30-03-2019, 07:14 PM
Whatever Gets You through the Night Pt. 03
"Father wears his Sunday best.
Mother's tired, she needs a rest,
the kids are playing up downstairs.
Sister's sighing in her sleep.
Brother's got a date to keep,
he can't hang around."
-Madness, "Our House"
Georgia Poldouris shouted at her children to clean faster. She dusted a credenza fervently as her younger children picked up toys and her older children picked up laundry.
"Mama," Lady Maria Louisa Francesca de San Finzione said in English to the woman whose oldest son she'd been dating for the past two years. "Great-Grandmama is coming to speak with Stavro." She put away dishes as she spoke. "You don't need to do all this."
"Maria, dear," Georgia explained. "You are not Contessa; you are sometimes Contessa, but not right now. SHE is Contessa! The first time she come by, she surprise us at dinner and she still in wheelchair from psycho. This time, we got warning; so, everybody gonna speak English and this place gonna look nice."
Maria understood that there was no arguing this point and finished with the dishes. When Georgia finished her dusting, she ushered Maria into a kitchen chair and began inspecting her hands.
"What are you doing, Mama?" Maria giggled, having an idea what she was doing.
"Checking you hands. We can't let La Contessa know we got the Princess doing work in here."
Maria laughed, because that's what she thought the older woman might be checking for.
"Great-Grandmama would want to know that I help out, as often as I am here."
A digital chime rang both downstairs in the shop, and upstairs in the family's apartment. From the front of the store, they could both hear Costas, Georgia's husband, greeting La Contessa down below. She pointed at one of the children; she wasn't going to bother cycling through their names just now.
"I tell you to watch for her limo!" She half-whispered to the child.
"She was just around the corner." Maria said. "She walked."
Georgia turned her head at Maria quizzically.
"She walks places?"
"Yes. She has been known to run, too."
While Georgia contemplated this new information. a knock at the door caused her to stuff the feather duster into a drawer as another of her children answered it.
"Mama!" Her daughter shouted from the doorway. "It's La Contessa!"
"That's not how you announce a guest!" Georgia shouted back and rose to her feet as Contessa Helena de San Finzione entered her kitchen. Georgia went to her and shook her hand, because she knew Americans liked that. "Contessa, you look very well. It is an honor to have you again in our home."
"Efharisto, Georgia." Helen replied in Greek. "Your home is lovely. And I thank you for speaking English to accommodate a newcomer's language; however, my best memories of childhood were spent in the company of Greeks, which was part of why I so heartily approved of Maria and Stavro. It was the second language that I learned as a child, and I always enjoy an opportunity to use it."
Georgia leaned out the kitchen door.
"Ok, everybody, back to Greek for La Contessa." She called to the children. She then moved over to the stove and turned a kettle on. "Maria says you like hot cocoa, Contessa. I sent one of the children to the market for some, she should be back soon." She set an ashtray in front of a chair at the table before sitting down.
"Thank you again." Helen said, taking a seat and accepting the unspoken invitation to light up. "You didn't need to do that. And Maria is dating your son, Georgia; Helena will be fine. I certainly hope she's helping out."
"Oh no," Georgia started to lie. "We wouldn't ask that of..."
Maria cut her off.
"I did the dishes."
"She's very good with the dishes, yes." Georgia concluded without missing a beat.
Helen smiled at them. She made a mental note to visit the Poldouris family more often.
"I wish my visit were entirely social." She said with a drag. "However, I'm told that the head of my Citizens' Grievance Office, who's doing a fine job, by the way, has a special matter for my attention."
"I should say so." Georgia replied. "My boy was trying to help. All they had to do is turn around and there's a butcher shop right here. My son could have been shot on the street like an American!" She then remembered where La Contessa was originally from. "Not that all Americans get shot! I mean... you know what I mean."
"Father wears his Sunday best.
Mother's tired, she needs a rest,
the kids are playing up downstairs.
Sister's sighing in her sleep.
Brother's got a date to keep,
he can't hang around."
-Madness, "Our House"
Georgia Poldouris shouted at her children to clean faster. She dusted a credenza fervently as her younger children picked up toys and her older children picked up laundry.
"Mama," Lady Maria Louisa Francesca de San Finzione said in English to the woman whose oldest son she'd been dating for the past two years. "Great-Grandmama is coming to speak with Stavro." She put away dishes as she spoke. "You don't need to do all this."
"Maria, dear," Georgia explained. "You are not Contessa; you are sometimes Contessa, but not right now. SHE is Contessa! The first time she come by, she surprise us at dinner and she still in wheelchair from psycho. This time, we got warning; so, everybody gonna speak English and this place gonna look nice."
Maria understood that there was no arguing this point and finished with the dishes. When Georgia finished her dusting, she ushered Maria into a kitchen chair and began inspecting her hands.
"What are you doing, Mama?" Maria giggled, having an idea what she was doing.
"Checking you hands. We can't let La Contessa know we got the Princess doing work in here."
Maria laughed, because that's what she thought the older woman might be checking for.
"Great-Grandmama would want to know that I help out, as often as I am here."
A digital chime rang both downstairs in the shop, and upstairs in the family's apartment. From the front of the store, they could both hear Costas, Georgia's husband, greeting La Contessa down below. She pointed at one of the children; she wasn't going to bother cycling through their names just now.
"I tell you to watch for her limo!" She half-whispered to the child.
"She was just around the corner." Maria said. "She walked."
Georgia turned her head at Maria quizzically.
"She walks places?"
"Yes. She has been known to run, too."
While Georgia contemplated this new information. a knock at the door caused her to stuff the feather duster into a drawer as another of her children answered it.
"Mama!" Her daughter shouted from the doorway. "It's La Contessa!"
"That's not how you announce a guest!" Georgia shouted back and rose to her feet as Contessa Helena de San Finzione entered her kitchen. Georgia went to her and shook her hand, because she knew Americans liked that. "Contessa, you look very well. It is an honor to have you again in our home."
"Efharisto, Georgia." Helen replied in Greek. "Your home is lovely. And I thank you for speaking English to accommodate a newcomer's language; however, my best memories of childhood were spent in the company of Greeks, which was part of why I so heartily approved of Maria and Stavro. It was the second language that I learned as a child, and I always enjoy an opportunity to use it."
Georgia leaned out the kitchen door.
"Ok, everybody, back to Greek for La Contessa." She called to the children. She then moved over to the stove and turned a kettle on. "Maria says you like hot cocoa, Contessa. I sent one of the children to the market for some, she should be back soon." She set an ashtray in front of a chair at the table before sitting down.
"Thank you again." Helen said, taking a seat and accepting the unspoken invitation to light up. "You didn't need to do that. And Maria is dating your son, Georgia; Helena will be fine. I certainly hope she's helping out."
"Oh no," Georgia started to lie. "We wouldn't ask that of..."
Maria cut her off.
"I did the dishes."
"She's very good with the dishes, yes." Georgia concluded without missing a beat.
Helen smiled at them. She made a mental note to visit the Poldouris family more often.
"I wish my visit were entirely social." She said with a drag. "However, I'm told that the head of my Citizens' Grievance Office, who's doing a fine job, by the way, has a special matter for my attention."
"I should say so." Georgia replied. "My boy was trying to help. All they had to do is turn around and there's a butcher shop right here. My son could have been shot on the street like an American!" She then remembered where La Contessa was originally from. "Not that all Americans get shot! I mean... you know what I mean."
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