Ghosts of People Past

Meeting Savvas

                                                                       CHAPTER THREE 

 Meeting Savvas

 One Friday afternoon, in mid-September, Cynthia came home carrying a big suspicious-looking manila envelope. I was sitting at the kitchen table devouring anchovies, feta cheese and wheat rusks while reading a bestseller about a transvestite serial killer on a killing rampage on the streets of London. Trash books, sweets, anchovies and my little radio had become my daily drug escape.

        “What’s that you’re carrying, Cynthia?” I asked, not really giving a damn but just wanting to make small talk.

        She hesitated and then cleared her throat; not at all a good sign Ι thought to myself. 

        “Nora, I hate to tell you this. But you have to leave the house. Your classes start on Monday. This is your schedule and other information you might need.”

        Panic. I just made it to the bathroom in time to puke out all my unchewed food.

        Feeling somewhat relieved but with an intense sourness in my stomach, I sat on the cold floor tiles and burst out crying. I had to relinquish my sanctuary, the only place I felt safe, and put myself out there, in the enemy crossfire.  I so wanted to die that I couldnt take my eyes off the razor on the rim of the bathtub.   

        Instead of using the razor, all weekend long, I tried to kill myself on chocolate cake, anchovies and three packets of cigarettes a day. When Monday came round, I was three pounds heavier. I could barely zip up my jeans. I wore my dark glasses and took the bus to the U, cursing my father the entire way.  

        When I got there, my heart was like a buffalo caught  in a stampede. I looked at my watch. I had about an hour to kill before class started. I decided to explore the campus, which was really beautiful; full of trees and the grounds nicely shaded by the rich foliage above. Everything in that green oasis reminded me of Boston: the luscious green, the bearded male students, the girls in long Indian dresses carrying tote bags; it was obvious that here the city beat to an altogether different rhythm, with a passion that seeped out of every corner of the huge campus.

        I found the Faculty of Philosophy where the English Department was. It was a large building, turn of the century, which rose from the midst of a small park with very tall trees and green lawns.   I sat on one of the red benches and listened to the birds happily twitter. I lit a cigarette and observed the architectural details of the building. It was an impressive and well-preserved, neo-classical edifice with large rectangular windows and an easy-to-the-eye Doric simplicity. The entrance, a large sculpted iron door, was behind a row of ancient Ionian columns. On top, there was an inscription ΜΟΥΣΑΙΣ ΧΑΡΙΣΙ ΘΥΕ in ancient Greek and I wondered what it meant. On the building’s pediment, there were sculptures but from that distance I couldn’t make out what they depicted. I was enchanted by my surroundings, so much so, that I hadn’t realized how quickly the time had sped by.  I had to hurry if I didn’t want to miss my class. I gathered my things and ran up the steps.

       When I was inside the cool building, I took out my schedule to see where my first class was. I needn´t have bothered. All I had to do was follow the clamorous voices of students that echoed throughout the wide corridors. I found my way to the source of the cacophony. It was a huge amphitheatre brimming with students; mostly girls, I noticed much to my chagrin. I sat in the last row and slid down my seat trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible. I knew that a stuck out like a sore thumb with my worn-out jeans and loud flowered top and long black shawl. All the rest of the girls were dressed to the nines in expensive clothes, knit sweaters and tailored pants mostly; some were wearing elegant skirts and dresses. Others still, the bolder ones, were wearing mini skirts while, a handful or so of others, swam inside their long, hippie-like Indian skirts. I felt everyone staring at me as if I had just come down from another planet.