Green Neon

12 Escape?

Both Tom and Christina were aware of the danger of the situation. Apparently, the secret police not only monitored the meetings of opposition members in Christina's apartment, but also - at least temporarily - Tom's activities.

What was the worst that could happen? Tom was at risk of actual imprisonment. Christina could also be imprisoned under the pretext of collaborating with the opponents of the regime, or at least be prevented from practicing law. For her friends, there was a risk that Christina's behavior would be taken as further evidence of their anti-state attitude and that they would go back to prison. Moreover, Nikos, Sophia, Georgios, and their families might also face difficulties.

Christina suggested contacting one of her clients that evening. Of course, they had to be informed about the impending danger anyway, but she also privately hoped that her friends from the resistance group might have an idea to save Tom.

It was late afternoon now, and Christina needed to rush to the office for an appointment with a client. Tom went with her and while she worked and made a few phone calls he waited in a side room. He had bought the latest issue of "Stern", a German magazine, at a kiosk, and so he whiled away the waiting time by intensively scrutinizing each and every article in the magazine. He was, however, so occupied by the thoughts of the danger he and his friends were in, that he couldn't remember a single topic afterwards.

At dusk, when Christina had finished all her pending work, they returned to Piraeus. On the way, she said that one of the men Tom had met at her apartment would try to get to a restaurant at Passalimani that evening, despite being under house arrest.

Before they left to meet him, he called Nikos. He didn't tell him about the events of the day, but he had decided – without consulting Christina – to confess everything to him. After all, Nikos and his family could also have problems with the secret police, for which he would blame himself heavily. After a short conversation with Nikos's uncle Yannis, he suggested to Nikos that they go to Delphi the next day. Nikos, who had never been there himself, happily agreed, and after a short discussion he also got permission from Yannis. They arranged to meet at the Athens bus station the next morning.

Tom had no intention of going to Delphi. Fearing that the apartment or the telephone were bugged, he had neither mentioned his problems nor revealed his real destination, which was Corinth. He hoped this deception would allow him to talk to Nikos in peace the next day, without being monitored by the secret police.

After the phone call he felt much better. Fear and anxiety had dug into his stomach during the day as hour by hour it had become clearer to him that this wasn't a game. But now, with the prospect of sharing his worries with Nikos and in the vague hope that the meeting this evening with the man from the resistance group might still open a back door solution to his problem, his fear had to compete with the astonishing prospect that he was about to join a secret resistance movement.

The usual evening bustle prevailed on the Passalimani promenade. Christina and Tom drifted with the crowd to the end of the marina and sauntered back until she pulled him into one of the restaurants. She spoke a few words to the owner, took Tom by the hand and led him into the kitchen. They left the low building through the back exit and crept across two backyards to the kitchen entrance of another restaurant.

Christina greeted the landlord, a plump, almost bald older man who, after a short exchange of words, shook Tom's hand and then invited the two into a tiny adjoining room with a table and a few chairs. From an overflowing ashtray and some half-empty glasses, Tom deduced it was a break room. Many cigarettes had been smoked here, and the lukewarm smoke hung in the windowless room. No sooner had they sat down and been given two carafes of wine and water than the eldest of the men whom Tom had met at Christina's apartment entered the room. He hugged Christina and greeted Tom warmly.