Galata | Teen Ink

Galata

December 28, 2014
By Whatcem SILVER, İstanbul, Other
Whatcem SILVER, İstanbul, Other
8 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is short, birds are flying."
-Cemal Süreya


She watches the thrilling view of Bosphorus. First time I feel peaceful for a long time, she thinks. She wants to smoke from boy’s cigarette but shies to ask. She watches him. His blue eyes’ tone vanishes with the sparkles on the bridge. He hugs her, hugs warmly. She doesn’t remember which season it is. She doesn’t remember if she feels cold or not. But she remembers his embrace. Wind blows through the ferry and mixes her hair. She doesn’t want to look lousy near him. She watches him finish the cigarette. He murmurs something, she doesn’t recall.
Earlier that day, she went to her second date. She didn’t love him much but she cared. They met at the bar and had beer. He missed her and wanted to hug. They kissed, they felt the warmth. Then, something really bothered her happened. The waitress came and said: “I will take you outside”. She felt bad. She always paid attention to act properly in society. She wanted to be an enviable woman. But at that very moment, she felt very bad. It was not okay to kiss in public even though the room was nearly empty. She saw the discomfort in his eyes too. “Let’s finish our beers and go” he said. She couldn’t finish it as always. They went outside. They were walking through the ferries and the sea. The view was tantalizing. All of a sudden, he said “let’s go take a ferry” “we can go to Taksim” “Or I can show you my school, yeah let’s do that” “Or forget about it, let’s go to Karaköy, I will show you Galata Kulesi” He didn’t expect her to answer since he was just murmuring to himself. But she chose to surprise him. “Let’s go”

They took the Karaköy ferry, it was nearly 7 pm. When she was a child, she always dreamed of cruising ?stanbul with her boyfriend spontaneously. It was happening. As they sat in front of the ferry, he talked about one of his friends and they watched some vines. Although she saw way funnier videos than the ones he showed, she laughed. She laughed because she knew it was the right thing to do at that moment. They took a video from her IPhone. She said “kiss me”. He did. She recorded it and it became a memory not to be forgotten for a long time. And they chatted about the boy she actually loved. They made fun of him and putted a Snapchat story. They said “karde?im” (brother) to each other. He said “Cemre Karde?im”. She laughed; she didn’t know she would cry later. Finally they arrived to Karaköy as they decided to go to Galata. The problem was: she didn’t have much money. It was never a problem for her; it was most of the time for him though. But she liked it; she liked the feeling of being incomplete and unready. He took her to Galata. They walked, a lot. She was so tired and they were about to climb a hill. She doesn’t remember if she asked him to carry her but eventually he did. She climbed to his shoulders and he carried her. She was heavy. They finally got to Galata. It was the first time she actually saw the towel. She thought of having a picture on the top of the Galata and making the boy she loves see the picture and be jealous. She loved the idea but she was too shy to ask. And then he said: “Let’s take a selfie on the top of the towel” At that very moment, she thought of loving him. But it didn’t last long. They came to the door of the towel, it was about 8-9 pm. She didn’t want to get in first because she was afraid of the price and it would exceed her money. She asked him to go and check if the towel was available for visitors. There was no price but there was no acceptation for national visitors too. She learnt that after 8 pm, the towel was only available for foreigners and dinner reservations. He said “I will take you to a dinner one day in the towel” She thought of loving him, she really did. They couldn’t take the selfie on the top but they took a snap including the tower. The caption was “Cemremle Galata”. They went down the hill as he embraced her. They kissed. They hugged. They took a video. There were 5 or 10 minutes for the ferry. He talked about a bakery near their school and how they make the best po?aça in the world for 50 kuru? but they couldn’t eat anymore because they raised the price. She wondered how the po?aça tasted. They lost the way to the seaside, they asked some people. She liked being with him. When they arrived to the seaside, he showed her a fish-restaurant and a Turkish coffee café. He wanted to drink coffee with her. But she excused the time and rejected. She was afraid of the price. She only had 10-15 liras left. She said: “One day we can drink”. They never did. They took the ferry. He putted his head to her shoulders. And then, all of a sudden he jumped. “I forgot my bag!” He was so panicked, she calmed her down. She tried to think of the place where he left it. She said we can look to all the places we went, even it was about 9 pm. He felt ashamed. Then she said. “I am pretty sure; you left it at the bar”. He wasn’t convinced. They went to the front so that he could smoke.
It is cold or she isn’t sure. She gazes at the Bosphorus. What a day, she thinks. She watches him; she watches the sea suffering from the ferry. Wisps of silver grey smoke surrounded his lips and disappeared through the night.
When they finally arrive to Kad?köy, she takes him to the bar. They get inside and see the bag under the bar table. He takes the bag, holds her arm harshly and takes her out of the bar. He pulls her to himself and tries to kiss her like in the movies. But she pushes him away. All of the people watch them. The waitresses, old men, customers, little children, people who eat dinner, all of them. She doesn’t feel right. She doesn’t want to taste the same feeling as the earlier in the afternoon the waitress kicked them out. She doesn’t let him complete this gorgeous day. He feels little bit disappointed but he keeps thanking her anyways. “It is almost 10 pm and you agreed to come to Moda Sahil to search for my bag, then you found it. I just don’t know how to thank you. You are an angel; you are the love of my life.” Surely, she wasn’t. She smelled him, it was weird. When they crossed over the street, he said “I love you” She doesn’t remember if she replied. But she remembers him saying “I think you don’t love me”. He takes her to metro, all the time at the road, he murmurs and thanks her. She tries to be an angel. She knows she can’t. She doesn’t remember the rest. She doesn’t remember anything worth telling happened while going home. The day she always dreamed of ends.
Now, she thinks sending this to him. But she doesn’t have the courage to face him when he reads her real feelings on that day. She doesn’t want him to learn that she loved his best friend. She wants him to know that it was the maybe best day of her life and she wants to thank him.
“Now, I am looking at the Galata in the very same ferry and thinking of you. Every time, I see Galata, I am thinking of you.” She thinks.


The author's comments:

Galata is a famous tower in ?stanbul. Kad?köy and Karaköy are two towns of ?stanbul placed near marmara sea. Moda sahili is a rock cliff in Kad?köy next to the sea which people go for drinking or picnic etc. 


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