Refugee

Chapter Thirty - Voices Off.

They went to collect Firas from the camp and Amelie made a rendezvous with Bazyli’s friend who had the apartment. Nikaia was a long walk from the port and to find streets, even when you have the address, is difficult. The Greek alphabet is nothing like English, so street names become almost impossible. Amelie had directions, which should help, and the guy's phone number if they got completely lost.

If you looked at the city from the air, you would see what resembles a patchwork quilt. Hundreds of streets crossing each other at right angles, making little squares of houses which were all different. There were no large, tall buildings here, just a mish mash of quirky little dwellings all jumbled together, but neatly arranged by the grid system of streets.

They reached the street eventually, after several wrong turns and asking for help, and they found the apartment. You would naturally think of an apartment being in a large building, but not here. Jordan knocked on the door of what, as buildings go, seemed like an after thought by the builder. A narrow construction squeezed in between the others that adjoined it on each side.

Nikos answered the door, looked at the three of them and smiled. “So you found it?”

Obviously, they had or they wouldn't be standing there knocking on his door.

“Follow me.”

And they did, along a dark narrow corridor that ended in a staircase. After a couple of steps, it turned a corner, then another, until they reached the top. This turned out to be the second floor and the roof.

Across an open space was another door and to the right a window. It looked like a brick-built hut thrown together in one corner of the roof terrace. Which is more or less what it was.

“Come in,” Nikos invited, and they followed him into the room.

Looking around, the only person who appeared not to be surprised by what they were seeing, was Firas. The apartment was one room, about twenty square meters, with a large mattress, maybe it was two mattresses, hard to tell, on the floor. A sink and cupboard against one wall with a shower and toilet next to the sink behind a curtain. It was basic.

“The roof you share with the family,” Nikos explained. “You can use it, but it's not part of the rental.”

“The bed stays?” Jordan asked.

“What you see is what you get. You won't find better for this rent, and the family are very nice.”

Jordan looked at Amelie who raised her eyebrows in an expression that summed things up. Firas jumped into the conversation having had a good look around, “It's fine.”

“So it's good for you?” Nikos asked.

“It's good for us,” Jordan couldn't help smiling. It was very different from the hotel room he was in at the moment, but it was somewhere to live he could afford.

“Okay, great. I'll introduce you to the family. You pay the rent, and I give you the keys. You move in when you want. I've already moved my stuff out.”

That was what happened, they met the Kamborakis family. Mum, dad, two daughters, and a son. Nikos did the translating, Jordan handed over the rent, and it was a done deal. He would move in tomorrow he told them. Which only meant leaving the hotel and fetching Firas. Amelie said she would stay at the hotel.

“Look who picked the short straw,” he joked.

She smiled, but made no reply.

*****

Bazyli seemed to know everybody, and if he didn't know someone directly, he knew a person who did. Or he knew a person, who knew someone, who knew that person. You see, he was very well connected. This served to greatly facilitate things for Firas and Samir.