30. a visit from an old friend
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
as theo stepped out of his car, he noticed hawk approaching him. "hey man, what's up?" theo questioned, pushing the lock button on his car keys. hawk scratched the back of his neck with nervousness. "look, man. i just wanted to apologise to you. about everything."
"it's okay." theo reassured him, shaking his head. "and you being here proves that you mean it."
hawk nodded. "i do. i really do." he paused for a second, "i wanted to go see tabby but—"
"but she's got you on the 'no-visit' list." theo cut him off. "miguel's on it too i'm pretty sure."
"yeah, exactly. do you think she'll ever forgive me for switching sides?" hawk questioned. "she was kind of my... best friend there? i don't know."
theo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as the two walked over to their karate class together. "if you can leave cobra kai, i don't see why she can't too. however angry she is at you, it'll most likely subside."
"yeah, hopefully." hawk nodded.
"all right, come in, come in." johnny ushered the students to stand opposite him and daniel. "ready, bow." johnny ordered and they immediately followed his directions.
"sensei lawrence and i have the same goal of preparing you for the tournament." daniel started. "but we have different ways of getting you there." johnny added.
"we realise that teaching you opposing viewpoints at the same time can be a little confusing." daniel continued. johnny nodded in agreement. "so we've discussed it and come up with a solution." he explained to them.
"we're gonna divide and conquer." he instructed. "eagle fang trains out front."
"and i'll be back here with the miyagi-dos." daniel announced.
"i thought we were stronger working together." miguel reminded them, making theo nod in agreement.
"we're still working together."
"just separately. on opposite ends of the dojo." johnny clarified, as if the situation was logical. "all right, eagles, follow me." he yelled out.
"miyagi-dos, come on over here." daniel ushered his students away. the teams followed their respective senseis, wishing their friends on the opposing team goodbye. as theodore walked over to his team, miguel stepped over to sam just before she went to follow him. "hey, sam. did she get my letter?" miguel asked.
she nodded. "you were right, she ripped up the first one." miguel chuckled at that, "yeah, i thought she would." he remarked.
"but after i read her the second one, i could see it in her eyes, miguel. she wants to change, she's just... scared." sam explained.
"i get that." miguel said. "i just needed her to know that i'm there for her."
"even if she stays in cobra kai?"
miguel paused for a second to think. but he eventually nodded, "even if she stays in cobra kai." sam smiled at his words, "you know, i'm really glad that you two have each other."
"really?"
"yeah." sam replied. "she makes you happy, i can see that—"
"miguel!" johnny's voice boomed, wondering where his best student was. miguel's head snapped over to the parking lot, "i'll see you later?" he asked sam.
"see you later." she agreed before walking to theo and the other miyagi-do students.
∙ ~εïз~ ∙
the group were all in the hut, sat in cross-legged positions as they meditated. sensei larusso was perched in front of them, his body facing them. "we all have anger inside. but i want you to let it go. don't let your emotions control you. you have to be the one in control, right?"
the students nodded in agreement, making him continue, "now everyone close your eyes... and relax." he spoke softly.
"stop whining like a little bitch. get up!" sensei lawrence hollered from outside.
"stay focused, eyes closed breathe in. breathe out." daniel continued. "don't be a pussy. punch him in the face!" johnny yelled out, making chris and another few members of miyagi-do snicker. daniel was growing frustrated by johnny's exclamations, "try not to be distracted. stay focused."
"you punched him in the balls? what the hell is wrong with you?"
as nearly all the students giggled, daniel peeled his eyes open. "wait right here." he instructed. the man stood to his feet and rushed out of the shack to speak to sensei lawrence.
theo felt a hand tap his shoulder, making him glance behind him. "come on, dude." demetri demanded. the boy scrambled to his feet, he sent sam a small smile before following demetri. the brunette boy led them to another part of the hut, where they encountered hawk admiring one of the paintings. it was an illustration of two people sparring on a deck of wood while three others watched them.
"you know, that's the sparring deck where mr miyagi's great-grandfather taught karate on the okinawan waterfront." demetri told his friend, making their presence known.
"incredible, isn't it?" theo questioned. the boy nodded, grazing his finger down the edge of the black, wooden frame.
chris stepped inside, forcing hawk's hand off of the photograph. "yo, be careful with that." he warned.
