No Forgiveness

by Helen Nickolson

  After the fever broke, Katerina was still very weak but she was lucid. Day by day, her strength improved until one day several weeks later she said, “Mama, I have been able to stand for the last two weeks and am feeling strong in body and spirit. I will need to settle my affairs with Giorgo sometime soon. He will never fool me again, and it is I who has the upper hand this time.”

  Her mother had been expecting this and merely said, “Yes, I know. Do you want us here when you confront him?”

  “No, I need to do this myself, but, don’t worry, I no longer fear him. I feel in control of myself and the situation and my future. If you could, however, I would like for you to leave the pistol here with me. I don’t plan to shoot him, but I do want the gun available and in a safe place.”

  “All right, Katerina, when you are ready for him, let us know and we will leave you alone for the day. Yiayia and I can then go out and pick some fresh greens from the fields for dinner. Horta is one of your favorite dishes and it will give that extra iron that you need in your diet.”

  Katerina knew that she was ready to confront Giorgo a few days later. Her mother and Yiayia pampered her that morning by brushing her hair and making a special breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, cheese, and bread for her. She drank some herbal tea and milk to wash down the food, and she felt strength flow throughout her body.

  Kyria Maria went downstairs, knocked on his family’s door, and nearly spit at his mother when she answered the knock. “I’m here to ask Giorgo to go upstairs and talk with Katerina,” she said. “She is ready to discuss matters with him. Is he here?”

  Giorgo’s mother knew better than to invite her in and simply nodded: “Yes, he is here. Let me ask him if he can go upstairs now.”

  She returned and, without uttering even one word of apology, let Kyria Maria know that he would be upstairs within the hour, to which Kyria Maria nodded and went to let Katerina know. Katerina acknowledged the message and asked to be left alone while she waited for him. Within the hour, there was a knock on her door and she shouted, “Please enter.”

  He hadn’t seen her since he had been run off by her mother and Yiayia, and he was amazed at how good she looked, especially since she had almost died several weeks earlier. He began with, “Katerina, my wife, let me begin by going on my knees to beg your forgiveness. There must be a sickness in my brain that causes me to do harm to those I care for most. I so regret having hurt you again, and I hope you didn’t take me seriously about having sex with my friend. That was merely a foolish attempt to joke. It was more than foolish. It was stupid, stupid, stupid.”

  She appraised him coolly and retorted: “This is no time for silly words and useless explanations. You and I both know what you are, and I can no longer be misled by your idiotic, melodramatic acts. I am telling you to not even try those games on me because it will only make the penalty worse for you.”

  “Oh, “he thought to himself. “So, you think you are the wily one now. After the number of times that I have duped you, you now think you can outsmart me. You’re just a woman and if you think you can match wits with me, you’re very mistaken.” And he had the gall to not hide the little smirk on his lips.

  She saw the smirk and read his thoughts correctly and gave him a negligible but ironic smile that he didn’t even catch. “I know what you’re thinking. I can see into you and I will let you know that you are playing a dangerous game. I am no longer the mild and naïve Katerina. I have certain powers and am aware that I can hurt you greatly. Sit down and let me tell you what I have planned.”

  Somewhat surprised at her unresponsiveness to what he had considered a magnanimous, even apologetic, gesture to their conversation and eventual reunion, he sat on one of the chairs. She gestured authoritatively for him to move to a chair at the table and told him she had papers that he would need to sign. “Papers?” he wondered. “What could she be thinking of?”

  She also sat and they faced each other across the table before she began a lengthy discourse: “I plan to stay married to you and to live in this house. However, you will not live here with me but will stay downstairs with your parents. We will not touch physically again, but you may visit and do whatever you want with as many other women as you please. I’m not interested in that aspect of your life. You will turn the house over to me legally, and you will not have a key to the door. Additionally, you will provide me weekly with enough money to survive and some extra change for minor items I may need from time to time.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked in bewilderment. He was totally taken aback and stated, “I have no plans to go along with anything that you have said. Why would I? You seem to have forgotten who is the man in this house, and I will not stand for such language any longer.”

  “You will do as I say because the length of your life depends on it. I will continue with my instructions so that you may have a clearer picture of what I’m talking about,” she answered solemnly. “Now, you have no choice in the matter because I have cursed you to hell and have given you up to one year to live. You are aware, but have probably forgotten, that I have some special powers passed to me by my paternal grandmother. I have never been interested in developing those powers because of my faith in God. The time has come, however, that I need those powers and I will use them to the utmost. You think of women and me as powerless, but you will learn differently and regret that you ever met me.”

  Dumbfounded, he stared at her but didn’t say a word.

  She took a sip of water and went on, “My grandmother, or so the story goes, had the power to place curses. She didn’t truly believe that she had that power, but the time came when her curiosity demanded that she explore the possibility. One day, in anger, she swore at her neighbor Kyria Marianthi and wished her to have the worst year of her life. In fact, that’s exactly what happened to Kyria Marianthi that year: she lost her husband, had sick animals, and broke her ankle. Of course, my grandmother felt guilty when she saw her neighbor going through a terrible period and refused to even consider ever placing a curse on anyone else. Besides, my grandmother was a religious woman and didn’t want to offend God. After all, we know that placing a curse is the devil’s work and the consequences of such actions can be disastrous.

