A New Door (The Flitzani) Ch. 3

What Stathis’ doting aunties hadn’t considered when they sent their precious nephew to America, with every penny they had saved sewn into the lining of his coat, was that the America of today was very different to the America of 1910.

Money did not rain from trees, opportunities were not cascading through the streets like liquid gold, and demand for poorly educated, marginally skilled, socially awkward young men with broken English was not what it once was.

By the time Stathis had been in America for four months he hadn’t managed to land a single job interview. Working in the diner in exchange for food and a place to sleep on his cousin’s filthy sofa was not how Stathis imagined his life in the Big Apple and he was getting desperate.  

Lara was already seated when he started his shift. On her table was an overturned cup oozing muddy coffee grounds into the saucer. A second cup was laying on its side. Her order for another three Greek coffees was at the pass, ready for service. 

"Did you lose a bet?" Stathis asked as he placed the coffees in front of her.

"What?" she said. 

"I said, did you lose a bet?” he said.

"I heard what you said," she snapped.

"Then why did you ask me to repeat it?" he asked. 

"I didn’t," she replied. 

"Are you going to drink all of those?" he asked. 

"Are you going to get your nose out of my business?" she retorted. 

Stathis put his hands up, in surrender, and backed away.

By closing time, Lara had emptied all three cups. The table was splattered with coffee and Lara had filled her notebook with diagrams. When she signalled for the cheque, Stathis sent over the other server and walked outside for a smoke.

Leaving the diner, Lara noticed him leaning against the wall. She hesitated then walked over.  

"I didn’t mean to bite your head off, earlier," she said.

“It’s ok,” he shrugged. “I should have left you alone.”

They stood in silence for a while. Then he said, "You know, you’re doing it wrong."

"What?" she said. 

"You need to turn the cup clockwise three times then let it drain on the saucer facing away from you," he said. 

Laura squinted her eyes and held out her hand for his cigarette.

"Do you want one?" he asked.

"No, I quit a long time ago," she said taking the cigarette out of his hand and taking a long drag.

"How come you’re learning to read the flitzani?” he asked.

"Who taught you to read it?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"My aunt Merope, in Greece,” he replied. “All my aunts read it but she had the gift. People in the village would…"

"Are you any good?" she interrupted him.

"I say what I see, in the cup," he said.

She seemed to be weighing something up, then asked, "How much do you charge to read it?”  

He laughed, “You mean the flitzani? Last I checked, there isn’t a huge market for reading someone’s fortune from their coffee dregs.”

“You’d be surprised,” she said.

Almost certain she was mocking him, Stathis shot back, “Well, since it’s one of the very few things I know how to do, and since no one in this city will hire me to do a real job, then maybe today is my lucky day.”

Laura gazed at him and nodded solemnly. When she replied, she spoke slowly. “Yes, today may just be your lucky day.”

It was Stathis turn to stare at Lara but her expression was inscrutable. Finally, he took the cigarette back from her and taking the last drag, he said, "I’ve gotta to get back to my shift."

Only once he had walked back into the diner, did Lara permit herself a small smile.

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*Tasseography, or Καφεμαντεια, aka The Flitzani, is a once beloved but now rather outdated Greek pastime. By deciphering the symbols in the dregs of a coffee cup, the reader can interpret the past, explain the present and divine the future. But not just anyone can read the Flitzani!