Psychotic Kids '-' Eli Moskowitz

The Scars You Can't See

So- they canceled the All Valley tournament…. What the fuck. Some people thought it was a blessing in disguise, others thought it was bullshit, I for one was on the fence about it. Did we really need another organized fight between all of us? At least there would be rules. Dad went to go to the City Council meeting, I said it was a bad idea because no doubt Mr. Larusso and Kreese would be there too, but he didn’t listen. I wouldn’t have listened to me either though.

“They’re g-g-gonna screw it up” I ranted, pacing back and forth in Miguel’s living room

“I know” Miguel sighed

“They’re gonna argue, and the tournament will be f-f-fucked!”

“Well- what’re we even supposed to do?” Miguel exclaimed “Drive over on your bie and make our own case?” I froze, turning my head over to look at Miguel. He gave me a look of pure confusion before it hit him. Miguel sighed, pulling himself to his feet “Alright, what’re we waiting for”

We both ran out of the apartment, jumping on my bike and heading down to city hall, hopefully we weren’t too late.

~~

Luckily with my driving we sped into the parking lot not even five minutes later, so hopefully the tournament wasn’t the first thing they talked about. Miguel and I jumped off my motorbike and made our way towards the building.

“Any plans?”

“N-nope” I shook my head

“Perfect”

We walked inside the hall, standing at the stop of the staircase just as Councilperson Roberts smashed their gavel against the table. My stomach sank, please please please don’t be over yet.

“Enough! Sit down” they ordered “All of you” the three men, the three men being Dad, Mr. Larusso and Kreese, did as they were told, ironically all beside each other, which almost made me laugh “It is clear this karate tournament is causing division and rivalry in our community. You gentlemen…. Have made an excellent case today as to why this tournament should not continue”

“Wait!” Miguel and I both shouted

Everyone turned to look at us, you should’ve seen the look on Kreese’s face, because it was priceless. We slowly made our way down the stairs, I stayed in pace with Miguel, even though I was running miles with adrenaline. We walked over to the stand, Miguel looked down at me, I gave him a reassuring nod. Here goes nothing

“My name is Miguel Diaz '' he started “This is Harley Lawrence, my best friend… We were both in the school fight. I was the one that got kicked off the second floor, Harley got her vocal cords damaged so bad she couldn’t even talk” Miguel sighed, losing steam but he picked it up “You know uh…. I thought I was gonna be paralized.... I relearned how to stand, I relearned how to walk… Harley relearned how to talk, and we want the tournament to continue”

“We are very happy for your recovery young man, and you young lady” they nodded to both of us “But I’m afraid you don’t understand-”

“Yes he does” I spoke up finally “We’re the ones getting hurt. We’re the one’s fighting… Our voices should matter the most” I affirmed “And we want a place, where we can compete, fairly and safely….” I finished, looking back at Miguel

“When I first moved here, I was bullied. I realize that there’s no escaping it. There’s always gonna be a kid who wants to steal your lunch money, or give you a wedgie, or give you a swirlie”

“A swirlie?”

“It’s uh- where you dunk someone’s head in the toilet and flush it” Dad piped up “Pretty funny actually-”