‘Look at him. Look at the asshole. The ape! He comes into our culture and he isn’t even paying attention.’

Jimmy could hear them.

He could also understand them and Ren couldn’t, which made their bashing halfway through the lecture even more annoying. Jimmy put an X in one of the boxes on Ren’s notebook and pretended Ren’s stupid neighbours weren’t talking about him. Ren giggled as he put an O in another box and took the second win.

‘It’s what happens, reh. They let the faggots in and then they don’t even respect the country that is hosting them.’

Jimmy hated Greeks and their view of the world. Anyone that dared to step through the Greek borders had to bend over backwards to please them and do everything in their power not to infuriate them. And even, then they wouldn’t appreciate it, or worse, make fun of their submission.

The Greeks, on the other hand, that went abroad, no matter whether it was to live and work or for fun, could care less about the rules and local traditions. They would insult people right in their faces, without batting an eyelid, because they were the superior culture.

Jimmy hated those Greeks.

‘What’s up?’ Ren asked him.

He looked at Jimmy’s fists, which were balled up, and leaned in closer.

How much longer would they go on for, and when was anyone going to say something?

Jimmy shook his head and ignored Ren. He listened to the guys behind them.

‘I bet you he doesn’t even care. He’s more interested in sucking everyone’s cock in here than he is interested in what the professor has to say,’ said the guy in the middle.

Jimmy turned around and slammed his hand on their desk. ‘And how would you know, re malaka? From experience, I assume. Shut your fucking mouth, before I shut it for you,’ he said.

He wasn’t loud, nor did he think everyone could hear him, but when he turned around, the whole class was looking at him.

Ren was also staring at him without an inkling of what Jimmy had just said. The confusion in his eyes made Jimmy want to give him a big hug and hold him there until he had wiped all evil from the world for him.

‘Is there a problem, Mr. Aristiadis?’ the professor called from her desk in English. She didn’t bother moving away from it.

Jimmy pointed behind him. ‘They’re being assholes,’ he replied.

That made her stand up. ‘Language, Mr. Aristiadis. How dare you use that graphic language in my class?’

Her accent was hilarious, and listening to her pronounce the small words with such fake eloquence made it even more hilarious for Jimmy. She was as clueless as the rest of the class about what was going on.

‘Trust me, Miss Diamadakou, the language those assholes are using behind me is even more graphic. It’s sickening,’ Jimmy replied.

She flinched again. A few students were shooting daggers at Jimmy with disbelief and a few others were looking at Ren’s neighbours.

‘You are being rude, Mr. Aristiadis. And offensive to your classmates. That is abhorrent behaviour,’ she screeched.

Jimmy could see she was more determined to continue her lesson than question the dicks behind him. She kept her hand on the page of the book she was reading from and briefly glanced at her laptop while talking to him. Jimmy stood up and stuffed his notebook in his bag.

‘And I find your lack of diligence abhorrent. But, please, do go on teaching those bullies the rules of syntax. Don’t let me stop you, educating baboons how to construct sentences yet not how to use them with manners,’ Jimmy shouted at her and tried to move past Ren, but he was too busy gaping.

‘What’s happening?’ Ren asked him.

‘We’re leaving, that’s what’s happening,’ Jimmy told him and gestured for Ren to get up.

‘Why?’ he asked, standing up hesitantly and picking his rucksack off the floor.

Jimmy looked at Ren’s bullies and at the teacher and shouted at their entire classroom. ‘Because they’re being fucking assholes and she doesn’t give a shit,’ he said and descended the stairs. Ren followed him.

They stormed out of the classroom and Jimmy grit his teeth. Ren caught up with Jimmy’s sprint but kept looking behind him. The poor thing didn’t know why Jimmy had erupted like that. He must think Jimmy was a lunatic.

‘What happened, Jimmy?’ Ren asked him.

Jimmy couldn’t answer him until they put some distance between the class and themselves. Proximity only made him angrier.

