Excerpt from "Never on Sunday"
Again Tom was woken up by the song from "Never on Sunday".
"This is amazing," he thought, because even though it was only an instrumental version, it reminded everyone of Melina Mercouri and the other exiled artists. He wondered if the Greek shipowners might be secret supporters of the opposition.
He quickly stuffed his things in Dave's bag, leaving only the documents in his. They handed the cabin key to the purser and climbed to the upper deck to observe the docking maneuver. It was just getting light when the ship's engines stopped. Nikos, Yannis, Sophia and Georgios awaited them in the rising sun.
Sandy watched Tom. "He must be nervous now," he thought, but somehow it didn't show. Tom scanned the docks for people with neon writings on their foreheads, but he could only see a couple of officials standing bored near another ship.
When the youths were back on solid ground, Sophia and Tom hugged each other. Nikos broke their kiss harshly when a sudden panic attack hit him. Smuggled deserters and a bag full of secret papers meant long prison sentences if they were caught. He took Tom by the hand and ordered the Irishmen to come along while Yannis went to his car with the others.
Sandy was curious and followed Nikos and Tom unnoticed, who left the port at high speed and headed for a car on a side street. The driver greeted everyone with a handshake, but without many words, put Tom's bag in the trunk, let Sean and Pat climb in the back and drove off with them.
Nikos was now completely calm again. He looked at Tom, and Tom looked at him. They didn't notice Sandy at all when they hugged tightly. Sandy saw Tom start to twitch. The whole burden of the past few days fell away from him. Tears ran down his face. Nikos whispered into his ear, which gradually calmed Tom down. Then they kissed. Sandy would have liked to sneak away, but he had no idea where Yannis had parked his car. So he huddled in a corner until they finally broke apart.
"So, where do you come from?" Tom asked him.
"I must have misunderstood something. I thought I was supposed to come with you, sorry, I didn't want to disturb you. I didn't see anything either, honestly."
"You little voyeur." Nikos smiled sweetly at him. "Will you accept your punishment for spying on us?" "What punishment?" Sandy was upset.
"Next time we meet Spiros, you'll volunteer as his opponent. I'll tell him not to spare you."
"Okay, accepted."
Sandy braced himself for his future pain.
"Let's go. Yannis is waiting," Tom said.
They went to Yannis' car. Nikos got in with Andreas, who was to spend the next few days as his "Swedish cousin" in Agios Andreas. Nikos leaned out the window and said to Tom:
"I'll come to the hotel in the evening. Then we'll go to Piraeus together, so wait for me."
Sophia took Tom, Dave and Sandy to a coffee shop where they drank coffee and ate sesame cookies until they were full. Then she led them to a park that Tom had already seen in the dark. She sent the others to the neighboring amphitheater while she and Tom ducked into the back of the complex.
Between a hundred kisses she asked him about his experiences, and Tom told her about what had happened in Crete. The world was perfect for him: everything had gone right, no one had been arrested, and he was finally back with Sophia.
Dave was happy too. Georgios had a thousand questions and Dave enjoyed his admiration. He emphasized Sandy's role, and against his will, the Australian felt a bit of pride when the much younger Greek slapped him on the shoulder:
"Well done, my friend, you're really brave, congratulations."
Sandy loved the open, heartfelt way that prevailed in this group. The thought of the cold, buttoned-up people of his age at Oxford made him increasingly look for ways to continue at least part of his studies in Greece.
Sophia told Tom that Nikos had invited everyone to Agios Andreas for the next day, including the four German youths. What was even better was that her father would be leaving to visit his parents tomorrow, so she could come with him to Euboea. The planning of the trip was complicated because the group had grown so large. Nikos was in the process of getting tarpaulins and poles for tents, although at this time of year all you really needed was a blanket if you wanted to sleep outside.
After a couple of hours they parted. Sophia and Georgios went home, the other three took the subway to Athens. The air travelers – Randy, Manny, and Rudy - were already sitting with Mr. and Mrs. Trikos, the hotel owners, on the roof terrace. The greeting was quite short, because Tom and Dave had only one wish: a lukewarm shower, and then a nap.
Together with Nikos they arrived in Piraeus around 9 p.m. Before they could answer Christina and Stephanos' questions, two more guests joined them: the Old Man and a white-haired, tall man in a well-fitting suit. The Old Man hugged the three boys and introduced his companion as his "boss". Then he praised the heroic deeds of Tom, Dave and their friends on Crete in the highest tones which almost embarrassed Tom, who hadn't found it all that heroic. "Stressful" was more like it.
Stephanos interrupted the Old Man's speech, took a deep breath and yelled at Tom in German:
"What did I tell you, you cheeky little German? Don't mess with the authorities! Didn't I forbid you to do anything stupid? Last year I had to save you from having to marry Sophia, and you took on the secret police. And now, you idiot? Freeing prisoners, smuggling deserters, smuggling stuff into a military compound! Where is this supposed to lead? Do you want to go to jail finally? And don't start crying now!"
Stephanos' head was red, veins bulging. Nikos and Dave instinctively ducked. The two old men looked at each other in embarrassment. Tom didn't deserve this. But Tom stayed calm. He got up and went to their host, grinning:
"Stephanos, I love you too." They both laughed and hugged each other. "In Crete we saw the oldest law in the world." he added. "One rule said that sometimes you have to mess with the authorities, especially when they're as vicious as they are here in Greece or the US."
