CHAPTER 18
Johnny and Carmen sat at the back of an undercover Detective car, and it parked a couple of blocks away from the compound. Johnny got out of the car and faced the detective. He was then fitted with a tiny, discreet microphone under his shirt.
"Remember. You need to record him admitting that he physically abused Mr. Diaz and his mother."
"Yeah, got it." Johnny said. The detective nodded at him.
"OK, let's go." He said. Johnny was directed into another unmarked car, which he would be driving to the motel. Johnny took a deep breath and pulled out a picture of him and Miguel that Miguel had taken during the Dee Snider concert and Johnny kept in his wallet at all times. He smiled at the expression of delight on his student's face. He needed to get that look back on his student's face. And to do that, he needed to complete this operation.
Johnny drove to the motel in silence, well aware that there was a microphone on his chest. He made it to the motel a couple of minutes later, and knocked on the door to room 31, the room Miguel's father was in. Expecting Miguel, his father opened the door, but his face dropped when he saw Johnny instead.
"Where's Miguel?" His father asked. Johnny pushed past him and walked into the apartment.
"Not here. Just big, bad me." Johnny replied. Miguel's dad shut the door behind him, and then turned to face Johnny.
"And who are you?" He snapped.
"A concerned party." Johnny replied. Mr. Diaz chuckled.
"You're going to have to give me more than that." His dad said.
"I'm Miguel's karate instructor." Johnny replied, opting to leave his relationship with Carmen out as he didn't want to trigger the man. Mr. Diaz raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"Boy decided to do Karate?" He laughed. "Makes sense. He's probably too soft for a real man's sport like football, huh?"
"Hey! Miguel is ten times the man you'll ever be." Johnny growled. Mr. Diaz chuckled.
"Yeah right. So how bad is he?"
"Actually, he's a champion." Johnny snapped, getting annoyed at this man who was being so rude about his own son. "All Valley Champ. So next time you try and hit him, watch out."
Mr. Diaz chuckled.
"Yeah, Miguel and I sure had our differences back in the day. Boy just needed to be straightened up a bit. Taught how to be a man."
That's when Johnny snapped.
"A MAN?!" Johnny shouted. "Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you beat him up several times; smash beer bottles on him; hit him with a baseball bat, a belt, brass knuckles?! You terrorised him growing up, and he still has nightmares about you now!"
Mr. Diaz shrugged.
"Yeah. Whatever it took for him to learn, right?" He replied. There it was. The confession. What the police needed to arrest him then and there. But suddenly, Johnny didn't care about that.
"Look, you have two options." Johnny growled. "First option, you walk into the police station right now and turn yourself in."
Mr. Diaz laughed in Johnny's face.
"And what's option 2?" He asked. Johnny scowled at him.
"Option 2 is that I eliminate you from Miguel's life myself. Permanently." Johnny growled, gearing up for a fight. He personally wanted to kill that man in front of him. The way Miguel's father spoke about his crimes towards his child so emotionlessly… Johnny wanted to wipe the slimy man out of existence entirely.
"Hmm. I guess I choose option 3." Mr. Diaz replied. Johnny looked at him, confused.
"What's that?" Johnny asked. Mr. Diaz then started to pull a gun from his coat, but that's when Johnny's karate instincts kicked in. The gun was kicked out of Miguel's father's hands before it was even pointed at Johnny, and it skidded harmlessly across the floor to the other side of the room. Johnny then opened his chest button in his shirt and ripped out the mic, stomping on it. He then charged at Miguel's dad, murder in his eyes…
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CRACK!
The terrifying sound of static rang through the police car as Carmen and a detective listened carefully. Carmen's eyes widened, terrified.
"What just happened?!" He cried. The policeman looked almost as worried as she did, which wasn't reassuring.
"We don't know. The mic's broken. He could've spilt water on himself by accident." The policeman reasoned unconvincingly.
"Or…" Carmen murmured. The policeman nodded.
"Or Mr. Diaz has found the mic and Mr. Lawrence is in trouble." He said. "But we've already got the confession we need to move in. There are police racing towards the motel as we speak. Everything's going to be okay, Ms. Diaz."
Carmen nodded and forced herself to stay calm. Johnny could handle himself in a fight. The policeman was right. Everything was going to be okay…
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THUD! THUD! THUD!
