Fight or Flight

Chapter 9: Hawk

It was the weekend, and once again Josie was at the dojo. She had expected to see Eli there, like he had said, but he wasn't. She got changed into her gi, feeling pretty disappointed. She ha sheen excited to see his new hair dried and freshly cut.

Before Johnny came out of his office, the remaining students fell into line. Miguel, Josie and Aisha were always in the front.

Johnny exited his office and looked around at the group.

Miguel took a breath and said, "three more absences, Sensei."

"Bunch of pussies!" Aisha added.

Josie was still too upset about Eli to say anything. Why hadn't he come? Had something happened?

"No, it's my fault." Johnny said surprisingly. He spoke to the class, pacing in front of them.

"Since you've joined Cobra Kai, I have been hard on you. I've called you names. I've humiliated you. Some of you I've hit. And for that, I don't apologize."

That was not the direction Josie thought it was going.

Johnny continued. "Cobra Kai is about strength. If you're not strong on the inside, you can't be strong on the outside. And right now, you're all weak. And I know that, because I was you."

That surprised everyone. Johnny still continued. "I used to have no friends. I used to be the weirdo kid." He pointed at a younger boy, maybe 13.

"Not that weird. I still hooked up with babes and all but... the point is, I wasn't always the badass Sensei that I am today. Just like a cobra, I had to shed my loser skin to find my true power. And you guys will too."

As soon as he finished his speech, the door jingled.

"Welcome to Cobra Kai." Johnny said, and everyone's heads turned.

Josie couldn't believe it. It was Eli, but he had shaved his hair short on the sides and gelled the top into a Mohawk style. The roots of the Mohawk were black, while the middle to tips faded into a bright blue. Exactly the way Josie had dyed it. And he looked great. The way he strutted into the dojo, you could tell he was confident.

Josie was smiling widely when Miguel said, "Eli, what happened?"

"I'm flipping the script." He replied, and looked at Johnny.

"Wait," Johnny said. "Are you the kid with the lip? Nice cut, bro!" Johnny turned to the class and pointed to Eli.

"You see that? Doesn't matter if you're a loser, or a nerd, or a freak. All that matters is that you become badass!" He turned back to Eli. "Hawk. Fall in."

Josie watched as Eli kicked off his shoes and took his place next to Aisha. Johnny walked over to him and asked, "Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?"

"No, Sensei." Eli replied. Johnny moved on to Aisha.

"Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?"

"No, Sensei!" She answered.

Next was Josie. "Defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?"

"No, Sensei." She replied, still smiling slightly.

Lastly was Miguel. "Mercy does not exist in this dojo, does it?"

"No, Sensei." Miguel answered.

Johnny turned to face the wall of mirrors, staring at his students reflections. "Class, are you ready to learn the way of the fist?"

"Yes, Sensei!" They replied in unison, all 14 of them.

Johnny smiled in the mirror.

That class was long and hard, even though they had went back to the basics. It wasn't much, but Josie could definitely see improvement in the group. Eli was like a completely different person, and Aisha had come so far in only a few weeks.

Carmen picked them up that night, and they chatted about the new students the whole way back. Who had the most potential, who looked the most like a loser (Carmen didn't like that topic) and who Johnny was going to pick on the most. They both agreed that Eli ('Hawk' as Johnny had called him) wasn't the answer to that question anymore.

"Hawk is such a cool nickname," Miguel said, "because it's a cool bird, but it's also short for Mohawk, which Eli has now."

"Yeah, Johnny was pretty proud of that one." Josie agreed.

Miguel asked if Josie had known about Eli's new hair, and she had to admit to helping him dye it the night before. She was never good at keeping things from Miguel, and there was no reason to hide that anyways.

Johnny had also let it slip to Miguel that he had a box of matching white gis with cobras on the back like the ones they had gotten from Johnny. Miguel thought that Johnny would hand them out to the group at the start of class the next day.

Carmen dropped them off at home and went to go grab a few things from the store, so Miguel and Josie decided to help Rosa with dinner.

"Mmm, it smells delicious." Josie told Rosa, who was glowing with pride.

Miguel announced that Carmen texted and said she would be back in a few minutes, so they set the table. Camille was working another night shift, and whenever she did, Carmen and Rosa always made sure that Josie had something to eat. Tonight was chicken tacos with a special salsa Rosa had made.

Carmen arrived, and they all filled their plates.

"Thanks for having me over again." Josie said to the Diazs.

"Of course," Carmen replied, "anytime."

Everyone enjoyed their meal, talking about their days.

"So," Carmen asked, "have guys gotten into any more fights at school?"

"No." Miguel replied.

"I think Kyler and his friends might be scared of Miguel's karate skills now." Josie added. "They haven't bothered us since the fight."

Miguel laughed. "I think they're more scared of your hook kick."

Rosa said something to Carmen in Spanish. Carmen said something back, before turning to Josie. "So, Josie, is there any lucky boy you've been on a date with recently?"

"No." Josie replied, "I've never really been on a date."

"Well," Miguel remarked. "What do you call you doing Eli's hair for him?"

Josie felt herself turn bright red. "That was not a date. He just needed some help getting the colour in, and I'm like the only girl he knows."

"Whatever you say." Miguel shoved some food into his mouth.

"You helped a boy dye his hair?" Carmen asked Josie. "What colour?"

"Blue." She replied, grateful she wasn't asking about what boy it was. "And black at the roots."

After dinner, Josie helped with the dishes, then headed back to her house. Miguel invited her to stay a bit later, but she still had some History homework to finish plus some Math stuff from that day.

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Sorry this was such a short chapter! The next one will be longer, I just had to make the titles line up a bit better.

Hawk has finally arrived!