National Capodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Athens, Greece. 2018
POV Aiolia
Why had he chosen that degree in college? Why? What went through his head when, at the age of 20, he took his panhellenic exams to pass the University of Athens? And worse, why did it have to be that one? (1)
That was what Aiolia thought while trying to pay attention to a Civil Law class. The professor was older, the class was monotonous, he had woken up early to go to class, he almost missed the bus and now he was trying his hardest not to sleep in the professor's class, who had such a soft voice that acted like a sleeping aid for him. If his brother were there, he would probably scold him for being almost drooling in front of his laptop from sleep. Aiolos was always right. Son of a bitch.
Oh, that was why he was studying that shit. Aiolos.
He and Aiolos were born in Thessalonica. And since they were small, both Aiolos and Aiolia had a great sense of justice. They always defended those who needed it most at school, liked debates and were outgoing. And both agreed that not always doing what was right was following the law: the rules could be unfair at times.
So Aiolia got into many fights at school because, unlike his brother, he was not as patient with those who hurt people who could not defend themselves. Aiolia resolved everything by fighting. He was called several times at school for his bad behavior, but even his teachers admired his intelligence and his big heart. Aiolia is like his brother, he is just angrier, family members and teachers spoke, and he did not care. He liked to be an impatient version of his brother.
And then, Aiolos went to Athens, to study law, at the University of Athens. Aiolia was 14 years old when this happened, and although he cried a little and got sick (he was ashamed of it until today), he also decided what he wanted. He intended to do justice, just like his brother.
When it was his turn to step on his feet in college, he was surprised and mad. The director of his college received the freshman students with the following sentence: "here, justice is not done. We study Law". Aiolia remembered being so angry to hear that. He did not come in there to be a doormat for paperwork! He went in there because he wanted to do justice, he wanted to help people, defend the weak.
He moved to the same apartment as his brother in Athens. Just when he got home, he argued with Aiolos about what the director had told him, as he was outraged.
"Olia, remember when I told you that doing the right, sometimes meant going against the rules?"
Aiolia was startled.
"That's about it Aiolia. Many of your colleagues will become mere bureaucrats, law enforcement officers, and will quietly obey the powerful without thinking whether that could have bad consequences for people or not. Cowards, I would say."
Aiolos looked at him, deep in his eyes.
"But you won't be like that, will you, Olia?"
Aiolia felt the weight of responsibility. But he smiled and said it would not be so. He would fight for justice. The problem is that, in that specific civil law class, he was more in the mood for a nap than fighting for some kind of justice.
The bell rang and he sighed with relief. At least he would not fall asleep in the boring Civil Law professor's class.
"Aiolia. Food. We need food" said Adonis, his fellow university student. Adonis had an unconditional love for the university restaurant, which Aiolia never understood, because for him the university restaurant was only one of the Nine Circles of Hell which the college was made because only selling his soul to the devil to be able to swallow the food. The other circle was civil law classes. And the men's bathroom.
"We need coffee, that's it. I cannot take any more studying without a little caffeine in my system" replied Aiolia. He had promised that he would not drink any more coffee after he drank the well-known mixture of coffee and Coca-Cola to endure the test week. The problem is that he hardly slept, he spent a week with tachycardia and tremeliques like a mad man, and when the exam week was over, he slept for almost 16 hours. If, since he was a child, Aiolos had dubbed him a "lazy lion", because his short hair looked like a mane, imagine how much he laughed after Aiolia's sixteen hours of sleep.
As soon as they had finished their lunch, they went to the cafe. There they found Dimitris, who was also studying on the same course as them, in the same room. The three sat on the stools.
"Cigarette?" Offered Adonis.
"Cigarette" said Aiolia, taking one from Adonis's pack. It was an ordinary cigarette. Marijuana had no more place in his mouth since Aiolos, God knows how, discovered that he was smoking. Aiolos had a special gift for knowing anything wrong that someone was doing it, with the right to catch the criminal in the act. And he no longer wanted to hear three hours of a revolted Aiolos, fighting with him for the fact that he was using illicit drugs. He thought it would be best to stop for a while.
In fact, that was Aiolos's problem. He was seven years older than Aiolia but he acted like a father. And sometimes he was happy about it, because, in fact, they did not have a father, and Aiolos felt that he should take that responsibility for himself. And he had enormous respect for his older brother, as a father himself. But he bothered the way he was too much of a father (and that includes the horrible jokes). But Olos was hopeless.
"Are you going to Friday's party, Aiolia?" Asked Dimitris.
"Your girl will be there, huh ..." mocked Adonis.
"Which one of the girls?" Asked Dimitris, laughing.
That was Aiolia's other problem. People said he was, as we might say, a womanizer, but in reality, he was unable to have a fixed relationship with anyone. He felt that he had a right person in his life, only that he never found that person. And he was awfully specific with the woman he considered having a fixed relationship. At least that was what his brain insisted on stubbornly, in creating in his dreams the memory of a woman with wavy red hair, thin, tall, and strong, with beautiful curves. But her face was always misshapen.
So, he became famous for hanging out with a lot of girls in college, most of them redheads. He was trying to fill that misshapen face of dreams with the face of some girl. But it was like he was trying to put together a puzzle that only missing one piece, that he can never fit. And well, it was frustrating.
And it was not difficult for Aiolia to get the girls, which worsened his bad (or good) fame. Mainly due to the fact that he was very handsome, and that was not the invention of his Leo ego. He had short, wavy blond hair, green eyes, and even his lashes had a golden glow in the sun. He also had a blond beard and mustache, which made him look sloppy but handsome. And after all, he was tall and athletic. Well, he expected to be handsome enough the day that the redhead of his dreams appears in his life.
