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Authors: Sara Alexi

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In the Shade of the Monkey Puzzle Tree (10 page)

BOOK: In the Shade of the Monkey Puzzle Tree
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One more thing, what’s flair?’ Theo asks.


Flair? Oh you mean like bartending flair, that’s all about throwing bottles around before you pour the drinks, not much call for that here, maybe down by the sea, some of those posh bars do that sort of thing, but you are safe here, man.’ Jimmy dismisses the conversation.

Theo waits, perched on a bar stool for the next hour or so. Periodically, he wanders to the front door to look up and down the street. Two girls come in, one to work the bar on the inside left, one to work behind the long bar with Jimmy. Theo is told to give his orders to her. She is strikingly tall and good looking in a rather hard way, but has the sweetest of smiles. He doesn
’t find out her name. Later, another girl comes to work behind the long bar, but she does not seem to speak any Greek and spends most of her time washing glasses. No one puts any more lights on and as evening falls, it becomes darker and darker in the bar. The grime becomes less visible, the unplaned wooden floor and bar give an ambience of rough and ready, and the place gives the impression of a rebellion against the modern world of shiny plastic in its dark and dingy way.

Dribbles of people come and get served at the bar. The time drags. A few minutes before ten, a young muscle-bound guy struts in and looks around as if he owns the place. He swaggers up to the DJ
’s booth and puts in a tape. The system blares out the rock in every corner; the place comes alive. The muscular guy plants himself by the main door. Just after ten, a tall, podgy-faced man in a long coat that is too warm for the weather greets him. They shout head to head over the loud music before the tall man enters. Catching Theo’s eye, Jimmy juts his chin and the glass he is wiping at the tall man. The tall man looks back at Jimmy, who repeats the movement with his chin and glass towards Theo.


Our new runner?’ the tall man shouts above the music as he walks up to Theo.


Yes, Theo’s the name. You Dimitri the boss?’ The podgy face wobbles slightly as the tall man nods, once, to stake his claim on the name and his position as boss. No hand is offered to shake, but at least there’s a name.


If you are still here when we shut, I will pay you,’ is all Dimitri says, then walks to the other end of the bar to down a shot that Jimmy has poured him. He has all the idiosyncrasies that Theo dislikes in a person. He is out of shape, comes across as arrogant and dismissive, and there doesn’t seem to be much ticking behind his cold, dark, eyes. There are all the makings of a bully in the man—an Athenian Manolis. Well, he will not wear a pirate’s uniform for this man.

Jimmy waves to get Theo
’s attention and points outside, where a group of four have gathered around one of the tables. Theo goes to serve them. Their order is modest and Theo breathes a sigh of relief, grateful he can afford this round. He keeps his eye on the group as he takes the order to the bar and feels more relief when he is reimbursed.

The place is rapidly filling now and the stocky man on the door is acting as a bouncer, but a smiling one who kindly lets everyone in, more a show of authority than a discerning process of selection.

As the crowd builds, Theo is bombarded with more orders but now he can no longer keep an eye on the customers when he goes to the bar, as the place is so packed. The music rolls like thunder, and everyone shouts to be heard. Soon, the place is so full, people stand shoulder to shoulder, and Theo has to push to make his way through the crowd. People are sweating, some are singing, a few move on the spot to the rhythm. Theo’s body pumps adrenaline as he waits to get served over and over by the girl behind the bar. Time and time again, running back, exhaling with relief when he finds his customers still there, and stopping to catch his breath. But at one point, he snaps at her because she is serving someone else.


Leave him. Get these,’ Theo hears himself bark. He pushes his written order at her. The girl responds quickly, but the man who was being served looks very displeased. ‘Sorry,’ Theo says to him. ‘It’s just that the system …’


I know the system, my friend, but it’s not my problem,’ the man snaps back.

Theo stares at him, his mouth slightly open, replaying what he just said in his head, realising he sounded just like his baba when he spoke to the girl.

The truth is, if he loses just one customer, he loses everything he has left. He will not be able to work tomorrow, and he will owe Jimmy. But is that a good enough reason to be so rude, so unkind, so like his baba?


