We gave him a house of his own and asked him to help with the orphans. He spent much of his time with the children, but we sensed him sliding into a depression, so Sol brought him to the taverna for supper.
“Not now, only once they’re into puberty.”
“That is a few years in the future. If you are to stay with us, you better tell us what is depressing you.”
“The explosion that killed me also killed my wife and daughter. I miss them.”
“I was wondering when you’d say so. Do you want me to bring them back - and would they be happy living in Freddie?”
Robbie already had their cells and their souls were waiting in stasis. Poor Abirov could not handle his emotions when they were brought back within minutes. All three of them are not good looking and in a way we enjoy having them as they are. Once they become Cherinians, which I think is bound to happen, they’ll change themselves, just like everyone does.
* * * * *
“I guess it is time to return to Efineh’s world.” We all agreed, so Robbie told Freddie to arrive there early in the morning. We woke up to find we were in the void of our home reality. Adam and Freddie were waiting for us in our living room!
Freddie told us, “Robert, we have a problem. I had to come here instead of normal space to prevent anyone jumping to us or from us to Earth.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t we in the wrong reality?”
“We did go there, but then I had to leave. Robert, I’ve shut all the valves to prevent any water entering the drinking water systems. The river is drying up, but that is the least of our problems. Unless everyone gets a clean bill of health you might have to abandon your bodies in Freddie. We’ve become contaminated by a virus that is deadly, even your healers cannot handle it.”
“How!”
Freddie actually looked pale as he explained. “The scientists experimented with bacteriophage from various planets. They produced a new strain that terrified them. They incinerated the new strain and then flushed the ashes, expecting the adapted food machines to convert them into fertiliser with the rest of the sewerage. Unfortunately the filters allowed them through with the water into the inter-shield holding tanks. Somehow some of them survived the incineration and are in our water. We need to test everyone to ensure nobody is infected before you leave. If anyone is infected and not discovered, it will wipe out the entire population of Earth within weeks.”
Robbie’s eyes turned cold as he tried to contain his rage. “You should have warned us before we washed and had a shower!”
“The water at your house was tested and it is safe.”
Adam tried to intercede on behalf of the scientists, “Robert, do not blame the scientists, they took all the precautions they thought were necessary.”
“We’ll deal with that later.” He paced up and down. “How foolproof are the tests?”
“Each healer will be shown what to look for.”
“How do we clean our water?”
“You are afraid they could?”
“I am afraid of taking any chances at all Robert. This will not only affect our species, it has been tested on every tissue of species we know with the same devastating results on all of them.”
“If we have to sacrifice our ship-world, then we do.” Cherine said. “You will not sacrifice yourself with it Freddie.”
“You were not thinking of doing so were you?” Robert asked.
“I have to Cherine. The outer shields have to be protected for as long as possible until we are deep within the sun. If I leave, it will already be falling apart as it falls towards the sun. Gravitational forces, the heat and bombardment from the sun will tear up the shield before it hits the sun - much sooner if it hits a solar flare.” For once Robbie had nothing to say, but we sensed his determination to prevent Freddie from sacrificing himself. Cherine turned to look at me and the eyes of my loves followed hers, most of them shining with unshed tears.
I spread out my hands in a gesture of defeat. “What can I do? If this damn stuff is that virulent, then I agree with Freddie, we dare not take the slightest risk. If we are to save Freddie himself, then we have to risk losing Robert. Are you willing to risk that?”
Quickly he asked, “How?”
“You’ll have to enclose our world in a stasis field. That should ensure it will sink into or under the surface of the sun. Once it is deep enough, you’ll have to release the stasis field. It does mean you’ll have to be very close to the sun as there will be an enormous amount of interference. Releasing the stasis field could shatter the sun, you’ll have to move out instantly.”
Coldly Cherine ordered me, “We are not willing to risk either of them, find another solution Sam.” Puzzled she asked, “If it enters the sun in a stasis field, won’t the sun destroy the stasis?”
“Maybe, maybe not. If it does, the explosion will be so gigantic that it will be impossible for any monitoring equipment to survive, never mind warn us if anything survives.”
Robbie was impatient with me, considering my fears exaggerated. “Oh come on Sam, nothing could survive anything that cataclysmic.”
Adam spoke up. “I’m sorry to say that the scientists feel there is a slim chance they may. They have long held the theory that there is life in the corona of suns.”
