Fruit of Misfortune (25 page)

“We’re making a quick stop,” Eros said,
turning off of the main road.

“Why?” I asked.

“How can I meet my future father-in-law
covered in grime and wearing torn clothes? I need to find a shop
and get cleaned up, my sweet.”

“You haven’t met your end of the bargain, so
don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.” I crossed my
arms. “And I told you to stop calling me that.”

Galilea placed her chin over the driver’s
seat, next to Eros’ ear. “She hates you,” she said in a loud
whisper. “Just like the rest did.”

“That depends on who ‘the rest’ are,” Eros
said, “because if you’re referring to yourself—as I remember—you
were the one begging me to take you to bed.”

Galilea turned to look at me with her cheeks
flushed. “That was a long time ago. I was naïve.”

“Not much has changed.” Eros looked at her
through the rearview mirror. “I would suggest that you keep your
mouth shut before you start to regret having opened it.”

So this was why Galen and Eros didn’t get
along. They had history. I wondered if the rest of the Chios family
knew about Galilea and Eros. My guess was that they didn’t since
Eros had remained close to the family for so many years.

***

The shop was small and didn’t have the
expensive styles that Eros liked to wear, but after shuffling
through the clothing racks a few times, he settled for a few
garments and headed to the dressing room. Galilea and I sat on a
bench by the entrance, waiting for Eros to come out. Galilea wasn’t
concerned with the dusty clothes she wore or with the holes in her
shirt. She didn’t complain about the burns, but I watched as she
hugged her stomach with one arm and rolled a cigarette back and
forth between her thumb and forefinger with her right hand.

“There’s a bus station a few blocks down. I
saw it on the way here,” I said to Galilea. “We could leave.”

“We can’t. We need Eros around until I regain
my strength.” She raised a brow high on her forehead. “Are you
scared of him?”

I shook my head.

“Then why do you want to go without him?” she
asked.

“Because I think you’re scared of him.”

“A little, I guess. You can’t always believe
Eros’ threats, but you also never know when he’s serious.” She
stuck the cigarette in her boot. “Do you love Eros more than you
love David?”

“What? N-no. I hate Eros.”

“Hate is a strange word to use for the person
you just risked your life to save. Why did you leave Athens with
him? Most importantly, why did you leave David for him?”

“I didn’t leave David for him. Sometimes, you
have to do things you don’t like for a good cause.” I saw Claire’s
face in my head. “Or causes.”

“I know a lot about that.” She nodded. “I’ve
lived a long time.”

“How old are you?”

“7, 279.”

“Wow. You don’t look a day over
nineteen.”

“Thanks.” Galilea smiled. “Galen tells me I
look older.”

“I wouldn’t take a lot of what Galen says to
heart.”

“I think Galen’s the sweetest, most charming
man I’ve ever met,” Galilea said with a sparkle in her eye. “I take
everything he tells me to heart.”

“You’re talking about Galen Chios,
right?”

“Mhh hmm.”

Talk about love being blind.

“Are you ever going to tell me who sent you
to find me?”

“Not yet,” she said. “But I can tell you that
they’re the ones who will give you answers.”

That was something I’d been waiting to hear
for a long time.

“When?”

“Soon. After we find your father and we ditch
the tick.”

“The tick? Because he latches on and doesn’t
let go?”

“There’s that, but mostly because he sucks.
And speaking of parasites…” Galilea’s mouth pulled to the side as
she saw Eros strutting through the clothes racks. “What a waste of
a body, huh?”

The film of gray and black grime on Eros’
skin was gone. Now he was covered with scattered bright pink
streaks. A round burn mark glowed like a red light on his forehead.
He rolled down his sleeves when my eyes fell on the cluster of
blisters that formed a demon’s handprint on his arm.

“You look worried,” Eros said to me as he
buttoned the cuff of his sleeve.

“You got burned, too. But I didn’t. Why is
that?” I asked.

