Oliver Benjamin
can break a heart of stone with their bare hands. In the case of Aussie
women, they can break your skull too.”
“You do have a couple of scars on your forehead.”
“I fall down a lot.”
“I’m Jake,” I said, extending my hand.
He shook it eagerly. “My name’s Richard, but you can call me
Yippee.”
“What kind of a name is that?”
“Oh, that’s the name of some Australian Television comedian
everyone thinks I look like. I think I look more like Big Bird on
Sesame Street, except that I’m not all that big and not quite as good-
looking. What do you think?”
“I think I’ll have another slug of your Ouzo,” I answered. He
handed me the bottle. “So you’re Australian.” I said, raising the bottle
to my mouth.
“What else would I be? I’m crazy, I love to drink, I love to travel,
I speak with this ridiculous accent and I don’t believe in stereotypes.
I am the archetype Australian.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. I passed him the bottle and he drank
from it as if it was water.
Originally thinking I would want to be alone with my thoughts
on the ship, I found it a relief to have such diverting company. He was
nuttier than a sack of testicles, but entertaining, and we hit it off well.
He was on his way to Israel to join a kibbutz. We talked about maybe
joining up on the same one.
True to the stereotype of the traveling Australian, Yippee was drunk
most of the time. By the time we arrived in Israel, he had become the
terror of the boat, and the hero. We sailed for two nights and three
days and if you stayed up late you’d see him running around with his
pants down around his ankles, a bottle of Ouzo in one hand and a
fresh cut on his forehead from falling down the stairs that connected
the two decks of the ship. Though I was in a state of panic and
heartbreak I managed to drown a lot of those bad feelings with his
companionship and his ever-present bottle of Ouzo.
One wouldn’t think him to have nerves of steel, but he surprised
us all the second night of the boat ride by performing an act of
courage so dramatic that I and anyone else who saw it will never
forget it.
We were drinking pretty heavily, a group of about ten people
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