Turkish /Greek Border Sept.’71anthonypaulgentile.medium.com
The sunlight was fading fast as they finally approached the border. A teenaged guard pulled down a barricade in front of their car stopping them.They had been stuck there for hours snaking along behind the rows of trucks lined up passing bribes to the officials in this unofficial back road Turkish Greek border crossing. “If this border crossing is so unknown then why all the trucks?” Billy said out loud realising that he was simultaneously answering the very question he was asking.
He had been driving since they left that morning. On the advice of Makis they had gone off the main road on to a well worn dirt track that lead to this “friendlier” border crossing between Turkey and Greece. The last, gruelling, 500 meters had been the most exhausting.
He popped John Lennon’s “Imagine” tape into the 8 track. They exchanged smiles as John’s voice proclaimed, “One thing you can’t hide, is when you’re crippled inside.’ It was the first time any of them had heard it; Billy listened intently. “How do these guys get a tape of this new Lennon album? I heard on Radio Free Europe, it was just released in New York last week!” Billy asked to nobody in particular. Pablo smiled, “These guy have connections!” he said mysteriously. “Now if they could just get us past this border.” Billy joked.
He had all the passports on his lap. A small stack of Greek Drachmas adding up to about fifteen dollars was folded neatly and placed into his passport on top of the stack; a “present” to expedite things. This was done on the advice of Makis who recommended this out of the way place to cross into Turkey. They were expecting to hand the documents thru the window, wait for the stamps, and roll right thru. They didn’t even bother to lower the music. Makis insisted this was a “no problem” border. The truckers behind them waited impatiently.
A young soldier stood in front to their car his carbine bayonetted and cocked, “‘Alt!” the border guard shouted sternly. Another soldier grabbed the passports and headed into the little guardhouse leaving the other three lower ranking guards there to survey the sight before them. They looked like teenagers, weren’t much more than kids; kids with loaded carbines.
The travellers figured it would be a bigger bribe than they had expected and prepared themselves. Billy hit the eject button and the music stopped. Not this time. “Get out the car.” another guard commanded in heavily accented English. They got a better look at the travellers. Mostly all eyes were on the girls. “I’ve got to get them some border clothes’ Pablo made a mental note.
Anna stepped out defiantly; she was wearing her legless cut off denim shorts and a man’s sleeveless singlet. Her firm breasts draped the loose cotton; the points of her hard nipples suspended the ribbed material above her slender waist showing her navel. It appeared as if she was enjoying all the attention, in fact ‘it was turning her on! ‘Pablo realised.
From the guardhouse the captain was shouting into an old telephone, through the smudged glass the word “hippies” could be understood in his shouts. A single strip of a buzzing and flickering fluorescent lit the pathetic border crossing. He came out and motioned with his rifle towards the trunk. “Open” he shouted in broken English. Pablo noticed that he emerged without the documents, and the stack of passports remained unopened on the desk, the bribe money untaken. A bad sign, he took it to mean they were going to be there for a while. Somewhere behind them, the sun was setting.
“Carnet! “ He shouted at Billy who had been driving, “Carnet des passage! “ He demanded in French, then German. Uta understood and answered rapidly in German. “He wants the papers for the car” she said to Billy. Uta went to the glove compartment and handed the stack of documents to him.
A battered brown van ambled down the dirt road towards them followed by a cloud of dust. As it neared, the travellers could see the military markings and the steel screens and bars on the windows. This didn’t look good.
A guard started opening the girl’s luggage and had the contents spread out on an old blanket that he pulled out of the trunk. They found it very suspicious that Pablo and Billy had no luggage. “Where is your bags?” a guard pressured Billy in bad English. “In Istanbul” he answered. This complicated things enormously. “How could your bags be there when your passport shows you have never been to Turkey?” he shouted In French to the uncomprehending American. Uta started explaining in French, but to the border guard it was unbelievable. “How could they be as casual about such a big event as losing all their luggage? Did they file a police report? How could those bags have been ‘smuggled” into Turkey?” The guard shouted.
Meanwhile Anna was in a tug of war with a guard who demanded to inspect the contents of her handbag. They could hear the pill bottles rattling like a pair of maracas. Hard headed Anna wasn’t letting go. The others exchanged quick looks and rolled their eyes worried about what they might find in there.
