Chapter thirteen
"It's none of my business and none of yours either."
It was summer time which meant getting to spend all the free time that wasn't doing karate at the beach, where Letty and Moon had been surfing all day, as Bert, Demetri and Hawk were all playing volleyball, as Demetri held the ball up that had a cobra kai logo on it, Hawk got ready for it on the other side but as Demetri hit it, it smacked right into the net "uh..mulligan! Send it back." he said "there's no mulligans in volleyball." Hawk shared, as Demetri scoffed "says you." he told him, as Hawk furrowed his brows "water break." Demetri said, as he walked away and over to the towel.
Letty and Moon were walking over to them, as they saw the two girls look at them or more so Demetri "cobra kai? You guys won that karate tournament, right?" the girl on the left asked "the all valley? The rumble in roseda? Yes, uh.." Demetri told them, throwing the towel over his shoulder as he leaned against the net "we, uh, we certainly did." Demetri shared "cool. We're gonna go for a swim but maybe play with you later?" the girl asked "most def! Uh, that means most definitely." Demetri shared, as the girl laughed, her and her friend walked off.
Moon laughed "look at you player!" she voiced "yeah, who knew Demetri could talk to girls!" Letty voiced, as Demetri quickly spun around, not knowing they were there, as they walked over to their stuff, throwing their surfboards down and lying down on their towels "it would be nice if you actually earned the cobra kai credit instead of having to take it. When are you ever gonna sign up?" Hawk asked him "I don't know, I'm kind of enjoying the gain without the pain." Demetri shared.
As Miguel walked up "Hawk!" he voiced "hey, there's the man!" Hawk voiced, as the two dabbed each other up "sup?" Miguel asked "no, no more of this! Look, it's a beautiful day out, the beach is packed with babes. No more sulking about Sam." Hawk shared, as Letty shook her head "I tried to tell him! He just won't snap out of it!" she voiced, as Miguel turned to her "and what's up with you? You've been weird.." he shared "maybe she found sensei's rap sheet. My parents read it online. I think it makes it more badass." Hawk shared, and when he did, Letty thought of her own rap sheet, and was glad she was a minor so it couldn't be divulged to the public.
"Letty." Miguel said, and when he did, Letty looked back up at him "hmm?" she asked "you spaced out for a sec." Hawk shared, chuckling, Letty shook her head "sorry, um..I'm gonna go back and surf clear my head." she shared, standing back up, she grabbed her board "I'll come with you!" Moon voiced, as her and Miguel were the only people who knew why Letty spaced out, it was because she herself had a record that she didn't like letting everyone know about, as the two walked off.
That night, Letty was laying on her bed, as her computer was in front of her, she looked up Robby Keene and as she did, he had an instagram, which happened to be a lot of skating videos, which she thought was pretty cool, but she knew this wasn't getting her information she needed, as she turned to her bedside table, she opened the drawer and pulled out a bottle, that was prescription for adderall which she mostly took to help her behavior problems but it also helped her ocus which was how even with all her troubles, she still had good grades, as she opened it and took one, she turned back around to her computer.
And went back to the search bar of Robby Keene and when she did it was mostly articles about how it was like the old days with miyagi do and cobra kai going up against each other and how Mr LaRusso was his coach, which wasn't helping her as he exited out of all of them, she turned taking another adderall, she then began looking up Johnny Lawerence, finding his rap sheet like Hawk had mentioned earlier, and he seemed to have no social media, as she huffed, falling back on her bed, she didn't know what else to do, but it seemed when she moved back, she had clicked something.
"inner peace, focus.." Mr LaRusso's voice came from her laptop at full volume, which made her jump as she quickly sat up, lowering it "balance..these are just some of the skills that you will master when you join miyagi do karate. I'm Daniel LaRusso..and before I was the number one auto dealer in the valley..I was two time under eighteen karate champion." Mr LaRusso shared, as the video showed him kicking Johnny Lawerence in the face "what.." Letty questioned, as she turned seeing light coming through her blinds, she stood up from her bed and walked over to it.
"Now you can learn the secrets of Okinawan karate." Mr LaRusso said, as she brought her hands up and lifted up the blinds, revealing that it was now daylight outside "true karate, by joining the miyagi do team. Don't be a snake in the grass. Be a champion." Mr LaRusso said, as Letty turned back around "what!" she voiced, realizing he was talking about them and was basically calling her not a champion as she ran toward's the computer, clicking the share button "tweet us at hashtag team miyagi do. And all lessons are free. That's right, free. Because at miyagi do it's not about the money. It's about the karate." Mr LaRusso shared, as Letty scoffed, she sent the video to everyone in cobra kai and slammed her laptop shut.
