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<strong>Buddhas</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Bikinis</strong> 28<br />
was Hiroshi, but then I noticed the rastafarian hair, <strong>and</strong> the immense shape of the man. I<br />
turned on my beside lamp.<br />
‛Good evening, Harry,’ the man said, clutching my record player under his arm.<br />
I recognised the intruder as Joel, a Jamaican who lived at King’s college. He was an<br />
engineering student <strong>and</strong> a part-time body-builder. We had run into each other a few times at<br />
the campus gym. He knew I was from a wealthy family <strong>and</strong> would taunt me about my<br />
skinny arms, <strong>and</strong> gay clothes, hoping to bait me into a fight.<br />
‛I see you’re fucking that Asian chick now,’ he said. ‛Did you get bored with sheep?<br />
Mind you, Harry, I can see the attraction. Japanese tits - they’re the best in the world.’<br />
I slowly got off the bed, ‛Put down my stuff, Joel. Everyone knows you’re a thief<br />
<strong>and</strong> I’m not going to be one of your victims.’<br />
‛Sorry, Dude.’<br />
‛I won’t ask you again.’<br />
I walked to the door, blocking his path.<br />
He growled down at me, ‛Harry, don’t make me hurt you.’<br />
‛The name’s Ari.’<br />
I looked at one of the LP in his h<strong>and</strong>, Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life. I<br />
rolled my eyes in contempt, having just bought it a few days before.<br />
‛Hey, Harry, I’ll count to three.’<br />
He went to head-butt me on three, but I elbowed his forehead as he swung down on<br />
me. His head cracked against my elbow. He staggered back, dazed. I knocked him out cold<br />
with a single punch to the jaw, only calling security after I had mangled his face <strong>and</strong><br />
thrown him down a flight of stairs.<br />
My propensity for drunken violence always worried me. It seemed only during a<br />
rage could I find relief from my unhappiness.<br />
While I waited for the university security to turn up, Hiroshi arrived. She looked at<br />
the blood-spattered student’s face, his twisted legs <strong>and</strong> the long line of blood down the<br />
stairs. She walked over the unconscious body.<br />
‛Are you okay?’ she asked.<br />
‛Fine,’ I growled, trembling with rage.<br />
I explained to her what had transpired, <strong>and</strong> we sat <strong>and</strong> waited on the stairs until two<br />
security guards arrived. By then, Joel was coming around, groaning about his broken nose.<br />
After hearing about the burglary, one of the guards said he was glad someone had finally<br />
done what he wanted to do months before. When they had left, Hiroshi <strong>and</strong> I walked to my
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