Chapter 5

"When I arrived here from Denmark," mum's telling me, "I didn't have much English. I was 9 and we settled in the Eastern Bays."

"I know that mum," I tell her, "Everything was strange and new and you wanted to go back home and..."

"Yes, yes... let me continue..."

I'm sitting with her in our lounge, the housework forgotten. We sometimes have these little talks, just me and mum, but today, well, we've got lots to get out, y'know?

"The Greeks and Italians developed the Bays, they were once fishing villages and then they spread out into other things, like property for instance. At my first school there were a lot of them, they'd stick together. The Apostolakis's were a large family there, they were very kind to us."

"So you knew Nick from school?"

"Yes, he was a couple of years older but he and his friends looked after me and my younger brother, your uncle Joh. I'll always be grateful for that."

"I didn't know you knew Nick?"

"I guess they understood what it was like being in a... minority and struggling, you know?"

"Yeah, Nick would do that," I smile.

(I KNEW he had a big heart!)

"I kept in touch with him until he was about 20, just before he went to Greece..."

I hold my breath!

"I even went out with him a few times, Tee, y'know what I'm saying? And before you ask I never slept with him."

"Mum, you? He went to Greece? He told me he didn't... because... he'd be conscripted into the army?"

"Well he did, Tee. And honey... he came back with a girl."

"What? You mean he got married?"

"A Greek girl, Dora, from his village in Crete."

"So where does Rachael enter the picture?"

"I'm getting to that," mum says, "he was married to Dora for about 12 years or so, but there were no children."

"Maybe they didn't want any?" I suggest.

"A Greek couple not wanting children, get real!" mum smiles, " no, there was a problem there, she couldn't conceive for some reason."

"Poor Nick!"

"Poor Dora! She was a nice woman, I met her once or twice. His family gave her a hard time."

"Because she couldn't have children? That's unfair!"

"Well, that's the way it is! Nick felt humiliated I think. Y'know, his manhood's very important to him."

I blush at the reference.

"It had nothing to do with him?" I tell mum, indignantly.

"Doesn't matter! His family wanted him to throw her out..."

"That is SO cruel!" I protest.

"Yes... it was very hard for her. In the end, Nick caved in."

"He did?"

"Twelve years of pressure, honey and Nick's mother's a very dominating woman."

"And he's a wimp, I get that now."

"Don't be too hard on him, Tee. You got to remember the way he was brought up. I'm surprised he lasted 12 years!"

"Well he shouldn't have thrown her out, what's wrong with him?"

"He didn't exactly throw her out, Tee, Nick couldn't do it that way. No, he had an affair with a 16 year old schoolgirl. At least I HOPE she was 16 at the time..."

"Rachael?"

"Yes, and a piece of work she is."

"I know, I've met her!"

"You have? Well I'd stay away from her if I was you. They started this relationship and it went on for years, right under Dora's nose. Everybody knew about it!"

"Bastard!"

Mum ignores me and continues.

"Eventually Dora had enough and went back to Crete. Nick then married Rachael, by then she was pregnant."

I'm sunk in thought, trying to understand Nick's behaviour, trying to find excuses. It just doesn't sound like the Nick I know, or maybe it is, I don't know!

"Beatie," mum continues, "Nick is emotionally immature in many ways. He can't really handle close relationships with women. Rachael was perfect for him, she was a user and couldn't handle love either."

"But what about Dora, that lasted 12 years and..."

"Yes, I don't know why, Tee. I don't understand why he stuck around as long as he did. Maybe he was trying to do the right thing? I know he was miserable for most of the time, concentrated on building up the business."

"It sounds like he had some integrity after all," I suggest.

"Oh he's got that alright. He's a very fair man, at least when it comes to business! I just can't see you dealing with Nick's demons though, honey. His family will slaughter you."

"Why?"

"Because you stand between him and his wife, the mother of his CHILDREN!"

"Kids again!" I sigh.

"Yes, kids, Beatie. Understand that that is the most important thing to the Apostolakis's, above all else. They want Nick's little family back together. Even though Rachael's not Greek, she's always got on pretty well with them, you know."

"How?"

"Oh," mum grins, "Rachael knows how to work the room AND she has a nose for where the power is. She's sexy and looks good and, remember, Nick has 5 brothers!"

"You mean?"

"No! She wouldn't sleep with them, she's not THAT stupid. She flirts and teases but, in the end, acts just like a little Greek wife around them. She's quite the operator."

"I don't think I like Rachael!"

"Stay clear of her, Beatie, please! She doesn't let anyone stand in her way, she'll eat you alive. Get out of this, honey, before you get caught in the middle!"

Mum has this desperate look again.

"I don't think I can... right now," I tell her, miserably.

"Oh Beatie, honey," mum holds me tighter, "I don't know what else to say. Don't expect Nick to support you, he hasn't the balls, I wish I can impress that on you. You'll be on your own against Rachael and the Apostolakis's and they play for keeps. And watch Nick hide, Beatie, just watch him."

"Mum, it sounds like you've had some personal experience?"