“If that is the case then there is no guarantee they will not survive within the sun, to be released by solar flares some time in the future.” All my loves felt relieved, as if we’d solved the problem, just because they thought neither of them would now have to risk his life. I stood up.
“I’m going to ask Arthur to write for us, it’s the only safe way.”
“Sit down Sam. First we exhaustively study all possibilities ourselves and if we don’t find a solution, then you can ask him.”
It took us two months eleven days to process everyone. Then the six hundred had to be checked again before being taken out of Freddie. By then we were running out of bottled water so Vincent ‘sent’ us a truck load. The interior of Freddie was not drying out because of the underground water, lakes, ponds and what remained in the main river, but levels had dropped and the water was stale. The girls pleaded so Robbie brought fresh water for dumping into the river, lakes and so on in the hope we would not lose all aquatic life.
I took Empathia aside in privacy. “Dad is going to refuse to leave. He is determined not to lose Freddie the ship. He will demand we all leave and if I try to stay he will insist I go so as to take over from him. I’m going to refuse to leave and ask you to take my place. Empathia, if that happens and anything prevents the two of us from joining you, get Michael. Only his presence will keep Cherine alive. Tell him he must resign as leader of the Ipohin and he must take over for his father.”
“How can either of you think it is worth losing your lives just to save this! Robert can create a new Freddie, it’s not worth it.”
“If we lose Freddie, he will never create another one. He has too much invested emotionally in this world for him to find the determination to recreate all we’ve lost. I’m not only staying to save Freddie, I’m here to make damn sure we don’t lose him. As long as I’m with him, he will not dare to risk himself.”
“We’ll all fight you Sam, we’ll refuse to leave if both of you don’t come with.”
“You won’t love, you’ll argue for us to be left behind. This is our home, we cannot just give up and abandon it without a fight.” We argued for a few minutes but I wore her down with my usual obstinacy. With tears in her eyes she agreed to do as I asked. It was not that easy getting Robbie and our loves to agree. I pointed out that neither Robbie nor I were likely to suffer a final death, at worst we’d lose our bodies. Vincent agreed to go with them while Freddie will stay to keep the world going as usual.
Once everyone was gone we sat at the taverna, Robbie with a beer. It was eerie being in Freddie without the ‘noise’ of other minds. I could sense Robbie was feeling down, so I put on a smile. “It’s a pity we’re not here on our honeymoon. This would be the ideal place.” He stared at me for a few seconds and then smiled. I stopped thinking for a few minutes, absorbing the love he was sending me.
“Our first honeymoon was the ideal one my love. At that time I did not know how stubborn you are and that you would turn out to be a pain in the butt so often.” He chuckled at my indignation.
The next day I asked him, “As the void, can’t you sense the bacteriophage?”
“I was planning to try that. Maybe I should do it now.”
“Not before you promise me you won’t destroy them.”
Startled he asked, “What now! You can’t be seriously wanting to keep them.”
“We need to have a double system so that we are certain they are all gone, right down to the very last one. Dad, could the shields withstand mini atomic explosions within the water?”
He showed his surprise. “Samuel King?”
“Have you asked him?”
I was indignant. “Of course not! I had to ask you first.”
“Since when have you become that considerate of my wishes?”
“Can we have a fight afterwards - if that is what you want?” With a wry grin, he pretend apologised , but I stayed in his arms until I felt he was really over it.
Robbie used his healer to teach him and he identified the mini monsters. He was dismayed to see how they have spread throughout the water. Luckily they have not seriously increased in number, so my idea is still feasible, but we have to act quickly. I did not want to depend only on Samuel so I asked Vincent to bring either Jesus or Christós to the platform. They listened to our idea and both told us they had never thought of using their magic to destroy such miniature targets. I assured them they had. When healing the sick, was that not what they were doing? I explained to the scientists how I wanted them to help all three. For example, for Samuel, they would send into a small platform Robbie will make available, dust with a tiny scattering of gold molecules. They must make certain, afterwards, that he destroyed the gold only. They could not, as most of their equipment had remained in Freddie, so Robbie insisted on taking over the monitoring. As the void, the radiation would not affect him, so there was no reason not to agreed.
