Iron Fists | Eli Moskowitz

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔

"You mean like... rows?" Demetri asked from Julianna's line. Lexi and Julianna both tried to hold in their laughs when Johnny rolled his eyes, facepalming.

...

Johnny was walking around the class as everyone did jab-punches and Julianna froze when he called out the one kid she didn't want him to, and of course using a nickname that would upset him.

"Hey, Lip."

Everyone froze as Julianna and Lexi gave him a look that practically begged him to stop but he didn't. "Yeah, you. The one with the freaky lip. Who do you think I'm talking to?"

Julianna shook her head, a lump forming in her throat at the embarrassment Eli was feeling. "Dad-" "Sensei Lawrence!" Aisha screamed, cutting her off. Julianna gave her a look, immediately making her back off as she turned back to her dad. "Can you please stop?"

Johnny looked at his daughter in confusion, shrugging his shoulders. "Why?" "You really shouldn't make fun of someone's physical appearance." Demetri spoke up.

"Oh, is that so? So, I'm not supposed to mention his lip at all?" Johnny asked, feeling Julianna's stare but he kept his eyes on Demetri. "Maybe that's what they teach you in school, but in the real world, you can't expect people to do what they're supposed to do. You hear that, Lip? If you can't handle someone making fun of you, how are you gonna handle an elbow to the teeth?"

"By calling the police?" Demetri asked. "Dude, knock it off." Miguel whispered to him. "What? He does realize the Nazis lost the war, right? Why should I be scared of him? Because he's got a snake on his wall? It's not like he's a teacher who can give us a bad grade. We're paying him. He works for us. It's not like he can actually hurt us." Demetri told the room and Julianna subconsciously started shaking her head no, knowing her dad will get mad.

"Demetri, dude... Shut. Up." She whispered to him as her dad walked passed her and up to him. "This isn't gonna be good, is it?" Lexi asked, leaning over Julianna's ear so only she could hear. Julianna instantly shook her head. "Probably not."

"Hit me." Johnny demanded and Julianna's eyes grew wide, the kids backing up to let Demetri and Johnny have the floor. "Go ahead, hit me. Strike me right here." Johnny repeated, pointing at his face. Demetri got in his fighting stance and threw a punch but Julianna's dad blocked it. "Harder."

Demetri sighed, throwing a harder punch but that one was blocked too. "Is that all you got, princess?"

Julianna could feel Eli reach for her hand and she quickly grabbed it, squeezing it to calm them both down.

Demetri threw another punch and Johnny again blocked his arm but this time, flipped him onto his back. Julianna hid her face in Eli's shoulder, hating that her father did that to one of her closest friends. She knows he did it to make them better but she hated that he had to embarrass Demetri to do it.

"Let that be a lesson to all of you." Johnny stated, pointing a finger at every student but Julianna kept her eyes on Demetri who was just barely starting to sit up. When his eyes met Julianna's, he could see that she felt bad. "I'm sorry." She mouthed to him. Demetri shook his head as if to say 'no problem' before getting up all the way.

...

The next day, Julianna and Lexi were already in biology when Demetri and Miguel walked in talking about karate before the conversation traveled to Miguel's infatuation with Sam LaRusso. Julianna has heard about the Lawrence and LaRusso rivalry for as long as she's been alive but she never hated Sam. She wasn't her father just like Julianna wasn't hers.