Here,’ the girl behind the bar says and slides his order at him on a tray. ‘Go!’ she shouts above the music and Theo looks away from the man and at the tray and comes back to the moment. He thrusts through the crowd, but cannot see the man in the stripy shirt who placed the order. He was with a girl in a pink jumper and a guy in a grey jacket. Where are they? The adrenaline surges through his limbs; he can taste bile in his throat. Stripy shirt, pink jumper. He turns around, the music has turned to a ringing in his ears. He goes all the way out and onto the street.


Oi,’ the bouncer shouts.


Stripy shirt, pink jumper, grey jacket?’ Theo shouts above the music, his voice high-pitched.


Yeah, I know. They’ve gone.’ He points down the road. ‘Changed their minds.’ He smirks.

Chapter
9

 

Age 40 Years, 5 Months, 16 Days

 

Theo looks down at the glasses on his tray: two Drambuies, a beer, and no money.

He hasn
’t enough money to take another order. He could keep a low profile until closing time, pretend somehow, collect up empty glasses. Dimitri made it pretty clear that he only pays those still working when the place closes. But even that does not solve the problem. He needs paying to cover his loan from Jimmy now, and he needs money to do it all again tomorrow night if he is to get ahead.

It
’s getting late, and the crowd is now thinning. Maybe no one will approach with an order before closing time. He is tired and feels sick with adrenaline, or fear, or just the whole situation.

Two men sway up to him.

‘Two whiskies,’ one of them slurs.


Make that a whiskey and a brandy,’ the other says.

The farmers in the village drink but never seem to get drunk. Loud, yes, but slurring and swaying like the pair in front of him, very rarely. Here in Athens, all the rules seem different. He needs to adjust, start playing by the new rules. Men in white dressing gowns and thieving landladies are not what is going to see him succeed here. New place, new rules.

Like the boy who had enough of crying into his bed for wearing a pirate costume, the grown
Theo feels something inside snap. He blinks, and his eyes open. ‘Got a great offer on Drambuie,’ he shouts with a big smile above the music.


Go on, then. Two Drambuies,’ the first says, leaning on his friend for balance, the two of them still swaying slightly.

Theo takes the nearer of the men by his elbow and guides the pair of them to one of the outside tables, depositing the drinks in front of them. The men struggle in their pockets.

‘That doesn’t seem like much of an offer to me. In fact, that seems more expensive than usual,’ says the first, pulling out some notes.


Not for doubles served by that beauty,’ Theo replies, pointing to the girl behind the bar. She is just visible above the heads of the remaining customers.

Both of them stop the hunt for cash to look at her, their faces breaking into broad grins. They pay Theo and pick up their glasses. Just as Theo turns to leave, one shouts after him,
‘You sure this is a double?’


Ask her yourself if want.’ Theo points again at the girl and the men both turn and stare at her, sipping their drinks.


Very slick,’ the bouncer says as Theo passes him going back into the bar.

He still has a beer on his tray, but the men have paid enough to cover the cost of all the drinks. The customer Theo was rude to earlier is still sitting at the bar, and he fixes Theo with a cold, hard, stare.

‘You come to butt in again?’ The words accompany the look and he thrusts his chest out, curling his fist. He could be trouble.


No,’ Theo replies and puts the beer down in front of him.

The man stares drunkenly at the glass, then his thick fingers grasp around it.

‘Cheers,’ he says and downs half of it, his free hand slapping Theo on the back.

The crowd is lessening as the minutes pass. The boss character reappears and the bouncer pulls him to one side as he comes through the door. Jimmy appears from a back room, where he has been for some time. The girl who cannot speak Greek is running out of glasses to wash, and one of the drunks Theo served earlier is trying to chat up the tall, hard-looking girl serving on the long bar. She is doing her best not to appear bored. The girl at the small bar is examining her nails, sitting on a high stool, visible again now that the crowds have left.

Dimitri pays the girls, and they leave. Theo has not learnt any of their names. The last of the customers follow the girls out. The bouncer leaves, but he does not appear to get paid.


Here you go.’ Dimitri peels a note off a large roll and hands it to Theo. ‘Makis,’ his thumb jerks at the place left by the bouncer, ‘says you are smart. I take it you will work again tomorrow?’


