"Dear Clarence,..." ~a teen idol story

The 'Lucky' boy

Johnny Lawrence was sitting in front of the TV, in the dirty living room he shared with his mom and stepdad, in Reseda California. 

The room was sticky and hot because the aircon was broken and the fan wasn't doing much to change that.
The screen of the tube TV was flickering in one corner and the sound was the worst, but all that wasn't stopping Johnny from being fascinated by the story, playing out in front of his eyes.

"You got.. You got it in you.." he mouthed the lines along as the protagonist was building up the strength to beat the final challenger. His heart was beating faster, anticipating the moment when he would hear the words: "Lorenzo 'Lucky' Di Mino won. He is the new champion!"

The program switched to a soccer game and Johnny turned around. "HEY! I was watching that!"

"Get your own TV, watch your own program." Sid, his stepfather, was sitting down in the armchair with a beer, not even looking at Johnny.

"Screw you, old man." Johnny hissed and cried out in pain when the bottle hit his forehead.

"Get out of my sight you piece of crap!" Sid spat and Johnny got up, feeling dizzy and stumbled to the bathroom. He looked into the mirror and saw the blood running down his face from the cut above his eyebrow.

"Shit.." he mumbled and tried to stop the bleeding with a tissue. The wound itself wasn't bothering him too much. He was used to it due to his Karate training, but the hate he felt for that man made him tear up.

"I could have bought one if you hadn't wasted all my money.." Johnny mumbled and kicked the trash bin. Johnny was working four mini jobs over the summer and two while school to save money and get out of this shit hole he was stuck in, but Sid found his savings and lost it all at gambling.

When his mother married the man, he lived in Encino, in a big, beautiful house. Two years later, his business failed and they ended up in Reseda, with his mom working hard to pay off the debts of an ugly, old asshole, who tried to drown his depression in alcohol and gambling.

So much for a better life.

Johnny took a deep breath, swallowed down the tears and patched up the wound. He covered it with the black headband he got from his ex girlfriend Ali. They dated for a year, but it didn't work out. She was with his friend Tommy now and he was okay with it. They were a better match anyway.
High school sweethearts come and go..

It was August the 20th 1984 and the summer was about to be over soon. Johnny still had some things left of his 'better' life. A dirt bike, a red leather jacket and a Walkman. But the most important.. he still had his friends from Cobra Kai.

Three years earlier, a movie called "The Moment of Truth" hit the theaters and became a global phenomenon.
Johnny was 14 years old and a complete loser at that time, but he saw the movie about a loser kid around his age, who gained strength and confidence due to Karate training and became a hero in the end. That was when he joined a karate school called Cobra Kai and now, three years later, he was an All Valley champion himself.

He was tall, handsome and strong.. He had one more year left. One more year of enduring the abuse of his step father until he was finally free.

Johnny vanished into his own small room to get his Walkman and fled the apartment. He went for a jog to clear his mind and release the stress his step dad caused him.
After about half an hour, he needed a break and stopped at a kiosk to buy himself a drink, when he spotted a teen magazine with a familiar face on it. He picked it up and started browsing through the pages.

"Hey, if you wanna read the articles, you gotta buy it!" the boy who was working at the kiosk said. He wasn't much older than Johnny and Johnny was far from in the mood to pick up a fight.