"why, you think i'm gonna break it?" hawk quipped, a joking smile on his face. "you already broke a door." chris reminded him, evidently not enjoying the reformed boy's presence. "and you stole mr miyagi's medal."
nathaniel joined in, "and you beat the shit out of me."
"hey, look." hawk sighed, "i'm really sorry about all that." but chris didn't want to hear hawk's seemingly half-assed apology. the boy scoffed in hawk's face, "go back with your little eagle gang. you're not wanted here."
hawk was taken aback by his harsh words. he glanced over to demetri, wishing he would say something in his defence, but his friend just looked away. theo cleared his throat, remembering what hawk had said to him. "at least he's left cobra kai. he's clearly trying to be better." theo explained.
"yeah, for now." chris rolled his eyes. "just wait till he crawls back to his asshole friends at cobra kai." hawk sighed, making his way to the door. theo frowned, following closely after him. "hawk, hold on-"
"this was always gonna be a disaster, wasn't it?" daniel clamoured.
"everything's a disaster with you." johnny's voice was heard from outside. they had managed to walk into the middle of one of johnny and daniel's recurring arguments. everything was quickly turning into disarray.
"what? me?" daniel challenged as johnny strode away. "hey, mr larusso, can we talk?" hawk asked, gently. theo halted at the door, leaning against the frame as he allowed the two to talk.
"what?" daniel shot back, visibly not in the mood to converse. "i don't know where i fit in here." hawk admitted, making theo frown with empathy at his openness.
"what did you expect?" daniel snapped. "you've burned bridges with pretty much everyone here." hawk sighed at his wordds, pivoting on his heel and striding to the exit of the dojo.
realising he had come across harsher than he wanted, daniel began to step after him. "hey! hey!" he called out. everyone gathered around at the commotion, watching the boy walk out.
"what the hell did you do?" johnny challenged his co-sensei. "what did i do?" daniel scoffed. "i'm not the one who's been kicking his ass all day." he shot back with frustration.
"we're training for the all valley, not some yoga competition." johnny yelled, making theo's eyes widen. he climbed down the stairs and stood beside sam, watching silently as the two men argued.
"hey, don't disrespect my dojo in front of your students." daniel scolded, pointing an accusatory finger into johnny's chest.
"don't tell me how to run my class. i'll run my class however— i'll do whatever i want." johnny yelled back, stepping away from everyone else.
"i know what you're doing."
"yeah?"
"as long as you're under my roof, they're both our students."
"oh, yeah, i know. under what roof? we're outside."
theo glanced down at sam with a disappointed expression. "this is much worse than i thought." he said. "i thought they managed to put their differences aside."
"i guess it was easier said than done." miguel told him with a shrug.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
tabitha was sitting on her bed in her shared cell, practising the breathing exercises she had learnt from jane at group therapy. "silver!" a voice yelled from behind her. tabby peeled one of her eyes open. "yes?" she asked.
"you've got a visitor." the guard told her. she turned around and stood to her feet. "my mom?" she asked.
"no."
"my brother?"
"no."
"my—"
"just get up and go see for yourself." the guard groaned, pulling her out of the door. "acting like i know your whole damn family tree." he scoffed.
"i just like to be prepared before i see people from the outside." tabitha explained. he gave her a look, "people from the outside? you're leaving the day after tomorrow."
"hey, seven days in here is a long time from my perspective." tabitha defended herself. the guard just sighed, punching in the door code for the visitation room and pushing her inside. "thirty minutes."
"i know, i know." tabitha nodded. she sighed, looking around the room to find out who she had the pleasure of seeing. but the person sitting at the table was not who she expected at all. tabitha gasped at their presence, rushing over to hug them tightly.
"good to see you too, girl!" aisha robinson chuckled, "but i really can't breathe." she explained.
"i'm sorry." tabby said, pulling away. "what—what are you doing here?" she questioned, sitting down on the chair. "i've missed you, a lot. but i couldn't leave town because... well, you know."
"it's okay." aisha smiled at her. "i'm just glad we stayed in touch." tabitha nodded. "of course, you were my first real friend here. and-and theo's missed you a lot."
"oh i know. he still sends me cat memes daily." aisha laughed. tabitha groaned at the thought of that. "i hate cats." she muttered.
