FAMILY LINE ; robby keene

02 ― the poet and the delinquent.

❝ your past doesn't define you. ❞

―

"VINNY? IS THAT YOU?"

Vincent stared at the boy in front of him, wide eyed. It felt like the entire world had stopped along with his heart. The hustle and bustle of Valley Fest became nothing but a muffled background noise. All that Vincent could seem to do was stare. It wasn't until he felt Myra pulling on his arm that his trance was broken.

"Don't just stand there," Myra whispered. "Say something."

Vincent continued to stare at her. Right as he was about to ask her what he should say, Myra was grabbing Veronica by the hand and walking away. Vincent turned back to Robby, noticing that the boy was still standing in front of him.

Vincent closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to make sure that this wasn't a dream. Slowly, he opened his eyes. His heart felt like it had stopped beating when he saw that Robby had moved closer.

"Robby..." Vincent finally managed to say.

"I didn't know you were back," Robby crossed his arms.

"We just moved back today," Vincent told him. "Grandma Reed...she um..."

Robby frowned, his eyes darting to the ground. "You don't have to say it. I understand what you're trying to say. I'm sorry. She was an amazing woman."

Vincent nodded his head. "Yeah, she was."

A silence came over them as they stared at each other, every so often their gaze averting to the ground. It was Robby who broke the silence.

"So, um, how have you been?" Robby asked. "It's been a while since we talked."

Vincent nodded. "I've been okay. How have you been? You're doing karate now?"

"Yeah," Robby nodded. "It's been kind of..." Robby trailed off and sighed. "It's been okay."

Vincent could tell that he was lying. He could always tell when Robby was lying.

"How many times do I have to tell you that nothing's wrong?" Robby, age eleven, asked.

Vincent took a seat on the couch next to him. "Because I know you're lying and I know your tells, remember?"

"How do you do that?" Robby asked. "It's like you see right through me."

Vincent shrugged. "Maybe I do. Or maybe you're just not that great of a liar as you think you are."

"Anyway, um, yeah," Robby said. "Karate's actually pretty fun. Mr. LaRusso's great."

Vincent nodded. "It looked cool. Until those other guys came along and ruined it. Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," Robby told him. "We've had our ups and downs with Cobra Kai. I guess you could say we're rival dojos."