“You did,” Galilea said. “Look there, on your
hand.”

“That’s not a burn. Some dead skin peeled off
earlier,” I said, noticing another peeling section on my hand.

“Then, I don’t know,” Galilea said.

“Maybe your father can clue us in.” Eros dug
the car keys out of his pants pocket. “And now that I’m
presentable, let’s go find him.”

***

My hands hadn’t stopped sweating since we got
in the car, and Galilea pointed out that we only had an hour to go
before we reached Kyparissia. What was I going to say once I was
face to face with my father? Would he take me to the Council and
put an end to all of this misery? I hoped that, unlike everyone
else, he had the sense to know it was the right thing to do.

Eros slowed the car in front of a gasoline
station. He turned on the hazard lights and pulled over on the side
of the road in front of it.

“We’re here,” Eros said. “Where’s the
address?”

“I don’t have one,” I said.

“Is that a joke?” He blinked, and I shook my
head. “Were you planning on having me go door to door?”

“
You
don’t have to do anything, but if
that’s what I have to do...”

“How were you going to find your father,
then?” Galilea asked from the backseat.

“I know his last name,” I said. “I thought,
maybe, he’d be listed in the phonebook.”

“That’s wishful thinking,” Galilea said. “He
probably uses an alias.”

“Oui, she’s right.” Eros nodded.

“We won’t lose anything if we just take a
look,” I said.

Eros shifted into reverse and backed the car
up next to a gas pump.

“You two can ask the attendant for a
telephone directory, while I fill the tank,” Eros said.

A man in a blue jumpsuit tapped on the car
roof on the driver’s side. Eros rolled the window down and handed
him a few bills from his wallet.

“That’s not very considerate,” Galilea said.
“These burns hurt like hell, Eros. Why can’t
you
go ask for
the directory?”

“You let me walk into a Turpis-infested
building and didn’t give me any warning. They were going to kill
me. Have you seen my arm? Do you think you’re the only one in
pain?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Galilea pulled a cigarette from
her boot and a lighter from her jeans pocket. “It wasn’t supposed
to happen that way. Anyway, I went back for you.” She opened the
car door. “You coming, Isis?”

“Yes,” I said, and we walked toward a small
wooden shack where we found an older gentleman sitting on a
stool.

After Galilea lit her cigarette, she
exchanged a few words with the man. He tilted the stool sideways,
balancing it on two legs and reached behind the door. A few seconds
later, he was holding out a dusty book with a torn cover. Galilea
took it and set it in my hands. She stuck the cigarette in her
mouth and opened the book.

“It’s not the most current directory,”
Galilea said, blowing out a puff of smoke. “It’s about two years
old. Do you know if your father’s been living here that long?”

“No.”

“What’s his last name?”

“Leumas.”

She took another drag, then turned the phone
book pages with the same hand she was holding the cigarette. Her
finger ran down one of the pages and stopped right before it
reached the bottom.

“There’s a single listing for ‘Leumas’,” she
said.

“Really?” My pulse quickened. “What’s the
first name?”

“It doesn’t say. It reads ‘Dr. S.
Leumas’.”

“The letters he sent me are signed ‘S.
Leumas’. Could it be the same person?”

“It’s possible.” Galilea ripped the page from
the directory. “Fingers crossed, yeah?”

“Thank you,” I said to the man as I handed
him the book. I don’t know if he understood, but he raised his hand
and waved.

The engine was already running when we
reached the car.

“Well?” Eros asked, closing the visor
mirror.

“There’s a listing,” I said. “See how easy
that was?”

“But we don’t know if it’s the same person
we’re looking for,” Galilea said.

“At least we have a lead.” Eros reached over
the seat and took the folded paper from Galilea’s hand. “Which of
these is the address?”

“It’s under ‘Dr. S. Leumas’,” I said. “I
don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

“Isis,” Galilea leaned forward between the
two front seats, “I know you’re optimistic, but keep in mind that
the directory listing is two years old.”

