TW: talk of abuse
"¡Hola Señorita Diaz!"
"¡Hola Parker! Entra, entra (Hello Parker! Come in, come in),"
I can't help but grin as I follow her inside. I love the Diaz ladies.
"Hey Parker! Thank you for letting me take another look at your knee," Ms Diaz says.
"No, thank you. I can't really afford to have it checked out, so it means a lot," I say. She gives me a smiling, though sympathetic look. It's true. I don't know enough about health insurance to risk having to pay big bucks for a brace or anything like that. I should probably look into that sooner rather than later...
"I'm happy to help. I'll be right back," she says, and with that, she walks off to get something. She's amazing, bless her heart. Miguel told me she was asking to check it out and asked if we could hang out afterwards, like last time. I agreed, but only to repay the favor to his mom.
Ms Diaz comes back, Miguel walking out behind her. I subconsciously clench my jaw a little. We don't really talk much besides him checking up on my knee on behalf of his mom, and the occasional 'how's life', and the air was kind of cleared between us, but after what happened at Valley Fest... things just feel a little more tense again.
"Hey," he says, smiling as he walks out from behind his mom, "ooo are those the cookies from last time?"
"Mhm. I hope they're okay- they've been sitting in my car all day so they got kind of melty," I say, extending the container out to him.
"Even better, you're the best," he says, taking it in his hands. Not really but the validation is great.
"Thank you, you're too kind. Just have a seat at the table and if you could take off the previous tape, that would be great," Ms Diaz instructs. I give a small nod, then take a seat at the table, taking off the KT tape. Thank goodness I shaved and everything. I watch her face fall. What- oh.
"What happened corazoncita?" She asks, her voice flooded with concern. Damn it... I should've thought about the scars... I wore shorts and all, but I should've taken it into consideration gosh dang it. My whole body gets a little hot.
"Just some accidents in karate," I say, trying to sound sincere. Miguel laughs.
"Yeah right. Do you even hit each other at Miyagi-Do?" He says. First of all, go to hell.
"Miguel," Ms Diaz says, giving him a pointed look. I guess it was kind of a stupid excuse, but still. Too much audacity.
"Fine, you caught me, they weren't from karate. Kicking out windows is a lot harder than they make it seem in movies," I say, my voice getting quiet at the end. I don't really want to go into details about how I had to escape my own dad.
"I'm glad you're okay. Glass wounds are nothing to laugh at. I mainly wanted to check up on your knee because they're usually healed around this time. Have you been feeling any pain in the last week or so?" Ms Diaz asks.
"Not nearly as much as it was at the beginning, but here on the inside it still hurts when I put too much weight on it or shift it wrong. I'm not sure if that's normal or not, but I do know that I did a lot of training on it when I probably shouldn't have," I explain. She nods.
"Doing karate on an injured knee was not a very smart idea," she says, "but I understand. Karate is everything to you people."
I smile a little bit, but my face is hot. I know it was an awful idea, but right now, it feels like there's one thing that helps me take my mind off of things and that's martial arts.
"Alright, I think putting tape around this part of your knee should help you with the pain. Just the way it was before, but only on the inside," she says, showing me how. Oh yay, that'll be easy to remember.
"There. Just try not to get any serious fights- with people or windows,"
I look down. Laughing a little.
"I'll try my best. Thank you again Ms Diaz," I say as both of stand up. I think this should help.
"You're welcome, Parker. Here. Miguel told me you had to come straight here from practice, so I put some leftover seco de carne and an empanada in here for you. I hope you like it," she says. I'm gonna cry, she's so sweet.
"Are you sure? I don't want to take any leftovers you guys could use for meals. I have a protein bar in the car anyway. At least I think I do-"
"Nadie pasa hambre en la casa de Diaz (Nobody goes hungry in the house of Diaz)," Abuela Diaz says, cutting me off. True grandma energy, I'm gone. It's kinda comforting in a way. I don't get to see my actual Abuela very often since she and my Abuelo live hours away and I'm always busy. The last time I saw that side of my family was for Christmas. I miss them... it's strange that this feels like the next best thing.
"Gracias. I- thank you," I say, gently accepting the container. They both grin.
"De nada. You two have fun and stay safe. Don't stay out too late!" Ms Diaz says. I don't even know where we're going. Once again, that information was not conveyed to me.
"We will and we won't, don't worry mom," Miguel says, "ready?"
"Yep!" I say. He grins and we make for the door.
"¡Adiós Parker!"
"Bye you two!"
"Bye mom, bye Yaya,"
"Bye Ms and Ms Diaz," I say, and with that, we walk out the door.
