Page 115 of Chosen Road

“He prefers me naked, Yiayia,” Ruby chortled, and Minty’s tinkling laugh rang out.

“You’ll eat wood, Ruby mou,” Yiayia scolded. “Paliopaido,” she muttered as she shuffled back into the kitchen, her sharp eyes aimed at my bare feet in flip-flops.

I held up a hand before she spoke. “At least I’m wearing a dress, Yiayia.”

She smiled and nodded. “Kala, Amber mou. Kala.”

Yiayia issued her orders for dinner, then retired to the couch to watch the Greek channel.

“How are you doing, Ruby? Any profound dissertations on the evolution of human flight this morning?”

She chortled good-naturedly, though a world of pain and anxiety churned behind her eyes. “I haven’t seen those videos yet.” She glanced to where Yiayia sat watching tv. “You think we can watch?”

I shook my head violently. “Not a chance. Somebody got her hooked on videos of people falling. If she sees us laughing and looking at Minty’s cell, she’ll be over here like a shot.”

Minty smirked. “We’ll sneak downstairs to the basement later.”

“We might have to go upstairs if the boys are home.” I huffed. “You know I still haven’t found my toys?”

Ruby quirked a sassy eyebrow. “Do you need them?”

“No,” I laughed, “but I want them, and I’m so damn curious about where he stashed them. And why?”

“The why is easy,” Minty commented easily. “Did you buy the toys?”

I shook my head. ‘No. Never. Are you kidding? Can you see me doing that?”

“Exactly. The idea of you using your toys without him made him jealous.”

My mouth fell open. ‘You think so?”

“That’s so devious,” Ruby muttered, then laughed. “I could have hooked you up. Minty definitely could have helped you out.”

My cheeks flamed. “You know, I just can’t picture myself saying, ‘Hey girls. I really need to get off. Can you recommend a battery-operated boyfriend?’”

Ruby snorted and laughed, while Minty snickered.

“What you are laughing at?” Yiayia called. “You watching videos?”

“No, Yiayia mou. Ruby made us laugh.”

I began seasoning the meat for roasting, while Ruby and Minty took over veggies and salad. But first I wanted a snack.

I checked the fridge first, then the pantry. There was not a single jar of olives to be found. It was unheard of.

“Yiayia, where are the olives? Are we out?”

“Those jars don’t fit in the fridge nicely. Gus, he put them in a feta cheese bucket.”

I opened the fridge, curious, to find no less than six feta cheese buckets stacked on various shelves. Laughing, I asked, “Are we supposed to open them all until we get the right bucket?”

“What? No. Gus, he label them.”

Ruby peeked into the fridge and laughed. “So that’s where they all went. We had a dozen under the sink, then none. She must have sent him over to raid the cupboard.” Pulling out a bucket, she pointed to the tape label on the lid and snorted. “The labels go on the side, not the lid. Amateurs.”

Seeing Gus’s handwriting on Yiayia’s cheese bucket system sent a bolt of tenderness through my system, a bolt that took a sharp left turn at the thought that these two people who meant so much to me might one day cease to be, might go before me, leave me here without them.

I plastered a smile on my face as Ruby peeled the labels off the lids and put them on the sides of the buckets. When she got to the last one, I covered her hand gently with mine. “Leave that one.”

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