The Foundation

FOUR

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, just this funny picture my girlfriend posted."

"Wait a second."

Silence fills the room for a few minutes.

"Is that Daniel LaRusso's daughters?"

"Yeah, you know Samantha/Ellie?"

"You're dating a LaRusso?"

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong?"

"We need to talk."

"It was the summer of '82. My buddy Dutch was a huge Mr. T fan, so we went to the local theater to check it out. Sitting in front of us was this group of cute chicks, eating popcorn. Dutch started throwing Milk Duds at them."

"What? Why would he do that?"

"Because it's an alpha move, man. Babes love when you treat them like crap. Anyway, eventually, the girls got so pissed off, one of them stood up and started yelling at us. That's when I saw her for the first time."

" Saw who?"

"Ali."

"She dumped popcorn all over Dutch, got butter all over him. I could tell right away, man, this chick was a firecracker."

"So did you ask her out?"

"Yeah, I hit on her a few times till she gave me a chance. We went to Golf N' Stuff for our first date. Kissed on the Ferris wheel."

That's the same place I went to, I think to myself, but I nod.

"We were madly in love. Dated for two years. For, uh, Valentine's Day, instead of rings, I gave her this pink jelly bracelet. She gave me this."

"So, then what happened?"

"Summer before my senior year, we got into a fight. Figured we'd work things out eventually. Unfortunately, that's when Daniel LaRusso came to town."

This is it. This is the end of the line.

"Next thing I know, he's hitting on her."

"What'd you do?"

"Well, I walked over to have a civil conversation with Ali..."

"What is your problem?"

"Look, why don't you just take your little Cobra Kais and get out of here, all right?"

"Oh, yeah, right, and that's gonna solve everything!"

"But LaRusso kept butting in."

"What's going on, you want it?"

"Yeah, just give it to me. You got it!"

"I told him to get lost and mind his own business. Out of nowhere, the guy sucker punches me."

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"

"What an asshole."

"I know, man. I did what any dude would do, I defended myself."

"You know, I figured that was that. LaRusso wouldn't leave it alone. At the Halloween dance, I was sitting there, minding my own business, and he doused me with a water hose."

"I hadn't seen the guy in months. Frickin' turns a water hose on my head! So, I chase him down, try to put an end to things that night, right? Turns out the guy's got a karate master of his own. The guy comes out of nowhere, jumps us, and assaults me and my friends. I think my buddy Tommy got brain damage from that fight. When your father heard about what happened, he was pissed. As soon as we got to school the following Monday he tore us a new one."