Having gone to karate a few hours later, they all were in their gi's, as Letty stood in a circle with Aisha, Bert, Miguel and Hawk "I can't believe he made a commercial and is dissing cobra kai!" Aisha voiced "dissing cobra kai! He's dissing me! Practically saying that just because I'm a cobra kai that I'm not a champion? But I won! It wasn't rigged!" Letty voiced "we should get him back!" Hawk voiced "how? If we do anything he'll call the cops!" Letty voiced "can you believe he's also dissing sensei by saying that he's only in it for the money?" Miguel asked.
"Well, why are we paying for karate when this other guys giving it away for free?" someone asked, as they all turned their heads looking at him "shall we circle back to the part where I said we get him back?" Hawk asked, as they all turned and looked at him "and do what?" Letty asked "well we could.." Hawk began, as none of them knew that sensei Lawerence and Kreese were listening to them all start to bicker about what they should do about this.
And sensei Lawerence's idea of doing that was making a commercial of his own as Aisha held the camera up filming him "there's a lot of talking going around the valley about free karate. But everyone knows that in life. You get what you pay for. You wanna really kick the competition?" he asked, as he kicked a bonsai tree out of the boys hand, getting dirt all over him "then you need to get your ass over to cobra kai. Screw that lame meditation bullshit. What you need is bone crunching, face smashing, good old American karate." he shared, as he then punched the dummy.
"Enough about self defense. Learn self offense. Don't be a pussy. Join cobra kai and let me teach you, the way of the fist." he shared, bringing his fist up "and cut!" Aisha voiced as she stopped the video "all right, did we get it?" sensei Lawerence asked "I think so." Aisha told him "all right, great. Just make sure the cobra kai snake comes in at the end, all right? I want it to really pop. Make it chrome." sensei Lawerence shared as he began walking off "and throw thunderstruck under it." he shared "I'm pretty sure the rights for that song will cost too much." Aisha shared.
"No, I already own it. Cassette's in the car. Oh, and put one of those hash brown's at the end. You know, like, hash brown, team cobra kai or something. And then send it to the internet! Ms Diaz, I gotta talk to you!" sensei Lawerence voiced, as Miguel looked to her with furrowed brows "what'd you do?" he asked, as Letty threw her arms up and walked after him down the hallway "hey, tell that fat piece of crap Zarkarian to get the rest of this shit out of here. I've got a lot of new students coming in. This isn't a storage locker anymore." sensei Lawerence shared.
"If this is about me sending everyone the commercial? I thought it was best for the team to know. But if it's about your commercial then that's a whole other story.." Letty shared "I know. But it's not about the commercial." sensei Lawerence shared, holding up a bobby pin "it's about this.." he told her, as Letty shrugged "it's a bobby pin. Can I go now?" she asked, going to turn around and leave "yeah, but I found it in my door that was unlocked when I got home. And seeing as Miguel doesn't wear these I'm assuming it's yours." sensei Lawerence shared.
Letty turned back to him "well my mom wanted me to drop you off food and I didn't have the spare key so I broke in. It's not like you have anything anyone would want to steal. So what is this, hmm? A way for us to bond over our troubled past? Talk to me like I'm your daughter and teach me another lesson about how to not break into people's houses, because I think you should leave that kind of conversation for your real son? Robby? I mean that is why you gave me and Hawk that lesson, right? Why you pretended like you were teaching us something when in reality you were just throwing all of your issues on the rest of us and that's not fair after we've all done everything you've asked!" she voiced.
And when she did, sensei Lawerence just stared at her "yeah, Robby's my son. But that has nothing to do with how I run my dojo. It's also none of your damn business. Do you understand?" he asked her, but when he did, Letty didn't answer him as she turned around walking out "you clean matts for the rest of the week!" sensei Lawerence voiced, as Letty shook her head, passing Kreese at the end of the hallway, as she went back and joined the others.
Having gone home, Letty was laying down on the couch and trying to get some sleep but it was hard too with Miguel standing over her "what did sensei want this time?" he asked her, as Letty sighed "it's none of my business which also makes it none of your business." she shared, which made Miguel furrow his brows "I don't know what that means.." he shared "exactly.." Letty told him, hoping now that she answered his questions that he would go away, and even though he did, the universe seemed to be against her as a knock came to the front door, she huffed "you've gotta be kidding me." she said.
Getting up off the couch, she walked around it and to the front door, unlocking it, she opened it and saw sensei Lawerence on the other side "yeah, no..Miguel!" she voiced, looking back into the house "good. Get him too." sensei Lawerence shared, as Letty turned to him confused "let's go for a ride." sensei Lawerence said, as he turned walking off, Letty walked out of the house and as she did, Miguel followed her, shutting the front door behind them.
