“I thought you only had one nephew and one niece?”
“Yes, two nephews, Francisco and Daniela.”
She finally realized that they were saying the same thing and decided to let the masculine overpower since it did in his language, and she was in no mood to correct him.
“So, are you close to them?”
“Close enough.” He chuckled.
“What do you mean close enough?”
“They are kids, you know. We have, how do you say, not much common. They are cute. Daniela loves dolls and purple. So when I visit, she shows me her new babies, but, then, I don’t know what else to say.”
“And what about the boy? Do you do things with him? Play soccer?”
“Oh no, he has his own life. Usually, he says ‘Hi Tio,’ gives me a kiss, then he is gone. Most times, when I go to my sister’s house, it is to see her and my brother-in-law. He is a real cool guy. I usually see them on weekends. We take the kids to the park, maybe go for a ceviche and Piscos. But during the week, I usually stay home. I get home late and am tired, watch TV, maybe play some sports, but mostly, just stay on the couch, watch the news, and relax.”
“So who do you live with? Do you have roommates?”
He smiled. “No, I live at home … with my mom and dad.”
Thair’s first thought was with mom and dad? Thirty years old and still at home? But Thair knew life was different in other places of the world, with other cultures; even Ravi still lived with his parents last she heard. Not all children leave home at the ripe age of eighteen, as in the US. It was not too long ago that she, too, lived with her mother, up until she was twenty-five and bought her own place.
“That’s nice.” A diplomatic, but honest response. Living with her mom had been mostly nice for Thair, too. “Do you like still being at home?”
“I don’t mind it. I like my mom, and we have a lot of fun together even if she makes me a bit loco some time.”
“I know what you mean. I guess that’s the role of being a kid, to drive our parents a bit crazy and then think that it’s the other way around!” Thair was not sure if he grasped her humor, so she continued: “What about your dad?”
“He is a good guy, too. We play golf sometimes and … you know … he’s the man of the house. When he is angry, we stay away.” Then he laughed. “He gets grumpy like me! I think I got it from him!”
Thair wondered again about this “grumpiness.” What she saw a few times wasn’t bad, but did it get worse?
Gabriel continued, “I will like to have my own home one day, but in Peru, we don’t leave our family house usually until we get married.”
“Yes, I know what you mean. Most Greeks are the same way. I lived at my mom’s until I bought my own place.”
“I save money for an apartment, but everything is so expensive. When I saved some money, I changed and buy a new car. Then I save again, but Bob and Jake invite me to Europe, so now I have to start again.”
“So how is life in Lima?”
“It’s busy, very busy. The traffic is terrible. The food is great. The people are very nice. And what about you, Thair? Do you think you will always live in California?”
It didn’t have to be a difficult question, but in a way, it was. Thair had always imagined moving to Greece one day, buying an apartment in Athens for the winter and a modest beach cottage on Kythnos for the summer. She always felt so at home in Greece that if she were ever to fall in love deeply and completely, she imagined it would have been with a Greek—never in her wildest imagination had she pictured a possible soul mate being from South America. But as she sat next to this Peruvian, she wondered how life had thrown her such a curve ball. She had only known Gabriel for a few days, but she was already sensing that this man had something special, that if she did not have him close, she would miss him greatly. In just a week, he had become her phantom limb.
She was anxious about the next topic, her weight shifting back and forth in her chair while one foot started tapping the table leg. So far, she knew that age, religion, country, nationality, may not be deal breakers, but this one would … could be.
“So, Gabriel, how do you feel about children?”
“They are okay.” Then he took a big bite of food.
“What do you mean by okay?” Thair needed to push.
“I don’t know. They are okay. I guess I never think about children.”
“Really? I mean you are young … but not that young. I know you want ‘a wife’ but what about kids? You talk about ‘this wife’ but how many kids do you visualize with her? One? Two? Five?”
A strong laugh. “Five? No way! Maybe one … maybe two.”
Thair just sat there. What did she expect? He was a Latino man. Of course, he would want to have children. And of course, Gabriel’s family would want him to have kids. That was the way of the world, and for certain the way of Latino and Greek families.
“But, Thair, like I said, I never think about kids too much. What I want is a wife.” He said this with great determination. “A wife who will understand me. That is the number one thing I want. Kids? I don’t know. Or if I care. What about you?”
“Well, Gabriel, I guess I do care. And a lot.”
“Really? You want five? You want to start tonight?” Another roar of laughter, but Thair’s seriousness cut him short.
“Actually, Gabriel, I am quite certain I do not want any. Zero. Zip. None. Not one.”
Then a long, “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“And why? Are you okay?” concern seeping from his voice.
“Yes, I’m healthy. If that’s what you are asking.”
“Then … why no kids, Thair?” he asked, more serious than he had been all night.
“Well, when I was a child my mama used to tell me this story about Zeus—”
Cutting her off, he had a perplexed look: “About Zeus?”
“Yes, about Zeus.” A short pause, then, “Anyway, it was a story about meeting your other half, a sort of fairy tale. Like the Prince Charming thing. One day, I would meet this perfect half and we would gallop off, or roll away, and live happily ever after.”
