by C. Kennedy
Rosa entered the dining room and took the plate from his hands with a polite smile. He capitulated and dropped back into his seat. “How’s Sophia?” he asked Jake.
Jake whistled softly. “I never want to be on that woman’s bad side. I think she would have shredded Yosef with her bare hands if the bailiff hadn’t removed him from the courtroom.”
Nero shook his head. “It’s over. We need to move on.”
Rosa returned to the dining room. “Coffee?”
Everyone nodded except Michael and Jake.
“Let’s get some ice cream,” Jake said.
Bobbie smiled. “Bring me some, Michael?”
“What kind?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Spumoni, figlio,” Nero said.
Jake gave his dad a lazy salute. “Mamma?”
“The Garcia one.”
“Cherry Garcia for you.
“Dad?” Michael asked.
“None for me, though I may have a bit of cognac.”
“An excellent idea,” Nero agreed.
Michael watched as Jake spooned ice cream into two bowls. “Let me take this to our moms, and I’ll be right back.”
He returned within seconds and spooned three scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream into a bowl, shoved the bowl to Michael, and spooned more into a bowl for himself. Michael doused his with chocolate syrup, then shot whipped cream at it until it was piled high. He finished the whipped cream off with a curly tip and sprinkled nuts on top of it. “We only have two weeks ’til the Trials, Jake.”
“We’ll be okay. Coach is around every weekday for us.”
Coach O’Malley had been their track and field coach since they began high school and had led them to four consecutive state championships. He was one of the kindest people they had ever come to know, and they loved him.
“Who said so?”
“Dad talked to him.”
“Like he’s our private coach now?”
Jake made a what did you expect? motion with a hand.
“That’s seriously cool. Remind me to thank your dad.”
“It’s kind of weird because I don’t think Dad wants us to do well.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bro, where is your head? You have a scholarship to Oxford, and I’m going to Columbia. It’s not like we have time for Olympic training if we make it.”
Michael stopped his spoon halfway to his mouth. “What, like we can’t go to college at the same time?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “You are so damn oblivious. Olympic training is year-round.”
Michael jabbed his spoon into his ice cream. “How’s that going to work?”
“That’s my point. You have to choose to be a career athlete or go to school.”
“I don’t want to be a career athlete. I want to restore ancient books.”
“Point.”
“Bro, so why are we doing this?”
“Because we like to run and we’re good at it?”
Michael tucked his chin. “Speak for yourself. I do it because I can’t have you being better than I am. I mean, not like that could ever actually happen, but—”
Jake snorted. “I’m always better than you, bro!”
“You are so not!” Michael catapulted a spoonful of whipped cream at Jake, missed, and hit the side of Rosa’s face as she entered the kitchen with her arms full of plates.
Michael jumped from his seat. “Oh crap, Rosa! I’m sorry!” He reached for a towel and dabbed at her cheek as she set the plates on the counter.
“Give me that,” she said through a laugh and grabbed the towel from his hands.
“I’m sorry. That was meant for Jake. Would you mind holding Jake still while I shoot him?”
She reached for the whipped cream can and aimed it at Michael.
Michael ducked. “I surrender!”
“You two will not make a mess of my kitchen!”
“Never. We would never do that. We swear it!”
“Here, Rosa. Let me wipe your other cheek,” Jake took the towel from her hands, made to wipe her cheek, and surreptitiously painted her other cheek with chocolate syrup.
“Jacob!”
“Food fight’s on!” Michael yelled. He reached for the chocolate syrup and shot it at Jake.
“Oh no freakin’ way!” Jake sidestepped the kitchen island, opened the refrigerator, and came back with both strawberry and butterscotch syrups.
“Not a chance!” Michael yelled as he dodged the spray. “Ha-ha! You missed!” He turned to find Rosa aiming the mustard at him. She nailed him in the face. “So not fair! This is a sweets-only competition!” He turned, only to have Jake shoot whipped cream at him.
The kitchen door swung open. “What is going on in here?”
“Dad!” Michael yelled. “Help! They’re ganging up on me!”
“Well, here. Let me help you.” Mac reached into Michael’s ice cream bowl, took a handful of ice cream, and smashed it into Michael’s hair. “There you go. You’re saved.” Mac reached for a paper towel to wipe his hands and headed back into the dining room.
“That has to be against the law! Isn’t there some food fight penal code that says so?”
Jake cracked up. “That’s a question for my dad. I’m not an attorney yet.”
Michael’s phone rang, and he looked at his hands, now full of ice cream, whipped cream, three kinds of syrup, and mustard. “Jake, answer my phone!”
“Where is it?”
“My pocket.”
Jake withdrew it and answered it with a quick, “Hey, Christy!”
“It’s me, Jacob. Why are you answering Michael’s phone?”
“Oh, hey, Sophia. We had a food fight, and Michael lost. He’s a mess.” Jake met Michael’s concerned eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. I only wanted to let Michael know Christy fell asleep.”