“What are the chances that he would be at the
same address after that long?” Eros asked.

“Slim.” I sighed. “I know that.”

“Don’t worry, my sweet. Whoever and wherever
he is, I’ll find him.”

I hadn’t even noticed his hand on mine, until
Galilea glanced down and then up at me. I slid my hand out from
under Eros’ grip.

“We should go. We’re wasting time,” I said,
buckling my seatbelt. “And for the last time, stop calling me
that.”

***

The muscles in my stomach burned like I was
doing an intense set of crunches. The tension worsened when I tried
to relax. All the buildings looked the same, and it seemed like we
had driven up and down the same narrow streets for hours. For some
reason, I counted the times the car stopped at each corner and red
light—eighteen, like my age. I wondered if that was a sign, a way
that the universe was telling me to stop and look back at each year
of my life. I didn’t want to remember my past. It hurt too much to
live through the memories. Instead, I focused on the sky.

The sun was centered high above. It had to be
noon or past it. I wondered if Nyx or David would call Claire to
tell her I was missing. I also wondered how much David hated me.
Would he regret that he ever met me?

Right then, more than ever, I missed my
mom—my Claire. I wanted her to hold me and reassure me that things
would be okay, even if I knew they weren’t. If I were home, she’d
whip up a towering stack of pancakes and tell a funny story to get
me to smile. If the story didn’t work, tickling me would do the
trick. Then, for an instant, I would forget whatever horrible thing
I had claimed was the end of the world. Except this time, it—

“Hey.” Galilea tapped my shoulder. Her chin
was resting on the back of my seat, and I could smell the cigarette
she had smoked earlier on her breath. “Snap out of it. We’re
here.”

“Already?” I looked out the driver’s side
window. “This is where S. Leumas lives?”

“I don’t think so,” Eros said. “I think this
is a clinic.”

“Well, so much for that.” I felt like
disappointment had slapped me across the face.

“We should have a look inside. Someone may
know him.” Galilea opened the backseat door. “Also, I’m dying for a
smoke.”

“Smoking is the filthiest habit you’ve ever
picked up,” Eros said. “You look cheap holding a cigarette.”

“And how do I look holding this?” She showed
Eros her middle finger.

Eros glared at Galilea for a moment, and then
turned to face me.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

I nodded even though my initial reaction was
to shake my head and run away, to wake up from this horrible
nightmare. If only I could.

Eros and I walked into the gray, brick
building. At the reception desk, Eros spoke to a young woman
wearing a white lab coat. I bit my thumb nail as I glanced through
the glass doors at Galilea smoking a cigarette outside. When I
looked back to the receptionist, she was handing Eros a card and
pointing in the direction of the stairs.

Eros stared at the small piece of paper as we
walked away from the clerk, and then motioned to Galilea to come
inside.

“What did she tell you?” I asked.

“She said to go to the third floor.”

“What for?”

“Because that’s where we’ll find Dr. S.
Leumas.”

My
hands were shaking, and my legs felt like they were about to cave
in as I took the first step up the stairs. When we got to the
second floor, my head started to spin. For a minute, I thought I
was going to pass out. Galilea put her hand on my shoulder to
steady me.

“Should I carry you?” Eros asked.

“No. I’m okay.”

We reached the third floor and Eros looked at
the card again.

“This way,” Eros said, turning left at the
hallway. Galilea and I followed.

Eros stopped in front of a door with a poster
of a family that was all smiles.

“Is this it—his office?” I stared at the
door.

“Oui,” Eros said. “Will you go in alone, or
should I go in with you?”

“Alone.”

Galilea and Eros sat on chairs that lined the
wall. It took me a moment before I raised my fist to the door and
knocked. The door cracked open. I stepped into the room and closed
the door behind me. No one was sitting behind the small black desk
in the office. It seemed like there was no one there at all. I was
just about to leave when I heard the sound of running water coming
from a room in the corner.