Thair told him about the soccer ball people and Zeus’s magic sword that cut these perfect people apart.
“So every time my mama told me this story, I always pictured this man I would one day fall in love with. Tall, handsome, someone with a good heart.”
“Like me?” Gabriel said teasingly.
“Yes … like you.” Thair said warmly. “But never once in that story did I see children. I imagined happiness connected to one single individual, not a family. I spent all my life looking for my Prince Charming. I mean, I knew that Prince Charming didn’t exist, but I was looking for a person who would be that perfect half of me.”
“Oh, okay, so you know that Príncipe Azul is not real. Thanks goodness.”
“Well, now I do, but I wasted a lot of my life unfulfilled, waiting for this other person to come before I could be completely happy.”
“Oh. That’s sad, Thair. I want a wife, but I am happy now,” he said with a grin.
“I’m glad, Gabriel, but I don’t think it’s always that simple for women since we are fed so many messages from a young age. To get that rock. To wear that white dress. To have babies.”
“Rock?” he asks.
“Diamond. In the States there’s so much hype about ‘putting a rock on one’s finger.’ If I ever get married, I want a simple, gold band. A ring with no beginning, no end.”
“Me, too.” Gabriel said.
Thair told Gabriel all her theories as he sat patiently listening to her. “How is a woman supposed to do it all? Work a full-time job, be a chauffeur, housekeeper, a cook, and then—this is usually at the bottom of a wife’s list—a sexual goddess! Who even has the energy and desire at night to have sex after such a long day?”
“Yes, but a couple must make time.”
“I agree, but this new woman is expected to do it all. If I
could have it my way, I would have women and men choose. Do it all, I would say, but not at the same time. Get a college degree. Then choose. Be a parent, then have a career. Or have a job and have the man or partner be the homemaker and in charge of the daily duties. Save money, buy fewer toys—”
“Toys?”
“I mean cars, clothes, jewelry, bikes, trailers, trips, technological gadgets; instead spend quality time with your family in simple and meaningful ways. We can’t go on telling women that they can have it all and at the same time because it’s not reasonable, and it leads to a lot of unhappy people.”
“Thair, what you say makes the world seem not very good. Is this how you see life?”
“Yes, unfortunately. I think career women are still expected to do the majority of the child care: make the lunches, take the kids to school, pick them up, drop them off at soccer practice, drive them to a violin lesson; maybe there’s a dentist appointment that day; maybe try to make a healthy dinner, too.”
“But American women fight for this change.”
“Yes, of course. I am a proud feminist, and there have been so many great changes, and I know there are a few awesome dads who help a lot at home and with the kids, but some things in our world just haven’t gotten completely figured out yet. I think women try to do too much, and oftentimes something has got to give, and it’s usually the marriage, for sure the sex. At least that’s what I hear from disgruntled girlfriends and colleagues.”
When Thair looked at Gabriel’s tired eyes (and ears, she was certain), she felt a bit guilty, but Gabriel had to know. This was integrally who she was, what she believed.
And then, in typical Gabriel style, he responded: “So, please let me summarize. You don’t want kids because they are too much work?”
Thair laughed at how Gabriel always simplified everything. “I guess, yes, that’s part of it, but it goes deeper than that. I choose romantic love over kids. If I ever commit to someone forever, or even marry one day, I want that person to be my number one. My numero uno. I don’t think I have it in me to divide my attention.”
“I don’t know if I agree with all this, but, okay, finish your kid story,” he said while pushing his chair closer to the table.
“I know my choice will also, undoubtedly, have consequences. But if I am lucky enough to spend my life with someone who truly complements me, and we laugh a lot and grow old together, then my decisions will have been the right ones for me.”
“Thair,” she had never heard him use that tone with her name before, “I think what you say is clear. I am glad that you tell me how you feel. I also think that you plan too much. What if I am that ‘other half’ that you talk about, but I want that one bebito? It would end here?”
“Yes, it would.” He was sitting straighter, looking ahead, and his hand on her thigh was now on the table. “Gabriel, I can’t apologize for how I feel. Please, tell me what you are thinking.”
“I think you think too much,” he said quietly.
“Gabriel, this is who I am at my core. I analyze everything. And at thirty-six years of age, I am not going to change, and I am not going to change my mind about children either. These are my choices.” Thair gave a brief consolatory smile.
This finally made him loosen up a bit. “Okay, let us not talk about kids more tonight. Maybe I will see things like you, too. I just never think about it. I just don’t know how someone can make such plans, say ‘no’ when a person never knows. But, well. Okay. If that is what you believe, that is what you believe.” He paused, smirked, “I do like idea of being numero uno … but for now, no more talk about bebitos. Do you like dogs at least?” This made Thair laugh, but before she could answer (she didn’t really like dogs either) he said: “Now, tell me more about your life in California. No details, por favor, but did you have a boyfriend, someone you
“What are you writing, your diary, Miss Wright?” he says while leaning down and giving me a peck on the lips.
“Yep.” I smile with his silly pun, ignoring the fact that the word “Miss” is outdated but who can pronounce Ms. anyway? Not to mention almost everything out of Gabriel’s mouth sounds genial.
