Dolls of silence

2

~Greece 1968~
- What do you mean pregnant? We were careful.
- Here is the proof.
- What is this?
- Pregnancy test.
The young girl handed him the pregnancy test and waited for Maximus' response. He looked at it closely, couldn't believe his eyes. He was not ready to become a father, he was only seventeen years old and going to school.
- How do I know the baby is mine?
- Are you accusing me of cheating on you? Calling me slut?
- I am only seventeen, I am not going to take care of the baby and don't expect anything from me.
- I will keep it and raise it on my own. Today I saw how much you love me. You will pay for it someday, Dragana, remember that.
~Greece 1970~
Alcmini was sitting on a bench, her hands in her hair and her head down. Maximus was passing by and saw her, he approached her.
- Are you okay? Do you need something ?
Alcmini was a shy teenage girl, she had just left home and did not want to marry through an arranged marriage. Her father had arranged her to marry the son of a police officer in George Papadopoulos' leadership. Alcmini was rebellious. Today was her engagement with the police officer, but she ran away.
- No, please leave, I want to be alone.
- You know that's not possible, you need to go home soon, it's getting dark.
Alcmini then stood up and screamed at Maximus.
- Home? I don't have a home anymore. Don't get in my way. Let them catch me.
She pushed him away forcefully. He grabbed her by the arm, something that made her follow him. She followed the stranger to a hideout, and eventually fell in love with him, they found so much in common between them.
~Greece and Salem 1973~
Years passed and Maximus and Alcmini, had married secretly a year ago and now were waiting for the fruit of their love.
- Why don't we leave?
- And where will we go?
- Anywhere where we will be safe and we won't have to hide. I will go tomorrow to book tickets. Now that your pregnancy is not in an advanced stage.
Alcmini was somewhat thoughtful about her husband's idea, but agreed immediately. She knew that the dream they had started building together would not remain alive in Greece. After work, Maximus ran straight to the airport, illegally booked two tickets to America, their flight was early in the morning. He returned to their hideout and helped Alcmini with the suitcases, they didn't have many things to take, so they were on time at the airport. A few months after they had settled in the city of Salem, Callisti was born.
~Salem 1988~
Years passed, Callisti grew up and had become a fifteen-year-old woman. It was Sunday when she decided that she wanted to go see her father, who she rarely saw, as he was always busy working on something new. She didn't know that their morning greeting would be their last. That Sunday afternoon, for an inexplicable reason, a train was in motion on the tracks and cost the lives of Callisti and Alkmini. The police authorities who investigated the scene were puzzled themselves. The train tracks had not been used since 1960, when a train derailed and crashed into the trees, luckily without any injuries. The train driver who killed the two women appeared at the police station a few days later.
"I didn't want to kill them! It wasn't my fault," were the words he repeated to the police with trembling hands pulling at his shirt as if he wanted to tear it off. The police took him to the interrogation room where they learned that the unfortunate women were in the wrong place at the wrong time. In an attempt to avoid a collision with another train coming from the opposite direction, the driver tried to brake but the brakes were not working, forcing him to switch to the unused tracks.
~Salem 1990~
Two years after the tragedy, a young man appeared at Maximus Dragana's door.
"Who is it? I don't want to talk to anyone, leave me alone," came the angry voice of Maximus behind the wooden door.
"Are you Maximus Dragana?" the young man asked in Greek, surprising Dragana who hadn't heard his mother tongue in years. He opened the door and invited him in. The young man repeated the same question, looking him in the eyes.
-Are you Maximus Dragana?
-Yes, I am, but who are you?
-Oceanos Draganas. I am your son.
-How old are you?
-I am twenty-two.
Upon hearing this, Maximus's legs gave out and he fell back on the couch. The young man reached out to help him straighten up, but Maximus pushed him away. "Why have you come here?"his voice had turned fierce.
-My mother, whom you impregnated and left, told me everything about you. I wanted to meet you in person at least once. I don't want to have a relationship with you either. I wanted to ask you some questions and then we will both continue our lives as strangers. Did you ever love her? Did you live happily knowing that you had a seed out there, ignoring it and living your life as if nothing was wrong? Does your wife and daughter know about your exploits?
Maximus' eyes began to emit fiery sparks that if they were real would have burned Oceanos
-You will not mention my wife and daughter again! As for your mother, no, I never loved her, it was just a childhood crush, it meant absolutely nothing. Yes, I was happy to build a life from scratch. Until tragedy struck two years ago. If you have nothing else to say, I would ask you to leave and not come back.
Oceanos left angry from the house, a few minutes before he went out on the street when he heard something fall. He ran back to the house and found Maximus unconscious, so he called an ambulance. At the hospital, he underwent tests, the doctors informed Oceanos that Maximus had suffered a stroke due to something that shocked him and he was in critical condition. Despite his father's rejection, Oceanos stayed by his side. Suddenly, it was revealed that Maximus had inherited his mother's dementia.
~ Salem 2001 ~
Gilbert's curiosity was as intense as his Ghanaian father. The next night he returned to the shop, looked around hoping to meet Maximus Draganas again, but he was alone in the square. The sound of the wheel was heard loudly again, this time Gilbert pinched his hand to see if he was dreaming or if what he heard was real. Instinctively, he closed his mouth to stifle his scream. He tiptoed and tried to look through the curtain openings, where a yellowish light was coming from. Then he saw the tool, took out his camera to capture the image, but before he could, he felt two hands embracing his body. A smoke bomb led him into a daze. The next morning, his mother went out to look for him, sleep had taken her when Gilbert left home , she hasn't slept well in years,  always had nightmares since she lost her husband. She searched everywhere, leaving the toy store last. There she found the broken camera that Gilbert always carried with him, he had bought it with the money her husband had sent her from the war for their son's birthday. The woman knelt down and started crying non-stop. Then a man came out of the closed toy store and offered her a handkerchief.