Where Do We Go From Here?

I woke up to the bright sun of Santorini slithering through the small opening from the curtains. I groaned before turning onto my side to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Last night was a long night because we couldn’t find the end of our conversations. We were catching up on a year’s worth of distance. Aunt Aethra and James were finally engaged after dating for seven years, Alexine has come out of the closet as a lesbian, Alicia is moving to South America, Cadmus Jr. is dating a preschool teacher, Aunt Lila is moving to Germany since that’s where Alexander and Marcus will be stationed—not to mention that Alexander is expecting a child from his girlfriend of two years. Aunt Maisie will be spending time in China for the next year while Aunt Natassia is helping to settle a conflict in Darfur. My parents gladly spoke about Jason’s recent engagement to Cassandra, Ronnie’s graceful recovery, and my acceptance to Columbia. All in all, my family is doing great.

Finally deciding to wake up, I toss the covers off my body and trudge—very slowly, might I add—to the joined bathroom I share with Alexine, Alicia, and Callie. After locating my hygienic bag from the mess that was my rolling bag, I brushed my teeth and hair before changing into a loose white shirt and shorts. I then glanced at my phone and realized that I forgot to call Tony last night. Letting out a long yawn and a tired sigh, I grabbed my phone off its charger and opened up the screen. I had three missed calls and a collection of unanswered text messages. I groaned while checking them, noting that all of these notifications were from Tony. I hit redial and waited and waited, but I eventually got his voicemail.

“Hey Tony, just got your missed calls. Sorry I didn’t call you last night, it was pretty hectic. I guess I’ll just try you again.” I left him a voicemail before redialing his number.

I felt like a needy girlfriend for leaving him a voicemail and, yet again, calling him up. The line kept ringing until I got his voicemail. I decided to not leave another one in hopes to avoid sounding desperate. However, I did send him a text message, relaying the same point that I left in his voicemail. After pacing back and forth in the bedroom I shared with Callie, I decided to walk down to the dining area where I knew Yia Yiá was most likely starting breakfast. Even on vacation she never really kept still long enough to relax. Padding downstairs I could see Yia Yiá beginning to pour the battered egg onto the skillet.

“Ah Verity, you’re an early bird.” She commented warmly as the eggs began to fry against the hot pan.

I smiled. “Yeah, need help with anything?” I asked.

“Sure, you can start cutting up some bell peppers.” Yia Yiá replied.

I nodded while grabbing one of the knives from the kitchen drawers and grabbed one of the red bell peppers out on the counter. Taking the stem off, I rinsed out all the seeds before resuming to cut it.

“Make sure you dice it.” Yia Yiá commented. “It’s for the paste that will go on the omelets.”

The next ten minutes that followed were spent with Yia Yiá humming softly to herself. I, on the other hand, was wondering why Tony didn’t pick up. I knew the time zones from California to Santorini were vastly different, but still I would’ve thought he would still be up.

As if acquiring a sixth sense over her many years of tending to children as well as strangers, Yia Yiá asked “What’s troubling your mind?”

I sighed. “Nothing.” I replied, omitting the truth from her.

Yia Yiá glared at me. “Verity, I am your grandmother. I can tell when something is troubling my family. So what is it?” She asked more persistently. My silence that followed her question made her ask “Is it boy troubles?”

“It’s really nothing. I’m probably just being stupid.” I said because voicing out my worries would be futile.

“If you are worrying about it then I suspect it’s not stupid.” She commented.

I smiled. “Well, it’s just that Tony didn’t answer my call.” I admitted, slightly cringing because I did sound ridiculous.

Yia Yiá nodded thoughtfully. “Tony is your boyfriend, right?” She asked.

I smiled. “Yeah.”

“Well then he’s probably sleeping or busy. Give him another few hours because when it’s noon here then it’ll probably be a decent time to call him.” Yia Yiá commented.

I nodded, but there was something gnawing at me in the back of my mind. I couldn’t help but think of Carmen. I did trust Tony and I knew he wouldn’t do anything stupid to mess things up with us, but—just as any insecure teenager would respond—I couldn’t help but feel a fraction of doubt weighing deep within my mind.

For the rest of my morning, I spent it with my family. We took a day trip down to scenic parts of Santorini, where a white sand beach with white pebbles waited, untouched and sacred. It was one of the few places in Santorini that wasn’t overrun with tourists. Yia Yiá and Cadmus Sr. made sure to pack a lunch while my parents were in charge of making sure we had a cooler filled with chilled drinks—some brewski’s for the men, long island iced tea for the women, and soda pops and juice for anyone under the age of 21, so basically for me and Callie.

Alexander and Alicia made sure to bring the swimming tubes while Marcus and Cadmus Jr. rented a few Jet Ski’s from the Marine Shop near the harbor. Alexine, Callie, and I couldn’t resist from jumping off the side of the cliffs. My mother and Aunt Lila laid out a few blankets beneath the scorching sun while Aunt Maisie started to collect shells from the shoreline with Yia Yiá. Aunt Natassia helped my father and Uncle Cadmus as well as Uncle Cadmus’s wife (Aunt Julie) with the setting up of the tent, to give us shade when we all decide to sit down and eat. Aunt Aethra was our photographer for the day, taking candid shots of the family while also gathering us all together to take a family photo.

After a day filled with the soothing ocean, the blazing Santorini sun, and memorable family moments, we returned to the Paraklésis Inn; freshly tanned and exhausted. Callie and I decided to call it a night early and walked upstairs while flopping on the bed. Callie was lucky enough to talk to Mike—since he had the decency to call her twice. However, my phone hadn’t had a single peep out of it. After double checking my phone battery, I waited, wondering what happened to the promise of Tony calling me at least once a day.

Notes