Chapter eight
"Watch out for the LaRusso's."
Having been told to go to meet up at a junkyard rather then the dojo, everyone was standing there, as Jackson's stood up on a car in front of them opening a banquet and drinking it "you've trained hard. You've gotten stronger, tougher, faster. You've done your best. You're ready for this tournament, am I right?" he asked them "yes, sensei!" they all voiced "wrong!" Jackson's dad voiced, as he threw his can down at them, the beer splashed on some of them, as they all looked up from the can and back at him.
"Your best ain't shit! If you wanna win the all valley under eighteen karate tournament, you gotta give me better then your best. Which is why from now on, you're gonna get my worst. Do you understand?" Jackson's dad asked them "yes, sensei!" everyone voiced "are you losers?" Jackson's dad then asked "no, sensei!" everyone voiced "are you nerds?" Jackson's dad asked "no, sensei!" they all voiced "are you sure?" Jackson's dad asked, and while everyone else said "no, sensei!" Jackson said "yes, sensei!" in which his dad looked at him and nodded.
Where after that they all were running through tires with Jackson in the lead, Miguel was behind him followed by Hawk "move those feet. Go! Go! Go!" Jackson's dad voiced, as the others were moving behind them "let's go, squirt. Good job, buddy." Jackson's dad told one of them. Although when Aisha was leading the charge, she fell over, causing a chain reaction as Jackson fell on her, Miguel fell on him, followed by Hawk "oh my goodness!" Jackson's dad voiced, as everyone else just piled on behind them, making Jackson's dad hold his arms out.
And that's not all they were doing as they also had different weapons in their hands "your enemies are all around you. Destroy them!" Jackson's dad voiced, as Jackson, Hawk and Miguel went off, the three were all smashing up a car that was in the junkyard. Jackson, Miguel and Hawk then held this giant piece of wood out of a window "three, two, one!" Jackson counted off as the three threw it down and it landed on the car below them, they all then dabbed each other up.
And that wasn't all as Jackson's dad put a plank over this giant dumpster full of glass, he walked across and now stood on the other side waiting for everyone else to follow him "go!" he voiced, as Jackson began to walk across it "attaboy! Come on, princess. Let's go, move that us." Jackson's dad told him, making Jackson scoff knowing he was just trying to get into his head to get him to fall of as he picked up the pace. And when he made it to the other side, Miguel then followed after then Hawk "there's nothing to fear except fear itself. That, and falling in sharp metal and broken glass, so don't do that!" Jackson's dad voiced, as Hawk slipped a little bit but then made it all the way across.
And then they are were standing in a line, as Jackson's dad was handing them jerky "you wanna win? You've gotta be hungry. You guys hungry?" he asked, as they all furrowed their brows at what he gave them "jerky? Why would he give us jerky?" Jackson asked, as Hawk ate his "I don't know. But it's delicious." he shared, as everyone else said "yes, sensei!" in which Jackson's dad bit his "good. Well, so are they." he told them, as Jackson's eyes went wide "they?" he asked, looking at his dad, who then blew a whistle, which none of them could hear, but they did hear the barking, as dogs came running their way "oh shit!" Aisha voiced, as she turned running everyone quickly dispersed.
"Don't be afraid they smell fear!" Jackson's dad voiced "yeah, no shit!" Jackson yelled, as he jumped onto a car, just in time before two dogs tried to attack him, he looked down at them, holding the jerky up "you want this, huh? Yeah, you mangy little beast!" he voiced, as he threw it "go get it!" he voiced, as the two dogs turned and ran for it.
The next day, Jackson was woken up by his dad and told him to get in the car, where his dad then took him to the dojo, where was the only one there as he was in his gi punching the dummy, his dad walked up to him "ok, ok! That's enough." he told him, as Jackson huffed, turning to him "save some for the tournament." his dad told him "speaking of the tournament, shouldn't everyone else be training besides me?" Jackson asked him "oh, come on! You know I'm the only chance I've got at winning this thing." his dad shared, as Jackson shrugged "well, I wasn't trying to flatter myself but if you say so." he told him, as he walked off toward's his stuff.
His dad scoffed "come on, you've seen the others." he told him, as Jackson grabbed his phone, Sam had texted him, saying, is this you, with a picture of the golden retriever stuffed animal they had won, making Jackson scoff, as he began to reply back "what?" his dad asked him, as Jackson cleared his throat "nothing. It's nothing." he told him, hitting send and going to put his phone back down but as he did, his dad ripped his phone out of his hand "or you can take rudely take my phone." Jackson shared, as his dad then began swiping through all of his photos that him and Sam had sent in their group chat.
