Miguel thought he would never reach the cash register, he'd been standing in line at the coffee shop for so long. At least for half an hour. He had no idea they'd apparently picked the most popular cafe in the district when he'd suggested they try it. But finally, it was his turn.
In Spanish, he told the barista his order. "Yeah, can I get a medium almond milk latte and a large black coffee with cream?"
"You got it," responded the barista, jotting down his order on two cups and pushing them down the assembly line. "By the way, what accent is that?" she asked, accepting the pesos from Miguel after ringing up his order.
Stuffing his wallet in his back pocket, Miguel blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
"Sorry, I was just curious," said the barista. "But you sound like you're from out of town, that's all. Not judging, we get lots of tourists in this area."
It was clear the young woman was making the common sort of small talk cashiers did while waiting for customers' orders to be filled, and genuinely meant nothing bad by it. So Miguel explained, "Yeah, actually, I'm from the USA. Um, California specifically."
"Oh, I'd love to visit California one day!" exclaimed the barista, flashing a smile. "It looks so cool in the movies. You don't by chance know any famous actors in Hollywood, do you?"
Miguel chuckled. "Heh, no. I mean, I'm from the San Fernando Valley, but I live in Reseda."
And he was a long way from home.
They finished his order in another two minutes. Miguel was glad to grab the cups and rush outside to track down Hawk. He'd told his friend to grab them a table, and it appeared Hawk had found a good one near the edge of the property. He was slumped there in his chair, looking bored, staring across the street.
"Sorry that took so long," said Miguel, setting Hawk's coffee down on the table in front of him. "The line was insane."
Sitting down in his own chair, Miguel took a sip from his latte, waiting for a response. But Eli's eyes remained glued to something across the street. Following his line of vision, Miguel squinted when he saw Hawk staring at a building marked "Estudio de Tatuajes." A tattoo parlor.
A grin crept over Miguel's face as he turned back to face Hawk, and he was two seconds away from teasing him with a joke about whether he was daydreaming about them going over to the establishment so they could get matching tattoos. But then his breath hitched in his throat when he opened his mouth. And his grin vanished. He remembered what happened the last time Hawk was in a tattoo parlor.
Putting his cup down, Miguel pressed for his attention again. "Hawk?"
"Hmm?" Hawk turned at the sound of his name this time, eyes widening like he'd just noticed Miguel had sat down at the table. "Oh thanks, man," he said, grabbing the coffee cup in front of him, tipping it back for a sip.
Miguel's eyes fell to his own cup. His mind wandered back to that night at Miyagi-Do, when Sensei Lawrence and Mr. LaRusso argued over what had happened and how they needed to react to it, before deciding to split the two dojos apart. Then all the Eagle Fangs were in the front lot. Eli had looked dazed through all of it. So completely lost. Miguel had offered to drive him home, to put that driving lesson Mr. LaRusso had given him to good use. He couldn't believe his friend had even managed to drive himself to Miyagi-Do in one piece in the first place.
And he would never forget what Hawk said to him then.
Miguel?
Yeah?
Sorry I broke up the dojos.
Sitting in his chair right then, Miguel's stomach churned. For the next couple of days that had followed after that night, he'd racked his brain trying to understand why it had happened. And the event he kept returning to was the night at the drive-in, back to the challenge he'd made to Cobra Kai to have them meet Miyagi-Fang at the baseball diamond. Where he'd set up the prank with the sprinklers.
Sensei Lawrence had been pissed. Mr. LaRusso had been proud.
You just poked the bear. What do you think's gonna happen? They're just gonna leave well enough alone?
It sounds to me like Miguel practiced restraint. Found a way to get out of a bad situation without anyone getting hurt.
Their reactions had been totally at odds. Most of their advice was. Miguel had struggled to consider which teacher had been correct. Truth be told, he still didn't know. All he did know was that the Cobras retaliated on Hawk for it.