Behind the bar?’ Theo asks, emboldened by the place, the dark, his survival, the internal shift, perhaps? Something makes him feel reckless and tough enough to challenge Dimitri.


Not unless someone comes to take your place.’


And if they don’t and I don’t come either?’

Dimitri has emotionless eyes, and all around them, his skin is dark. He suffers from open pores on his podgy nose.

‘They always do,’ he replies.


And if they don’t and nor do I, will you lose more sales than the difference in pay between a runner and a bar worker?’ Theo can hear his heart pound but his voice sounds calm. ‘Best hang on to what you’ve got. In this case, me.’ He adds a smile he does not feel and sticks his hands in his pockets to hide their tremor.


Alright, I’ll pay you the same as for bar work, but that is between me and you. I don’t want anyone else knowing. Don’t get too smart.’ He does not expect a reply.

Stepping towards Jimmy, Theo
’s arm extends with the money he has been paid. Jimmy flashes him a warning look. Theo turns the movement into a flourish, putting it in his pocket. Jimmy borrowed the money from the till, and he will not want the boss seeing it being paid back.


Ouzo
before you go?’ Dimitri asks.


I don’t drink when I work,’ Theo replies.

Dimitri
’s face splits into a broad grin and his laugh comes from the back of his throat, strangled, forced. ‘Ha, ha, I will save twice your wage in what you don’t drink.’ He stops laughing abruptly and looks at Jimmy, who is nursing a whiskey. He has not been without a glass by his side all evening.

The air outside is so fresh, and Theo gulps it down in big lungfulls. The walk home adds to Theo
’s fatigue. He collapses onto his new bed fully clothed, takes one shoe off with the opposing foot, and falls backwards and snores till late morning.

The next day, the sun fills the balcony and front room. Theo washes all his clothes in the bath, along with himself, and then wanders from room to room, naked, as he has no towel. But the sun is fierce and his clothes dry quickly. He stands tall in the room but squats to a crawl to check the progress of his clothes on the balcony, in the sun, just in case.

They are dry within the hour. His shirt is creased now, but it no longer smells. His trousers are still a little damp, but that is cooling, refreshing even. His socks need darning. He thinks of his mama, his lips purse, his breathing grows short. It is stupid to miss his mama when he is forty. A wife, yes, but a mama?

Below, someone begins to cut the lawn with a hand mower. Theo hangs over the railing to watch a man in a shabby pin-striped suit with padded shoulders at a sloping angle as they fall down his arms. Theo wonders why he doesn
’t take the jacket off. The flat roof next door has a blanket laid on it; it’s a good place to dry things. Maybe people are not so different here to those in the village.

He sits for a while on the sofa that he has pulled out onto the balcony and listens to the rhythmic whirr of the lawn mower, the birds in the tree, and waits for the cockerel to crow. If this job is going to keep him up so late every night, he will never be up in time to gather the furniture he needs. He looks behind him into the empty room. He also needs a floor brush, maybe a mop and bucket to keep the place clean. When he has furniture, he will invite Tasia and her baba, and he reasons that should be incentive enough.

The day passes quickly, mostly with Theo strutting around his empty rooms, feeling smug. He ventures out to eat and thinks of going to tell Eleni and Timotheos about his job, or maybe even walking as far as Tasia’s
kafeneio
, but in the end, he is too tired for company and eats at a nearby taverna. The food is not very good and he soon returns home to cat nap, trying to catch up on his sleep whilst enjoying the heat, and lounging in the sun. In his own sleepy way, he is handling Athens well today.

Evening comes as he walks under clear, deep blue skies and on cracked flag-stone pavements to work. He can hear birds nearly all the way to the bar, which is on one of the few streets devoid of trees. His pace quickens as he gets nearer, with the memory of the night before, the constant worry of losing clients, losing his money. He hopes someone else turns up looking for a job, takes his place so he can go behind a bar. The increase in pay he negotiated is welcome, but it isn
’t really enough to compensate the stress of being a runner.

