The Scapegoat by Sophia Nikolaidou

Author:Sophia Nikolaidou [Nikolaidou, Sophia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61219-385-4
Publisher: Melville House
Published: 2015-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

—Grandma, do you know Mr. Dinopoulos, Evelina’s grandfather?

Grandma was frying eggs in margarine. She put them on a plate and poured the extra melted margarine over them, then diced an onion for the salad. She sprinkled it with water and salt to take out the worst of its sting.

—We were neighbors. We lived across the street from one another, she answered, without pausing in her task.

—I went to see him yesterday, Evelina took me. About Gris. I told you about my project, right?

She crumbled feta over the salad with her fingers.

—He guessed right away that I’m your grandson. He says I look like you. He seemed kind of strange.

Grandma smiled.

—Well, he was a very well-respected lawyer in his day. Gris accused lots of people of intrigue, but never Dinopoulos. They had some kind of a friendship, or at least that’s what the newspapers claimed. Dinopoulos used to go and visit him in prison, even after the verdict.

—What’s he like? As a person, I mean?

Under different circumstances, Grandma would have put down the olive oil and the oregano. She would have sat me down at the table so we could talk vis-à-vis and face-to-face, as she likes to say. Grandma believes that people shouldn’t talk without looking one another in the eye. I watched the hunch in her back rise and fall nervously. She fished in a jar for olives, took out some spicy pickles and went on decorating the salad.

—I couldn’t say. I knew him when he was young. People change.

—Come on, Grandma. You’re always bragging about your infallible instincts with people.

Grandma wiped her hands on a dish towel and started setting the table. When she answered, she seemed almost out of breath.

—He’s very bright. Worked like a dog. Was never accused of the slightest irregularity. A family man, with traditional values. Talked a big game, but always followed through.

She served the food. She had no intention of continuing that conversation. Whatever else she had to say on the subject, she was already saying on the inside.

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