  “I know you’ve heard rumors of this story before, and I know you believe in this power. You’ve done the devil’s work enough to grasp evil. So, I’m now telling you that I’ve placed a curse on you to die within one year. Today is November 28, 1919, and you have until November 28, 2020 at the most. I can’t lengthen the period for you to live, but I can shorten it. I can also choose how you die and how much you will suffer in this death. Therefore, I’m giving you the ability to negotiate. Unlike God, I’m willing to bargain.

  “I have had a contract written up. Here it is on the table. Please read it now and sign it if you want. If you prefer to think about it for a couple of days, that’s fine also. I will expect to see you two days from now at the same time. Now, please let yourself out.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Giorgo was terrified. He recognized that he was going to die but didn’t want to believe in the inevitable. “No, Giorgo, don’t listen to her wild statements about curses. Maybe her grandmother did have some powers, but that doesn’t mean that Katerina does. Yea, yea, we’ve all heard rumors about her grandmother but that’s all they ever were—rumors!” he fiercely whispered in an attempt to reassure himself. But, deep down, he felt the fear nibbling in his stomach and knew that he was going to die. He knew that he would have only a year at the most to live.

  “God damn her!” he shouted with additional expletives streaming out of his mouth. “The witch has cursed me and there’s nothing I can do to change her curse.”

  Absentmindedly he delayed descending the stairs and just sat for some minutes. He finally entered their door and managed to terrify them just by the look on his face. They were anxiously awaiting his return to hear about his visit with Katerina. Knowing what a smooth talker their son was, they had exp
ected him to enter triumphantly. This defeated man was not the son they had expected to see.

  He told them haltingly, “She has put a curse on me and has given me one year at the most to live, but she might decide to shorten that time period if she chooses. She can even decide how I will die and the amount of pain I might suffer. She wants the house turned over into her name, wants to stay married, but to have nothing to do with me. How can this be? This is not the woman I married. Mother, father, what am I to do?” They also understood the power of the curse that select people had and they knew that Katerina and her grandmother belonged in that fold.

  “Well,” his mother responded in an appalled voice, “this is not the woman you married but this is a woman who has the power to do with you as she pleases. I don’t like this at all but I don’t see any choice other than to go along with her wishes. Maybe we can all talk with her, promise her whatever she wants, give her whatever she wants, and find a way to remove this curse. She says she can’t change what she has already pronounced, but I don’t believe that is true. I’ve heard of similar cases where the curse has been successfully removed. The witch! The bitch! My poor son that you ever got involved with someone of her kind.”

  His father wasn’t so cool in his appraisal: “Let me go upstairs and strangle her now,” he shouted. “Let me go and put my hands around that white, smooth throat and slowly squeeze the life out of her, the ungrateful whore! She has been given a house to live in and has been supported by us. What has she contributed? Nothing! All she has done is complain that her husband has shown too much love and longing for her. Instead of being appreciative that her husband desires her, she had made him out to be a monster who beats her. The ungrateful whore!”

  “Now, now,” Giorgo’s mother interjected much more calmly. “Yes, you could kill her but that will only ensure that Giorgo will have one year only. I understand that these witches have power even after death, and I don’t think we should challenge that power at this time. Let’s do better with this or we will lose our son.”

  Giorgo was pleased to hear that there might be a possibility of removing the curse. He knew it would be difficult to change Katerina’s mind, but he was too young to die and willing to give her whatever was necessary in exchange for his life. Did he really care about the house? No, not really. Would he be willing to support her financially? Yes. He and his parents weren’t rich but they weren’t poor. If he only had a year left, the money would be useless to him.

  But dammit, she was blackmailing him. That whore!

  “Stay levelheaded,” he repeated over and over inwardly. “She has you in a straightjacket and the only thing you can do is go along with what she wants. Do as she says and you might survive. You can still have women and that’s about the only thing that means much to you anyway. She said she doesn’t care how many women you have and you know that’s true. You won’t be able to remarry and have children, but you’ve never wanted children, so there’s no loss there. Besides, you no longer desire that blackmailing bitch from hell.”

  “Mother, you’re right,” he murmured agreeably. “Under these circumstances, we need to placate her and give her what she wants. She will live upstairs so we will see her occasionally, but all we must do when we see her is to greet her politely and let her pass by. I will sign the house over to her immediately and give her a weekly stipend.”

  He continued in a resigned voice: “We need to talk with her and discover any chance to change what appears so fatefully written at this moment.”

  His mother replied somberly, “Yes. I have heard that if the curse is removed, another curse can never be applied to the same person or anyone close to him. Yours and our safety rests on that curse being removed. We will lose the house but perhaps the Church could find a way to absolve your marriage and allow you to remarry. In our religion that is almost impossible, but we can always try.”

