Songbirds(16)

She looked up and down the street then turned to face me, her eyes filled with anxiety, with intensity. ‘She was wearing a long-sleeved black dress,’ she said, ‘with white trainers. She had a green scarf wrapped around her neck, which partly covered her mouth. She wore that scarf like it was the middle of winter, though I know it must have been a warm Sunday night because my woman didn’t bring me a blanket.’

‘Why was she dressed like that?’

‘Do you think if I sniff my nails they will tell me the answer?’

I rolled my eyes without her seeing.

One of the cats jumped onto the stool and walked along her leg as if it was a tree branch, then settled in her lap. She stroked it while it purred. ‘Petra,’ Mrs Hadjikyriacou said, ‘if she’s not back by tomorrow, you must go to the police.’

I looked down at my watch. There was no time to think about this right now, as I needed to get Aliki ready for school.

*

Once again, I left work early to collect Aliki from school in the afternoon. I had no option but to bring her to work with me again. This time, she sat behind the counter doing her homework with Keti’s help. She was learning the periodic table.

‘It’s amazing to see all the elements of the whole universe on one page!’ I heard her saying with excitement, as I led a client into my office for an eye exam.

That evening, after work, I made some pasta with haloumi and mint for dinner. Aliki and I ate in silence. Aliki’s eyes flicked towards Nisha’s empty chair now. The photograph of Stephanos in his uniform sat behind her on a console table. Sometimes I would catch Aliki stop in front of it while she was playing, pausing to stare at it. Could she see how much they looked alike? Their pale skin, wide-set eyes and round faces – even the small moles on their right cheeks.

I tried to engage Aliki, ask her questions. How was school, and do you have homework tonight? She replied with a nod, a shrug or a shake of the head, but she never spoke. Not a word. Sometimes I thought she wanted to speak, but then whatever words were hovering would be swallowed, gulped down with the pasta.

When we had finished, I helped Aliki with her homework at the kitchen table, then settled her into bed. We both pretended she was going right to sleep, but no doubt she would stay up reading for a while.

When I heard no more sounds from her room, I tiptoed to the front door, quietly closing it behind me before crossing the street to Theo’s restaurant. He was in the kitchen shouting at the chefs. I stood and waited for him to stop and finally he turned to me with a smile. ‘Petra, my dear, table for tonight? A late supper?’

‘No, Theo, I’ve come to speak to your maids.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘It’s about an important matter regarding Nisha. She’s gone missing and I want to see if they know anything.’

‘Take a seat,’ he said. ‘I’ll bring you a coffee on the house. They are busy in the back but they can take a break soon.’

I sat down beneath the vine-covered trellis, sipping my coffee. It was just after 9 p.m. and there were a few diners at the table and a couple of punters at the bar. After about fifteen minutes, the women emerged from the kitchen, both in black trousers and white shirts, their usual rice hats tied at the chin with a red ribbon. It occurred to me then how awful it was that Theo was making the women wear these hats; I couldn’t imagine that it was their own choice. This wasn’t a Vietnamese restaurant, after all, it was Greek. The hats were exotic, a fetish, of course. The men ogled from their seats. How had I never noticed this before?

Theo gestured in my direction, and they approached my table, clearly tired but smiling.

‘Madam,’ said the one on the left. ‘Sir said you wanted to talk about something important.’

‘We are just having a break. We’ve been working from six this morning,’ said the other, in a tone that was both joyful and irritated.

The shorter one nudged her and gave her a look to be quiet. ‘Sorry, madam,’ she said, holding out her hand. ‘I am Chau and this is my sister, Bian.’

I shook both of their hands. ‘I live across the street,’ I said. ‘I am Petra.’

They both laughed. ‘We know, madam,’ said Chau. ‘We see you every day and we are friends with Nisha.’

‘I was hoping you might know where she is. I haven’t seen her since Sunday evening.’

‘No, madam,’ said Chau, shaking her head. ‘She comes to say hello every morning after taking Aliki to school, but we have not seen her for a few days. We were thinking maybe she went away.’

‘We work here in the morning for the breakfast customers,’ added Bian, ‘then we go to sir’s house to clean, then we come back here in the afternoon until very late. We see Nisha once in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. Now, for few days, nothing.’

The word ‘nothing’ stabbed me like a knife. It reminded me of the emptiness that Nisha had left behind.

Bian eyed Theo watching us from behind the bar. Several customers had left their tables, and dirty dishes had started to pile up at the bussing stations.

Chau looked over, concerned. ‘We must go,’ she said. ‘Sir will be angry. We have much more to clean before closing time.’

‘Hold on,’ I said. ‘Please, if you hear anything, will you come and knock on my door straightaway?’

They both stared at it me for a moment too long and then nodded.