PART III - Part 02

“We are here!” said Gone. “Our freedom is at the bottom of this hill. Gevgelia is on the other side of the brook. Before continuing they all turned and looked back.

“Don’t look back and don’t be sad! We will be back as soon it’s safe…” said Gone and continued walking downhill.

The people followed him. Only Evangelia and Stavre’s children kept looking back. They smiled gently and nostalgically.

VII

1. Pondilaki was sitting at the docks on the large trunk that Tushi Gonev offloaded from the ocean liner. He was reading a newspaper. Occasionally he coughed. Manoli Strezovski handed him a cigarette. Pondilaki took the cigarette and put it in his mouth.

“Do you smoke?” asked Tushi.

“One cigarette once in a while to calm my nerves…” he replied.

Tushi Gonev laughed out loud. Pondilaki laughed even louder.

“Mr. Voulgarakis’s government fell…” he said and continued to laugh. His laughter was infectious and made the dock workers also laugh.

“Stop laughing. Continuous laughter is no good for the workers,” said Tushi and stopped laughing.

“Today is a holiday. Let’s go to the city centre…” said Pondilaki.

“What are you talking about? What holiday, Pondilaki?” asked Tushi.

Pondilaki smiled.

“The freeing of Solun…” said Manoli jokingly through a smile.

“Then let’s go!” suggested Pondilaki and stood up. When they arrived they were joined by others who had come to the city centre to celebrate the day of the liberation of Solun. The crowd was carrying banners and yelling. They wanted a new government and democracy.

“People are going on a march. Shall we join them?” asked Tushi.

“Sure. Why not?” replied Pondilaki sarcastically. “What kind of state persecutes the people who liberated it from the Nazis? Since the signing of the Varkiza agreement, according to which we ELAS fighters were required to lay down our arms, we were promised free elections, but since then they have killed 750 people, wounded 5,677 people, tortured 28,450 people and jailed 1,528 people. After all this do we still need to ask ourselves in what kind of state we live…?” added Pondilaki.

“Where did you read all this?” asked Tushi.

“In the newspapers... Journalists are reporting on everything. All we need to do is read the news and we will know everything. Let us go to the café. These people here are crazy. They gather like flocks of sheep and demand their freedom with words… The only way to get our freedom is if we take down the government by force… with arms and weapons…” said Pondilaki and turned the first corner. They spent the evening in the café.

“It’s been several days now that we were the last ones to leave the café,” mentioned Manoli.

2. “Whoever has family can go! We who don’t have families will stay here and enjoy the warmth of the café,” laughed Pondilaki. “We will wait for Lazaros Papadoglu, our reporter. He is coming here later. He will certainly have new news for us.”

Lazaros Papadoglu was a young man. Everyone in the boarding house was familiar with his merry eyes and smile. And just as they expected he walked into the café smiling and headed for the dock worker table.

“The war has begun. It started in Lamia where government troops collided with the detachments of the self-defenders. The government army faired the worst…” he said softly and sat down on the chair that was offered to him by Pondilaki.

“What did I tell you…” said Pondilaki and handed Lazaros a shot glass. Lazaros poured himself some rakia and sipped a drop. After that he sipped some more, disregarding the dock workers who remained speechless around the table following his merry movements and listening to every word he said.

“To democracy!” cheered Lazaros and drank about a third of his rakia.

“What’s with that strong loan the government took from England?” asked Pondilaki. “The government was promising us stabilization...”

“What stabilization! That’s foolish! Who believes in stabilization? To survive one needs over 400,000 drahmas a month. The workers receive barely 30,000 drahmas and the clerks only 60,000 drahmas a month. The Greek government took a new loan from England. The first loan was already consumed... Gone!” replied Lazaros.

“Who consumed it?” asked Pondilaki wondering.

“The wolves!” replied Lazaros sarcastically. “The new loan is for propping up the military. People say that the new loan London is giving Greece is to secure it and is given in exchange for Greece’s gold bars worth two million pounds sterling, which were taken to the English banks for storage at the beginning of the war with the Nazis. Pondilaki, do you truly believe what the government tells you? Famine is steadily arriving in Solun. That is why there are daily stories of strikes. I saw you at the liberation anniversary. You didn’t stay to the end of the celebration. You should have been there to see what happened…” said Lazaros.

“We heard. The gendarmes came and there was blood on both sides,” replied Pondilaki.

“Every day there was bloodshed. Every time there was a request for bread the police responded with sticks and jail time. The people were completely puzzled. The people of Solun are a very defensive group. They are organizing to preserve their lives. The land is stuttering like it’s suffering from the plague,” said Lazaros.

3. “The new elections are falsified. The new government is Monarcho-Fascist and loyal to the English. This morning the self-defense units collided with the government army in Lithohori. Blood will flow like never before not only in Macedonia and Greece but also around the world.” said Lazaros.

“We are not at fault for that.” replied Pondilaki.

“It doesn’t matter who is at fault… I must return to the newsroom… Goodbye!” he said and left the café while looking into Stoios’s eyes.

Stoios was very surprised. Lazaros reminded him of Urania Papaioannou and her mesmerizing looks. He went to Pondilaki’s table.

“What is it Stoios? What has upset you?” jokingly asked Pondilaki.

“I should clean the guns. There is a long road ahead…” he quite seriously said to Pondilaki and to the dock workers and went back in the kitchen.

To everyone’s surprise Kolio Bochvarov showed up in the café.

“I want to add to what Lazaros has told you.” he said. “Earlier he told me that even the dead have voted for the Monarcho-Fascists in Kostaneria. The list had names of people who had died in 1908…” He then went silent and placed his hands over his face covering his eyes.