"Tom, I'm proud of you, even if I don't quite believe you about the law," Stephanos said, before congratulating Dave in English.
Then the Old Man's companion spoke up and turned to the three young men. He introduced himself as one of the leaders of the "Democratic Resistance" movement, the umbrella organization of socialist resistance groups. He explained that they worked closely with all left-wing groups, including the largest communist-leaning group.
"We followed closely what you did in Crete. Basilis reported extensively. We would like to invite you to join our group. Then, like Nikos, you will be included in our discussions. You might also be asked for a favor in your home country later."
Christina would have liked to make a comment or two, not to warn Tom but rather to encourage him. But she noticed that the German boy didn't need encouragement in the state he was in today. He unnecessarily consulted with Dave for a moment and answered a little too solemnly:
"It will be an honor for us."
After they had shaken the man's hand, Christina put some plates with small bites on the table. Two retsina bottles were uncorked, Theodorakis music played softly, and the old and the young warriors exchanged experiences. The old men had fought in the Greek Civil War, so the boys' adventures, on the other hand, were just that: adventures, nothing more.
Tom addressed the issue of violence. The "boss" explained to them:
"Our Civil War ended less than twenty years ago. At that time we fought with the communists against the right-wingers who had collaborated with the Nazis in the World War. It was a cruel war, and nobody in Greece wants it to happen again. That is why we make sure that no one is harmed when we are planning attacks."
Dave took his more militant stance, pointing to the situation in Northern Ireland, but everyone contradicted him with a variety of arguments. He said they would not bring down the dictatorship with these "soft" means which made the old man intervene:
"You're probably right. The dictatorship is in no danger at the moment. There are two reasons for this: external support and the economic situation. Many Greek families are doing better than before. "The Colonels brought it to us," they say. "The thing about the prisoners and censorship, that isn't nice, but at least we have money in our pockets."
Tom couldn't imagine that these mediocre soldiers could actually boost the economy. Christina remarked that there were some powerful nations that financially supported the military government, as it served their own interests:
"The USA wanted to prevent the left from taking power in Greece in 1967. They were afraid that the only Western-oriented country in the Balkans would become socialist. What a nonsense! Papandreou is not a communist. But that's why they support the Junta and transfer a lot of money to Athens every year. The government uses it to build roads, ports, and airports - dictatorships like to do that, or why else do you have such beautiful highways in Germany? The British have an interest in stability in Greece, too, because they fear for their bases in Cyprus. Both countries also need Greece and Cyprus to intervene in the conflicts in the Middle East."
"Then who's on our side, anyway?" asked Tom, and the "boss" explained:
"The Soviet Union would love to, but we don't want that. Communists or not, nobody wants to live like the people in Russia. France sometimes helps us when they want to annoy the Americans. The German SPD helps us organizationally, but never in our operations. The only ones who help us from time to time are the Yugoslavs. The partisans are in power there, with whom we already cooperated during the Second World War, but they are also quite reserved. In the end we are on our own. I only see two scenarios that can end the dictatorship: either things have to become more difficult economically, or our military gets into trouble with the Americans."
Tom still had a question:
"If there are so many people who don't think dictatorship is that bad, why do I only know people who reject it and take a lot of risks to fight against it?"
"Quite easy," the Old Man smiled at him. "You've just been lucky enough to meet the right people. And we are not that few either."
The discussion had almost made the boys lose track of time. The last subway would leave in less than an hour, but Christina had a surprise for Tom. She had received a call from Georgios' father who had told her that his former superior asked Tom to come to his house on Salamis at 12 noon the day after next.
"Why would I do that?" asked Tom. "Who is this man? And what does he want from me?"
"I think you'll go there," said Christina. "I'm sure you will."
"How come?"
"Because the man is the third-ranking officer in the Navy, an admiral. You can't say no to someone like him these days."
To Tom's surprise, the Old Man also encouraged him:
"Go there. Listen to what he has to say."
Tom was confused, and his conversations with Dave and Nikos on the way to the hotel didn't bring any clarity.
Dave's diary
Athens, Aug 7
1. We're in the resistance
2. These grandpas are real fighters, respect
3. The adults treat me like an adult
4. Sometimes I still feel like I'm in a movie
Sandy's diary
Athens, Aug 7
Just one topic today: Tom. I've been watching him for the past few days. Slowly I understand. The little guy looks so average, so harmless, sometimes naive, superficial, a dumb boy from the provinces. And then he pulls through the most dangerous actions totally calmly. He thinks, weighs things up, talks to his friends, if possible, then makes quick decisions. He'll scold a teacher who is three times his age. And he cries when Sophia plays a Greek song.
And he cried today. I think because it was all a lot for him. Surprising that he never let it out before. I want Tom as my brother. I want him as a friend I can go crying to. I would never cry in front of Manny. I will never relate to Manny like Tom relates to Nikos. Tom says he loves Sophia, and that's probably true. But he has a closer relationship with Nikos. And me? I do love Manny. Or don't I? Read everything again. Now I'm going to lock my diary and put the key on my necklace.