“Christy fell asleep,” he said to Michael before returning to Sophia. “That’s okay. Is he okay?”
Michael reached for a clean towel, and Rosa handed a damp paper towel to him so he could wipe his hands.
Sophia continued, “Very good but exhausted after we looked at the other cabin and planned for Thimi’s arrival.”
“How are you holding up? How’d it go with the sister-brother thing?”
“It went well. We decided it changed nothing. We only wish Ariel would speak to us about it.”
“Maybe give her more time?”
“Perhaps. Listen, bello, we need to shop tomorrow for Thimi, and Michael needs to come here to help Rob and Christy move furniture.”
“Ah, okay. What time?”
“I think around noon. This will give us time to finalize the shopping list and plans.”
“Okay. Hang on.” Jake looked at Michael. “Sophia says we need to be over there around noon. You to help move furniture in Thimi’s cabin and me to shop with her for Thimi.” He did a quick butt wiggle.
“You always get the cool jobs, bro. What about practice?”
Jake looked at his watch. “It’s only eight now. Say we get a good night’s sleep and hit the track at seven thirty?”
Michael nodded. “Are we going to meet up with Coach?”
“Not ’til Monday.”
“Works for me.”
Jake returned to the call. “Sounds good. Michael and I will hit the track early and be there by noon.”
“Oh, I forgot about practice.”
Jake smiled. “Yeah, it’s been a crazy couple of days. Things will get back to normal now that the trial is over.”
“I hope so. I’ll let Rob know Michael will be here.”
“You okay?”
“Yes, but tired. I think I’ll sleep now that I know Christy is all right.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you too. See you tomorrow.”
Jake terminated the call. “Everything’s okay. They’re just tired.”
Michael shook his head. “What a freakin’ whack week.”
“No, bro, it isn’t. Christy still has to deal with the trial in Greece.”
Jake ran a hand over his face. “Okay, well it isn’t happening tonight, and we got practice in the morning, so let’s hit the hay.”
“Help Rosa clean up, shower, then hay.”
Rosa threw a towel at Michael. “Don’t you dare touch my kitchen.”
BOBBIE FILLED the doorway to Michael’s guest bedroom, the light from the hallway silhouetting her small frame.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
She entered the room, sat on the edge of the bed, and ran a gentle hand over his curls. “Your hair is wet.”
“It’ll dry. What’s wrong?”
“Worried about you.”
“I’m okay.”
She smiled, and even in the dim of the room, Michael could see it was a sad smile. “What’s up, Mom?”
“That courtroom video had to have affected you deeply.”
Michael sighed. “I guarantee I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions if I ever got my hands on Yosef again, but I need to stay focused on Christy. He thought I wouldn’t want to be with him anymore.”
She winced. “I shouldn’t say this, but I hope Yosef rots in hell for eternity.”
Michael reached for her hand and kissed her palm. “Why shouldn’t you say it? He’s evil incarnate. And he will rot in jail. If not here, then in Greece. General Sotíras will make sure of it.”
“I think you’re right.”
“Jake and I are going to hit the track at seven thirty, and then we need to be at Christy’s by noon. I need to help move furniture in Thimi’s cabin.”
“What time do you want to be up?”
“Six thirty.”
“I’ll see you in the morning. Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
MICHAEL WOKE to the sound of his phone, and it took a second to orient himself before he remembered where he was. He reached for the phone in his half-awake state and answered it. “Yeah.”
“Michael?”
Christy’s voice sounded hoarse and full of fear. “Hey, babe, you okay? What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry for calling late. I wished to… to hear your voice.”
Michael hated it when Christy had nightmares and cursed Yosef yet again for bringing them back. “I’m here. Right here. Not going anywhere. Tell me about it?”
“It is of my time with Yosef.”
“The old time or the kidnapping?”
“The old time.”
Michael rubbed his eyes. “It’s over, Christy. No one will ever hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it.”
“You cannot promise this. You do not control the actions of others.”
He knew that, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. “I don’t, but I can promise I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
“This I believe.”
Now he heard a smile in Christy’s voice. “Do you want me to stay with you tomorrow night?”
“This would be nice. I miss sex with you.”
Michael laughed. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“Michael?” Christy said, fear evident in his voice again.
“What, babe?”
“The video in the courtroom? You do not see this as betrayal?”
Michael gritted his teeth and wanted to hurt Yosef all over again. “Hell no.”
“You will still have the sex with me?”
Michael wanted to scream. “That video didn’t change anything, Christy. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Christy rarely told Michael he loved him, and Michael’s heart soared. “S’agapó, babe.”
Christy laughed softly. “You are good with the Greek accent on these words.”
“Because I mean it.”
“I will sleep now and dream of you.”
“Okay, babe. I’m right here. Never going anywhere.”
“Okay. Good night.”
“Night.”