In which Jackson put his hands over his face, preparing himself for what was about to happen "is that Daniel LaRusso's daughter?" his dad asked him, and when he did, Jackson huffed, as he took his hands away from his face "yes!" he voiced, holding his arms out, as his dad furrowed his brows "you're dating a LaRusso?" he asked "and here we go." Jackson said, as he turned walking off to go get changed.
Where Jackson had then got a soda while his dad got a banquet as the two were sitting outside on the curb "it was the summer of 82. Rocky three had just come out. My buddy dutch was a huge Mr T fan so we went to the local theater to check it out. Sitting in front of us was this group of cute chicks, eating popcorn." his dad shared, as Jackson sighed "yes, yes, and dutch was throwing milk duds at them because you thought it was a good way to get chicks attention although it clearly made you an asshole because one of the girls stood up and she yelled at you and that's when you saw Ali for the first time, I know! You've told me this story a hundred times." he shared.
Sighing "where then the summer before you senior year, you got into a huge fight and you in your head thought you'd work it out but then Daniel LaRusso showed up and his hitting on your girl and you see the two flirting so you walked over to have a simple conversation with Ali and then Daniel LaRusso come's up and buts into your conversation and you told him to get lost and mind his own business, but instead.." he was saying, as his dad joined him "he sucker punches me." he told him "yes, yes, I know! And then you defended yourself and you thought it was over but then at the halloween dance he douses you with.." Jackson was telling him.
"The water hose!" him and his dad voiced, as the two of them nodded "which was when you chased him down, trying to put and end to it but then his karate master came out of nowhere and assaulted all of you." Jackson shared "yeah! And I think my friend Tommy got brain damage because of that fight." his dad shared "yeah, and then the end all be all was the all valley tournament and you made it to the finals, it was two to two and then he.." Jackson was saying, as he sighed "he won. So, what's your point, dad?" he asked him "it's because you know you have to watch out for the LaRussos." his dad told him.
And as he did, Jackson sighed "I know. When her dad find's out she's dating me. She's gonna break up with me anyway." he shared, as he put down his soda and turned, going to grab his beer he had gotten for himself, but as he did, his dad then grabbed it out of his hand "hey! What did I say! No drinking while training for a competition. You can drink after you've won." he shared, as Jackson furrowed his brows "what if I lose?" he asked him, as his dad scoffed "your' not gonna lose." he told him, as he drank his beer.
The two then had made trained a bit more, where they then had made it back late in the evening "do you have the keys or do I have the keys?" his dad asked him "well seeing as you drove us, I left my keys inside." Jackson shared, making his dad scoff "no matter if you're driving or not you should keep your keys on you at all times." he shared "I do! I just didn't think I'd need them today.." Jackson was telling him, as Mrs Diaz noticed them "hey, guys." she called out, as the two looked to her "how was training?" Mrs Diaz asked "uh, your son's doing great. But if mine could start remembering his keys he might do better." his dad shared.
Making Jackson scoff "okay, if you're bad mouth me after telling me I'm your best student then I'm just gonna take your keys and go inside." he told him, making both Mrs Diaz and his dad chuckle, as he took the keys from his dad, he began walking to the door as his dad followed him, Mrs Diaz was going toward's hers as she then stopped turning to the two "do you have dinner plans?" she asked, as Jackson and his dad turned to her "us? Uh..yeah, we got a couple hot pockets. We're good." his dad shared "that sounds like the opposite of good." Mrs Diaz told them.
As Jackson furrowed his brows "nah. There the meatballs and mozzarella one's! So it's kind of like eating a meatball sub! And if that's not good enough, we have the philly cheese steak ones!" he voiced, and when he did, Mrs Diaz looked at him with raised brows, knowing it was just as bad as she thought "wanna join us?" she asked "thanks, but we wouldn't wanna, you know, bother you guys." his dad shared "it's no bother. We have plenty of food." Mrs Diaz shared, as Jackson furrowed his brows "well, would love too! But.." he was trying to tell her as she interrupted him "no buts. My dojo, my rules." she told them, as Jackson's eyes went wide, his dad turned to him and had the same looked on his face.
Where the two of them were then sitting next to each other at the Diaz's kitchen table, where they were holding hands and Miguel's grandma was saying something in Spanish which neither of the two understood, as they looked around the table seeing everyone'e eyes still closed, as Jackson's dad leaned toward's him "I think we made a mistake." he whispered to him "oh yeah.." Jackson whispered back "Johnny and Jackson." Miguel's grandma then said and as they all let go of each other's hands, they some sort of sign and said "amen." which Jackson didn't understand "amen. That one I know." Jackson's dad told them "I don't." Jackson told him.