They marched out of the building and into the main street. The sun had come out while they’d been locked away in that snooze of a lesson, but a light breeze cooled them down. As they walked Ethnikis Aminis Street, Jimmy explained to Ren what happened.

Ren was in disbelief. ‘How could they talk so horribly in front of so many people?’

Jimmy didn’t have an answer for Ren other than his typical one. ‘Because they are malakes. In Greek we call them malakes with a helmet,’ Jimmy told him. He might as well make his anger educational, Jimmy thought. It didn’t happen that often.

Ren’s mouth twitched into a forced half smile. ‘But why were they calling me all these names? I’ve not done anything to them,’ he said.

‘Because Greeks are racist.’ It was the simple answer and the most honest one. Considering they’d voted neo-Nazis into their parliament, it wasn’t that far off the truth.

Ren huffed. ‘And homophobes, from the sound of it.’

‘That’s got nothing to do with you, trust me. For Greeks, all English men are gay. Or to use the English equivalent of the insult they throw left, right, and centre, faggots.’

‘Why?’ he asked.

They had reached the cafe Jimmy was looking for. Harry’s Spot had all the board games anyone could ever dream of. And some of them were in English, so he could play with Ren and forget about the stupidity of the last hour.

‘Because English men speak with an English accent, are eloquent, express themselves more freely, and are not as broody as Greeks are. I don’t know. I never understood the reason. One would think someone is gay because they suck dick, but I guess that’s not enough.’

It felt weird talking about this. The butterfly in his stomach expanded, making him choke on his words. He didn’t want Ren, or anyone passing by, for that matter, to think that he was gay.

‘That’s so stupid. I can’t believe they were talking about me behind my back.’ Ren walked in and up a set of stairs to the sub level and they took a seat on a couch. They sat on opposite sides. That way Jimmy was more comfortable.

‘Forget them,’ Jimmy said. ‘If they do this again, I will go to admin and report their behaviour.’

Ren stared at him. ‘You don’t have to do that,’ he said.

‘I do. And so should you. Next time they play their fucking music, call the police. Or me. Although the police can be more effective, you know, with all their handcuffs and batons and stuff,’ Jimmy said but instantly regretted it. Had he given Ren permission to call him any time of the day? Jimmy could only hope Ren didn’t take his suggestion in a different light than how it was intended.

‘I don’t know about that,’ Ren said.

Jimmy repeated himself. He stressed the police part and what they could do. He told Ren about the hours of what the Greeks called ‘public quiet’ and how it was illegal to cause noise pollution at those times. Everyone took them seriously. In fact, Jimmy was surprised how no one had done anything about those senseless bastards yet. Greeks could go ballistic when their nap was disturbed. How was it possible no one else had called the police on those bullies?

‘I’ll see. Hopefully, they won’t repeat this behaviour,’ Ren said.

They ordered their drinks and Jimmy thought it’d be a good idea to introduce him to the range of cold coffees Greeks had come up with to complement their favourite pastime of halara, so he ordered a freddo cappuccino for both himself and Ren, who had blanked out and was staring at the other end of the café.

The coffees arrived with a plate of cookies. Jimmy was starving, so he grabbed one while Ren took a taste of his coffee.

‘Oh my God, how is this so nice?’ he mused.

‘See, I told you iced coffee is the best,’ Jimmy said.

He agreed, sucking in more coffee in his mouth and moaning with every sip. ‘Is that cinnamon on the top? It smells divine.’

He looked like a kitten finding yarn for the first time. His smile was addictive, and Jimmy couldn’t get his eyes off him. Ren looked at Jimmy, and his dimples crooked up into a smile. Why did he make Jimmy feel like this when Jimmy didn’t want to feel this way? Ren was irresistible to look at, and looking at him made his insides taut. Jimmy’s breath hitched and his pulse went crazy. It went crazy every time he was with Ren, and their eyes did all the talking. He became frustrated with his body. He didn’t want Ren to think he liked him.

He did not like Ren. Ren was a friend. And Jimmy enjoyed showing him his hometown. He did not like Ren.

The butterfly fluttering in his stomach had a different opinion.