If Roles Reversed

Aggela was gone before I woke up the next day.

Ma Nana brought the news to me that mourning, acting all excited and beaming with a bright smile from ear to ear.

"She was very furious when she left this morning, that Aggela! She looked so red, her face could scald you if you touched her!" Ma Nana said. "She was throwing tantrums and boiling like a volcano! Surprise you did not hear it, she was so loud! She cursed at me and Dimitra, calling us plenty bad names. Then she cursed you a lot. Plenty hurtful words. I was happy she cursed in Greek, because it would have hurt you if you heard all of it. But now, I hear that you slept while she was running mad! It make me even more happy!" The old maid giggled.

I forced a smile in response. I really didn't care about Aggela or her curses, or anything else Ma Nana had to tell me. For the first time since I arrived the island, I desperately wanted to leave. I had always wanted to leave, but this time, I wanted it even more badly.

After the episode with Jordan the previous night, I had laid awake in bed, late into the night, crying my eyes out and thinking through Jordan's words. The thing that made it hurt the most was the fact that all he had said was true.

Yes, I had been mad at him when Aggela showed up. Yes, I had been angry and jealous when I saw him kiss her, and my heart broke in two when I saw her leaving his room that mourning.

Jordan didn't need to tell me, I already knew! I knew that I wasn't acting right. But the fact that he had noticed and called me out for it, made me hurt even more. The words he had said to me, were words that I had repeated to myself over and over, trying to come back to my senses. But then, I had failed. And now, I couldn't even fault Jordan for accusing me with hurtful words. I brought it on myself.

"You look tired." Ma Nana observed, coming to sit by my side. "You must have been very tired last night, seeing as you slept so deep and late."

"I guess." I said absent mindedly.

Ma Nana stared at me quietly for a long moment, until the intensity of her gaze made me look up into her eyes. I immediately saw all the question and curiosity dancing in her eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"Last night, what did I walk into?" She asked directly.

"What do you mean?" I cried in horror.

"Well, I walked in and you were on the bed, and Anax was on you..." She began to say.

"Ma Nana!" I cried in intensified horror.

"I know, I know. It did not make sense. Because I know you were very angry and sad at Anax yesterday. So, when I came in, I was shocked to see you two like that. It did not look like you were fighting, but it also did not look like, uhm... You know..." Ma Nana tried to explain.

"Ma Nana, just stop." I begged.

"Omorfi, did Anax try to force himself on you?" Ma Nana asked.

"God, no! Why would you even think that?" I cried.

"Good gods." Ma Nana exclaimed, sighing in relief. "Well, that puts me at great ease! I would have been so disappointed in Anax!" She said.

"Jordan might be a beast, but I promise you, he would never do that. At least not while his mistress was here. He clearly wasn't sex starved." I bit out bitterly.

"Omorfi, Anax did not sleep with that woman, Aggela." Ma Nana said gently.

"Ugh! Ma Nana." I groaned. "I did not ask! I really do not care! If I cared, I would have asked! But I didn't, so I don't!"

"No, but seriously kallos. Anax did not..." Ma Nana began to say, but I interrupted.

"Save the information, please ma Nana. I don't need it." I said, getting up to my feet. But ma Nana followed me stubbornly, continuing her tale.

"True, in the past, they did have their thing. But this time, he really did not touch her. That bad woman, Aggela did go to his room to seduce him as usual, but Anax turned her away. She stubbornly remained in his room through the night, but Anax would not even touch her. They shared a bed, yes, but Anax did not touch her." She said.

I scoffed, turning around to look into ma Nana's face.

"And you believe all these? Where did you get all these lies? Did Jordan tell you this?" I asked.

"Yes, Anax said so himself." Ma Nana nodded.

"And you believed him?" I asked, scoffing again.

"Anax has no reason to lie to anybody. He fears no one. He would never lie to anyone, especially not Dimitra." Ma Nana said.

"I thought he told you the lies directly? So he lied to Ma Dimitra, and Ma Dimitra goes on to report the lie to you. Or who knows, she probably cooked up the lie herself. I see the dynamics now." I said, nodding my head.

