Lila said, “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please give them to Marietta and tell her to put them in our bedroom?” She looked at Andreas. “I’ve no doubt they’ll be a welcome distraction from what I expect you’ll be telling me ‘first thing tomorrow morning.’”
Andreas swallowed, gunfire tonight, an explosion tomorrow, and fireworks at the party in between. Quite a welcome to married life.
It’s hard to imagine how many cars Greeks can park along a road barely wide enough to be called two lanes. And when it’s a crumbling mountain lane, with a hill on one side and a cliff on the other, the feat can seem downright miraculous But there they were, squeezed off to the very edges of the road, Hummers, BMW X-5s, Porsche Cayennes, Mercedes G-550s, Jeep Rubicons, and a host of more practical island vehicles such as Suzuki Jimnys, Fiat Pandas, and Smarts, leaving barely enough room in the center of the road for Tassos’ car to squeeze by.
“What the hell’s going to happen if someone’s coming the other way?” said Tassos.
“It’s why God invented reverse,” said Andreas.
“But it’s too late for you to back out,” Lila squeezed his hand.
Andreas laughed and kissed her. “Isn’t it a bit early for us to show up at the reception? I thought we weren’t supposed to be there until dinner was ready to be served?”
“That’s to give the bride time to stop at her new home and change clothes. But the reception is at our home and I’m not changing.”
They were nearing the house and Lila looked out the side window. “Then again, perhaps you’d like to spend that time explaining precisely why those trigger-happy military types from the monastery are up there, too.” She pointed to soldiers deployed along the hillside overlooking the house. “And police everywhere else.” She made an arc with her finger spanning the car. “Let me guess, it’s ‘all precautionary.’”
Andreas cleared his throat. “You’re absolutely right, we should go straight to the party.”
Lila nodded. “I thought you liked what I’m wearing.”
No one was allowed onto the grounds of the house without an invitation checked against the wedding list and confirmed by an ID. The only exceptions were uninvited guests brought along and vouched for by invited family members and close friends, but that was expected at a Greek wedding because there always was more than enough food, drink, and room for one more. Presents brought by guests were discreetly moved to an armored bank truck capable of withstanding an explosion.
From the time Andreas and Lila stepped inside the house, it took thirty minutes of posing for photographs, snuggling Tassaki, and accepting apologetic good wishes from guests unable to attend the church ceremony before the couple made it to the rear of the house. They stood in the doorway holding hands. Long tables set up family style sat on three of the four broad terraces stepping down toward the sea. A temporary dance floor was erected on the fourth terrace and music was playing, but no one was dancing. As soon as the band realized the newlyweds were at the doorway, the music changed to a tune that let everyone know the couple had arrived. A roar of applause and shouts erupted drowning out the music as the couple made their way from terrace to terrace, hugging and kissing their guests until reaching the dance floor.
With a nod from Lila the band started playing the ballos, the traditional six-step dance of the Cycladic islands, one of the most beautiful to watch, and the first done at any true Mykonian wedding. The party was officially underway once the bride and her husband began to dance, and they were joined in sequence by their parents, koumbaroi, immediate family, and guests until a full line of partiers were dancing in the syrto style that symbolized the essence of Greek life to much of the world. Later came the kalamatiano, arguably Greece’s most popular dance and one played at every Greek wedding.
Tonight was a time to let loose and worry about nothing more than passing out before the last guest departed. True to tradition, when it came time for the cake cutting and fireworks display, neither Andreas nor any of his buddies was sober. Even Maggie had a hard time walking a straight line as she dragged Tassos away a little after dawn. No one had any idea where Kouros ended up. In other words, the party was a tremendous success.
Andreas and Lila made it to their bedroom just before nine in the morning. Assuming Andreas could even remember his promise to tell Lila everything “tomorrow,” he was in no condition to talk and she was in no condition to listen. They barely had the strength to throw off their clothes, push the presents Marietta had piled on their bed to the floor, and crawl into bed. Besides, to Greeks “tomorrow” was a relative term.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you awake?” The voice was delicate and sweet. “Darling, are you up?”
“You sound like an angel come to take me to heaven, but if this is how it feels to be there, I think I’ll wait for the next bus,” said Andreas.
Lila laughed. “It’s almost three in the afternoon.”
“Wake me tomorrow.” He was on his stomach with a pillow pulled over his head.
“It is tomorrow,” said Lila.
Whoops, bad choice of words, thought Andreas. “Okay, when the dark haze clears I’ll tell you what I promised.”
“Good, I’ll get us some coffee.”
Andreas tried drifting off toward sleep but couldn’t quite make it. He heard Lila tell the maid to bring coffee; then she started humming to herself. It made him smile. He liked it when Lila was happy. It made him happy. He felt her move off the bed and plop back on. She’s trying to keep me awake. He heard the crinkling of paper.
“These are beautiful, darling. A pair of sterling silver candle sticks in the shape of the charioteer of Delphi. Ilias does such fascinating things.” She read the card aloud.
I’m not going to move. I’m not going to give in. Andreas smiled into the mattress.
Lila opened two more packages, giving a running commentary as she did. She picked up a fourth gift. “I know you’re enjoying this as much as I am, even if you’re not saying a word.”
Andreas turned his head away from her and laughed into his pillow.
“Okay, my husband, now I’m undoing the ribbons on the last of the gifts from Ilias’ shop. The box is huge. I’m taking off the lid,” she dropped the lid on Andreas’ butt. “And now I’m pushing aside the tissue paper and-”
Total silence.
Andreas sensed something was wrong. “What is it?”
Lila dropped the box and ran out of the room, screaming, “ Tassaki! Where’s Tassaki? ”
Andreas was right behind her. “What’s wrong?”
“Tassaki!”
Andreas caught up to her in the living room. Tassaki was calmly playing with his cousins. Lila started to reach for him, but stopped. She put her hand to her mouth and spun around to face Andreas. “The box.” She drew a deep breath and pointed toward the bedroom. “It’s in the box.”
Andreas wasn’t sure what to do, so he went back to the bedroom. The box was on its side lying on the bed. He carefully peered in without touching it. The tissue paper was hiding most of what he could see, but he could make out one thing: baby toes. Attached to a foot.
Andreas cleared his throat. It wasn’t a real baby’s foot. It was a doll. He turned over the box and gingerly pushed back the paper. Inside was a large silver bowl, and inside that a naked baby doll-with a real bullet hole through its heart and a photograph of their son from a magazine article covering its face. Attached to the baby’s belly just below the bullet hole was Andreas’ card with two words written across it in red: FINAL WARNING.
Andreas calmly picked up the box and carried it outside to the armored truck. He realized for the first time that he was wearing only underpants when he walked by his brother-in-law who laughed and asked if that meant Lila had already kicked him out.