Chapter 4 (Morning Coffee Part Two)

Tommy busied himself for the rest of the afternoon. He went to his school, Sunrise Martial Arts, that he and Rocky DeSantos ran together. There were sessions going on when he entered. He looked at all the students with pride. They had students from young to old. He went to look on his youngest students, that class was taught by Justin Stewart, who had been their youngest ranger. He volunteered to teach the 7-12 year olds.

Tommy always wanted to have a family of his own, he just never found the right person to share that with. His thoughts went back to Kimberly and her son. She had a family. She broke up with him and had a family with someone else.

He could have given her that. If she would have stayed, or even returned, he would have given her that. He felt sucker punched even so many years later.

He found an empty room and set up a punching bag. He didn't change his clothes. He took off his shirt and threw it to the side. He began to punch out every thought.

First the old feelings that he still had for her.How does she still do that to me? He punched the bag. I'm over you. He punched again. I'm over you! He punched harder. I'm angry with you. After all these years. Years, Kimberly! He double timed his punches. You can't show up. Not now! He hit the bag with all his might and let out a pained cry.

He sat on the floor with his back against the wall. He hit his head against the wall once. Then held his head in his hands.

"Tommy?" He looked up to see Rocky standing in the doorway. He had gotten bigger since high school.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Tommy pushed aside his thoughts and jumped to his feet. "Do you need me?"

"I could ask you the same thing? I think everyone heard you. Is everything alright?" Rocky walked over to him.

"Not really."

Rocky nodded. "Listen, I'll clean up, meet me out front. I know the best place to relieve stress."

"Sure." Tommy shrugged. He welcomed any distraction.

Twenty minutes later they were driving. Rocky assumed command over Tommy's jeep and they were driving down a familiar road.

"The beach?" Tommy looked at Rocky.

"Yup. Who doesn't like the beach?" Rocky grinned.

Tommy chuckled.

Once they parked Rocky jogged over to the surf shack and rented two surfboards.

"And what do you suggest we do about our clothes?" Tommy pointed to Rocky's shorts and his jeans. Rocky frowned then looked around him. He spotted another small shop. They both were able to find the right attire. Even though Tommy had to wear a hideous shade of orange.

"Yeah orange is not your color." Rocky laughed.

"Yeah, thanks man." Tommy laughed along with him. "Now let's go catch some waves."

It seemed to be a good Saturday afternoon to go to the beach. Children ran around kicking up sand, families were sharing lunches, and young adults played volleyball while others surfed. The waves looked decent. Tommy thought back on his days at the beach as a teenager. Life was good then, minus the puddies or Rita and her monsters. But with the team he had, life was never that bad.

They headed to the water and made a competition of who could catch the most waves. After some time Rocky finally wiped out.

"Dude, I need a break. I don't know how you can still stand on that board." Rocky tried to catch his breathe as he dragged his feet across the sand.

The pure determination to not think of anything else, Tommy thought. "Alright let's go back. I could eat."

They headed to the boardwalk and stuck their boards in the sand when they found a spot to eat. They ordered burgers and fries and sat at the bar stools.

"So, what's going Tommy? I haven't seen you this worked up since Kimberly's letter." Rocky took a huge bite of his burger.

Tommy gave Rocky a look like he was spot on.

"It is Kimberly!" Rocky spitting some food out and almost dropping his burger. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah. She showed up." Tommy sighed loudly.

"Wow." Rocky shook his head. "Well, how do you feel about that?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be here." Tommy shrugged his shoulders. "The scary part is that it was almost easy to let her back in."

Rocky nodded. "You guys did have something special. And wait, what do you mean almost?"

"Turns out she has a kid." Tommy curled his fists.

Rocky put a hand on his shoulder, "Well that's a horse pill to swallow. She left you, even though she loved you. Then loved someone else and had kid with him."

Rocky stopped when he saw Tommy's face. "Sorry, I guess I didn't need to say it out loud."

"No. You didn't." Tommy said flatly.

"Well if it isn't the masters in the art of stuffing their faces." A husky voice came from behind Tommy.

He spun around to see Jason Lee Scott smirking. Tommy smiled widely.

"I don't believe it!" Tommy stood up and hugged Jason. They clapped each other on the back.

"Dude, you look good!" Rocky hugged Jason next.

Jason playfully popped the collar of his white button shirt. The shirt hung loosely outside of his black dress pants.

"I almost didn't recognize you without all your hair." Jason pointed to the top of Tommy's head.

"Thought I'd try to look like an adult. You're not so baby faced anymore." Tommy teased. Jason touched the hair growing on his face.

"What are you doing here in town?" Tommy motioned for him to join them.

"Most importantly what are you doing wearing a getup like that to the beach?" Rocky teased.

"On business." Jason took the empty seat by Tommy. He ordered a beer. "My company "Fresh Waters" is having a conference here in Angel Grove."

"Oh, is that for the clean water wells in Africa?" Rocky asked before stuffing his face again.

"Yes actually." Jason was impressed.

"Well you're a well informed sensei." Tommy said.

"I have some students who had volunteered some years back." Rocky shrugged.

"What are you guys doing now?" Jason took a gulp of his beer as it arrived.

"We decided to open a dojo together. Sunrise Martial Arts. You dig wells, I dig up bones." Tommy quipped.

Jason gave a inquisitive look.

"I'm studying paleontology. Finishing up the last year of my PhD."

Jason nodded. "Just couldn't let go of the dinosaurs could you?"

"Something like that." Tommy smiled. "So you have a break or something?"

"Oh." Jason looked down at his clothes. And shrugged. "I needed a break. And a drink." He grinned.

"Too bad Tommy doesn't drink, because he could use one too." Rocky nudged Tommy.

"Oh yeah? What's eating you? I'll order you a drink." Jason started to call over the bartender.

"No, no that's not necessary. I'm fine. Just needed sometime to recover." Tommy stopped him.

Jason put his hand down and started to finish his own beer.

"Kimberly is also back in town, and has a kid." Rocky said.

Jason began to choke.

"Woah. You alright there?" Tommy started patting his back.

Jason slammed his glass down and tried to stop coughing.

Rocky and Tommy looked at each other. Jason finally calmed down and cleared his throat.

"Really?" When Jason spoke his voice was huskier than usual.

"About Kim? Yeah. You alright man?" Tommy asked again.

"I'm fine." He wiped his mouth and looked down at his phone. "My break is over. Let's do this again." Jason slammed down a few bills.

"Hey, you should come by the dojo sometime. Or actually come to Tommy's 30th birthday party! It will be right here at the shack, next Friday. If you're in town that long." Rocky offered.

Yeah, maybe." With that he walked away hurriedly.

"What do you think his problem is?" Rocky asked.

"I wish I knew." Tommy shrugged. "What a day though."

"I think you need some closure man. If you see her again, you should talk to her. Find out what happened. That way you can move on." Rocky suggested.

"I guess." Tommy said. He did have a lot of questions. Mostly why?

"Let's talk about your birthday instead, I can't deal with melancholy Tommy. It's depressing." Rocky teased.

"What did you have in mind?" Tommy tried to lighten up.

He half listened as Rocky gave a rundown of next Friday evening's schedule of events. His thoughts running through the morning. Kat, Kimberly, Jackson, and Jason. He was sure no one ever had to deal with their past all in one morning like this. But Rocky was right about closure. I had a lot of questions and would ask Kimberly the next time he ran into her. Then maybe he could let her go.