  “We’ll have to check with Father Kosta first. He can give us guidance on how to proceed. That the marriage has not been in effect for more than a year will be to our favor,” Giorgo’s father said broodingly. “I doubt that Katerina cares if you’re divorced or not. She just wants to make you pay for whatever sick acts she’s imagined and that’s why she wants the house. That woman has mental problems and the priest is bound to recognize that. I’m sure Father Kosta will intercede for us and help us to change her mind about this curse. Placing a curse on someone goes against all teachings of the Church and is considered colluding with the devil, which will lead to damnation for her soul and eternal life.”

  His mother added, “I believe that Father Kosta will say that with prayer, fasting, faith and Holy Communion, the curse she has placed can be conquered and destroyed of any power. Before we go talk with Katerina, let’s first say a prayer and go to the church to light candles and talk with Father Kosta. We may not have always done the proper things in our lives and now need to follow our religion more faithfully.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  In the months since he had married Ophelia, Michael had had various revelations including that the marriage had been a tragic mistake. But it was too late to undue the marriage vows and divorce was not an option. He cursed himself for being the weak fool that he had been in turning down Katerina, and he blushed at how callously he had treated her. The look of disbelief and disappointment on her face that day she and her mother came to visit him would haunt him forever. He had thought only of his promising future and hadn’t realized how bleak that future would appear without Katerina by his side. The fault was not with Ophelia but with him. Ophelia loved him deeply and was happy to do anything he wanted, but he couldn’t reciprocate those emotions no matter how hard he tried.

  “Michael, my sweet husband,” she would coax him many evenings. “Let me give you a massage to take away any pain you’re feeling. You’ve worked hard in the fields today and your back must be aching.”

  She would massage him and invariably rub his loins and penis slowly until she felt him harden. She wanted him to make love with her regularly and had found that this was the easiest way to excite him. She feared that he didn’t really want her and that he dreamt of Katerina while he was inside her. She was totally correct in her deduction but hoped to win him over by seducing him regularly.

  “Come Michael. Make love with me. Do whatever you want. My body is yours as is my heart and soul.”

  Being a young male with healthy and strong erotic instincts, Michael responded sexually as she surmised that he would. He had her as often as three times a night and sometimes when he came in from the fields at lunchtime. It seemed he couldn’t fulfill his sexual appetite even though it was with the wrong woman—maybe because it was with the wrong woman. For Ophelia, however, every time he entered her, she felt victorious over her sister.

  Ophelia bragged to herself often: “So little sister, he is mine now. You wanted him but I’m the one who has him. Maybe he doesn’t love me yet, but he will over time. I give him my body and we bond as husband and wife. That is something you will never have!”

  He made love with Ophelia, or in his mind had sex with her, but he wanted to shout out Katerina’s name each time he released himself. He would close his eyes at that moment and picture Katerina below him or above him or to the side of him or in front of him, depending on the position he and Ophelia were in.

  He would picture Katerina’s beautiful creamy face, her large green eyes, her sculpted lips, her luscious long throat, her black hair, and her soft, curvy limbs. “Dear God,” he would find himself praying after every sexual bout with Ophelia. “Will I ever stop seeing her in my mind? Every time I mate with Ophelia, I betray her by thinking of her sister. I want Katerina! I want her and her only! What I’m experiencing is not healthy and I know it. If I could change it somehow, I would. It’s too late to change the marriage but there must be a better way of coping. After all, this is going to last my lifetime. God help me, I don’t know what to do and I have no one to whom I can turn.”

  One winter morning in
early January, he thought of his friend Niko and decided that Niko would be a good and wise confidante. Niko was fifty-one years old and had experienced many things in his life, some exciting and some heartbreaking. He had left the village and worked on the ships for many years, so he had traveled worldwide. He had gone to the Americas, Australia, Russia, and various ports in the Mediterranean.

  Niko had started his sea journeys at the young age of twenty. He had signed up as a seaman because there were no lucrative jobs in Ano Kourouni or in the area, and his family didn’t have much land to farm. He had been struck by a young woman a couple of years younger than himself and had spoken to her family before leaving on his first journey. He had gone to her father and explained that he would like to marry the daughter when he returned from America—the first journey. He stated that he had spoken to the captain and the captain had reassured him that they would be back within one year. Niko explained to the father that he didn’t want to marry Aphrodite, the daughter, until he returned because he had so little to offer her in the present. However, after the first voyage he would receive a healthy sum of money to be able to support Aphrodite and even to buy a little land to farm.

  Aphrodite’s father had observed Niko for some time and was aware of the flirtation between Niko and his daughter. He thought highly of Niko because Niko was hard working and ambitious and so obviously infatuated with Aphrodite. He approved of the marriage but also thought it wise to wait until Niko returned.

  “Niko, my boy,” he said and thumped Niko enthusiastically on his back. “I have known for some time that you and Aphrodite have been eyeing each other. I know that she will be happy to marry you and I am glad because I care for my child’s happiness. We have a small dowry to give her but nothing to brag of. As you know, we are not rich, but we are proud and hold our heads up anywhere we go. We will welcome you into our family as we know your family will welcome Aphrodite. Go now knowing that Aphrodite will be yours in one year. Please come back to visit with the family and Aphrodite before you leave.”