Exactly five molecules of gold were mixed in the dust and Samuel started practising. The first time he succeeded, the screams of joy from our loves alerted us that it was a success. Robbie checked and confirmed it. Samuel practised again and again, with more and more gold molecules until, at about thirty molecules he ruptured the platform. Robbie experimented and then asked the scientists to mix in three hundred molecules. By the fifth try his platform held. Now began the more difficult experiments. Ten microbes were included within the dust. Samuel spent a long time viewing the same type of microbes through a microscope, rotating them so that he has a clear holographic picture of them in his mind. He succeeded with his first try. We increased the number to three hundred and they all exploded without damaging the platform. We upped the number to six hundred without damaging the platform. We next tried a thousand and then three thousand. When we tried ten thousand the platform was damaged. We reverted to gold molecules and by seven hundred the platform was damaged. Samuel thought of the solution himself, suggesting he staggers the explosions so as not to damage the platform. It worked.
Freddie kept screens working between him and the platform. I asked to speak to the scientists. “If only a small part of the microbes are exploded, can the rest survive and regenerate?”
“With an atomic explosion occurring at that proximity, we do not think so.”
“If we try, could you identify any remaining pieces of the microbes?”
“If Robert could bring us some equipment we need.”
“No, ask the Unation to examine the remains in the platform.”
They were right. Imagine your finger exploding, An atomic explosion so close to your body would guarantee there is nothing left of your entire body. Samuel was fascinated by the way his control over his powers is being refined and growing.
Jesus and Christós each had their own platform to experiment with. They were both soon able to totally destroy every single microbe. The problem was that they killed them, they did not totally disintegrate them. I did not want any part of them to survive even as molecules, so I drove them to search for ways to achieve that. If it sounds like I was running the show, it is only because I had the time. Robbie was spending most of his time as the void proving the various tests.
While we have been working, the Spartans have been searching the void for local Sparklers. What with us having not only visited various solar systems but also various galaxies, the Spartans were able to jump themselves to those areas and search from there also. We came to the conclusion that if there are any Sparklers or Kaleidoscope Worlds, they are so distant that they should not be affected by any explosion, however disastrous it may be locally and to the surrounding areas. We insisted they move to a different reality with their World. We were forced to compromise and agree to a few million of them staying with us in case something goes wrong and we need to be saved.
The nights have been wonderful for me. Not that we were in the mood for physical loving every night but even sleeping within his arms was heaven. I kept myself at the age of eleven but he did surprise me by asking one night that I take on the older scarred appearance of my first visit to Efineh’s world. I ended up staying like that for five nights until I sensed he wanted me as a little girl again. We made sure that Freddie took on a body to spend time with us most days. He also enjoys walking around on his own.
Finally we felt the tests had proven our abilities and we’d taken all the safeguards we could think of. Robbie moved the platform about a lightyear away, ignoring the protests of our loves. Robbie insisted I also leave. He felt it was bad enough that Samuel, Jesus and Christós risk their lives and saw no reason for me to stay. I could not argue effectively as there was no excuse other than that I wanted to stay, so I had to give in. I was searched and then sent to the platform.
Samuel exploded every single bacteriophage Robbie had identified. He was searched and sent back to us. Then Jesus and Christós combined their powers and their magic searched not only the water but all of Freddie, including the energy shields. Their magic found a few and dissolved them all the way down to their atoms. Robbie checked the two of them, sent them back to us and becoming the g-void he searched as thoroughly as he could, including his own body. He did not find anything. He searched the spaceships and found them clear of any infestation.
Now began the reverse migration with the same controls repeated. Once everyone was back in Freddie (the valves had been opened and the river was running again), Robbie, Samuel, Jesus and Christós searched throughout the platform and once they were convinced there was no infection, he warned the Spartans to leave the void and taking the platform into the void he left it there for the shields to waste away and destroy all matter. We moved lightyears away and waited. The annihilation of the platform was not felt in normal space, but it was seen and felt from within the void, affecting the energy streams for a large distance. Robbie returned, as the g-void, to ensure the void had not been damaged.
Everybody was in a mood to celebrate, but Robbie stayed grim. “We can have a party, but I’m warning you from now, we are staying here for a year. For the first month we’ll search all of Freddie every week and after that we’ll search once every twenty days. After a year, if everything is clear, we can leave.” Us girls made certain the mood was not dampened and we had a nice party.
The scientists who inadvertently caused the problem tried to apologise, but Robbie refused to allow them by apologising for not thinking things through in advance. He explained that whenever they wish to become involved in a potentially dangerous experiment, they should advise him so that he creates a safe environment with its own air and water supply. They should also look at developing a scanner that checks them before they leave the labs. As Robbie says, we live and learn and, as Tina said, we also end up adopting many of the precautions governments insist on.