Outside, the Diamond Rock Cafe still looks grimy. Empty cans have rolled to the central gutter. Beer-stained serviettes, dried by the sun, adhere to the contours of the cobbles. There are one or two restaurants open for business, but many of the places are boarded up.

The shutters of the Diamond Rock Cafe are lifted open and Jimmy is inside. He stuffs something into his pocket and closes the till as Theo enters.


Hey, you’re back.’ Jimmy smiles, but his cheeks colour. He gives a sideways glance at the till, as if to double check it is closed.

Theo smiles back, discomforted with what he thinks he just saw. But he says nothing and Jimmy grins all the more, walking towards him eagerly.

‘You did well yesterday,’ Jimmy says in an ingratiating manner.

Theo puts his hand in his pocket and draws out the note Jimmy lent him from the till the evening before.

‘Nah, man. Forget it.’ Jimmy waves it away.

Theo grasps the whole picture in that moment, and in that moment, he decides he will not be serving as a runner tonight, not even if no one else turns up. He turns to the little bar opposite the long bar.

‘Shall I work here tonight?’ It is not a question.


Er, well, that would be great, but Dimitri decides who works where, and the girl who works there is a sort of friend of his, in a way. It’s a sort of trust thing,’ Jimmy stammers.

Theo can see how it is a trust thing. There is no one to monitor what is sold, there are no optics, and the bottles are unmarked. Everything is poured by hand. But that is not his concern right now.

‘I am sure you can explain how trustworthy I am to Dimitri.’ Theo steps behind the small bar. It smells bad. He takes a dirty cloth from the sink behind the counter and washes it through with hot water and soap and uses it to scrub down the bar counter before setting to work taking bottles from the shelves behind so he can give them a good scrub.


Have we got any Azax?’ Theo calls out and turns to find Jimmy is staring open-mouthed at his labours. ‘Window cleaner, Jimmy, for the glass shelves?’ Jimmy shakes his head but continues to stare at the bar that is beginning to shine.

People begin to filter in, their attention caught by Theo
’s gleaming bar. They make jokes about being in the wrong place, then sit and order. They are no more than kids and treat the place like a second home.

The night draws in, and Theo
’s bar is busy. The till does not work properly. If he tries to ring in an amount, it comes up as no sale and the drawer springs open. He tries to keep a mental tally. Dimitri turns up and across the chatting, smoking heads of customers he scowls as he talks to Jimmy, nodding in Theo’s direction. Theo keeps his head down, washes a few glasses, and has another look around in the shelves under the counter for something to explain the ever-present bad smell.


A beer please, my friend,’ a voice shouts.


There you go.’ Theo pulls the drink for a young man who he has been serving all night. The boy started with notes, now he is counting out his change. Feeling for the boy, Theo has been filling his glass really full; this time he leaves no room for froth.


You’re busy, eh?’ the boy shouts.


Isn’t this bar usually this busy? Theo asks above the music.

The boy laughs
‘She’s a pretty girl, the one who is usually here, but her beer is all froth and she has no idea how to make a cocktail. Order a brandy, you may well get a whiskey. She usually sits here all night, looking at her fingernails.’ He grins at Theo, who smiles in return but can think of nothing to say that would be worth shouting over the music. The boy lifts his beer to salute, acknowledging the extra measure he has received.

Dimitri begins a slow walk in his direction. He all but pushes the boy out of the way.

‘Hey, bartender,’ Dimitri shouts. ‘Give me a screwdriver.’ He looks far from happy. Theo clenches his teeth. For a second, he believes he is asking for a woodworking tool but in a heart-sinking flash, he knows he is being tested. The whole cocktail thing has been filtering over from America since the early seventies, but he has no idea what a screwdriver is made from. The boy drinking his beer looks over and notices the exchange and Theo’s blank look.


Got too clever too quickly, didn’t we?’ Dimitri sneers. The boy pulls a face behind him, then rummages in his inside pocket.

Theo tries to recall films he has seen that might have shown someone making one, but he is drawing a blank. He could fake it and make something up, give it a new name, The Dimitri, perhaps. But it probably wouldn
’t wash.

BOOK: In the Shade of the Monkey Puzzle Tree
11.69Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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