Michael looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. He rolled over, punched the pillow as if it were Yosef’s face, and fell into a restless sleep.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Hippokration Hospital, Saturday
GLYFADA, SOUTH ATHENS, GREECE
“GOOD AFTERNOON, Thimi,” Dr. Jordanou greeted. “How are you today?”
Thimi held his cast up. “T-two.”
“We’ll get you something for the pain.” Dr. Jordanou clipped the X-rays of Thimi’s wrist to the light box and studied them. “Your wrist looks good.”
General Sotíras entered the room. “Hello, Thimi.”
Dr. Jordanou smiled at the surprise on Thimi’s face. “Would you like to know why General Sotíras is here?”
Thimi nodded.
“We’re going to take you to Christy tomorrow, and we want you to be prepared for the trip. You need to know what to expect.”
Thimi’s face brightened, and he almost smiled.
“I brought you something.” General Sotíras unrolled a sheaf of paper as he approached the bed. He set several eight-by-ten photographs on the bedside table and smoothed them out with a hand. “Christy gave me pictures of everyone in New York.”
The first picture was of Christy, and Thimi smiled.
“He looks good, doesn’t he?” Dr. Jordanou asked.
Thimi nodded as he looked at the next picture.
“That’s Michael, Christy’s boyfriend,” Sotíras explained.
Next came a picture of the outside of Christy’s cabin. “That is where Christy lives.”
Thimi looked up at him, confusion plain on his face.
“Wellington Ranch has three cabins behind the main house. Christy lives in one of them.”
And so it went through more than twenty pictures in all.
“You may keep them,” Sotíras said.
“C-call Christophoros?”
Dr. Jordanou looked at his watch. “It’s six in the morning in New York. You’ll wake him.”
Thimi nodded, as if Christy’s sleep was of no consequence to him.
Sotíras withdrew his cell phone, scrolled to Christy’s number, and handed the phone to Thimi.
Thimi put it to his ear and shook it when it didn’t work.
“You need to touch Send. The green button,” Sotíras explained.
Thimi did so and put the phone to his ear again.
“KALIMÉRA, GENERAL,” Christy answered.
“It is me, Thimi. I use the general’s phone.”
Christy responded with a happy, “Kaliméra, Thimi. This is the first time you call me.”
“It is the first time I touch Send and hear the ring on the line!”
“This is very exciting!”
“You speak all the time now? Not only for me?”
“I try. I have therapy for speech, and the stutter is almost gone now.”
“They did this?”
Christy smiled to himself. “They help me with everything, Thimi. You will have the same. Whatever you need, they will help when you come here.”
“And they know? About us?”
“They know.”
“What do I do for them?”
“They do not want this from us, Thimi.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. They are here to help us.”
“I do not believe this.”
“It was hard for me to believe, but it is true. It is a very special place for us, Thimi. A place for people only like us. You will see. When do you come?”
“I come tomorrow!”
The excitement in Thimi’s voice thrilled Christy, and he breathed a monumental sigh of relief. “This is wonderful news. I am preparing for you now.”
“It is a long trip.”
“Yes. Almost two hours to Athens, thirteen hours to fly to the US, and th
en you must drive four hours more to arrive where I am. It will be a long day. Who is coming with you?”
“Dr. Jordanou and General Sotíras. This is good?”
“Very good.”
Thimi dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “The general is safe?”
“Yes.”
“He is a police, no?”
“Yes. But he is not like General Colonomos. He is safe. What time do you leave?”
“I will ask…. Dr. Jordanou says we will be leave at eight in the morning and fly at ten in morning!”
Christy quickly calculated thirteen hours to fly plus an hour to collect their luggage and get to the car plus four hours to drive up from the city making Thimi’s total travel time at least eighteen hours. Then he subtracted the seven-hour time difference. “You will arrive here at approximately nine in the evening tomorrow and will be very tired. You must try to sleep on the plane.”
“I can do this?”
“Yes.”
Thimi’s voice dropped to a whisper again. “I am afraid.”
“I know, but you don’t need to be. You’re safe now. It is a long trip, you will see many new things, and flying is very nice. Stay close to Dr. Jordanou and General Sotíras. There are many people in the airport.”
“Entáxei, okay. I can come back?”
“What do you mean to say? Return to Greece?”
“Yes.”
“If you wish. I will travel there sometimes. You may come with me. How are the dreams?”
Thimi was silent.
“Ask Dr. Jordanou for the sleep medicine.”
“Entáxei.”
“And the vomiting?”
Thimi was silent again.
“Ask Dr. Jordanou for the medicine for this too.”
Thimi sighed. “Entáxei.”
“Do you promise to sleep?”
“I will try.”
“Do you have the purple marble?”
Thimi laughed softly. “Yes. I see the pictures of you!”
“Ah, this is good! You see I am happy?”
“Michael is nice?”
Christy’s cheeks heated, and he was glad Thimi couldn’t see him. “Yes. You will like him.”
“He does not….”
Christy knew what Thimi meant to ask. “No. No more work, Thimi. We are free now.”