Valentina Goldman Ships Out by Marisol Murano

Author:Marisol Murano
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hipso Media

A Pinch of Authority

The racket at the front desk was worth a stop; the growing gathering left no doubt that someone was about to be preserved for easier transport.

This was the long and short of it. A woman had signed up for the cooking class with Chef Paolo and now, after getting the menu for what they were going to be making in the class, she wanted a full refund. The attendant at the front desk was trying to explain in a mysterious foreign accent that “Yez, mam,” they could issue her a “reefund” for the class but not for the entire “cruz” as the woman was demanding. The girl’s tone was so unconvincing that it did little, except cause the woman’s indignation to escalate.

“I demand to see the captain,” she said.

More than a few eyebrows were raised. People on their way to other places stopped dead on their tracks to see how this little fire in the kitchen was going to be put out. A more opportunistic passerby, on hearing the commotion, said to her friend, “I meant to sign up for that class. Maybe I can now.” Apparently, the cooking class had been sold out since the day we set foot on the port of Piraeus. And if this skirmish went a certain way, there just might be room for one more in Chef Paolo’s kitchen.

Her vacation had been ruined, the woman went on. Her injured tone and flared nostrils evinced that a great act of barbarism had been committed against her. Now that she had an audience, she was fortified and encouraged. How was she supposed to go back to Ohio and explain to her girlfriends, who were all foodies, by the by, that she had not been able to take the cooking class because she was allergic to grape leaves? Couldn’t Chef Paolo change the menu from Dolmades to something else? At her mention of grape leaves I had a flash of Catholic school back in Caracas where the nuns offered us points for class participation. Now I felt the urge to participate; to raise my hand and say, “And I’m allergic to cactus!” How many points could I get for naming another leaf, a different species, or a brand-new allergy altogether?

By then, the ship’s purser, a woman by the name of Lorraine, had emerged from behind the front desk the way sea creatures appear in horror films. Carrying her broad-shouldered self in full uniform, Lorraine intimidated. Had Lorraine commanded a regiment somewhere, the gold bars on the shoulders of her stiff, white uniform would have placed her somewhere in the rank of first lieutenant. Lorraine had a dispassionate stare that said, “I’ve pitched urchins overboard before.” Before long, in the calm tone owned by those who have real authority, Lorraine proceeded to explain the options to the woman from Ohio, “Madame, we can give you a full refund for the class. You may learn to make stuffed grape leaves and impress your friends back in Ohio.

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