He sighed.
"I think I will exchange for a night of studies."
The rest of the day was boring and dull. More studies, more coffee, more cigarettes. He took the bus, returned home. He arrived at the apartment where he and Aiolos lived and was greeted by an orange fur ball rubbing against his legs and meowing like an emergency alarm.
- Simba! - exclaimed Aiolia - wait, Dad already will give you food, I barely got home!
Simba was "the cat of the house", at least that is what Aiolos called him. Neither he nor Aiolos had animals in the family during childhood and adolescence, as the mother did not like it. No matter how much Aiolia begged the matriarch of the family for a kitten, the "no" was always a concrete answer. Aiolos also did not cooperate since he did not make a point of having animals in the home.
But one day, returning from college, he saw an orange kitten abandoned on the street. There are many stray cats in Greece and, in general, they know how to manage. But the kitten in question was still a baby, he was alone, dirty, thin, and hungry. In addition, the saying that had a spot on his forehead, more reddish than the rest of his hair. Aiolia could not resist and took the cat home. He fought with Aiolos, fought with the neighbor, fought with the building manager. But the cat stayed.
"Simba!" said Aiolia "your uncle did not put food for you! That's why you're meowing like that!"
Simba meowed loudly back, as if he said "OBVIOUSLY, HUMAN".
Aiolia put the rations for Simba, who devoured the food. He also changed the cat's water and went to take a shower. When he got out of the bath, he saw that Aiolos had come home. He had arrived earlier, it is true, but he still looked tired from the past few days. So, Aiolia did not start a lot of conversation and went to try to prepare something for the two of them to have dinner.
Aiolos was a lawyer who helped human rights organizations and activists. It helped to protect many people and organizations that were actually doing something out there. Working with something he believed in was what Aiolia wanted, and seeing his brother doing justice was, yes, an inspiration for him.
They were having dinner. Aiolia was using his cell phone while Aiolos finished his dinner. He was watching a live on Instagram of an act taking place in Athens, in which an alternative newspaper interviewed Kanon, a biologist and activist who was protesting against Mediterranean oil companies that were spilling oil and dirt into the sea.
"Take off the phone, I want to hear," said Aiolos, with his nose for finding people in trouble. Aiolia took it out and showed it to Aiolos, who was watching Kanon, in front of a cell phone camera, using the headphones as a microphone, while the journalist recorded and interviewed him.
"We are here now taking the streets of Athens, in an act of repudiation of oil tankers. The various companies in Europe and the USA are bribing the government at this very moment to be able to quell the case of the spill it had here in the Mediterranean Sea."
"Kanon, and why do you think this investigation is being boycotted?"
"It is not in the interest of this government that it is in the power to investigate companies, as they collaborate and encourage this absurd austerity policy that has been imposed by the European Union and that only harms the Greek people. And the government, as always, is too much of a coward to taunt the EU and oil companies."
"Do you believe that the Graad Foundation is involved in this?"
"Certainly. The Graad Foundation is not only involved in this, but also covering up the whole investigation."
"Man, he is either very brave, or he is very crazy" said Aiolia "This one is taking seriously that phrase of you that doing the righteous does not mean following the laws. At least he thinks it's fair."
"He has caused a lot of commotion in the newspapers" said Aiolos "he has good intentions, but I don't know if he can carry on his back what is going on. Too burst."
"He hasn't looked for your office yet?"
"No, and no office that I know of either. He also doesn't have a very strong organization behind it. This is a risk to his life and reputation."
"Offer your help, uh."
"If we could find the nut..."
Aiolia laughed.
"But he is good," said Aiolia. Aiolos agreed "The guy is hitting a lot of powerful politicians, which helps a lot."
"He is. I only care if he's doing it right. It is not known when they will want to shut up" Aiolos said.
"Do you think they want to kill him?"
"Or worst. In addition to killing you physically, they can kill your memory, your reputation. Smear your name, make people believe you did something wrong" said Aiolos, somberly.
Aiolia felt a chill in her spine. A deja-vu.
"Aiolia, is that the police?"
Aiolia, who was not looking at his cell phone at the moment, turned his face and saw it on the live. The journalist spoke.
"The riot police just arrived at the scene. We don't know what it will be like from now on. Any move that the police consider suspicious can lead to a serious confrontation. Kanon, do you have anything to say about that?"
"This shows that, despite being a peaceful act, the Greek government is not interested in negotiating with the protesters or presenting proposals for solutions to the problem we are pointing out."
"They can be here because you are the leader. Several congressmen consider you 'a terrorist' and a "threat to the Greek people."
"Congressmen can put their opinion in the hole they think it is appropriate."
A bomb exploded in some corner and it was possible to see that both Kanon and the journalist were frightened. People started running in riots, making recording the live more difficult. Aiolos grabbed his pants and dress shirt, got in seconds and pulled on his blazer.
"Will you leave?" said Aiolia.
"Of course. I will defend my future client."
"NOW? "Exclaimed Aiolia.
"This is the best time to get clients, Olia. When they need it most."
"You go to the middle of the confrontation of the police, to defend a stranger who does not even know if he will accept your help or not, at the risk of being arrested together?"
"It is the price you pay to do what is fair, isn't it?" Said Aiolos.
Aiolia smiled.
"It is the price you pay to do the fair" Aiolia completed.
(1) In Greece there are public colleges, one of which is the University of Athens. If you want to enroll in this college, you take the panhellenic exams and if you pass, you're in. The exams are very hard and the students are very bad because of the pressure. The law course is one of the most popular courses so it seems that Aiolia is very smart lol