"Ok, let's eat." Mrs Diaz told them as they all began to eat "so, Miguel told me all about the tournament. I hope he doesn't get hurt." Mrs Diaz then shared "mom, I told you there's referees. You can't get hurt." Miguel told her "at least not permanently." Jackson's dad then said, and as Mrs Diaz looked at him with wide eyes, Jackson chuckled "don't worry, Mrs Diaz, I'll kick enough but where Miguel won't even reach the finals." he shared, as Miguel's jaw dropped "I could be up there with you!" he voiced, as Jackson shook his head "no, that's gonna be Hawk." he told him, chuckling and when he did, Miguel chuckled as well, both knowing the boy was getting a rabies shot right now.
In which Mrs Diaz then cleared her throat 'so, have you always lived in Roseda?" she asked Jackson's dad "no, I grew up in Encino." Jackson's dad shared "really? Really nice houses there." Mrs Diaz shared "yep. Well, just because you live in a nice house doesn't mean nice things are going on inside." Jackson's dad shared, and as he did, Jackson furrowed his brows "wow, this is actually really good, especially these bananas." he shared, as his dad turned to him "I was just about to say the same thing about the bananas!" he voiced "they're call plantains." Mrs Diaz told them, as the two looked at her.
"Oh. In English, we call them bananas." Jackson's dad told her, and when he did, the entire table chuckled except for him and Jackson "what's so funny?" the two asked, and as they did, Jackson's phone buzzed and when it did, Jackson's eyes went wide "oh, I am sorry. I'll turn it off." he told them, as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, Sam was FaceTiming him, as he looked up at them "I don't wanna be rude, I'll call them back." he told them, going to put it to voicemail "you can answer it." Mrs Diaz told him, as Jackson looked at her "really?" he asked her, as Mrs Diaz hummed, as Jackson began to stand up "I'll make it quick." he told them, although he headed toward's the front door, as Miguel furrowed his brows "everything okay?" he asked "yep." Jackson told him, as he walked outside, shutting the door behind him.
Jackson walked away from the house and over to his bike so his dad wouldn't be able to hear him through the thin walls of the apartment buildings as he answered her FaceTime "hey, I didn't expect you to call me right now, you usually call at little later." he shared "yeah, well, my house is like world war three right now." Sam shared, as Jackson chuckled "let me guess, your dad's losing his mind about cobra kai being in the all valley tournament?" he asked her, as he leaned his bike "that and my mom and my grandma. they just go at each other sometimes. Probably gonna end up being the peace negotiator all weekend." Sam shared.
As Jackson hummed "well if anyone can do it you can." he told her "well what are you doing Sunday, maybe we could hangout?" Sam asked him, as Jackson shook his head "no, can't. I'm training all day." he shared "all day? Isn't that a little excessive?" Sam asked "well my dad thinks that I can win, and I really wanna win it for myself too so I'm gonna do whatever I can, a lot of those other dojos have been at this longer then we have so, gotta put in all the time that I can to be the best, you know?" Jackson asked her, as he looked over his bike "speaking of other dojo's. I was thinking you could maybe give a different dojo a try?" Sam asked him.
And when she did, Jackson laughed "that's..that's funny, Sam. Your dad scaring you away already?" he asked her, and when he did, it's almost like he spoke him into existence "Sam, I really need you out here. Mom and grandma are about to kill each other. Come on." he said "sure, I'll be right there." Sam told him "who are you talking to?" Mr LaRusso asked her "uh, nobody. Just my lab partner." Sam told him "ok, come on." Mr LaRusso said.
And soon Sam's face came back into the camera "sorry about that." she said, as Jackson sighed "no, no, I mean we both knew what we were doing when we decided to go out with each other. I mean literally earlier my dad took my phone out of my hand and found out about us and I got the same story I've been told all my life so it's whatever..look I gotta go as well, Mrs Diaz invited us over for dinner so you go do your thing and I'm gonna do mine.." he shared "Jackson.." Sam told him, but as she did, Jackson hung up on her.
Sighing, he shook his head "just had to be that fucking guy, huh?" he asked himself, as he began walking back across the way over to the Diaz's, sticking his phone in his pocket as he opened the front door, they all could see the change in his attitude "Jax, you okay?" Miguel asked him, as Jackson walked around him and his dad, sitting back on his seat "yep. The conversation just went the way I expected it too, so.." he told them, as he continued eating his dinner, his dad looked at him with furrowed brows "Jax.." he told him "thank you for inviting us over, Mrs Diaz." Jackson told her, and when he did, Mrs Diaz smiled "your welcome, Jackson." she told him, and when she did, they all then continued eating their dinner in silence.
And when dinner was over, Jackson and his dad walked across the way, as Jackson took the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, the two of them walked in and when they did, Jackson threw the keys onto the counter, and as he was about to walk to his room, his dad spoke up "did the LaRusso girl say something to you that upset you? Did she break up with you? Or did her dad say something? Because if he said something.." he was saying, as Jackson turned to him "no dad, Sam didn't say anything nor did Mr LaRusso, okay? Or at least not directly. It's just me having to deal with who I am." he shared, as he turned walking down the hallway and into his room as he shut the door behind him.