Would things have turned out differently had he followed Sensei Lawrence's advice, if they'd actually confronted Cobra Kai at the baseball diamond and fought them with their fists? Maybe Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do combined could've taken them down then, saved everyone the trouble of waiting for the All-Valley Tournament. Saved Hawk what happened to him….
Or maybe they should've just not challenged them to the baseball diamond at all. Maybe they should've just walked away.
Miguel glanced at Hawk again. Should he voice those concerns? Should he stir the pot?
"Hawk?"
"Yeah?"
Staring across the table at Eli, Miguel braced himself before tackling the elephant in the room head-on. "I was thinking back to that night we set off the sprinklers on Cobra Kai, about what Sensei Lawrence said about it. Y'know, about not poking the bear. And I think maybe I shouldn't have—"
"Don't!"
Miguel flinched when Hawk's hand struck the table, attracting a passing glance from the couple sitting at the table beside theirs.
Hawk's eyes were as wide as saucers, his hands were curling into fists where they sat on the table, and his next words came out a stutter. "It-It was Robby who did…it was Kyler and Tory…it was Robby, not you…just don't!" He slammed the table again for emphasis, his nostrils flaring. He was getting upset.
And although it did nothing to quell the guilt churning in his stomach, Miguel knew when to step off a landmine. "Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands palms-side out as a sign he wanted to deescalate.
Leaning his elbow on the table, Eli rested his forehead in his hand, almost hiding his face entirely, and he picked at the table with his fingernail. A crimson flush spread across his cheeks like a red tide. He looked embarrassed now at his outburst.
And Miguel wished they'd just picked a different coffee shop that morning.
He needed to refocus the conversation on something positive. Something that might perk up Hawk.
"Hey, how about you tell me about your match in the finals?" Miguel suggested with a warm smile, hoping it would entice Hawk. It used to be, Hawk was the kind of guy who would brag about any little victory like he was king shit of fuck mountain. Miguel missed that. And it couldn't be a Miyagi-Do thing, he'd heard Mr. LaRusso humblebrag more than once. "Come on, tell me what secret Miyagi-Do technique Mr. LaRusso taught you that had Robby eating the mats."
Hawk lifted his head from his hand, and his eyebrows rose. "Well, actually, I used my Cobra Kai training against him to win," he said. "It was Mr. LaRusso's idea. Use the advantage that I'd been learning Cobra Kai style longer than Robby, get him on the defense. And it worked."
"Really? He had you fight Cobra Kai style?" Miguel's entire face pinched. That didn't sound like something Mr. LaRusso would've encouraged at all. Wasn't that the whole reason - the real reason - the dojos split apart, because neither Sensei Lawrence nor Mr. LaRusso respected each other's philosophies? Had things suddenly changed? "Alright, then I bet that helped you out when Robby tried any of his cheap tricks."
A distant look came over Hawk's eyes, looking like he was somewhere else; back at the All-Valley Tournament, perhaps. "It wasn't like that," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "Robby didn't fight dirty. He…He showed me respect…."
That news hit Miguel like a kick to the face. He shook his head, in case he needed to clear out any fog, in case he'd misheard. Robby Keene, Cobra Kai's champion, fought clean? How could that be possible? Even he hadn't been above exploiting a weakness back when he'd been fighting for Cobra Kai at last year's All-Valley Tournament. And Robby had shown no concept of mercy when he'd kicked him over the balcony, nor when he'd shaved Eli's mohawk.
And Miguel was supposed to believe that same Robby Keene had fought in the finals with honor?
Miguel didn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. But he knew Hawk had no reason to lie to him.
"Where did Robby learn how to show respect at Cobra Kai?" he could only ask.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," said Hawk, eyes falling back to the table while he picked up his coffee cup for a drink. He sank some into his shoulders, sliding into his chair. Now he was closed off entirely.
Having already been given more information than he could process at the moment, Miguel nodded, picking up his latte, too. "Okay."
The next sip went down like cement.