Changed

Chapter 17

       Chapter 17-Oct 14, 2013 Monday Evening

       “How was first day back?” my mom asked as she drove me to the Karate Dojo.

       “Boring cause it was school,” I sighed as we pulled into the parking lot. “I’m nervous.”

       “No worries. Everything will be fine,” my mom replied as she parked; then she hopped out and rushed around to help me. “You ready?” she asked as she started to push me toward the main entrance.

       I took a deep breath before answering, “I guess so.” We went through the doors and all the afterschool kids turned to look at us. “Hi guys,” I greeted with a slight bow.

       “Instructor Johnson!” they all yelled, a few rushing up and giving me hugs or placing cards on my lap.

       “When are you coming back?” asked little Jessica Smith as her little brown eyes sparkled.

       “I don’t know, Jess. I’m going to go talk to Instructor Wang about it now,” I told as I gave her a big hug before my mom and I went into the office.

       She helped me back up against the well before taking the seat beside me. I grabbed her hand as Instructor Wang entered, closing the door behind him. “A.I. Johnson, it is extremely good to see you,” he said before giving me a big hug.

       “It is good to see you too, sir…” I replied as I looked into his green eyes for disapproval, but I couldn’t see anything.

       “So when do you want to come back? As you can probably see that all the kids miss you,” he asked as he sat across from us, while glancing at the cards on my lap. “They been working on those since it happened.”

       “It’s all very sweet, but…” I started, but stopped as tears spilled down my cheeks. “I’m sorry, sir,” I sniffed as I wiped the tears away.

       “O Sam…” I looked up cause he only said my name when he tuned into father mode. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s not your fault this happened.”

       “I know…I just don’t want to let you down…” I sobbed as I stared at his black hair.

       “You haven’t and you won’t. I know this might seem impossible at the moment to believe, but you can still have your dream. I know how bad you want your own Dojo; so here is my deal: you come back to night classes and learn how to teach from your chair, and I’ll talk to the masters about you running my school for me in three years,” he told as he kept my gaze.

       “But…” I started as my gaze went to my legs.

       “Will you come back?” I inquired, snapping my gaze back up. “The kids really miss you.”

       “Mom?” I said and she nodded at me. “Okay…I’ll come tomorrow…”

       “Great! Don’t worry, Sam…This will be fun,” he replied as a huge smile crossed his face.