The next day, Jackson had headed out to the movies with Miguel, Hawk and Aisha as the four of them were sitting in the dark, they were watching some action movie, where Hawk was throwing milk duds at people in front of them while Miguel was actually watching the movie, Aisha was watching Jackson, seeing that he wasn't exactly paying attention to the movie but picking through his bag of popcorn "hey, what's wrong?" she asked, as Jackson huffed "just dealing with mine and Sam's dad's pasts are effecting our own." he shared "so your dad and Sam's had some beef. What's that have to do with you?" Aisha asked him.
As Jackson raised his brows "everything! Especially since Mr LaRusso already hates me since the moment he saw me, saying I would be exactly like my dad and that we would turn Miguel into the same person as us." he shared "he doesn't hate you." Miguel told him, as Hawk furrowed his brows "Jesus Christ, you're supposed to be this badass dude, yet right now, you're acting like some wimp." he shared, as Jackson scoffed "yeah? See this, right here! All the things you guys are saying are exactly why I'm trying to keep this all to myself!" he voiced, slamming the bag of popcorn into Aisha's chest "where are you going?" Aisha asked him "somewhere people won't keep trying to make me feel better." Jackson shared, as he stepped over Miguel and began walking out.
And all Jackson had done since he left the movie theater was go for a drive on his motorcycle all around the valley, not heading back home until it was dark out, although when he drove into the development there were two other bikes there that seemed to belong to the two bikers who were helping some other guy as they took weapons to his dad's car, as he stopped his bike, two bikers were smashing up his dad's car and then pouring gasoline on it, as he took off his helmet and climbed off his bike and began walking over to them "hey! Sons of anarchy!" the man with the baseball bat voiced, as the bikers stopped turning to him "I said we wanted to send him a message, not burn down the whole block." the guy shared.
As Jackson scoffed "what the hell you think you're doing?" he asked, and as he did, the guy turned to him "consider this a message from Daniel LaRusso." he said, turning around and swinging at his dad's car again "what are you gonna do, Nancy?" the biker asked as he stepped toward's him, Jackson furrowed his brows "Nancy, really?" he asked him, bringing his leg up and kicking him back and as he did, the other biker came up behind him and went to grab him as Jackson spun around punching him in the face, not once but twice.
His dad then came walking out of the apartment "Jax!" he yelled, as Jackson turned around he ducked underneath the crow bar that was swung at his head and then grabbed the man's arm punching him in the face and then kicking his foot up hitting him in the chest, the other one then tried to come up behind him, as his dad ran up and kicked him away, Jackson then put his other hand on the mans neck and shoved him to the ground as he now held the crow bar in his hand, his hair was hanging down in front of his face, where with his baggy jeans and baggy hoodie, he looked like Jax Teller from the sons of anarchy to the man standing across from him.
Jackson turned around and swung the crowbar at the other biker as he fell to the ground, Jackson turned around and kicked the one he shoved on the ground in the face, he then threw the crowbar away from any of them, as he and his dad both looked at the man with the baseball bat "hey, look. Back up, Jax! I got a bat, man." the man told him, as Jackson and his dad stepped toward's him "back up, I got a bat!" the man yelled and as he swung it, Jackson grabbed it with his hands and pulled it out of his hands, while his dad grabbed the man "all right, look. Thing's got away from me, ok? just calm down!" the man voiced.
"Where does Daniel LaRusso live?" Jackson's dad asked him "this is between me and you! It's got nothing to do with him! I made all that shit up. I'll take my licks like a man." the man told them "hey, assholes!" a biker voiced, as Jackson and his dad turned around "burn in hell!" the biker voiced as he threw a lighter in the car, Jackson's eyes went wide as the entire thing caught on fire "holy shit!" the man voiced, as Jackson threw the bat down "you son of a bitch!" he voiced, turning and punching the man in the face, as he fell to the floor, him and his dad stood over him.
"Encinco hills. Escalon drive. That's the address." Jackson told his dad, and as he did, Jackson's dad turned around walking off as he hopped onto one of the bikers bikes, the man underneath him was coughing, as Jackson scoffed, kicking him in the side, as his dad road off, he knew giving out the address was wrong, but after what Daniel LaRusso did, he didn't care if he was dating Sam or not, his dad was right when he told him you've gotta watch out for the LaRusso's, as he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, he pulled one out and lit it with his lighter "get the fuck out of here!" he voiced, as the guy on the floor pushed himself up, he turned running off, as Jackson turned around watching his dad's car burn.