After two months Robbie had calmed down and he called the scientists for a talk. They convinced him that it is highly unlikely there is any danger so he waited another month. Finally the scientists from the Unation came to speak to him and convinced him there really isn’t any danger. Robbie told the Wirms they can wish themselves anywhere and declared the next day the ‘Being Alive’ day and we had a party. In the morning we are arriving at Efineh’s world.
Soon as we woke up we sensed Freddie sitting in our living room. Robbie was out to him within seconds. Freddie looked up at him with a grave face for a moment and then announced, “We have arrived at Efineh’s world.” Just seeing and feeling Robbie made us forget our own momentary fears and we laughed. I think Robbie was tempted to turn Freddie into a little boy and spank him. That was a merry breakfast we had and put us in the right mood for greeting everyone with a smile.
“We can sense changes in you. You could not resist going on another trip?”
“We took two trips Samuel, but neither were voluntary. We’ll share with you tonight. Has anything happened in our absence?”
“There has been a lot of talk and questions today about Arthur. We did not know what you want said about him.”
Sam pulled a face, pretending to be upset. “That Sebura, he’s managed to put me on the spot again.”
We felt how proud Samuel felt. “Thina went to a lesson with Aleka and she talked about empathy. They loved what she told them and would not let her leave, each of them having a question they wanted her to answer.”
“I’m not surprised, she has the heart of a princess.” Since she is still one of the few Cherinians who consistently gives of her time daily to anonymously heal Normals, what Samantha said was true of how all of us feel about her.
“She has promised them something interesting tomorrow, why don’t you listen in?”
“I’ll go one better. All the teachers are floundering because they lack self confidence. Let’s put up screens in every centre so that she talks to all of them. Claudia love, will you assist by going to the Feshidi so that they understand her?” We all agreed to keep it a secret from Thina so that she does not become self conscious.
Since then, we have all shared with her. I would rather give the story as I saw it in her mind than the talk she gave, as she over-simplified it for her listeners to understand without them knowing all of the background.
* * * * *
Thina sat on the grass, spreading her skirt so that she looked like a colourful flower. “This is a sad story. I know it is a true story, for I met one of the people in the story…
Thano was fourteen years old. He lived in an area west of Kallithea and just outside Piraeus. It is a very poor area with no big supermarkets and nice shops. It has a few cheap tavernas, a few more bars that fill with sleazy women, those whose looks have faded and can no longer depend on stopping the cars on the main thoroughfares. Both the women and men of the area are not as those of other poor suburbs in Athens. They are hard and disillusioned, most of them chronically out of work.
Thano was alone in the house with his mother. He sat on the floor so that he could hold her hand.
All these years I have stolen some of the food we had and secretly given it to you because I wanted you to grow big and strong so that you can protect your little brother Leandro when I am gone. You are nearly a man, but you must not think to fight your father, he is an animal and will kill you. Not even when you are a man my son. When I die, go to my cousin Fivo. He will find you a job and a room for you to stay. If you can, give to Fivo a bit of money every month for him to help Leandro. See that Leandro finishes school before you take him away from his father. Will you swear on the Virgin Mother that you will do as I ask with my last breath?’
‘Yes mother, I swear.’
‘When your brother is with you, go to those they talk about on television, the tsinians. Tell them you and your brother are good boys and want to be tsinians. Then you will never have to fear your father again.’
Two days later his mother died and Thano ran to Fivo after the funeral. Fivo was drunk and did not open the door so Thano had to sleep in the alley behind. Next morning, cold, wet and shivering, he knocked on the door. Fivo swore, but he opened the door. He stared at his nephew. ‘Your mother was stupid, but I see you are even more stupid and did as she told you!’
‘Nai theie.’
‘Come in and take off those wet clothes, I can’t afford to help pay for another funeral!’ Fivo is one of those people who talk as if they are angry all the time and about to break every bone in your body, but he is a soft touch. That may be why he acts so tough. For Thano he was terrifying, because, if his mother was wrong, he had nowhere else to go.
Fivo made him wash his clothes, giving him a blanket to wrap around himself until the clothes were dry. He gave him some bread and cheese with coffee. As he ate Fivo spoke to him. ‘You can stay here for one week. When I wake up every morning, you better be out looking for a job.’ He looked at him sternly. ‘When they ask you your age, lie and tell them you are seventeen. Tell them you lost your taftota (I.D.) and need to earn some money to apply for a new one.’