“So how is Thair in this story? Is she happy?” He beams and then points to himself, “Has she met tall, good man from Peru yet?”
I have to laugh.
“Have you eat anything yet?”
“No, just two cups of coffee.”
“I am so hungry,” Gabriel says while looking around.
“I’m not surprised.”
There is a positive energy in the air this morning as I tease him, and he parrots my upbeat attitude with a loving poke to my tummy, “I am sure you are so hungry, too, flaquita.”
I am not sure what flaquita means, but I assume it’s something positive (at least I hope it is!). He sits across from me today, and for a moment I realize I am naked in the face. I thought about putting on a dash of mascara, or at least some lipstick before I left the room, but it didn’t seem necessary with Gabriel’s next words: “Thair, you look beautiful today.”
Normally I would say nah, but instead I reply, “You make me feel beautiful.” When I say this, I imagine Rick overhearing us, oh how he would laugh. This is as sappy as a tree gets.
“Thair, what you want to do today?”
“I asked the person at the reception desk, and he said there are some trails if we want to take a hike. Some are about five kilometers, others as long as seventeen.”
I can see his eyebrows lift with enthusiasm, “That sounds very good. Maybe one not too long? It looks like a superior day!” Yes, a superior day, I think.
Friday, 29th of July
I wake to the sound of Gabriel. He looks so happy when he sleeps. So relaxed, so peaceful in this world, if he never wakes, he most certainly would go to heaven—that is if I were God; I would give him a VIP pass, enter without a line, right to the front. But I am not God, do not have the power of Zeus, have little power or control for what will happen to this amazing person, so instead I roll out of bed and do a few Downward Dogs to feel at peace as well and stretch my back that is a bit sore from yesterday’s hike.
After a few Sun Salutations, while I am on the floor with my butt in the air again, I peek at Gabriel and his eyes are wide open.
“Kalimera,” he says with a perfect Greek accent.
I jump forward, hands on the floor, slowly uncurling my back, one vertebra at a time, as I stand up erect. “Kalimera, Gabriel,” I respond. “How did you sleep?”
“Great!”
“Are you sore at all from our hike?”
“No. You?”
“Yes, a bit. I don’t think I have used those particular muscles in more than a month.”
Sliding his legs to the side of the bed, he comes over to where I am standing and gives me a quick kiss. “I am going to have a shower,” with that, he is in the bathroom and the door is closed. And I have some time. I finish writing the part about “Thair’s” lovers and then continue.
Thair’s Story
She picked up her watch off the little wooden desk. It was already 10:43 a.m. and she wanted to be on the road early to drive back to Kamena Vourla and have time to spend with Gabriel before she saw him off the following morning. He was planning to take the 7:00 a.m. bus from Kamena Vourla back to Athens Saturday morning, then from the bus station at Liossion, get to the airport well in time for his evening flight. Thair hadn’t said anything yet, but she was debating renting the car for another day and taking him all the way to the airport. The thoughts she was having about this man were simply insane; she knew she might never see Gabriel again, yet she kept picturing those damn soccer balls. She even visualized herself stuck to Gabriel, back-to-back, rolling around together, laughing, playing. It was such a ridiculous image, but she finally admitted to herself, she was simply and completely in love.
But she had loved before, and she knew those initial feelings of excitement had been there with others, but something was, undeniably, different this time.
If Gabriel did not desire children, she pictured an amazing life with him. He stimulated her mind, not with conversations of art and literature, but with conversations about life, values, politics, the world in general. He was smart, sexy, witty, and funny. He loved outdoor activities like she did; he loved food, and of course, he seemed to love shopping. There were other qualities that were almost indescribable, how he looked at her, touched her, made her feel. The way he laughed at her silliness. The way he wasn’t afraid to disagree with her yet made life seem so uncomplicated. Yes, she pictured a long, good, exciting life with this man. But when? Where? How? Those parts were very unclear.
With a towel around his waist, he hovers above me, “Thair, are you ready to go or do you want to write more?”
“No, I’m ready. I just wanted to get some thoughts down, here, in this place, before we leave.”
When I say the words: before we leave, I can see Gabriel’s face look heavy, drawn.
“Thair, I am sad.” Simple, to the point. Gabriel always says what he feels, no need to be macho, play the tough guy. There are still fleeting moments when I question his honesty; he seems too good to be true, but this is not the time for doubt, not our last full day together. So I ask, “Gabriel, why are you sad?”
“I love this place. I would buy a small house and live here forever with you.”
I want to laugh, but I can’t. “I feel the same way.” I walk over to him and wrap my arms up and around his neck and we kiss, not long or lustfully, just a few short pecks, looking into each other’s eyes in between. Tears are gathering in my throat: “Okay, time to go,” I say while pulling away from him.
“Wait,” he says. I can see him struggle for words. “You will visit me in Peru, yes? See my life. Meet my family?”
I say with an unreasonable amount of confidence, “Yes, if you still want me to once you go back, I will come.”
“Of course, I will! When?” His one-word direct questions.
“Oh, Gabriel, I don’t know. My first break will be Thanksgiving.”
“But that is when?”
“The end of November.”
The Greek Persuasion Page 30