sweep the heart | cobra kai

back in black

A scuffle of footsteps woke Hallie up. Startled, she rolled over on her couch to face her brother on the other sofa. He had also woken up. They exchanged confused glances as the door was unlocked.

Hallie felt a pang of fear. It was the middle of the night. Who would be at their apartment?

She could tell Robby shared her concerns. As whoever it was clattered around in the apartment, Robby motioned for her to stay there as he got up and knelt down by the sofa.

"Come on," they could hear a voice whisper. "Get the stuff and let's get out of here."

Holy shit.

She could see a man's silhouette in the doorway.

Robby crept forward before running to the man, leaping to kick him in the chest.

Hallie stood up to follow her brother as the man crashed into their side table.

Suddenly, the lights flicked on.

"Oh my God, Rick, are you okay?" A concerned voice exclaimed.

It was their fucking mom.

The man, Rick, stood up, bringing a hand to his bloody nose.

"Robby," their mom scolded. "What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with him?" Hallie exclaimed. "You come into the house in the middle of the night after being gone for days. We thought someone broke in."

Her mom took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay, I'm sorry. I just came to grab a few things, um... cause Rick is flying me to Cabo."

Rick nodded. "Cabo-adjacent."

"Wait, you're going to Mexico?" Robby asked angrily.

"Uh-huh," their mom nodded, smiling hesitantly.

"With this guy?" Robby said. "For how long? I mean, we have rent to pay, and I don't have-"

"Don't worry about that," she said, "because, Rick, you're paying this month, right?"

"I got you, pal," Rick flashed a smile at Robby.

"When are you coming back?" Hallie asked as their mom scooped some pill bottles into her purse.

She looked at Rick. "A few days."

"Um, week and a half, tops," said Rick.

"So," their mom said, "you two have the whole place to yourselves! Don't party too hard. Hallie, make sure you clean your room. I'll call you guys tomorrow, okay? I love you."

She gave them each a kiss on the forehead before walking out the door. Rick turned to follow her.

"Hey," Robby warned him. "You hurt her, next time you won't get up."

"Ooh," Rick breathed, mocking fear before leaving.

Hallie raised her arms up in frustration. "I'm sick of this."

"She'll be back soon," her brother said.

"It's not just that. It's everything. At least Dad didn't pretend to care about us."

"Hallie," he frowned.

"Whatever," she grumbled. "I'm going back to bed."

-

The following afternoon, at karate, Aisha, Hawk, Hallie, and Bert studied the two new students that they met a few days ago.

"What do you think?" Hawk asked. "Shithead One and Shithead Two?"