"Anthony. I found something in your room that you need to explain." My dads voice comes up behind me. I look at him. He holds up a yellow Cobra Kai hoodie.
"If this is your way of rebelling against me or-" I quickly cut him off.
"No I'm uh, I'm holding it for a friend." That's a lie. I stole it from Kenny. Zack wanted me too. My dad doesn't believe me. So I change the story.
"Okay. There's this kid at my school who's in Cobra Kai and he's kinda just picking on me a bit." I look down. My dad fully believes this one.
"Picking on you? What kinda kid? Do I need to call the school?" He sits by me, the hoodie still in his hand.
"No! No! Nothing- nothing too bad. Just name calling. I can handle this." I say. My dad starts ranting about how he was bullied. Thanks for making my life all about you. Along with everything else.
"Hey. You know what? Go change. You're coming to the dojo with me."
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I did have to admit that the dojo was pretty cool. Until we got to the cars. They were covered in bird shit. And my dad wanted me to clean them. Clean them yourself. I grab my phone and hire a task rabbit to clean them for me. I'm not doing my dads work. He can't make me.
"Hey ardie- we're all out of lemon lime but we've got plenty of glacier freeze-" I bring gatorade out to the person cleaning the cars. My dad is standing there.
"Dad! You're uh- you're back early." I say.
"What is this?" I look down.
"You paid someone to clean the cars? How?"
"You uh..you set up my apple pay with your credit card." I look to the side, knowing I'm about to get scolded. I don't even care what he's saying. I just agree with everything. It's easier that way.
"If Mr. Miyagi was here, you know what he would say?" Mr. Miyagi this. Mr. Miyagi that. I've had enough with Mr. Miyagi. He's dead. He's not gonna say anything. And I bet he would leave me alone instead of forcing me into karate.
"I don't care." I say.
"What?" My dad gets pissed.
"All you ever do is talk about Mr. Miyagi. Okay I get it. He was a great guy, he taught you karate and he taught Sam her first move, the wax on wax off. I've heard the stories and..I'm getting sick of it."
He starts going on about learning life skills. Honestly, I don't even care right now. Until he says one certain thing.
"I thought you we're mature enough to appreciate all this. But I guess I was wrong. Just go back to your video games." I wanna scream.
Go back to my video games? Why don't you actually try to talk to me about something other than karate for once? Maybe we'll do some father son bonding. And mature enough? Why does HE get to decide when I'm mature? I had to grow up faster than most kids. I'm not a child who needs to be taken care of every second of the day! I know how to fend for myself! Don't you DARE tell me when I'm mature enough cause you don't pay enough attention to me to decide that! I'm more mature than you'll ever be!
I wanna cry. Sob. I wanna yell at him about never getting attention. Giving me electronics then sending me to my room isn't loving me. I'm not a dog. Yet, my entire life I've been treated like one.
It's dark out when I walk into the dojo. I turn the light on and look around. There's trophies, newspaper articles, and a picture of Mr. Miyagi. Under the photo there's a small box. I open it and inside is a rolled up paper. The paper has a technique on it. A technique that looks difficult. If I learn this, maybe my father would actually love me, like a father is supposed to. I grab my phone out of my pocket and snap a picture of the paper. Just as I put my phone back my dad walks in.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" I look up at him. Great. I've made him mad. Again.
"I was just-" I start, but he cuts me off.
"No, it's okay. I just wasn't expecting to see you here." He takes the paper from my hand. I can't help but ask.
"What is it?" He starts rolling the paper back up and putting it away.
"A technique I hope none of us will ever have to use." He closes the small box, then looks at me.
"Look. If you don't wanna do karate, I'm not gonna force you." Yeah right. You should've said that years ago. Maybe then I might've believed you. But I start talking anyway. My mouth moves without my brain thinking.
"Everyone has these...amazing memories of Mr. Miyagi. And- I never really knew the guy. I guess I always sort of felt-"
"Out of the loop?" He finishes my sentence. I nod. That's understating it. I don't just feel out of the loop. I feel neglected. Forgotten about.
"You know something I'll never forget?" I look at my dad.
"What?" I ask.
"When you were born, Mr. Miyagi wanted to see you at the hospital. We let him hold you and you know what you did?" I shake my head. My dad smiles.
"You kicked him in the face." I chuckle a bit.
"I did?" I say with a smile. My dad nods.
"First time I ever saw anyone land a kick on Mr. Miyagi. You got him pretty good too. He just laughed and said that you were gonna be a handful." I laugh a bit more and look at my shoes.
"He also said that one day you would be the one protecting this family." And the story is ruined. My smile drops and I look at my dad.
"Yeah. And...don't worry about this Cobra Kai kid. I got it covered." I say and leave before my dad can talk about me joining karate again.
YOU ARE READING
What's My Place in All This?
AksiyonAnthony LaRusso is tired of his dad always telling him how to act and what to do. It gets so bad that Anthony decides to do the unthinkable, join Cobra Kai.