Johnny and Miguel's father landed blows on each other left and right. To Miguel's dad's credit, he had gotten a lot of good hits on Johnny, and he had even thrown him through the small table in the middle of the room. Johnny got his licks in too. He banged Mr. Diaz's head against the wall several times, before throwing him against the bathroom door, sending him crashing through into the bathroom. As Johnny prowled towards him in the motel bathroom, Mr. Diaz scrambled and grabbed the nearest thing he could use as a weapon: an empty glass of water, and he smashed it over Johnny's head. Johnny cried out in pain and stumbled back. Mr. Diaz tried to take the opportunity to follow up his attack with some punches, but Johnny dodged and weaved, before kicking Mr. Diaz in the back and sending him crashing into the bathroom sink, causing the sink to shatter on his head. Johnny, the 2 time All-Valley champ, ended up reigning supreme. Standing over the man's barely conscious body, Johnny grabbed him by the shirt collar and threw him out of the bathroom and into the actual room. The man wasn't going anywhere as Johnny had really done a number on him, so Johnny could take his time as he walked across the room and picked up the discarded pistol from the floor and pointed it at Miguel's father. The two men scowled at each other, nothing but hatred in their eyes. Johnny closed his eyes and his finger curled around the trigger, ready to pull the trigger and end the man's life, no matter what the cost was to himself.
However, despite all of his anger, Johnny couldn't pull the trigger. His hands trembled and he eventually dropped the gun onto the ground beside him. Mr. Diaz chuckled.
"Awww. How sweet. You're soft. Just like him." Miguel's father remarked, coughing up blood. Johnny glared at him and kicked him again, before standing on top of him.
"Miguel's not soft, and neither am I." Johnny growled. "I'm not going to kill you right now because you don't deserve to die. You deserve so much worse than that. You deserve to spend the rest of your life, sitting in a small, windowless cell, thinking about what you've done. About the lives you've ruined. The people you've hurt. You're going to spend the rest of your life in custody and starts in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"
As if perfectly timed, at that moment, police burst into the motel room, guns aloft, and they quickly rushed over to Miguel's father.
"Mr. Diaz, you're under arrest for several counts of domestic abuse, child abuse, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and narcotics possession and distrubution." The Detective informed him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say…"
As the policeman was reading Miguel's father his rights, Johnny finally let out a sigh of relief. He had done it. Everything was okay.
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Miguel sprinted out of his childhood home in Ecuador one night, tearing his way down the road as fast as he could. His mom was staying the night with a nursing school friend as they had exams the next day, leaving Miguel in the hands of his monstrous father.
"BOY?! BOY! GET BACK HERE!" His father yelled as he plodded along after his son, ready to beat the crap out of him when he found him. It was pouring rain so as his father got soaked with water, his anger level rose higher and higher. Miguel didn't dare stop running. Who knew what would happen to him if he stopped?
"BOY! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" His father bellowed, taking his belt off and wrapping it around his wrist, ready to beat Miguel with it when he found him. In his other hand was a flashlight, as it was pitch-black outside. They didn't live in the city: they lived in the countryside, so there weren't any car lights, streetlights, etc.
Miguel kept running, and he eventually came to his family's old car. His dad had made a point to burn every one of the run-down cars he bought after a couple of months of using them, for reasons Miguel didn't know.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" He heard his father yell, a lot closer now. Miguel rushed over to the car and opened the trunk, diving inside and shutting it behind him in hopes his father wouldn't find him.
"GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE, BOY!" His father shouted. Tears rolled down Miguel's face as he curled up in a ball in the trunk of the car and prayed.
"RUNNING LIKE A LITTLE RAT! WHERE ARE YOU?!" His father shouted, finally reaching the car and shining it on the car. From the outside, it looked like no one was inside.
"YOU CAN'T STAY OUT HERE FOREVER! YOU HEAR ME, BOY?!"
Miguel trembled in fear as he listened to his father shout into the darkness. Miguel had no idea if his father knew he was in the trunk of the car or not. All he knew is that his father was definitely closeby.
"IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YA, BETTER HOPE I DON'T FIND YA!" His dad shouted, shining a light on the nearby trees as thunder and lightning exploded in the air.
Miguel whimpered in fear as he heard the clap of lightning, and his father spun around to face his direction, and he realised where his son was hiding. He stormed over to the trunk of the car and swung it open. Light flooded into the trunk as Miguel stared up at his father, who was scowling wickedly at him. His dad cracked his belt across the side of the car, and Miguel winced at the sound of it. He knew that in a couple of seconds, that would be him. His dad grinned sadistically at him as he finally spoke...
