“Curry Muncher”

His lips moved slower than the words coming out. It was like his body said it before his mouth did. Like it was always on his mind…like it was something he needed to say.
Just to make Sam feel it.

And Sam did.
He could feel it in his chest as his heart dropped.
He could feel it in his bones as he could now feel its weight under his skin.

Everything became slow. Sam felt the fear build up in his stomach as he each syllable hit his ear. He couldn’t believe it.

Why this guy. With a tight shirt and jeans, steroid muscle and slicked-back hair. A dumbass with the same shaved body as everyone else.
Why him.
Why couldn’t it be the white dude to his right?
Or the blonde sitting next to him.
Why was it another ethnic?

The fear didn’t go away.
He felt himself go hot,
Sam was all too familiar with that word.
He had heard it at soccer games as a kid, at a function on a Saturday night and walking out of church on a Sunday morning.
He was a victim of it.
All of his life.

There was no rage, just fear. He knew that if he acted, there was a big chance he’d get hit and hit badly.

But if he didn’t do anything then this guy wins.

This guy who should’ve known better.

He didn’t need to say it.
He didn’t need to slap Rohan’s head when he was talking to the girl he was friends with.
So what? She was single, she didn’t look like she was in distress…Rohan was making her laugh…

What was the big deal?

Why the fuck did he care?

A giant grin formed on the guys face. He knew he had them.
Either ark up or fuck off.
You’re either a bitch, or he was gonna make you a bitch.
He didn’t have to say it. But Sam knew.

He knew he’d probably get clocked, kicked out and blamed for the whole thing. Such is life when you’re a brown guy in this fucking city.

Sam felt his strength go, his arms fade away as the size of the guy loomed over him.
Slowly, he felt smaller. His jacket seemed to be oversized and his jeans started to fall off his skin. He could feel the hair on his body and face start to curl.

He looked to Rohan. Behind him, the twins were still staring at the guy…probably still trying to comprehend what they just heard.
No one ever said that shit…not in their world.
The girls were stuck behind them, both fighting to get through the human barrier between them.
They had done this before. Whenever one of the guys unfairly copped anything, they were the first to stand up. They were done being made fun of their thick eyebrows and darker skin. And it was hard-pressed to fight them. And they took advantage of that.
You could never hit two girls…

But Kiara and Shalani couldn’t do this forever.
They couldn’t come to the rescue each and every single time.
He couldn’t allow it any longer.

Sam looked at Rohan.
He knew what that word meant. He knew it meant Rohan being stuffed into a bin at recess, it meant being beaten up in a toilet stall… It meant an old white History teacher muttering it under his breath as he got caught talking in class.

All those times he was helpless.
All those times… Rohan could do nothing.

But Sam could. Just this once…he could.
So what if he got hit.
So what if he was beaten.
How was it anything new? How was it any different?
And maybe something serious would happen.
Maybe after all the yells and screams, after all the punches and shirt grabbing, the body left of the floor might make a difference. Whether it was him or not. If it was him…so be it.

He was done.
And This wasn’t a joke anymore…this was a statement.

The little bubbles of frustration and anger started to churn. He could feel his stomach become solid and his jaw tighten.

The little boy inside him started to grab at his lungs and he could feel the years and years worth of anger grow stronger and stronger.
Sam remembered the dirt on his face as another parent shot the slur at him and his mum after a soccer match…they had Won the game fair and square…why were they angry?

He remembered his dad loading up the ute, trying to pack away the new desk he bought for his older sister…hearing it from a guy zipping buy from an open window, his smiling face, wagging his tongue and laughing hysterically.
Sam looked back.

The guy’s mates were laughing.

The brunette to his right wasn’t.
She slowly edged away, he could tell she wasn’t comfortable.
But Sam was.

All that time away, and he wasn’t going to let this fucker get away with this.
His heart rate picked up….he felt the blood surge back to his limbs.

He lived for this.
With one leap and push, he was in midair.
Fist balled and elbow cocked back.
In a swift movement, he swung.
Breathing out harshly, he let go…and let him have it.

All the suffering, all the ridicule…everything,

This fucker should’ve known an ethnics struggle.

He felt the clap of cheek and bone under his knuckle.
With a  Crack, he felt the guys face fade and the energy leave his body.

It was all slow motion, but Sam was unexpectedly quick.
His mates were too slow…they were all too slow. Sam had caught them all by surprise.

Before he could think, Sam launched onto the guy’s massive chest.
He could smell the overuse of shitty perfume and feel the shirt rip as he grabbed and pulled at it.
With everything again…he threw another right hand. This time landing just next to his nose. He felt the guys nostril under his knuckle and followed through.
Sam was going to make sure he got in as much pain as he could…Years worth.

In a thump, a mass of bodies swarmed him, grabbing at his back, trying to heave him from the guy.
Sam felt his elbow cock back and without thinking, into someone’s chest, His left hand still grasped around a now stretched and slightly torn shirt.
He wasn’t thinking…he wasn’t comprehending, everything went out of focus and before he knew it, he was being hoisted by three bodies, backwards.
The brawl lasted about ten seconds. Security popped out of nowhere and separated the club, pulling Sam away. They acted so quickly… It was like they knew. They knew to keep an eye on the brown guy getting an earful.

They probably heard.

And yet they did nothing.
But with all their effort…they couldn’t shield the guys face from view.

The whole club knew what they saw.

The now bloodied face of the “alpha male”.

And the sadistic smile of a brown kid as he was being pulled away.

Everyone who saw it knew…and if they didn’t see, they were going to hear it in time.
That Indian just fucked up this racist prick.