"Omorfi, Dimitra can do anything but lie about something like this. Especially not to defend Anax." Ma Nana said. "I heard her scolding him, and he swore to her. Anax regards Dimitra too much to lie and swear."

I looked at ma Nana pitifully. She looked like she sincerely believed the ridiculous theory she was trying to sell to me. But I was not buying it.

"Why would Jordan respect Ma Dimitra so much so, he swears to her?" I asked. "She is just another one of his employees. Why would he fear her so?"

"Well, omorfi, that is where you are wrong." Ma Nana grinned. "Dimitra is not just another one of the maids! You see, Anax calls her 'Koumbara'. In English, you call it godmother. If situations was not reversed, Dimitra would be Anax's grandmother."

I was confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Ma Nana looked reluctant, then she looked to the door.

"It is a long story, very complicated too." She said, walking over to the door. She pulled it open, peered from side to side, then she slammed it shut again, securing the bolt. She walked back to where I stood, waiting, took my hand and began to lead me towards the bed.

"Come omorfi, you must sit for this. Anax must never hear of this I tell you today, or he will have my tongue, I swear. But I must tell you, so you believe me. You promise me now, you will never mention it to anybody. Not even Dimitra!" Ma Nana said as we sat on the bed.

"I promise." I said blindly, without thought. I was dying of curiosity. Ma Nana's build up was killing me, and I wanted to hear what she had to say without any further delay.

"Good! Now listen." Ma Nana said in satisfaction. "You see, kallos. Anax mother was married before she met his father. Her first husband, guess who it was." She asked excitedly. For someone who wasn't supposed to tell this story, she sure looked too excited.

I stared at her blankly, without attempting to take a guess. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Ma Nana saw the clueless gaze in my eyes and gave up. She sighed in disappointment and continued.

"Well, her first husband was Dimitra's son." She said.

I gasped, putting my hand over my mouth.

"Wait, what?" I cried.

Ma Nana immediately became reenergize by my reaction, and the excitement returned to her eyes and voice.

"Yes! You see now! If Anax mother had stayed long with her first husband, Dimitra's son, Anax may have been their son." Ma Nana said.

I sat still for a moment, trying to process the information. Everything gradually began to make sense to me. How Dimitra always cursed at Jordan without fear, her authority in the house, everything.

"But what happened? Did Ma Dimitra's son die? How did Dimitra end up here with her daughter in-law's son, and as a maid?" I asked.

"See, that is where the story gets long and complicated." Ma Nana shifted in excitement. Adjusting herself in a way that showed she was about to delve into a really long tale.

"So, Dimitra was a maid in Sir Hondros home when he was still married to Helena's mother, while Avra, Anax mother, was married to Dimitra's son. Because they were struggling with finances, Dimitra finds a job for Avra in sir Hondros' home as maid. But big mistake by Dimitra, because Avra got greedy and thirsty for the big life. So she seduce sir Hondros, and births a son. At that time, sir Hondros had two daughter's and needed a son badly, but his wife could not conceive. So when Avra births Anax, sir Hondros makes her mistress. Her greed destroyed Helena's family, that Avra. Sly little thing she was. Sir Hondros sent his wife and daughters away. Poor woman was so heartbroken, she died a year later. Upon her death, sir Hondros married his two daughter's off. Helena was barely twenty when she married the Rockshire heir. Her older sister died a few years into her marriage. Her husband was a very violent man." Ma Nana paused for breath. I too took a deep breath. "Sir Hondros willed all his wealth to Anax. But when he died, Anax gave everything back to Helena. His mother was furious, but Anax doesn't care. He does not listen to her anymore. Anax feels very guilty and apologetic towards Helena, that is why he is very protective of her. He blames himself for ruining Helena's family. If his mother had never birthed him, Helena would still have her mother and her sister, that is what he tells himself. But that bad woman Helena, she knows this, so she makes Anax do a lot of bad things for her, because she know he cannot say no to her." Ma Nana paused again. "And Ma Dimitra, Anax inherited her too. She literally raised him. He begged her to stay as his mother, but Dimitra will only stay if Anax let her be a maid as she was. She choose the kitchen over a fine room in the mansion." Ma Nana concluded.

I was speechless. I sat there staring wordlessly.