The industrial area is close by, so Thano walked there every day, asking for work. Most of them were abrupt or shouted at him to go away, but a few spoke more softly, perhaps remembering their own days of walking door to door. Unfortunately, with so many young men from the surrounding countries looking for work at a fraction of what a local worker would accept, there were no jobs.
Fivo became more and more difficult for Thano to face. Not just because of his insults and shouting, but also because he felt shamed to eat his bread. Finally one night he did not return to Fivo and slept under the concrete highway that goes from Athens to Thessaloniki. Day after day he looked for a job and at night, after they closed, he would go to the back of tavernas to scrounge around in the rubbish bins for leftovers.
One very cold day, he was starving and could not wait for the taverna to close. He went to the rubbish bin and had just pulled out a few bones that still had some meat and a few pieces of bread when he realised someone was standing behind him. He crouched as he turned and stared at the waiter. The waiter looked at his hands and Thano held his hands up, offering the food back.
The next morning he was waiting at the door of a small workshop when the owner drove up, parked and unlocked. Worried he kept on looking at Thano, thinking he might be there to rob him.
‘Excuse me sir, do you know whether there is any work for me here?’
He stared at him and saw a young man who had reached the point of desperation and because he often said to his friends that he does not give money to the young men who beg as they should look for work instead of begging, he paused just long enough to hear the compassionate part of himself. ‘Come in.’
He fussed around, took off his overcoat, made certain it was hanging straight, checked the papers on his desk, went out to switch on the current to the workshop and only then returned to Thano. ‘Are you clever enough to learn how to work a machine?’
‘Sir, if I could just sweep the floor and help keep everything tidy.’
‘You will make more money if you learn how to work a machine.’
‘I only want to sweep the floor sir.’ Thano feared that if he accepted an important job they would demand identification.
‘Come with me.’ He led him to a couple of small rooms at the back, most of them toilets and a urinal. ‘Take off your clothes.’ He saw the look on the boy’s face. ‘There!’ He pointed. ‘Take a shower, you stink.’
There was hot water and Thano stood under the shower until the water turned colder. A hot shower, it was a luxury he had forgotten about and for the first time for days his body did not ache from the cold. He put back on his dirty clothes and went looking for the man. He did not see him anywhere so he went searching for a broom. All he found was a broom with almost the entire handle broken off. The bristles had flattened and a third of them were missing. He took it, found an old plastic bucket and getting down onto his knees, he swept. The curled slivers of metal from lathes and drills cut into his knees and hands, but he refused to stop. By lunchtime he had cleaned the floor and what lay there now was from that day’s work. He returned to the shower and stood under the hot water with his clothes on.
The day was cold so Thano went to stand by a machine that was warm. The operator saw him and made a joke to another worker. The other operator stopped what he was doing and came to see. ‘Why are your clothes wet?’
‘I had a shower sir. The man from that room over there told me to get clean because I stink.’
‘Stay there until they are dry.’
The old man returned an hour later and gave him some bread and part of a dried fish. He watched him as he ate. ‘Can you help me when you’ve finished?’
‘Do you see what I do on my machine? I take one of these and here is what it looks like after I’ve worked on it. This piece that I work on, it is made at that machine. The man who works it has found another job and I don’t have any more pieces to work on. If I stop working I will not get paid. If I teach you, will you make some pieces for me to work on?’ He showed him, explaining as he worked. Thano paid attention and when he tried making the first piece under the close attention of the old man, he did not make any mistakes. Once he had made three pieces the old man left him to work on his own. He was still working when the last man to leave came to him.
‘I have to lock up and switch off the electricity, you must leave.’
He worked another eight hours and, realising he was too tired to continue, he switched off the machine and the main switch and went to sit on the floor, leaning back against the warm motor. He snoozed for about twenty minutes but the motor cooled down fast and he was too cold to sit on the concrete floor for much longer. He switched on a light and swept the floor. By the time everyone else came to work he’d finished and was sitting like a zombie.
The owner came to him. ‘When did you come in?’
‘I stayed in here all night sir. I’ve done my work.’
The owner did not even glance at the floor. ‘I hear you’ve been working on a machine. Show me the work you did.’ He chose pieces at random, digging in for them. He turned them this way and that and put them down. ‘Come to the office.’
He sat behind his desk and his voice now sounded less stern. ‘I offered you a job at the machines, but you refused me. Why did you change your mind?’
‘An old man gave me some food sir. He asked me to help him.’
