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Book: The First Life of Vikram Roy (Many Lives Series Book 3) by Laxmi Hariharan
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Authors: Laxmi Hariharan
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the fight? Ten zen , my chilled-out roomie?
He peels away from the group and, placing his hands on my shoulders, turns me around, urging me to the exit. "The less you know about this the better it is for you, Vik."
I angrily shrug away his arm. He is my friend, but I simply cannot walk away from what he is doing. "Four of you against one of him. He doesn't stand a chance."
"Why does that bother you anyway?"
There's an edge to his voice I have never heard before. I look over my shoulder to see the other three watching us. They are part of Tenzin's "Bhutanese" gang. The world sees Bhutan as a peace-loving, high-on-the-happiness-quotient nation. But as I have found out, the youth of this country are just as angry as kids from anywhere in the world. Perhaps more.
"I am sure whatever he's done is wrong, but that doesn't mean you have to beat him up, do you?"
"Just because you come from the land of that fraudster Gandhi, doesn't mean you have to talk like him, okay?" another boy sneers.
Anger warms my gut. But rather than show it outright, I stretch myself to my full height. I've grown steadily in the last two years and find I am almost as tall as Tenzin's five feet ten inches now. Thanks to the cricket practice and being out in the open air so much, my shoulders have filled out too. I walk over to the boy who had spoken and ask, "So what did he do?"
I don't really want to know the cause of the fight, but this will at least buy me and the boy some time.
Tenzin speaks up again. "He followed my girl to her room, tried to kiss her."
I turn to him. "That's wrong. Very wrong," I say. If there's one thing I have learnt here, it's to respect women, to give them space, treat them with courtesy. "There's no excuse for what this guy did. But you sure you want to beat him to death?"
"Yes," Tenzin replies.
"Why not just report him to the school. He'll be expelled," I try to reason.
"No, we solve this our way," the other boy huffs.
"This isn't just about him teasing your girlfriend. It's about him being Korean, right?"
When they don't reply, I know I am right.
The Korean faction and the Bhutanese boys have been at loggerheads ever since I have been at St James. Strange how even in a community of just 600 students the lines are drawn across race, skin colour, and culture.
The sound of something clanging against the wall startles us. Tenzin puts up a hand, signalling us to be silent. He makes his way to the entrance and looks around. Whatever he sees is not reassuring, because he runs back to us and whispers. "The Koreans ... Let's get out of here." The boys scatter, leaving me behind. Tenzin hesitates. "Go! We'll talk about this later."
He nods and follows his friends.
I turn over the boy on the ground. He's not in good shape: a black eye, broken lip, torn shirt with blood splashed over his collar and covered with boot prints. He groans and his eyes flutter again.
"Can you move?" I whisper.
When he nods, I help him to his feet. He cries out in distress as I put an arm around his waist. "Hang in there." I half carry, half drag him to the entrance of the showers, by which time his gang have arrived. Spotting me, they stop in their tracks, and a stocky boy, who I take to be their leader, holds up his fists, ready to fight.
"Stop!" the boy I am helping gasps out. "It wasn't him. He helped me."
"Who was it, Kim?" the leader asks.
"Ten–Tenzin," Kim replies.
While the other two relieve me of my burden, the stocky boy puts out his hand. "Hoon," he introduces himself.
"Vikram … Vik," I reply, shaking his hand.
He turns to leave and I hail him. "Hoon, wait. Don't do this. If you go after Tenzin, the fighting is just going to become worse. It's not going to help anybody."
Hoon turns around and smiles grimly. "They should have thought about that before they beat up Kim like this. Now, it's war." He looks at me closely. "You are Tenzin's friend, aren't you?"
I nod.
"Tell him to be very careful. We
He peels away from the group and, placing his hands on my shoulders, turns me around, urging me to the exit. "The less you know about this the better it is for you, Vik."
I angrily shrug away his arm. He is my friend, but I simply cannot walk away from what he is doing. "Four of you against one of him. He doesn't stand a chance."
"Why does that bother you anyway?"
There's an edge to his voice I have never heard before. I look over my shoulder to see the other three watching us. They are part of Tenzin's "Bhutanese" gang. The world sees Bhutan as a peace-loving, high-on-the-happiness-quotient nation. But as I have found out, the youth of this country are just as angry as kids from anywhere in the world. Perhaps more.
"I am sure whatever he's done is wrong, but that doesn't mean you have to beat him up, do you?"
"Just because you come from the land of that fraudster Gandhi, doesn't mean you have to talk like him, okay?" another boy sneers.
Anger warms my gut. But rather than show it outright, I stretch myself to my full height. I've grown steadily in the last two years and find I am almost as tall as Tenzin's five feet ten inches now. Thanks to the cricket practice and being out in the open air so much, my shoulders have filled out too. I walk over to the boy who had spoken and ask, "So what did he do?"
I don't really want to know the cause of the fight, but this will at least buy me and the boy some time.
Tenzin speaks up again. "He followed my girl to her room, tried to kiss her."
I turn to him. "That's wrong. Very wrong," I say. If there's one thing I have learnt here, it's to respect women, to give them space, treat them with courtesy. "There's no excuse for what this guy did. But you sure you want to beat him to death?"
"Yes," Tenzin replies.
"Why not just report him to the school. He'll be expelled," I try to reason.
"No, we solve this our way," the other boy huffs.
"This isn't just about him teasing your girlfriend. It's about him being Korean, right?"
When they don't reply, I know I am right.
The Korean faction and the Bhutanese boys have been at loggerheads ever since I have been at St James. Strange how even in a community of just 600 students the lines are drawn across race, skin colour, and culture.
The sound of something clanging against the wall startles us. Tenzin puts up a hand, signalling us to be silent. He makes his way to the entrance and looks around. Whatever he sees is not reassuring, because he runs back to us and whispers. "The Koreans ... Let's get out of here." The boys scatter, leaving me behind. Tenzin hesitates. "Go! We'll talk about this later."
He nods and follows his friends.
I turn over the boy on the ground. He's not in good shape: a black eye, broken lip, torn shirt with blood splashed over his collar and covered with boot prints. He groans and his eyes flutter again.
"Can you move?" I whisper.
When he nods, I help him to his feet. He cries out in distress as I put an arm around his waist. "Hang in there." I half carry, half drag him to the entrance of the showers, by which time his gang have arrived. Spotting me, they stop in their tracks, and a stocky boy, who I take to be their leader, holds up his fists, ready to fight.
"Stop!" the boy I am helping gasps out. "It wasn't him. He helped me."
"Who was it, Kim?" the leader asks.
"Ten–Tenzin," Kim replies.
While the other two relieve me of my burden, the stocky boy puts out his hand. "Hoon," he introduces himself.
"Vikram … Vik," I reply, shaking his hand.
He turns to leave and I hail him. "Hoon, wait. Don't do this. If you go after Tenzin, the fighting is just going to become worse. It's not going to help anybody."
Hoon turns around and smiles grimly. "They should have thought about that before they beat up Kim like this. Now, it's war." He looks at me closely. "You are Tenzin's friend, aren't you?"
I nod.
"Tell him to be very careful. We
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