Green Neon

30 The neon writing on their foreheads

It took them some time to reach the needle's eye of the gangway, and the few yards over the narrow wooden walkway seemed to stretch on forever. The boys pushed through the crowds without losing sight of the spotlight where the girl from Piraeus was waiting.

Tom and Sophia fell into each other's arms and kissed, and Sophia kissed Nikos on both cheeks, too. Of course, she wanted to know everything about their trip "around the world", and they both just babbled on, about pirates, naked Oxford Englishmen, and water ski tours. They found a bench on the edge of the port area and talked about Petros, Basilis and Aunt Kyra, but then a ring came from Sophia's pocket. She said goodbye hastily, not without promising a call for the next day, and ran home.

Christina received the boys with a dinner that awakened their predatory instincts. They hadn't eaten since breakfast in Mykonos, so they tucked into the delicious meat, pepper, tomato and onion stew while recounting their experiences on the island. Georgios came much too early to pick up his son, and the two had hardly left the apartment when Tom suddenly became tired.

He was abruptly snapped out of his dreams of colorful fish and underwater friends the next morning.

"Sophia is on the phone," said Christina. Tom stumbled into the hallway. He hadn't expected his girlfriend to call so early. He was supposed to be at the port in an hour, that's all she told him.

Sophia and her two friends took him in their midst and led him to the pier of the ships at Paloukia on the island of Salamis. The crossing was short. At the Salamis port, they parted from Dora and Maria, who went to visit relatives, while Tom and Sophia took the bus to the island's main town. The ride took only a few minutes.

She obviously knew the island well. Their destination was a beach on the eastern outskirts of town, where they settled on a blanket she had brought with her.

"Now tell me." And Tom did. He detailed their conversations with Petros without mentioning that he had met him at Christina's.

"We need to meet Nikos as soon as possible," commented Sophia. "We have to do something."

After a while the beach emptied. There were no foreign tourists here, and the Greeks went home in the midday heat. Finally the two lovers could kiss. It had been too dangerous before because Sophia feared being discovered by relatives who had a summer cottage on the island.

Their world shrank to the size of a towel. Pleasant waves shivered through Tom when his girlfriend gently let her fingernails slide down his back.

"Agapi mou."

Very gently he let his fingertips caress the contours of Sophia's ears. Sophia groaned softly.

"Agapi mou."

They wished they were on a desert island where nobody could disturb them. But they were on Salamis, and Piraeus was only a few kilometers away.

The afternoon flew by far too quickly. On the way back to the port, they found that they hadn't set foot in the water. Dora and Maria were already waiting, and their expressions betrayed sheer curiosity. Tom could well imagine that Sophia would have to answer a few questions. Before the ship reached its destination, he said goodbye to his girlfriend with a kiss.

In Piraeus, he was one of the first to leave the ferry while the girls waited until most of the passengers had disembarked, because Sophia wanted to avoid being seen with Tom by accident. From the gangway, the girls had a good view of the quay.

"Isn't that Tom?" asked Dora, pointing to a group of three persons a little away from the crowd in the forecourt. Sophia was shocked because at that moment her boyfriend was handing his passport to two men.