Sitting in a burger joint, the three were eating more then talking "good, huh?" sensei Lawerence asked "yeah." Miguel told him, as Letty stayed silent "the secrets the chopped onions. Sal keeps it simple. None of that veggie crap. Just a hot grill and some quality chuck." sensei Lawerence shared, as he drank his soda, he kept looking across the street, as Letty furrowed her brows "why do you keep looking at the hospital?" she asked "that's where Robby was born. February 4th, 2002." sensei Lawerence shared and when he did, Miguel looked to Letty realizing what she told him meant "his mom was in labor for seventeen hours." sensei Lawerence shared.
"That must've been crazy." Miguel mentioned as he looked back at him "yeah, I'm sure it was. I wasn't there. And..my mom had just died. I was a real mess. I never knew my father, so she was all I had. Next thing I know, I'm gonna be a dad. It scared the shit out of me. So, instead of being up there, welcoming him into the world..I was down here, soaking up the booze from a three day bender, trying to get the courage to walk across the street. I never got there." sensei Lawerence shared, as silence overcame the table.
"I failed my kid..on his very first day in this world..and I've been failing him every day since." sensei Lawerence then mentioned, as Letty shook her head "you don't have to tell us." she told him "no, I.." sensei Lawerence told them, as he sighed "I should've told you both a long time ago. It..it's one of the most painful things in my life." he shared, as he exhaled "but one of the best things..has been teaching you two. And I want you both to know, no matter what happens, I promise..I'll always be on your guys side and I'll always have your best interests at heart." he shared.
As Letty and Miguel looked to each other, having never been told that by anyone except their mom or their grandma and even then for Letty, she always felt like even though people were on her side and had her best interest, with the kind of person she was, she felt like it never worked out in her favor "thank you." Miguel told him, and as he did, sensei Lawerence looked to Letty and he knew why she wasn't saying anything, cause she was right earlier about them and their rap sheets and talking about their troubled past because nobody understood it better then somebody who had actually been there before.
Letty's phone then dinged, she grabbed it out of her jacket pocket and at first she thought it might be Hawk but it was Aisha, and when she read it, she scoffed "what?" Miguel asked her "what is it?" sensei Lawerence asked "Aisha heard that miyagi do is doing some kind of demo at valley fest. Which just makes things worse for us." Letty shared, throwing her phone down on the table "not necessarily." sensei Lawerence told them, as Letty and Miguel looked to him with furrowed brows.
Later that night, all of the cobras had gotten together were wearing their black gi's, where as the sound and lights had been taken from the smaller stage, it was then brought to the bigger stage "cobra kai!" Letty and Miguel voiced, as they began running toward's the stage, the others followed after them, as they all chanted "cobra kai! Cobra kai!" as back in the game by airbourne started playing, as the crowd followed them, a banner had fallen down revealing the cobra kai logo.
Miguel and Hawk ran on stage with three of the guys and threw punches, as they then spun and threw another punch, they jumped and landed down as the crowd cheered, sparks came out "more sparks." Kreese told the technician back stage "cobras, show them what real karate looks like!" sensei Lawerence voiced, as Letty walked out, she was standing in the middle of all the boys, as two of them came at her, she elbowed one in the face and kicked the other one in the stomach, as she spun around and kicked the one in the face who she elbowed as he fell to the floor.
The other one ran at her as she ducked down, he flew over her, and landed on the floor, as Letty then turned punching Hawk in the face, he fell to the floor, as her brother then swung a punch at her, she ducked away from it and swept his feet out from under him "yes!" sensei Lawerence voiced from backstage "nice!" a man in the audience yelled, as Letty turned looked at them all, they cheered for her, as she smiled.
Aisha was then blindfolded and breaking boards, as she punched one, she kicked the others as she then took her blindfold off, Hawk was then up as he pulled Demetri out of the audience, he handed him a board, he held it out, as Hawk ran, he jumped off of Miguel's hands and kicked the board breaking it in mid air, as the crowd cheered, they all then went out throwing free merch into the crowd.
Cement blocks were then out there, as sensei Lawerence walked up to it "cobras, light it up." he told them, as one of them walked up and poured gasoline on it, another lit on fire, as the crowd went silent, sensei Lawerence then punched his hand through it, breaking the cement, as the crowd cheered, they all began chanting "cobra kai! Cobra kai!" as Letty and Miguel walked out standing on either side of sensei Lawerence, Hawk stood next to Letty, as the other cobras filled in where they could "you did it sensei." Miguel told him "no, we did it." sensei Lawerence said as he turned looking at Letty, Letty looked to him, and smiled, as they all then looked into the audience, as sparks went off behind them.