"Well I DID go out with him for a while, Tee. I DO know what you see in him, believe me! We were... very close for a while. You could say I was in love with him!"

"MUM? With NICK?"

"With Nick, why not? You managed it?"

"I'm not sure that I'm in love with him, mum."

"You sure? You could've fooled me!"

"Maybe just a little..."

"Or maybe just a lot!" mum says emphatically. "So I DO understand completely what you're going through. Mother and daughter, eh?" mum chuckles, "like a 16 year old boy's wet dream!"

"MUM!"

The next day I'm apprehensive about going to school. I'm sure Angela's already spread it around about me and Nick.

I catch up with her at recess. She tells me that her and Jerry didn't do the business on Saturday. Instead he got absolutely blotto after the game and she spent the evening checking on him as he lay flaked out on the spare bed.

(Don't say I didn't warn you, Angela!)

"I'm not going to clean up his vomit ever again!" she insists.

"Yuk, I'd make him lie in it," I reply.

"EEEYYYEEEEWWWW," we say in unison.

She wants to know how I'm getting on with my 'older guy.' I hedge a bit but can't wipe the smile off my face. Then my cellphone beeps and there's this blasted text message.

'C U 2nite? N.'

"Let me see, let me see!" shrieks Angela.

I try and stop her from broadcasting the news around the quad but soon a couple of her friends rush up and it's all on, damn her!

I'm flushed with embarrassment as Angela all but tells everyone about my 'secret' lover.

"How old is he?" asks Di, one of Angela's confidantes.

She has this grin on her face so I know darn well that Angela's told her, 'in confidence, ' of course.

I'm not coping too well with all of this. I snatch back my phone and glare at everyone. They drift away laughing, leaving only Angela and me.

"Why couldn't you just keep your mouth closed?" I snarl at her.

"I did," she protests, "I didn't say anything. Me and Di were just talking about stuff last night and I said that I thought you were going out with someone, that's all. I didn't mention any names or..."

"And you said he was an older guy?"

"I might have mentioned it, I'm not sure..."

I shake my head.

"Well, I didn't know it was a secret!"

I don't know why I like Angela, she can be SUCH an airhead sometimes. I've known her since primary school. She was this skinny kid that nobody liked and, I guess I was a bit prissy and everyone made fun of me.

Some girls were picking on her one day after school and she was crying. I felt sorry for her and took her home with me. We became firm friends after that.

By high school she'd blossomed a lot and had grown more confident. Her and boys discovered each other with a vengence and, well, I guess she made up for lost time.

I was always there for her when her heart was broken by some jerk. But she was never down for long, she was always popular with the boys!

I can't stay mad at her for long, there's just too much water under the bridge. Everyone has their kindred spirit and I guess mine is Angela, sigh!

I text Nick back,

'Friday.'

I want some space, y'know?

I also have a lot of work to get finished. It's coming to our end-of-year's and I want my marks to be high. Some courses I'm planning to do at Uni you need good grades to get in.

I bury myself in my room, when I get home. I don't want to see Nick arrive home next door or I know I'd want to go over and see him. I feel like I'm on this addictive drug and that drug is Nick.

Mum understands. She's says I need a bit of 'cold turkey.' I don't really understand the term but I get what it means.

Mum has to meet Nick on Thursday. He apparently promised to go over some things with her about construction techniques or something. She has to know such things for her Real Estate license.

Mum says Nick could have been a builder or even an architect. He has the talent but he wouldn't do the training. It takes too long and in any case there wasn't enough money in it for him.

"You need a lot of nous for what he does," she tells me, "but really, anyone can do it with a bit of capital and if they're prepared to do the hard work. Y'know, in the beginning, Nick used to do all the work on the improvements himself. He'd sometimes work through the night, weekends. He was paying high mortgages on those places and he needed to turn them over quickly. He took some huge risks but he never came unstuck. Shrewdness or dumb luck, I don't know which."

"Shrewdness I'm sure," I decide.

"Maybe both! And a family prepared to bail him out if he gets into difficulties. He has that, of course!"

(Of course, his family!)

I'm nervous about what mum's going to discuss with Nick. She promised she wouldn't talk about me, but how can she not?

I wish I could be a fly on the wall.

Y'know, I wonder if mum has some feelings for him still. Maybe she's a bit jealous of me, I didn't think of that. I mean she did say she wouldn't mind a bit of a 'roll' with him herself, didn't she?

Then again, she wouldn't betray dad, he's so kind and gentle. You can see how much he adores her when he walks into the room, even after all these years, it's SO cute!

I have this little daydream about going over and stumbling in on their meeting. He's lying on the sofa and she's sitting on him, on his 'thing.'

(God I'm terrible sometimes!)

Mum doesn't get home from her meeting with Nick until 7.30. I look at her suspiciously but she just smiles and asks me if everything's alright. Dad's watching TV so I can't talk to her about him.

(My life is TOO wierd at the moment!)

Later, mum's stacking dishes and I ask her straight.

"Mum, promise me you're not having an affair with Nick."

She looks at me in shock, then she bursts out laughing!