"he's also the one that told me you were here." aisha continued. "i begged my mom to drive me down. it took a little convincing, but it turns out she really liked you so she said yes."
"she likes me?"
"yeah." aisha nodded. "when she took you, tory and i to the beach club, she thought you were really funny." "she's not wrong about that," tabitha hummed.
"so... how have you been?" aisha questioned, resting her elbows on the metal table and placing her head in her hands. tabby just shrugged, "i've been better. this place sucks, but it's almost over."
"i can imagine." aisha nodded, "look tabby, you need to know that your anger... it's going to make you miss out on so many great things later in life."
tabitha quickly grew defensive, "i'm handling it, aisha. and it's not like i really have a choice."
"handling it by ending up in juvie?" aisha challenged. while tabitha was taken aback by her straightforwardness, she remembered that the reason she and aisha worked so well together was that she always told her how it was. "come on, girl, you're better than this. you have so much potential, but this anger... it's seriously holding you back."
"easy for you to say." she scowled. "you're not the one dealing with all this shit. you don't know what it's like."
"you're right, i don't actually know exactly what you're going through." aisha spoke gently. "but i do know that letting your anger control you is only going to hurt you in the long run. i mean, when i moved to santa barbara had to start over. i was angry too, but i realised that holding onto it was only hurting me."
"it's not that simple." tabitha told her. "i can't just... undo everything i've been taught."
"obviously it's going to be hard. change is never easy." aisha told her. "but you've got to start somewhere. you have to find your own way."
"i don't know if i can do it." tabitha shook her head. "i don't know if i want to do it? don't get me wrong, being in this shithole has made me reflect and-and see that everything i know is wrong, but it is all that i know."
"but you can do it." aisha reassured her, reaching across the table to take her hand. "i've seen the real you, the good friend, the girl who's always had my back. that's who you are. the anger... it's just a part of you, but it doesn't have to define you."
tabitha shook her head. "and when did you get so wise?" aisha smiled at her. "no, i've always been wise. you just never noticed."
"i've missed you." tabitha frowned. aisha nodded in agreement. "i've missed you too, idiot. and i'll be here for you, even if it's from santa barbara. because friends don't give up on each other."
"thank you." tabitha nodded, "it kind of means a lot."
"you've got this." aisha encouraged her. "has miguel come to see you?" she questioned. tabitha cleared her throat, extracting her hand from aisha's hold. "yeah... about that."
"what?" aisha questioned with concern. "don't tell me you two broke up."
"i mean... he told me he loved me-"
"oh my God?" aisha squealed. "so i was right? he does love you at your worst and your best?"
"i guess?" tabitha shrugged. "but then i broke up with him." tabitha sighed. aisha's smile dropped at her declaration. "you what?" she asked.
"it was in the heat of the moment!" tabitha spoke quickly. "i was getting arrested and he was just... just annoying me."
"but you regret it, right?"
"i can't stop thinking about it." tabitha shook her head. "the look on his face and i didn't even think twice. am i just heartless?"
"you're not heartless." aisha told her. "i've seen you happy, sad, worried, caring and concerned. you clearly have a heart. but i guess your anger is your most powerful emotion."
"like that one movie we watched about that girl... richelle?"
"riley." aisha corrected her. "and yeah, that's weirdly a good example."
"so... what do i do now?" tabitha asked. aisha just shrugged. "i can't tell you what to do." she said.
"what? you quite literally just did. you can't go from wise old man to clueless baby." tabitha exclaimed.
aisha laughed, "girl, i've already said what i have to say. and speaking of wisdom and age... it's nearly your seventeenth! are you excited?"
"excited to leave this place? of course." tabitha nodded. "excited for my birthday? absolutely not."
"what not?"
"i don't really have much to look forward to." tabitha explained. aisha gave her a reassuring smile. "well, you can look forward to your gift from me." she informed her. "they said they'd give it to you as you leave."
"thanks, aisha. i appreciate this."
"of course."
⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
sweetest girllllsssss, she and rowan are probably the only two people that can bring out tabby's nice side (apart from the lovely diaz family ofc)
tabitha silver apologists/sympathisers raise your hands here!
tabitha silver haters comment a thumbs down here....
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro