Chapter 10: Forgiveness
It's the middle of the school day and lunch has just begun. Before I join the rest of my friends, I head to the bathroom. After I'm done with my business, I attempt to head out. That's when I bump into Steve and Kyler. Steve and I glare at each other. Kyler is the first one to speak.
"Hey pussy. How've you been?" He says while getting closer to me.
"Don't come near me." I say.
"Or what? You're gonna beat us?" Steve asks.
"Yeah. I've done it before." I say confidently. Steve just laughs.
"No you didn't. You got lucky and knocked me into a pool. Then, you walked away. You walked away from the fight like a pussy!" Steve says while approaching me. I get tense and put my hands up. Steve just laughs. He then quickly sweeps my legs, knocking me off my feet. I hit my head against the ground and get a massive headache.
"How's the taste of your own medicine?" Steve asks while laughing. Kyler then picks me up and takes my backpack off my shoulders.
"Don't worry. We'll send it back with care." Steve says before running out of the bathroom with Kyler. I stumble and finally get up. I run out of the bathroom but can't see where they went. Dammit, they better not mess with my laptop. I quickly make it to the cafeteria.
"James? What's wrong?" Sam asks, clearly seeing the concern on my face.
"Steve and Kyler ambushed me in the bathroom. Stole my backpack." I say sadly. Sam gets angry.
"When will those Cobra Kai jerks learn their lesson." Sam says while clenching her fist.
"Well, we can't start a fight here. I also don't want to get my parents involved." I say defeatedly.
"We better hope that our training gets better." Demetri says.
Later…
I arrive at the dojo early. I'm really pumped up right now. When will Steve stop messing with me? As I get to the main part of the dojo, I see that Hawk and Demetri are already there.
"Hey! What's up?" I ask.
"I have an idea. What if we clear up the back of the dojo and make a new sparing deck?" Hawk suggests. I actually think that's a good idea.
"Huh, can we build that?" I ask. Demetri smiles and shows me a tablet.
"Eli designed this himself." Demetri says proudly. Looking at the pictures, it really looks doable.
"That's pretty impressive." I say to Hawk. He smiles.
"Uh, James, can we talk for a minute?" Hawk says. I look at Demetri and he nods.
"Sure." I say. Hawk and I step aside.
"Look, I know that I wasn't the best person for these past few weeks. I also know that I won't gain everyone's trust back immediately. However, that's not gonna stop me from trying." Hawk says. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out some crumpled bills.
"This looks like…four dollars?" I say confused.
"It's the amount of money I stole from you. It's actually the same money, I never actually spent it. Look, I know this doesn't make up for what I did, but I would like us not to be at each other's throats." Hawk says honestly. I look up at him and smile.
"Thanks man." I say. I extend my hand for a fist bump and Hawk accepts. We then get back to Demetri.
"So, are we ready to build this thing?" Demetri asks.
"Yeah, just gotta get the mallet." Hawk says. Soon, Hawk returns. Miguel and Sam then quickly run in.
"Hawk? What are you doing?" Miguel asks.
"We're building a new deck." I say. Eventually, more Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students show up. They all pitch in to help. Right now, Hawk is taking down some fences.
"All right, stand back. It's comin' down!" Hawk shouts. He then hits part of the fence with the mallet, making it fall over.
"Hey! What are you doin'?" Mr. LaRusso shouts. It looks like him and Sensei Lawrence just arrived.
"You were both right. Talk is cheap. So I'm building a bridge." Hawk explains.
"Uh, more specifically, an Okinawan sparring deck. Eli's a design whiz. I looked it over and the physics check out." Demetri explains.
"Mr. Miyagi just used this area for extra storage, but a new deck would mean a lot more room for training." Sam says.
"We're all gonna help build it. Assuming our senseis approve?" Miguel asks. The two senseis look at each other before speaking.
"Sounds good to me." Mr. LaRusso says.
"Yeah. Sounds awesome." Sensei Lawrence says. Suddenly, we hear the sound of a car quickly speeding away from the dojo. We all quickly move to the dojo entrance to see what's happening. There, on the ground, lies my backpack. It's completely covered in yellow paint. Everything except for a small part in the front. There, the word "Pussy" is in bright red paint. I'm clenching both my hands and jaw.
"Don't worry, we won't let them get away with this." Hawk says. I smile. It's good to know that we're on the same side.