are two smaller poles now, both with vines hooked to them. The olive tree in the far corner rustles, a dense black against the deep, dark blue of the sky. It is beginning to get cool. Juliet wraps her arms around herself and wanders onto the waste site. There is no more mess; The Mess has gone. There is nothing to trip over, no buried bits poking out. It is all weeds and roughly turned soil. She considers turning it into lawn. It would need watering. But if she planted trees, the lawn could grow in their shade. Fruit trees.

She walks the length of the house and round the end. The space at the end of the house would be good for vegetables. Next door’s disused barn would provide a small amount of shade at either end of the day and she could set up a watering system from the house.

The front of the house is mostly gravel, which needs weeding. But down the edge against the wall where the three orange trees are, she could have a herb garden. Basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme. Oh, and lavender. It will be nice to have the smell of lavender as she comes in from the lane.

The patio looks bright compared to the garden in the moonlight. The folding chairs give it an air of comfort. The table and chairs make it look very Greek. Perhaps she could hang a hammock somewhere for when the boys come over. They would come over, surely.

Juliet suddenly feels far from home. It may be a while before Thomas can afford the time to come over. Terrance will not be able to afford the money even if he had the time. Her Greek neighbours are lovely, but she needs more than a passing chat. Michelle is right, as usual. It takes more than the language to merge cultures.

Michelle. Poor Michelle. How mean she has been over the years. Never calling, never giving her the time of day. She had become her punch-bag. What was due to everyone else, she gave to Michelle, who just kept coming back for more. A true friend. And she, Juliet, had been a true bitch. Something needed to be done about that. But she wasn’t sure what. She would call her soon. No big drama, she would just start treating her with respect. She would treat her as Aaman would treat a friend. She was sure he would be calm, thoughtful, and attentive. He was towards her and it made her feel calm, important, cared for. She would do the same for Michelle.

Juliet stays on the patio and listens to the last of the sounds of Easter diminishing in the village. The dogs have started barking again. Their midnight telegraph conversation. They are keen for the early morning, for their owners dressed in khaki, for the rabbits to be retrieved. The moon disappears behind a wispy cloud and the village submerges under a dark blanket. She turns to go back inside, the glow from the window in the door encouraging her entry.