‘If you sweep I can only pay you to work once a week. I’ll pay you twenty Euros. If you work the machine, I’ll pay you three hundred and fifty per month.’ A grown man with papers would have earned about nine hundred.
‘I’ll work the machine sir.’
‘Do you have family?’
‘No sir.’
‘Where do you stay?’
‘A friend lets me share his room.’
‘Fine. You’ll be paid weekly for the first month. First thing you do is buy some decent working clothes. Jeans and a coverall. Understood?’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Tell the old man to give you an old coverall to use for now. I do not want to hear that you stayed in here all night again. You leave when the others do. Now go home, you need to sleep.’
He went for another hot shower and then returned to his machine, working until he had to leave. He walked until it was time to go to the taverna. When the waiter came out to throw the rubbish, Thanos grinned exuberantly. ‘I got a job!’
‘Good, that means you’ll be able to come inside and pay for your food.’
‘Only when I get paid.’ He told him what he was doing and how much he was being paid.
‘Fuck the bastard! He’s cheating you! Wait, I’ll bring you something to eat soon.’
When he came out he handed him the food. ‘Eat it and then we’ll go to the plateia for a coffee.’
It was the first time Thano had ever sat at a coffee shop and it made him feel grown up. The waiter introduced himself as Kostí. He asked what kind of machine he worked on and nodded. ‘You cannot show your papers, you are too young so you have to take what you can. Work there until you can get a proper job. At least it is enough for you to live. Let me know if you need to find a room.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Thano explained about his promise and Kostí was touched.
‘Thano, if we are to be friends, things must be clean between us. I am gay and have a lover. He is older than me and pays for everything. I am saving my money to open my own hair styling salon. I’m telling you because you will find out anyway and think I wanted to have sex with you. I don’t. I never mix friendships with sex and I want you to be my friend.’
‘You are a poustis?’
‘That is a nasty word to use with a friend.’
‘I’m sorry, I just found it funny. My father always called me a pousti.’ When they parted, Thano went to sleep in his hole under the highway.
When he received his first money he had a shower at work and went to visit Fivo. He explained why he had not returned and that he now has a job. He took out what was left after buying the clothes he needed. ‘This is for Leandros. How will you stop my father from using it for gambling and cognac?’
‘I’ll tell him I have decided to pay certain expenses of his son. Don’t worry, leave it to me. Thano, you can sleep here, you should not have left, I am your uncle, it is my duty to help you. It is not shameful.’
‘I am a man, I must pay for what I use.’
His uncle brought out two glasses and a carafe of red wine. He poured for both of them. ‘Did you know that when your mother was a young girl, about eighteen, I was in love with her? She loved me also, but we could not marry because we are cousins. It would have been shameful for our families if anyone found out. Your father was then my friend and I told him about her. He saw her and because she did not want him, he went to her parents and asked to marry her. Thano, you are the son I never could have. Stay here with me. Someday when you are rich, then you can let me stay with you. Entaxi (okay)?’ He laughed. ‘It is time you shave. Use my blade in the bathroom.’
Thano is the kind of man who believes in doing the job he is being paid for and he is meticulous, always doing the best he can. After six months the owner decided he should increase his salary as it was likely Thano would take a job somewhere else if he didn’t. Thano kept the increase of fifty Euros for food and the odd cup of coffee with his friend Kostí. He also became obsessed about learning all he could about the Cherinians. He had received his food machine and it awoke his curiosity.
He was sixteen when he found a job that paid more than double. He was sorry to leave the friends he’d made at work, but he was worried and had to leave. Military service is compulsory in Greece, so he worried about Leandro and how he would manage to send money when he is in the army. He worked out that if he saved half his salary for two years that should solve the problem. Another year passed and he now had six thousand saved up without anybody knowing.
It was Friday night and he was meeting Kostí and his older lover for a coffee. He was surprised to see only Kostí. Who quickly explained, ‘He was invited to friends in Kifissia. We’re on our own.’ They chatted for a while and then Kostí confided his troubles to him. ‘I’ve found the perfect place for my shop, but I don’t have enough money yet. I’m short five thousand! Who would give an Albanian five thousand eh? I’ve asked all my friends, even offered them a share in my business, but no luck, they don’t want to know.’
‘What are you offering?’
‘Ten percent. I should make about three thousand a month, so that means they would make three hundred or more.’
‘Are you sure? Maybe they are afraid you will lose their money.’
