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He lied to the Teacher because he didn’t really feel well. “I am angry with Michalis for last night!” he thought and tightened his fist. “This will not go without consequences!”
He entered the house and Michalis sat alone in the living room, while Iulia watched TV in her room inside.
“I did not like what you did yesterday!” Christos said to Michalis, only barely being able to keep his calm.
“Whaaaat?” asked Michalis surprised.
“You heard me!” Christos said. “I’ve had enough of you smacking me each time we are with the same group of people!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Michalis said, his expression showing repulsion, similar to the one he had in the memory: 'What is this bullshit he's talking about'(Ch. 6)?
"When we were little, you always tried to look superior and to impose yourself to me! Kind of what you do now!”
“When?”
“Last night you kicked me when I tried to speak!”
“I did it so that you wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of others!”
“Whether I make myself embarrassed or not is business, not yours!”
Michalis had a sour look in his face.
“When we were little,” Christos added, “you always wanted to take my place!”
Christos reminded Michalis the two memories he uncovered with the Teacher; the one with the English lesson and the other one with the TV playing only static.
Michalis laughed and then said, “But Christos, those things happened when we were young! Now that we are adults, everything is ancient history!”
“Oh is that so Michalis?” said Christos, subconsciously changing his voice to the tone of Iulia. “And what about last night? That was for fun as well, right?”
Clenching where he sat, Michalis remained angry. “Yeah, yeah, I believe you!” he said finally and turned on the TV, not really meaning his words.
To Christos, this picture reminded him of his father, Petros, who as well didn’t want to communicate and solve their problem. And yet for one more time, an indescribable anger overwhelmed him. A rage he could not control.
And in front of him lay his brother, who diverted him.
Then, momentarily, a childhood memory came to his mind:
Christos hadn’t even reached the age of three when his older brother asked him to lift the thirty five kilos weighting sofa so that he could pick up his toys.
Little Christos lifted the couch and little Michalis put his head underneath.
At that moment, little Christos let the couch fall from his hands.
The couch fell with a lot of force on his head and Michalis began to scream. Thankfully Iulia who was in the next room and heard Michalis cries run and saved the situation in time.
As he imagined himself repeating this action to Michalis, Christos murmured silently, “Why not?” But instantly, becoming aware of his thoughts, he panicked.
"Your anger is evil!” the words of his father echoed inside and he felt guilt. He shouldn’t think like that, he was evil! Diabolic!
He left the house terrified and headed for the woods. There, despite the summer heat, he started to have convulsions from fear. “What I am capable of doing?” he reflected. “I cannot believe this!”
Yet, that being the truth, he needed help. He called the Teacher.
“Tell me what’s wrong!” the Teacher sounded worried, as if he could read the tension in the air.
Christos described what happened with his brother and he also described the memory.
“Christos,” the Teacher's voice returned its calm state, “you were only three years old! You didn’t know the consequences of what you did!”
Removing the burden of guilt from his back, Christos asked, “What is the meaning of what I did back then?”
“It means that you held against your brother from early! And the same applies to him!”
“Does that go so far back?” asked Christos.
“Yes Christos, it goes that far! And even beyond! Even in our mothers’ wombs, we register our parents’ feelings!”
The Teacher moved on, “An acquaintance of mine once had been pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. She even threw herself down the stair to kill the child!”
“What happened in the end? Did she lose the child?” asked Christos terrified.
“No, she kept the child finally! And she told me that from the moment she gave birth, she loved it! But she also told me that her daughter always said that her mother hated her!”
Christos became speechless.
The Teacher continued speaking, “From what it seems, your brother, as well as your father, they divert don’t you?”
“Yes, they do!” he replied.
"Diverting doesn’t solve anything, Christos,” the Teacher said. “It is no wonder there so many problems in your family!”
“But why would he want to me?”
“Because he doesn’t want to face you!”
“But why?”
“The most probable is that he fears he will lose the conflict!”
Something changed then inside Christos, since from that perspective, which was probably true, his value was heightened. He felt his worth increasing. If somebody feared him, that meant that he threatened that person, so in a way, he was important. Not in the manner he would prefer of course, but still, that showed something.
“I would recommend,” the Teacher said, “since you are in the forest, to release your anger!
“Okay, I will do that!” Christos agreed and hang up the phone.
Near his side lay a branch and Christos picked it up. He saw a huge boulder and hit it harshly, breaking the branch in two.
He turned to take another branch when Michalis appeared in the distance.
Relaxing a little bit, Christos wondered if time approached for them to improve their relationship.
Michalis then said, “Are you okay? Mom and dad are worried!”
"He's diverting me again!” Christos thought. “We nearly got ourselves butchered before, and now he is acting as if nothing happened!”
His anger returned, and Christos decided that his brother would hear him out! He could do whatever he wanted later.
Lifting a big boulder from the ground above his head, Christos stared at Michalis. Momentarily, he wondered how it would look like if he threw the boulder to Michalis’ head. But he knew better than this, so he slammed the boulder on another boulder next to him, breaking it to pieces.
“Are you jealous of me?” he asked Michalis. “ARE YOU?”
Michalis didn’t answer, but only looked Christos with a frowned face.
Suddenly, Christos started to calm down. Since he made himself clear towards his brother, he no longer felt the need to do anything more. If his brother refused to communicate, it was his problem.
“Do you want to go back?” Christos asked.
“Let’s go,” replied Michalis troubled.
Back at home, Petros and Iulia waited. Iulia looked worried, Petros not so much.
“What happened?” Petros asked Michalis, laughing. “He went to the forest again?”
Thinking that this was mockery again, Christos thought, “He is mocking me!” But after a while, he remembered the Teacher's words, “He diverts you because he doesn’t want to face you!”
The feeling of mockery disappeared and curiosity took its place. “Could it be,” he thought, “that he diverts me now because he doesn’t want to deal with me, giving a humorous hue?”
Petros’ worried eyes spoke the truth.
Michalis replied to Petros, “Yes! He hit some branches against the rocks and then broke a big boulder. Then he stopped!”
The words of the Teacher came to Christos’ mind, “He sells you without second thought!”
“At least, are you better now?” Petros asked Christos.
“Yeah, I think so,” Christos replied.
Iulia said nothing but her face showed fear.
On the one hand, Christos felt unpleased with the treatment he received from his parents. On the other hand of course, he didn’t want to cause another event, as his anger drained his energy.
Michalis, Iulia and Petros served themselves for lunch. Petros went to his room to eat, Iulia sat in the kitchen and Michalis watched TV.
Christos also served himself and sat at the dining table. For a moment, he wondered if it would be a good idea to call the Teacher to inform him of the latest developments, but he eventually didn’t call.
“I have involved him a lot these days,” he thought.
Sitting in his room to relax, Christos reflected on what happened the last days. From his initial anger outburst, that addressed his father, then to his second explosion that addressed his mother and then finally his brother. He had thrown a huge weight off his shoulders and for that, he felt freedom.
“Could it be that I am healthy now?” he wondered. “Maybe work with Teacher now is done! Let’s see!” he thought.
He spent the rest of the day daydreaming.
Submitted: March 05, 2024
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CathrinStuart
I am likimg the story. I would like to direct you to the use of prepositions, like he sat at the table - you have in. There are a couple of other places where you have used the incorrect prepositions.
Fri, March 8th, 2024 8:23amAuthor
Reply
I know lol! This work was written first in Greek, and I was the one who did translation, so there have to be these types of mistakes(I always hated prepositions). Though when I translated it, it was many years ago, before I moved to the UK, now I believe I have improved(but I still hate prepositions heh)
Fri, March 8th, 2024 2:34am