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| Corfu, clung to by Vassily |
My crazy friend Mary Lynne and I had started hitchhiking from Calais weeks earlier and after some hair-raising skirmishes along the way, we were finally in Greece, on the island of Corfu.
In Kassiopi for two days, we took a well-needed rest from drinking red wine and stuffing our faces with pasta with the Luparellis in Bari, to pitch our tent on a bluff over-looking the Ionian Sea. Vassily, our neighbor, came by to not only slobber over our shorts, but to offer us nuts and pears, which we sliced up and ate under a Judas tree.
Alas, after a couple days rest, we were finally on the ferry from Corfu to Igoumenitsa, where we would hitch a ride to Athens. A piece of cake, or so I thought, but another skirmish was awaiting us in the form of two itinerant truck drivers.
The early ferry bustled with Greeks and foreign travelers. Once aboard, Mary Lynne scurried off to the upper deck to smoke and write in her diary and I remained below as it was too hot in the sun; a record heat wave was melting the pavements in Athens. I leaned against the railing, breathing in the fresh air and water and marveling at how close we were to the coast of Albania when I noticed a pair of eyes sunk into some hollowed-out cheekbones staring at me from down the rail. He chomped on a toothpick and when I glanced at him, he removed the toothpick and held it up, as if offering a toast. He was tall and swarthy and I shivered when I looked away, no sense in revving his engine. But he kept up with the staring, settling in and giving me some arrogance along with it, so I walked away.
Soon the ferry was coming into Igoumenitsa and I heard Mary Lynne calling me.
'Hey, Nancy!' I turned around.
'Lucky us,' she said, 'you wouldn't believe it. I met these guys who can give us a ride to Athens. Nick and Soulis,'
She pointed beside her to the hollowed-out face I'd encountered earlier and standing at his elbow was a little guy, Soulis, his driving sidekick. My face caved in trying to come up with a smile.
I started to protest but the three of them continued on down the ramp and off into the parking lot to their truck and I was to follow without question. It worked like that with Mary Lynne. We didn't pick up the same vibes from people and there was little discussion about rides or anything else. I was trying to take stock of the situation when Mary Lynne threw her shit up into the cabin and Nick climbed into the driver's seat.
'This isn't a good idea,' I said. 'I saw him earlier and he seems pretty greasy. I don't want to go with these guys.'
'I was talking to them. You didn't. This is a ride to Athens!'
There was no arguing, so I threw my stuff up as well and climbed aboard.