The Van came to a halt and out of the passenger side stepped the boss. He had the unbearably smug attitude of a minor official who possesses a tiny bit of power and the ball is firmly in his court. He wore epaulettes and medals pinned to his torn and filthy coat. His round hat differed from the others and had a tarnished badge over the forehead. Upon seeing the travellers and the Mercedes he smiled broadly, appearing to stifle a laugh.
The teenage border guards stopped shouting and straightened up at his approach. At that moment Anna’s bag turned over, spilling the contents at the feet of the soldier she had been fighting with. He squatted down and picked up three yellow plastic prescription bottles. Triumphantly he held up the “evidence” for the others to see.
The captain loudly slapped the hood of the Mercedes with the palm of his hand and everyone shut up. The guards snapped to attention. He seemed to speak a little English and now had the attitude of someone who they could deal with. His gold front tooth gleamed in the dim fading twilight.
‘“So, Americans, where you get this car?” he asked laughing. Too frightened to answer they stood in silence. The captain laughed louder and asked again . “Where you get this car?” Billy spoke up, “My friend gave it to me” he answered weakly. It sounded like the flimsiest excuse imaginable, but it was the truth.
The Capitan let out a deep belly laugh again. “Nico and Makis give you the Merc?!” He exclaimed unbelieving. ” Many times I offered Makis thousands of dollars but he would never part with it.” At that moment the ice broke, ‘Of course this is why Makis had insisted we take this particular border checkpoint. The Greek’s connections stretched far and wide.’ ‘ Pablo thought.
Billy produced the Polaroid, all the soldiers gathered around to see it. There was Pablo, Billy the girls and Makis and Nico. They all were smiling and waving to the camera, Adonis crept into the frame making the peace symbol mischievously in the foreground. “And this is why he insisted on us taking one of the 2 photos. He said it might be more important than our passports” Pablo realised.
The small present was taken and the documents stamped, but no matter how much bartering and pleading, Anna’s pills weren’t going to be returned. The excuse was that they had no doctor living nearby and the need for “medicines” was dire in these parts! Feeling like they got off easy Pablo thanked them and tried to hustle the others back into the car.
He tried not to think about it but it seemed like the lump of hash in his pocket was growing larger by the moment’ throbbing and burning with increasing intensity.
Anna was having none of it. She needed her “medicine” she protested. “Ok OK, Just a few of the valiums?” she begged. The guards were firm. “Please, I’ll do anything!” she begged seductively. At that Pablo and Billy grabbed her and put her in the back seat of the car, laughing like it was just a bad joke. Pablo got in the driver’s seat eager to get out of there, he would drive this time.
Billy got in the back riding next to Anna, arm firmly around her shoulders so she wouldn’t jump out. Uta grabbed the documents and jumped in the front seat next to Pablo. “Thanks, “Danken, Merci, Shukran, Tayshukku!” She shouted. “Enjoy Turkey” the guard shouted behind them. As they drove off Billy’s hand closed around Anna’s mouth to shut her up, as Uta put the music on loudly to cover up Anna’s oncoming screams. It was the same tape, only this time Lennon shouted defiantly, “Just gimme some truth! Just gimme some truth!” Trembling, Anna bit his finger and screamed at the border guards “Fuck You! “ as loud and as hysterically as she could, they just laughed. One of them as a joke pointed his rifle and took aim at her.
Leaving behind a cloud of dust, the pills and a bribe of about fifteen dollars in Greek drachmas, Billy silently reasoned it could have been a lot worse.
Uta hit fast forward on the tape player, The music became gentle and melancholy as John sang the soft and sweet, “Oh my Love” The words seemed appropriately inappropriate, — ”Everything is clear in my heart, Everything is clear in our world”
The irony was wasted on none of them. Uta hit the eject button.
Once again the car was barreling down the bumpy dirt road. A silence fell over the four travellers. It was as if at that moment, they had for the first time, all become aware of the magnitude of their unique chemistry, and the size of their undertaking. The four were pondering what lie ahead, each from their own perspective, each one worrying about the other and how the group dynamic was going to play out. It could get dangerous.
It was getting dark. “Why do I always get the nut cases?” Pablo thought as he drove on silently; eastward, into the darkness.
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