Blame Game ; Eli Moskowitz

09 ― pinning the blame.

The rest of their fellow karate teammates were starting to tune into the argument. Miguel, Aisha, Sebastian, and Oliver stepped out of the line of fire, knowing that the argument would only escalate from there.

"You love pinning the blame all on me, don't you?" Hawk asked. "What I said was out of line. But you said some pretty fucked up shit to me too."

Nathalie's fist clenched even tighter. She was seething with anger, wanting nothing more than to punch him in the face even harder than she had before. Slowly, her fist started to shake as she lifted it in the air.

Flora tried to ease the tension by grabbing Nathalie's shoulders and pulling her away. "Okay, let's step away now, huh?"

"Aw, man," Aisha pouted. "I kind of wanted to see her punch him in the face again."

Sebastian sighed. "You and me both."

"There will be no punching of faces," Flora told him. "Well, unless Sensei specifically asks us to. But even then, please be careful so that you don't—"

"Everyone, fall in!" Johnny yelled, cutting her off.

The class looked around in confusion, unable to find him until they realized he was standing on top of an old van. They gathered around, standing in front of him as he cracked open a can of beer.

Nathalie yawned again and then squinted her eyes as she looked up.

"You've trained hard. You've gotten stronger, tougher, faster," Johnny began speaking. "You've done your best. You're ready for this tournament, am I right?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Wrong!" Johnny shouted, throwing his beer can.

Nathalie stared down at the can as it landed at their feet. The liquid in the can flung out, spraying on Nathalie's sweatpants and Flora's rainbow socks.

"Your best ain't shit! If you wanna win the All-Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament, you gotta give me better than your best," Johnny continued. "Which is why, from now on, you're gonna get my worst. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sensei!" the class replied, minus Nathalie and Flora.

The two girls exchanged a look with each other, and Flora gulped, her eyes slightly wide. "We haven't been getting his worst?"

"Are you losers?" Johnny asked.

"No, Sensei!"

"Are you nerds?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Are you sure?"

"No, Sensei!"

Nathalie sighed, smacking her head with her palm. Flora let out a soft giggle as she glanced up at Johnny, seeing the man mirror Nathalie's frustration.

Johnny hopped down from the van and guided them over toward two rows of tires. He explained to them that he wanted them to run through them. Johnny split them up into pairs of four. First up were Miguel, Aisha, Hawk, and Bert. They went around the tires multiple times as Johnny shouted at them from the sidelines. But then Aisha fell, causing them all to rumble down.

The Torres and the Brooks siblings were paired up together, going last after everyone else had a turn. Sebastian was at the front of the line, hopping through the tires one after the other as he ran. Oliver, Flora, and Nathalie followed suit behind him.

"Move those feet!" Johnny shouted at them. "Go! Go! Go!"

They went around, jumping through the tires one foot after the other. All of a sudden, Sebastian's foot got caught on the edge of one of the tires. He tripped and fell, face-planting onto the tire in front of him. His stumble triggered a chain reaction. The Brooks siblings and Nathalie fell like dominoes, landing on top of each other. Sebastian groaned from the bottom of the pile.