Hot For Sensei

Chapter Fifty

A few days had passed, and Ivy did exactly what she was told. At school, she kept her head down and paid attention in all of her classes. When Hawk was around, she completely ignored him, refusing to even look at him despite feeling his gaze on her. This wasn't hard to do, as she was still furious that he tried to trick her, but she supposed everything was fair in war. She would talk to Dimitri and Sam here and there, but they weren't able to do much else, as Sam's mom was watching her like a hawk, giving them no room to train. It was frustrating, but Ivy wasn't worried when it came to fighting cobras. She was all in now and they wouldn't stand a chance.

Tory had texted her only once to tell her that their numbers were dwindling because not many kids were worthy in Kreese's eyes. Because of this, he was going to all lengths to try and recruit more fighters, but so far he was unsuccessful. Ivy informed her that she knew this, leaving out what happened with Hawk, and Tory hadn't texted her since. This was good, as it meant Kreese was too vulnerable and weak to attack, and that bought Ivy and the others more time to prepare.

When she wasn't in school, she was with Johnny or Miguel or both. Her grandpa had called to tell her that Johnny had called him to let them know that he would be taking responsibility for her after school, and he told her that she better listen to Johnny, which was no problem for her. She told Johnny that she'd help him with Miguel, and she kept her word, despite Miguel being discouraged and depressed. Sometimes, she would sit with Miguel while he was going through his actual physical therapy, so she could try to understand what exactly the therapist was aiming to accomplish. All she learned, however, was why Miguel was so depressed. The therapist did all the work for him, stretching out his legs to try and stimulate feeling while Miguel just laid there. Miguel wasn't asked to do anything, and when the session was done, he was back in his wheelchair no better than before. This was the only reason that Ivy was going along with all of Johnny's crazy schemes because he was at least trying to get Miguel to work on his own. Miguel was always frustrated with Johnny, but she could tell deep down that he appreciated his methods and efforts.

On that particular afternoon, Johnny had invited her to a barbeque in the lot. Miguel was already there, waiting patiently. Johnny had brought out a small charcoal grill and was prepping the food to be cooked. Ivy was happy that they were going to have a normal afternoon together, but she couldn't help but be suspicious as well. Johnny was always up to something now a days. Regardless, Ivy sat in a lawn chair near Miguel and lit up a cigarette while she waited for food.

"You know why they call this a Hibachi?" Johnny asked as he lit the grill.

"They don't, it's a kettle grill." Miguel corrected him, but Johnny ignored him.

"A hundred years ago in ancient China, there was a tiny little village of dairy farmers, living fat off of their milk and cheese. But when a drought came, they needed to get water from the river. None of the Chinamen wanted to do their work-"

"I'm not sure that's the appropriate term to use." Miguel shook his head.

"Alright, Chinapeople, whatever." Johnny groaned, "The point is, they were laying around in hammocks, waiting for rain. So a wise man gathered up a bunch of twigs and stuffed them under each of the villagers while they slept. You know what he did then?"

"Lit a fire under them?" Miguel asked.

"Exactly. That's where the expression comes from." Johnny nodded and knelt down next to him, "And do you know what that wise man's name was?"

"Hibachi?" Miguel guessed sarcastically.

"Damn straight." Johnny grinned.

Ivy couldn't help but laugh at his story. It was obviously total bullshit, but the more she thought on it, the more a bad feeling began to creep up her spine.