Chicago comes to the village
This is another incident from my diaries which took place nearly 30 years ago. Names have been changed for obvious reasons!
“There’s trouble at
t’mill,” she announced.
“What on earth
are you talking about?” I sat down after fetching us some freshly
squeezed Orange juice.
“Its Jane and Stavros.” She mentioned a couple who ran a cafeteria in Georgioupolis “Something’s happened. I don’t really know all the details,
it’s all very confusing. Anyway they’re gone.”
“What do you
mean, gone? Who’s gone?”
“Jane and Mary".
Somebody went on a rampage with a gun and drove them out of town.”
“You’re
kidding!”
“It’s true!”
She took a sip of her juice and laughed. “I heard the police found
the man and confiscated his gun but let him go. Guess what he did?”
She paused waiting for my reply
“I have no idea”
I answered her. I was not in the mood to play games. What on earth
had been going on in the village?
“Well,” she
continued as I lapped up every precious bit of gossip, “Apparently,
after they confiscated his gun, the man broke into the police station
and pinched ALL of the guns he could find!” She burst into
laughter. “Isn’t that just typical of this place?” She drained
the dregs from her glass. Well this really was news. Karen continued
with the tale.
“I heard that Jane has gone back to England, but I don’t know about Stavros.”
"It all happens here!" I remarked
“You’re telling
me. Do you know what happened to me yesterday?” Karen went on to
tell of her recent romantic exploits but my mind was whirling with
thoughts and images. What had really happened? Living at the lake
I was isolated from the village news and we were too busy for me to
take an evening off and go to find out
Only later did I
hear the whole story ……
Jane’s daughter Mary had come to stay with her mother for the season and to help in
the Cafeteria. She was a pretty girl of about twenty four and within
a very short space of time had a local boyfriend.
“Its ok mother,”
she told Jane, “I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry I’m not
planning on getting married or anything.” All was going well until
she realized that her boyfriend was becoming very jealous and was
trying to control her life.
“I can’t live
like this. I’ll have to finish It.” she told her mother.
“Quite right
too,” Jane agreed. “He doesn’t even like you going for coffee
with your girlfriends. You’ll be better off out of it.”
“Be careful,”
warned Stavros, “things are not the same here in Crete as in your
country.” But, having decided that their relationship was not what
she had been expecting, Mary determined that the time had come for
the parting of the ways. She did not bargain for the reaction she
received.
“You are mocking
me. My friends will laugh at me. They will say I’m not a man!” In
Crete it was looked upon as a slur on his manhood for ‘his woman’
to leave him. Mary, brought up in the much freer society of
Britain, had not realized just what a problem her decision would
cause. She was of course prepared for a little unpleasantness, but
her boyfriend went crazy.
“Get out of here. Now!” He threw her into the street and her belongings after
her. Then he threatened her with her life.
“You had better
get off the island fast,” he shouted “or I will shoot you and
your mother.” Mary took this as an idle threat.
“Just ignore him”
counseled Jane “he’s bluffing. He will soon forget.” Stavros, however, having grown up in the ways of the island, realized that this man
was certainly capable of violence and went to try to defuse the
situation. Unfortunately he only succeeded in making things worse and
the threat was extended to him also.
“You must leave,”
he urged. “This family is capable of anything. They are bad
people.”
“Just carry on
as normal” advised Jane still unperturbed “It will pass.”
“You don’t
understand,” Stavros tried to explain. “This is still a land of
vendetta. He and his family will not forget. Maybe it’s better if
you go to England for a while.” Jane laughed off the idea.
“They will do
nothing, I am English!” she stated emphatically
Jane and Mary continued living in their little vacuum for a while, working in the
cafeteria, although Mary was reluctant to go out to the disco
alone, or be seen in any bars. Life continued much as normal but Stavros continued to warn them repeatedly, to be careful. “This is
not a good family, they mean what they say. You must go.” he
repeatedly told them “It is not safe for me either but this is my
home I can’t run away.”
One summer
evening shortly afterwards the cafeteria was packed with tourists,
the music was playing and the drinks flowing. Jane was serving and
chatting to customers, Mary was fixing ice-creams and fresh orange
juice. Suddenly the sound of a car was heard racing up the side road
by the café. The cafeteria was on a corner, the frontage on the
village square and, by the side, a road lead down to the sea. There
was a squeal of brakes as the car hurtled round the corner. For a
moment nobody took much notice, thinking that it was probably just
young boys being silly. The car slowed down by the front of the café.
The windows were rolled down and the barrel of a gun pointed out.
BANG! There was screaming as Stavros hurriedly pushed Jane to the
floor. “Get down!” he shouted “Under the tables!” The
tourists scrambled under the tables as more shots were fired BANG!
BANG! BANG! Tables were overturned, glasses smashed, children were
crying. The car shot out of sight with a screech of brakes.
“Are you all
right?” Stavros asked as he helped Jane and Mary up from the floor
“Why wouldn’t you listen to me?”
The holidaymakers
were picking themselves up, brushing broken glass off their clothes
and setting right the tables. Fortunately other than being frightened
out of their wits there was no harm done, and they would have a story to tell when they got home.
“Get home, get packed,
and get ready to leave RIGHT NOW!” Shouted Stavros “No more
excuses. Until we can find you a plane you must hide up in the
mountains.” Jane and Mary left
quickly, much shaken, as Stavros calmed the frightened tourists.
“Its ok” he
reassured them “All over now…. Al Capone!” He tried to make a joke
of it.
As soon as he could he took the two women up to a remote
village until they could get a flight out.
“I'll be back”
said Jane, “don’t you worry.”
“Come on mother”
pleaded Mary “let’s get out of here I’m scared.”
The next day, in a
borrowed car, Stavros drove them to the airport. As the plane took off he watched it until it was a speck in the sky
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