Green Neon

35 Not for the first time

Tom's sleep was long, deep, and dreamless. The trip to Delphi had taken a lot of energy. He woke up in an empty apartment to the phone ringing. His hosts had gone to work, and now Georgios was calling to ask Tom if he wanted to go to the island of Salamis with him. He had arranged to meet some school friends and relatives who were spending the summer there. Tom immediately agreed. He had only good memories of this island.

In contrast to his sister, Georgios did not head for a lonely beach on the outskirts of the main town, but ran with Tom from the village where the ship docked, along the sea to a bay reserved for the island's youth. Part of the beach was used as a soccer field for a group of maybe 30 boys aged between12 and 18, while smaller children played at the edges under the supervision of their mothers or grandmothers. Girls of all ages sat in small groups on the sand and discussed the football game, or rather the football players.

When Georgios and Tom reached the beach, a few of the boys left the "playing field" whose only markers were two "goals" made of sandals and shirts that the players had piled up for the purpose. Georgios introduced Tom to his friends and exchanged the latest news with them.

Meanwhile, Tom surreptitiously looked at the assembled island beauties, who once would have interested him. But after all, he was almost engaged and under the supervision of his future brother-in-law. He was also itching to play the soccer game, the rules of which he was beginning to understand.

What was happening there had little to do with the international soccer rules. The boys played barefoot with a plastic ball, and everyone looked amateur compared to a tall 17-year-old boy who tricked all opponents and even scored a goal. It was this very boy who got cheered on every now and then from the girls' camp.

The game could be called football because the ball was kicked, and when the ball was kicked between the two piles of clothes, this was celebrated as a goal. Like in ice hockey, anyone could get on or off the field to take a cigarette break or have a drink. As in rugby, opponents were often jostled or thrown onto the sand. Now and then there were small scuffles, which ended with a lot of shouting and even more laughter.

Tom didn't like playing football at home, where any contact with the pitch's pumice would result in bloody knees or scraped elbows. It seemed a lot more fun on the sand and so he joined Georgios on the team that definitely didn't have a chance of winning as the other was led by the boy who was able to eliminate quite a few opponents in a very short space of time.

Tom was immediately played, and he was already part of the screaming, laughing, fighting pack that ran after the ball. After conceding two goals, Tom's team finally got their chance. He ran down the left towards the opponents' goal when the ball was returned to him. He was about to pass it to a player sprinting freely down the middle when he was pinned from behind, allowing an opponent to hook the ball and stop the attack.

The grip wasn't released long after the ball was well on its way down the other side, and as Tom turned in the embrace, he found himself looking at the grinning face of a slightly older, muscular boy who was saying unkind things in Greek. Before Tom could react, the other gave him a little shove, tripped him, and he was down in the sand.

He noted the dark-skinned boy's face with a small mole on his right cheek. Revenge was nigh, he calculated, because while the Greek was certainly much stronger than Tom, he was not much taller. A short time later, the same player crossed his path with the ball at his foot, and a very light body check was enough to send him to the sand this time. He was on his feet in an instant, grabbing Tom's neck with one hand and his shoulder with the other, kicking his heel in the back of his knee and throwing him into the sand. He was about to lunge at Tom when the ball flew past and he chased after it.