excerpt
Everybody in the coffee shop gathered around him, even the
mayor. Demetre kicked his nephew’s foot to quieten him. He knew
that some people do not like to hear about change, especially in the
current political situation, where even the slightest change can trigger
a nationwide negative reaction from the politicians. However,
young Hermes didn’t want to lower the tone of his voice now that he
had their attention, because he wanted to teach these people some
ideas which might inspire them to fight against the system.
“Hey, Yanni, your father was looking for you,” someone yelled
from the open door, interrupting the whole conversation.
“Foti, get us another round of brandies,” Gerry yelled at the
proprietor, who nodded his head.
Hermes continued to explain to them that they could find
a good lawyer, who would write the rules of the co-op, elect a governing
body, and do whatever was necessary to start looking after
themselves and not just rely on the existing system to help them.
He referred to many examples from ancient days to today, trying to
connect them to their original roots. They listened. Some villagers
raised their eyebrows, others nodded their agreement, and others
simply carried on with their entertainment without paying attention
to the fired-up young Hermes.
The villager sitting next to Hermes was still not convinced:
“You think that an association like that is going to do a better job for
us?”
“Yes, definitely. Listen to this: when I go to Athens, I’ll find you
a good lawyer, then I’ll make sure before I go away, he gets in touch
with you guys, and you take it from there.”
Demetre gave him the signal to stop, as he was worried about
what the mayor was thinking about all this and what notes he
reserved in his mind as to who this information could be useful.
Hermes didn’t listen to his uncle and continued to tell the villagers
how to form the co-op and what their rights were. “But what you are
telling us to do, Hermes, is nothing more than a communist idea,
isn’t it?” the mayor butted in.
Manolis Aligizakis 