I am now eight years old. I've woken up with a raging pain in my chest and in my head.
I am trying to get a look at my surroundings but all I can see are big blurs and I can hear people yelling.
As my vision clears I realize it's my parents and my instructor Pedro arguing.
Pedro finally looks over at me and says," Jesse I told you not to go fighting anymore and what do you do you go and fight Jerome."
I look at Pedro with a crooked smile and said, " I'm sorry but it was to tempting he looked so smug teaching the class I felt it my duty to knock him down a few pegs."
At this point my parents and Pedro have calmed down and are actually rather amused at how I'm handling all that has happened.
The doctors walk in a few minutes later saying, " Jesse you've been heare at least once a month for the last three years. You can't keep this up sooner or later something will give and you may have to give up everything entirely.
I took a few minutes to process what he was saying, but it was no different from all the other times they said I would fall apart. Yet here I was three years later still fighting still trying to prove to everyone that no matter what they would not break me.
As the doctor stood there wondering what I was thinking I finally said, " You can say whatever you want to advise me or try to scare me to stop, but what you don't understand is that I will never stop I have come to far from where I was I won't give up now or ever. So replace what you have to I will keep fighting."
A few days later I'm released from the hospital and head over to my grand father's auto shop.
When I arrived I came face to face with the whole crew my pops, uncle Jimmy, uncle Ramsey, Carlos, and Ana are waiting for me by the entrance.
As I said all my hellos and shaked all their hands I couldn't help but feel at home. They were the people who came to all my fights and had supported my dream from the beginning.
We all talked for a bit of what we had experienced throughout the week and as time went by everyone went back to work except me and my pops.
My pops said, " Listen hear Jesse I'm proud of you for sticking with this dream but you have to be more considerate of who you pick to fight."
I said," I get what you're saying pop I'll make sure to be more careful."
As he looked at me he said, " Not one word of what I said passed through your thick head did it?"
When he said that I smiled and said," You know me to well pop I can't hide anything from you."
Later that day I head to the academy to check on how everything was going. When I walked in I saw Jerome sitting by the front desk waiting for what I could only think would be me.
As I walked up he said," Well look here if it isn't the shorty himself. How's that body of yours? "
I said," Well hello to you too smartass. My body is just fine I'm still here aren't I."
We may not seem like it but me and Jerome were actually best friends even more so we were brothers.
When I said that to him we both went silent for a minute and then he went into a laughter that made him fall on the floor while I tried to keep up from falling the same way he did.
I spent a few hours there talking to my other classmates in the academy, but was later called up front for my ride home.
When I got there my dad was waiting for me in the kitchen. He had some papers in his hands.
He looked at me and said," I don't understand why you want to prove this so bad, but I'm glad your motivated.
I stood there confused and he handed me the papers they were paper for the next big Naga fight up in Atlanta and he had signed me on to me a fighter in it.
That is when I had realized the next big step in proving myself had begun.
