One Hundred Euros (excerpt)

Sonja Blonde

On the first of March, the plane landed at 5.30 p.m. on the small island, which had been covered for the second day in the fine calima dust cloud. The airport was buzzing with the newly arrived Hungarian tourists. Many of them were speaking loudly, so that others could hear, telling their travelling companions where they were going, which towns they were going to visit and how long they would be there. Especially those who, like Melinda, came to the island of eternal spring for the first time.

The girl stepped out of the building excitedly. Her face was immediately hit by the hot air from Africa. The scorching heat was great for Melinda after the cold, rainy weather. Smiling, she stuffed her coat into her suitcase and shouldered the small backpack. She was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of the palm-lined road that ran alongside the airport, all the way to the motorway. Tibor gave her precise instructions at which bus stop to stand at the zebra crossing.

The boy was driving around skilfully, driving past the building again and again until he saw Melinda standing under the sign twenty-three. He used the hazard-warning light, swung the two suitcases into the boot in a flash, opened the door for her, and by the time she had fastened her seatbelt, was on his way. Meanwhile, no one honked or cursed. The cars passed by them on the narrow, two-lane, one-way road and drove on. This is how most people usually managed to pick up or drop off passengers. Especially those who did not have a taxi licence and did not want to attract attention.

– It’s very important – Tibor started in the middle as soon as the seat belt buckle clicked –, I’m your cousin, and you’ve come to see me. You don’t know yet how long you’ll be staying, because you might have to go home in a few days for an important job. That’s why you don’t have a ticket back. Got it?

Melinda was speechless.

– There is usually no problem – the boy went on –, but it is better to be safe. This fare costs you now twenty-five euros at a discounted price, please slip it into the glove compartment. There is a booklet there, please put it under it. Or do you need any small change? Because then there’s an ashtray in the armrest here, you can find some change in it. Check if it’s enough – he rushed through almost breathlessly.

Melinda froze for a second.

Not for a moment had she ever dreamed that Tibor would pick her up at the airport for money. She needed all her strength to hide her shock and disappointment. After all, they are compatriots …he’s her boss’s nephew…

The boy did not notice anything of this. It was natural for him not to lift a finger for free, especially not for tourists. Not to mention the rich. Everything started at twice as much for them. He usually charged fifteen euros for a drive to the town, just ten kilometres far from the airport, but as she was one of the owners of the country’s largest stationery wholesaler, he wanted to charge her thirty euros at first. The inexperienced Melinda would not soon find out that the taxi would take her to the other end of the island for that much.

The girl was standing contentedly in the living room of the one-bedroom apartment, which was new and furnished with modern furniture. She looked around with a smile at the first stop of her new life. And the next moment she was enjoying the view from the balcony. She could not see the ocean, but she was compensated by the knowledge that there was a heated pool waiting for her to splash in in the courtyard on the other side of the building. Although the thermometer read twenty-five degrees, the air felt much warmer. Basically, she did not like the wind, but now it was good for her. The moment she had been waiting for since she had seen her fiancé and best friend having sex arrived. On this island, she finally did not have to walk down the streets with her head down. Nobody knew there that she had been cheated, deceived, humiliated, abandoned. No one looked at her with a sympathetic, regretful look, and no one kept asking her if she had come to terms with what had happened. She hated that just when she had managed to spend a few days without seeing Gabor’s facial expression distorted from pleasure, someone always reminded her. On this island she was just a young girl, nothing more. She had no idea about the freedom of being unknown.

She put on her swimsuit, hung her towel around her neck, and happily made her way to the pool.

*

Tibor was listening to Melinda with indifference as she was talking enthusiastically about her family. From the expensive jewellery watch on her wrist, the delicate movements of her hands, the way she dressed, it was obvious from afar that she was well-off. A kind, charming, naive, rich young girl who always expects someone else to solve her life. As he was listening to her, he wondered if Melinda was aware of how much sweat was showing on her satin top. A large stain under the girl’s arm revealed that she was hot. The tight, sleeveless top squeezed her breasts, which were trying to make their way under her armpits.

– Have you met Edit yet? – he interrupted the cheerfully chatting girl after a while.

– Not yet; we’ve arranged to meet tomorrow. I hope to be able to move in as soon as possible, so that I can start looking for an apartment to buy.

– Do you only want to make a living from letting out apartments?

– I think, yes. Then, it will work out, won’t it?

– You know. But I am now thinking of expanding my business. It’s also a good investment, you might find it interesting.

– What kind of investment?

– I want to buy cars. Not many, just three or four. I will rent them out. It pays off faster than an apartment. I already have an established clientele, there are never enough cars. We rent them cheaper than everyone else, of course, not legally. I also do airport transfers, and it’s good to have as many cars as possible to work with. Policemen watch out for illegal taxi drivers, although I’ve never had a problem.

Melinda was thinking. What if she bought an apartment and one or two cars in addition. Then she could diversify. Tibor is her boss’s nephew; she can trust him.

– How many cars do you have now?

– About five – the boy answered mysteriously. – I have several investors whose cars I run. As we share the profits, it’s in my interest to get the business going as well as possible, so everyone wins. They do not have a problem with anything, they just get the agreed percentage. You know, passive income.

He glanced cautiously at Melinda to see if he had managed to convince her, or at least make her think. The loose talk of easy money and investors blindly trusting him seemed to work. And Tibor tried to strike while the iron was hot.

– A friend of mine has bought some nice cars from British people going home. You know, Brexit messed them up now, most of them are liquidating their lives here. They sell their property and their cars cheaply to get rid of them as soon as possible. So, you can get some cars in a very good condition now if you’re interested. I asked him to wait a week or two before advertising them.

Melinda could not even know what kind of cars they were. She was almost intoxicated by the idea of becoming a cool businesswoman soon, with cars and apartments. She would have managers who would keep making money for her and even take the responsibility off her shoulders. She did not even notice that she was smiling.

– If you want, I can take you to him, even now, to give you time to think about it. I’m pretty sure I’ll buy one or two, it’s a rare opportunity.

– All right! Let’s go – said the girl enthusiastically.

In the parking lot where the improvised meeting was arranged, two young couples were standing. As it turned out later, one of them had just arrived by taxi from the airport and the other couple had provided a car for rent for them. They had to wait because no deal could be made without Benedek, alias Ben Slippers. Just in case, Ben kept all the keys and spare keys, he was the only one who could deliver and accept the rented cars, as well as the hundred euros collected as a deposit. All that the couple who rented out their car through Ben had to do was keep in touch with the renters. They received their commission on a monthly basis from the man whose face looked like that of a seller in a rag fair.

Ben was named Slippers after his only known footwear, the down-at-heel flip-flops. He never put socks on his yellowed fingernails, he did not really need to. It rarely rained on the part of the island where he was staying, and the air never cooled below twenty degrees. The man usually had a hand-rolled cigarette hanging from his mouth. Nicotine has also turned his teeth and fingernails yellowish-brown due to the excessive smoking.