"What did I tell you would happen if I found you boy?!"
"NO!" Miguel shouted as he awoke with a start. He felt someone gently trying to shake him awake and his eyes fluttered open to see Sam standing over him, her eyes panicked, trying desperately to wake him from the flashback that had him shaking uncontrollably in his sleep. She initially thought it was a bad reaction to all of the Ambien his parents had slipped into his system, but as she heard him cry out in pain and mumble in his sleep, she realised that it was a nightmare.
Miguel slowly sat up in his bed, his head in his hands, as Sam gently comforted him. He was extremely confused. Where was he? What was going on? What time was it? He looked out his window and saw it was morning. Wait… no! It couldn't be morning! Because he was supposed to see his dad the night before, which meant…
Miguel started scrambling to get out of his bed, but Sam gently held him down.
"Miguel, calm down." She murmured.
"I have to go!" Miguel cried, desperately. "My dad…"
"Is in police custody." Sam said. Miguel's eyes widened in surprise.
"What?" Miguel stammered.
"He was arrested late last night. Sensei and your mom are at the police station right now. They want you to come join them as soon as you can."
Miguel's head was spinning as he attempted to take in the bombshell his girlfriend had just dropped on him.
"Woah, woah, woah, backup a moment. How does my mom even know my dad's in tow… you!" Miguel snarled, the events of the afternoon before rushing back to him. Sam's heart dropped. She knew she had betrayed him, but she hoped he would not hold it against her. It was for his own good.
"Miguel, please, hear me out!" Sam exclaimed.
"Why'd you do that, Sam?" Miguel muttered. "Why'd you betray me like that?"
"It was for your own good, Miguel!" Sam stated. Miguel sighed.
"Isn't that my decision to make? My mistake to make? I'm not a little kid. I'm 16 for God's sake!"
"Miguel, can I ask you something?" Sam asked. "What would you have done if the roles were reversed? If it was my dad who was the abusive criminal, and you were the one who was forced to watch the person you love most in so much pain? Would you have honestly kept the fact that I was going to meet with a highly dangerous man a secret from everyone?"
Miguel was lost for words. He knew that Sam was right. He would've definitely done the same thing. He wouldn't stand by and watch her get hurt.
"Sam, I… I'm so sorry." Miguel murmured. "You're right. You did the right thing. I've been such a jackass to you."
"It's okay, Miguel. You've kind of been going through a lot." Sam laughed. "Now come on. The police need to ask you a couple of questions about your experiences with your dad."
"What, like the phone call?" Miguel asked, confused. Sam shook her head.
"From what I understood from your mom, it's more about what happened back in Ecuador. They need your testimony to figure out all of the charges he's facing and then they can use that to put him in jail for the rest of his life."
Miguel's eyes widened and he shook his head, furiously.
"I'm not testifying." He stated, bluntly. Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Um… what? They can't charge him with anything if you don't testify." She stated. Miguel shrugged.
"Then so be it. I can't do it." Miguel murmured, tears in his eyes. Sam saw how much pain he was in and she quickly wrapped an arm around him.
"Miguel, what's going on?" Sam asked. "Why don't you want to testify?"
Miguel took a deep breath and looked at her.
"Same reason I never ran away from home after all of the shit he did to me in Ecuador." Miguel murmured. "I could've gone into the foster care system and disappeared from his life forever. But I didn't. I stayed, and I endured years of beatings, whippings and straight-up torture, not wanting to leave for one reason: he's my dad. He's always going to be my dad. So I feel… I feel some kind of sick allegiance to him."
Sam nodded, understanding Miguel's emotions instantly.
"I get it, Miguel, but you've gotta think about something." She said. "What happens if your dad walks free, and then next year, or even years from now, he has another kid and puts them through the exact same thing you went through. You have the opportunity to save that kid by giving the statement."
Miguel slowly nodded and put his head in his hands in shame.
"I'm so sorry, Sam, for all of this." Miguel murmured. "I'm such a mess. Why do you even like me?"
"I guess because you're almost as much of a mess as I am." Sam replied. Miguel chuckled.
"Still. I shouldn't have gotten you into my mess." He said.
"Are you kidding? Your mess is exactly where I want to be." Sam smiled, before holding a hand out to help him off the bed. "Now come on. Let's go…"