𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘜𝘉𝘓𝘌. Eli Moskowitz

eight

VIOLET and Miguel were hurrying to the dojo. Miguel had just broken the news that his mom was letting him do karate again.

Johnny looked up as the doors jingled.

"My—"

"His—"

Violet stopped, "Wait, sorry. You go."

Miguel laughed, slightly out of breath, "My mom says I can train again!"

Johnny looked surprised, "She did?"

"Yeah!"

"We still have the dojo, right?" Violet asked.

"We do for now."

Violet took off her shoes and eagerly stepped onto the mat, waiting for Johnny to start the next lesson. Miguel stood next to her.

"Alright, but I need to know, are you two ready to take things to the next level?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"You got your ass kicked because you didn't have any defense," Johnny looked at Miguel briefly, "so I'm gonna teach you the best defense that you can know. And the best defense . . ."

"HA!" he pretended to throw a punch at them. Neither moved a muscle.

". . . Is more offense."

The three had been training for a couple hours, when the door rang out. A chubby girl was awkwardly standing in the entryway. Violet recognized her. People bullied her, too. Much worse than they did to Violet.

"What the hell," Johnny muttered. "No yoga 'till five, no matter how bad you need it!"

"Um, I'm actually here for karate. I saw your website. It said there was supposed to be a session today."

Violet smiled, but it dropped once Johnny said, "Look, I appreciate you coming in, but there's no girls in Cobra Kai."

"Excuse me?" Violet asked, giving her Sensei a nasty look.

"Why not?"

"Same reason there aren't women in the army. It doesn't make sense."

"Uh, actually there are women in the army," Violet started to lose her temper, but was cut off by a "QUIET!"

Miguel started dragging Johnny away, "Sensei, I need to show you something in the office."

Violet gave Aisha an apologetic look, "Sorry about him. I'm Violet, by the way."

"Aisha," the other girl responded, grinning. "So, is this place, like, good?"

"Oh, yeah," Violet nodded immediately. "Trust me, Sensei's a little tough, but it toughens us up. I mean, I used to be a huge wimp before I started. I couldn't even talk to people properly. Still getting there, but it's definitely helped a lot."

"Jeez, well, I hope he lets me in then. I could definitely use that."

"I'm sure he will."

Johnny and Miguel came back out of the office, "Okay, take off your shoes. Hop on the mat. After further review, I've decided to allow more female students. But if you want to be in Cobra Kai, you can't act like a girl."

"What do you mean?" Aisha asked. "How do girls act?"

"Oh, don't give me that," Johnny waved her off. "You know, all emotional, loud, complain-y, never letting you finish a sentence."

"Well, I know a few guys who act just—"

"QUIET!" Johnny started pacing. "My student tells me you've been harassed at school.

Aisha glanced at Miguel, "Yeah. Mostly online. I get mean texts and emails sent to me. Makes me not want to go."

"And who sends you these messages?"

"Well, they're mostly anonymous. These kids create fake accounts, and they tell me things like I'm ugly and that I should kill myself."

Violet frowned. She really felt for Aisha.

"Oh, my God," Johnny said in disbelief, pausing his pacing momentarily. "What a bunch of pussies! Back in my day, if you wanted to tease someone, you did it to their face. There was honor, respect."

"What?" Violet whispered to Miguel, her eyebrows furrowed.

"No idea," he whispered back, watching on.

"These geeks hiding behind their computers, what a bunch of spineless losers. You're not afraid of these losers, are you?"

"No."

"Are you gonna take shit from these losers?"

"No," Aisha said more strongly.

"Good, because when I'm done with you, you're gonna be sending a message back, only it's not gonna be with your keyboard," Johnny held his fists up. "It's gonna be with your fists."

"So, let's see what you got. Huang, Robinson," Johnny pointed to their spots on the mat. Warily, the girls stood facing each other. "Face me. Bow." They did. "Face each other. Bow."

Johnny nodded, "Ms. Huang, show her everything you've learned."

"Wait, what?"

"'Wait, what' what? Are you deaf?"

"No, but, it's just— Aisha hasn't had any training yet," Violet sputtered.

"Yeah, I don't think this is really fair, Sensei," Miguel spoke up.

"Life isn't fair," Johnny snapped. "Your enemies aren't going to care if you've had training yet. They prey on weakness. If you want to beat them, you gotta conquer your fears and jump face first into the fire. Now, are you ready, Ms. Robinson?"

"I guess," Aisha answered unsurely.

"Ms. Huang?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"FIGHT!"

Violet and Aisha stood in their spots, staring at each other. Neither wanted to make a move.

"Don't just stand there. I said FIGHT!"

Violet inhaled deeply, sending the girl across from her another apologetic look, "I'm sorry."

Violet kicked Aisha in the stomach, sending her to the ground with a grunt.

"Shit! Are you okay?"

"Come on," Johnny said impatiently.

Unexpectedly, Aisha flung herself into Violet, tackling the smaller girl onto the floor. Miguel and Johnny had a mixture of impressment and surprise on their faces, but Miguel cringed and ooh'd when Aisha jumped onto Violet, jabbing her elbow into her right boob.

As Violet groaned, holding onto her sore chest, Johnny smiled. "Girl's a natural Cobra."

"You can't do this!" someone shouted angrily from afar. Johnny turned to Miguel, "Alright, students, stay here. Diaz, you're in charge. Make sure Huang's alright."

"I think my boob is broken."

"Are you okay?" Miguel asked, trying to hold back his laughter.

"Great," she replied sarcastically, then turned to Aisha with a smile. "Good job."

"Thanks," she smiled back. "Sorry about your, uh, boob, though."

"It's fine," she massaged her sore chest. "I think."