"I know I'm gonna end up regretting this. But do you have anywhere to stay?" Joannie asked her wayward Father as they left the station together. His hesitation gave her the answer she was dreading.
"I knew I shouldn't have even asked," Jo groaned. "Okay, old man, here's the deal. You can crash at my house for a while. But," She went on quickly, putting one hand on his shoulder and moving to stand in front of him to stare up into his eyes. "For a little while, as in very temporarily. I am offering you a place to crash. A roof over your head. I am not offering you dojo space in or out of my house so you can keep warping young minds. Do we understand one another? The first time any of those twisted kids or any of your many rivals show up and trash my house, you and they will end up back in jail."
She could see him wanting to grin down at her. But for a wonder, he managed to suppress it.
"I accept your gracious invitation, Punkin."
His daughter glared at him.
"What. You said I couldn't call you Princess. You didn't say anything about Punkin? No?"
She continued to glower.
Kreese just shrugged. "Well, okay. How 'bout sweetheart? Precious? Honeybunch? No? I guess that means Puddin' Pop is out of the question, too."
By this time, Jo was staring at the ground and biting the insides of her cheeks to try and keep from smiling. Her old Dad could be funny and charming, usually when he wanted something. His daughter was determined not to let him get under her skin, not ever again.
"god, I never knew that you look so much like your Mom," Kreese said quietly. She felt one finger touch her cheek before she jerked her head back and slapped the hand away, hard. "Old man, if you ever bothered to teach me any of your precious Karate, Oh, how I'd love to kick your ass with it right now."
"If you wanna learn, I can still teach you, Joannie," he offered as she turned away making a sound like an angry cat and he had to almost march to keep up with her brisk strides, in spite of her much smaller stature.
"I know enough to defend myself. I do not want to know more. Not if it means I'll end up like you and those poor kids of yours."
This news floored Kreese, and he stayed quiet until he was sitting beside his youngest in her shiny fancy new sports car. She reached to start it up, but he put his hand on hers.
"Who taught you karate?" he asked.
"What does it matter. You didn't have to pay for it, Dad, and neither did Mom. So don't worry your little head about it," was all she would say.
"It wasn't LaRusso, was it? Oh, please God, Joannie, just tell me it wasn't Daniel LaRusso or Johnny Lawrence? Was it Silver?"
"I'd heard that Johnny was teaching karate. I also heard he had the good sense to be the first one to kick you to the curb and start his own school. I'm so proud. I never thought Johnny had it in him."
"For God sake, Joannie please—"
"Oh, don't have a fit, old man. It was not Daniel LaRusso. And it was not Johnny Lawrence. And it was not Uncle Asshole, either. I swear it on my Momma's grave," she told him. "I only buy cars from Mr. LaRusso. I haven't even seen Johnny in years, and as for Uncle Asshole and me, well, I haven't had anything to do with him for years, either. Thank God Daniel LaRusso has no idea I'm related to you, or this thing would have cost me even more, I bet."
She could tell her Dad was not happy, quietly fuming in fact, to hear she was buying her cars from LaRusso, but for once, he kept quiet as she started to drive them to her home just outside the city.
A/N:
Hello patient readers,
Looks like I was wrong. this wasn't a one shot, and Joannie Kreese still has more stuff to say after all.
Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. There will be more to come.
