New Boy | Miguel Diaz

Kreese

"So, for our first date, I was thinking we could go to a drive-in movie, then we go stargazing since I know how much you like the stars."

"I would love that, Miguel." Before he could kiss me, the man from yesterday walked into the dojo.

"Who's that?"

"Friend of my dad's."

Miguel and I went up to him. "Hey, can we help you, sir?"

"No. But, maybe I can help you."

My dad walked out of the office, and I pointed at the man in front of us.

After they discussed something in private, we were told to fall in.

"Class, we have a visitor. This is Mr. Kreese. He's just an observer. Pretend like he's not even here. Mr. Diaz, warm them up."

"Fighting positions! Front kick! Yuh!"

"Yuh!"

"Forward strike! Yuh!"

"Yuh!"

"Side jab! Yuh!"

"Yuh!" Everyone started laughing, but my dad didn't look too pleased.

"What the hell was that?"

"We were just messing around. We have eleven and a half months until the next All Valley."

"Yeah, besides, we already know how to kick ass."

"Oh yeah, really, huh? So, you know everything? There's nothing left to learn, huh?" My dad questioned.

Aisha started giggling and he went up to her.
"What's so funny, Miss Robinson?"

"I'm sorry, Sensei. You just wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"It's a snake-do."

"What's a snake-do?"

Everyone made a snake with there hand and made a hissing sound. My dad looked mad and Kreese didn't look impressed.

"Quiet! 5:00 a.m tomorrow morning. Corner of Fulton and Raymer. You don't show, and you're off the team. Class dismissed."

-

We mixed a bunch of cement with water, but hadn't been told why. I was helping Aisha and Mitch pouring the cement; Aisha mixing and Mitch adding the water.

"Don't add too much water. You wanna make it nice and thick."

"Sensei, why are we mixing cement?"

"No questions. Keep stirring!"

Suddenly, a truck came in, honking.

"Everyone, fall in! You think winning the All Valley gives you the right to goof off? Well, I got news for you. Winning one championship don't mean squat. A true champion never stops training.

"You gotta keep moving forward, or else you could get stuck exactly where you are. It's like the cement in this truck. If that drum doesn't start turning, the cement inside will harden and get stuck. Is that what you want to happen to you?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Good. Then climb up, get inside, and make it spin."

"Sensei, we're sorry for messing around."

"We learned our lesson."

My dad didn't listen and he threw down the latter. "Get in!"

"Sensei, this seems dangerous. I mean, the fumes alone-" Miguel was then cut off by Kreese.

"Quiet! This man led you to the mountaintop, and you question him? Look at you. I can't believe this pathetic pack of pussies competed in the All Valley, and let alone, won. It's an absolute miracle. And who's responsible for that miracle? Johnny Lawrence. The best student in the history of Cobra Kai. My student."

"You were Sensei's sensei?"

"You better believe it, kid. And I tell you, I've never trained a tougher student in my whole life. So, if you know what's good for you, you better listen to every goddamn word he says."

"We'll do it, Sensei." Miguel and I were first to climb in.

When we finally found our balance, Hawk came in. A couple more kids climbed in and, of course, most of them fell.

"Well, don't just stand there. You wanna get stuck? Move!"

We all tried our best to push the side, but it was no use. The truck started moving a bit more every second.

"Alright. There we go, there we go! A little bit faster! There you go! Keep pushing!"

We finally got the truck moving and cheered each other on. Dad yelled for us to come back out and we were all soaked in cement.

"You should be proud of yourselves. I know I'm proud. Your parents should be proud, too, if you told them what we did here today, which we won't."

He sprayed everyone with water. "You pushed forward like champions. Never stopping. Never being satisfied. Never giving up. And if you keep pushing and keep moving forward, you're gonna go to places you never even dreamed of."

He smiled at me and Miguel before spraying us in the face.

-

After I got home, I remembered the picture I never discussed about with my dad. He stayed at the dojo for awhile longer, so I was home alone.

The door opened, but Miguel was the one to come in.

"Hey, my mom made food for you guys. She said she doesn't want you eating Slim Jims for breakfast anymore."

He gave me a kiss before putting the food in the fridge.

"Oh, thanks."

"What's wrong?" He sat next to me on the couch, and put his arm around me.

"I found this picture in my dad's room. The boy, right there, that's Robby Keene."

"Keene? Like from the All Valley?"

"We didn't get the chance to talk about it. But, did you the way they looked at each other? When Robby first came out, it was like- like this look of letdown on my dad's face."

"You think there's a bad past behind them?"

"I don't know... but, why else would he have a picture of him? They must've known each other somehow."

Miguel set the picture onto the coffee table, and laid back. He pulled me so that I was laying on top of him. His hands brushed through my hair as I closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep.

"I'm sure we'll find out eventually. Don't worry too much."