"So... where to this time?" I ask as we walk to my car. Somewhere chill hopefully, I'm tired. I went straight from training to the dealership where I was on washing and waxing duty, then from there I went to piano, then from there I went to tae kwon do where we did forms and bag work practically the whole time, and from there I came here. I haven't really been able to catch a break all day.
"I chose first last time, so I don't know, where are we going?"
—-
We stroll down the beach, letting the waves wash over over our feet on occasion. It's a pretty nice evening. The beach is nice today. Not too crowded, which is always nice.
"I heard your birthday was last month," Miguel says. Who told him? Oh wait, I think it was on my Instagram.
"Yeah... it was... quite the day.." I say. It was the best day I've ever had until...
"I guess it never occurred to me that you were the type to drive before you were sixteen,"
"My birthday was nine days away when I drove you. I could pass for sixteen at least. I'm a good driver anyway. I did what I had to do," I say, my tone coming out a little more serious than I meant it to. Things started getting bad. I needed to get around without my dad. I never hurt anybody.
"I just didn't expect it from you," he shrugs, "kinda badass."
I guess I never thought that way. I laugh a little.
"It never really felt badass," I reply. He turns to me, looking confused.
"What do you mean? You were able to drive wherever you wanted and you never got caught by anyone," he asks/says.
"It was never about getting to drive early. It's not like I had any friends to sneak out to party with. It's... it's a long story," I say. He nods a little.
"Are the scars on your arms a long story too?" He asks, gently touching my arm. I tense up and my whole body goes hot. I hang my head, not making eye contact with him. He stops walking. Shit...
"Is everything okay with you? I know we don't talk much and we're not very close... but I do know that you're too careful and too smart and too quick to get the cuts on your arms and legs from a fight or even a window. I just... I want to know if everything's okay," he says. I stop, sighing. It's okay... it's okay... I turn around, dragging my feet in the sand as I walk back over to him.
"Things already weren't great at my house. I got home on my birthday, my dad was drunk and mad at me because I do karate with Mr LaRusso, I froze, he hit me, and I ran. He had sealed my window shut, so I kicked it open and ran to my car. The bruise didn't matter, the cuts didn't matter, all that mattered is that I got away," I explain, shaking to the core as we go,
"you can not tell anyone I told you that. Especially not your Cobra Kai friends. They'll do anything to get at Miyagi-Do, and if they know the only thing that makes me completely freeze... please.. if you want my trust so badly, this will stay between us."
"I won't tell anyone, Parker. I promise... I'm sorry you had to go through all that..."
I nod a little. Things are so much better now that I'm staying with the LaRussos. I couldn't be more grateful for them.
"So... how's Sam?" Miguel asks, breaking the silence. Ope- really? That's the question he goes for? Anyway.
"She's good. We're all kind of mad at you and Cobra Kai for that shit you pulled at Valley Fest," I say. I'm not going to tell him about Robby's crush on Sam and especially not about Sam's crush on Robby. I know it's only a matter of time before they get together. Heck, I could get home and they might be dating.
"At least the crowd liked us," he responds. I- the audacity!
"Yours was a dramatic interpretation of karate. You let me know at what point you break boards blindfolded,"
"And you let me know when you actually hit each other!"
"We do plenty of sparring, it's just more defense focused. You shouldn't resort to fighting if you don't have to,"
"But your performance was boring,"
"Maybe in comparison to yours!"
"Mmmm,"
"Come on, our second act we actually did fight a little,"
"You and I both know that your section was the most interesting part,"
"Don't short sell the others like that,"
"Sam just defended herself like usual and all Robby Keene did was a roll,"
"What they did was more realistic. Mine was more for show. You wouldn't come at somebody who has a bo staff by flipping over them,"
"Still the most interesting part, and you used that same flip against me at the All Valley,"
"Maybe if you hadn't crashed it, it would've gotten more interesting",
"Would it though?"
"So you think Miyagi-Do is lame?"
"I mean in comparison to Cobra Kai..."
"You're just looking to start shit at this point,"
"Technically you're the one that brought it up,"
"Fair, fair, but you're calling us lame,"
"If Miyagi-Do karate- and its students by proxy, no offense- isn't lame, then prove it to me,"
"I don't have to prove anything to you,"
"Come on Parker, it won't be like a real fight, we'll just spar. Like training,"
"Okay fine," I say, taking a ready stance. If he hurts my knee again, Mr Miyagi will have to descend and hold me back.
"Not here. Come on, let's do it at the place I get to choose,"
A/N: As always, stay safe and take care of yourselves