Chapter 1. Robby
Sitting on that bench in the middle of the locker room at San Diego Fire Station 41, just minutes away from starting what would be his first shift as a candidate, Robby took a moment to take a deep breath and, while looking at the photos saved on his phone, he began to remember the important events that had taken place in the last three years that had led him to this point.
The road had not been easy.
Three years ago, he and Tory had won the Sekai Taikai, both on the podium, as promised. But representing different dojos. And with very different consequences for both of them.
As winners of the tournament, several sponsors offered them scholarships to continue with karate at university, and a contract to be the advertising image for various products related to that sport. Tory accepted and, without looking back, went on a scholarship to the University of Tampa, in addition to becoming the official image of a nunchaku brand.
As for Robby, he initially received a similar offer from a martial arts sportswear brand called Ronin, but the joy was short-lived. A few weeks later, back in Los Angeles, Ronin's representative came to visit him and explained that, after discovering that Robby had spent several months in juvie, his company was forced to withdraw its offer.
Johnny was obviously furious and threatened to sue them. Carmen, Miguel and Rosa were also present and were really upset. Rosa even seriously insulted the man, although she did so in Spanish and he didn't understand her.
After several minutes of heated discussion, Robby silenced everyone and calmly approached Ronin's representative, proposing the following solution: that they should give the scholarship to Miguel instead.
Everyone looked at him as if he had gone insane, except for Ronin's representative. Although Miguel had not fought in the Sekai Taikai captain's tournament, his excellent performance in the rest of the tournament had not gone unnoticed by anyone, least of all the sponsors. The man agreed almost immediately, and a new discussion, this time between Carmen, Miguel and Robby, began. Initially Carmen, who was about to give birth at the time, flatly refused to let Robby give up his scholarship to Miguel. And Miguel refused too. But Robby defended his arguments very well: firstly, Miguel had only managed to get a partial scholarship to Stanford to study Pre-Med, so without Ronin's scholarship it would be very difficult for him to fulfill his dream of going to that prestigious and expensive university. Secondly, Robby did not even have the option of going to university at the moment, since he still needed many credits to graduate from high school. And thirdly, he had been thinking a lot about his future and had recently made a decision: he wanted to be a firefighter.
After the initial shock, and when tempers had calmed down, Robby made his final argument: he wanted to do this for Miguel because he owed him.
Ronin's representative didn't understand what he meant, but the others did. There was a moment of solemn silence, until Miguel broke it and reminded Robby that that was water under the bridge. Carmen said the same thing.
But Robby insisted. And no one could change his mind about giving the scholarship to Miguel.
A few days later, Ronin and Miguel closed the deal, so at the end of the summer Miguel could go to Stanford with all expenses paid.
That was a summer of many changes.
After Robby's victory at the Sekai Taikai as a Miyagi-do member, several sponsors became interested in this unusual dojo and invested a lot of money, far more than Johnny and Daniel had ever dreamed of getting. In addition, back in Los Angeles there was a flood of new interested students in joining the dojo that had won a world-class tournament. The small, landscaped dojo inherited from Mr. Miyagi quickly became too small.
The sponsors' money made it possible for the two senseis to start a new Miyagi-do, located in a large unit between Encino and Reseda. Johnny was able to fulfill his dream of becoming a full-time sensei and making a living from it. Daniel continued to work at the car's dealership in the mornings, but in the afternoons, he helped Johnny with classes. Chozen instead decided to move to South Korea, although he promised to return to California from time to time.
The new dojo was so successful and had such good prospects that Johnny finally decided not to rent a house for the family but to buy one. After many weeks of searching, he found a nice four-bedroom detached house in Encino, not far from the new dojo.
Johnny and Carmen had originally planned for Miguel and Robby to each have their own room, since the baby who was about to arrive would sleep with them in the master bedroom for the time being, and for Rosa to have her own room as well, and maybe when the baby was older, to share a room with her grandmother. But Miguel and Robby talked it over and decided that his sister should have her own room from the beginning, since they would only have to share a room for one summer, since Miguel would be leaving for Stanford in September.
So Miguel and Robby shared a room all summer, which made their relationship even closer.
Finally, the biggest change was the birth of Sara.
Despite the scare during the Sekai Taikai, her little sister was born full-term and completely healthy, and she immediately became the joy of the family. Robby and Miguel were drooling over her.
Although the little girl had some lungs when she cried.
At the end of August, Johnny and Carmen got married. It was a simple ceremony, at the town hall, with a small banquet that Amanda insisted on having in the garden of the Larusso family home. Robby's mother, Shannon, had attended the wedding. She and Johnny were finally on good terms.
The summer ended, and almost everyone started a new path.
Miguel went off to Stanford, and Dimitri to MIT.
Kenny's father was deployed to Alaska, and he and his family had to move again, although the group remained in touch with him through social media.
Devon chose to study Political Science at UCLA, but she quit karate and barely used social media, so they gradually lost contact with her.
Replacing Chozen, a intern sensei joined Miyagi-do: Hawk. The boy with the mohawk, after he decided not to go with Dimitri to MIT in Massachusetts, stayed in Los Angeles to study Computer Engineering at Caltech. And not only did he help Johnny and Daniel with classes, but he created an accounting program for them (easy enough for even Johnny to learn how to use it) and an app for the students, and he even often took care of the reception.
As for Sam, who still didn't quite know what to do in the future, he decided to take a sabbatical year before entering university and travel the world. That decision didn't sit well with Miguel, who had hoped that Sam would go with him to Stanford.
Robby was the only one who had to return to high school at the beginning of September. But he was determined to achieve his goal of becoming a firefighter, so for the first time in his life he focused on his studies, although he did not neglect karate.
Since he and Hawk were the only ones in the group who stayed in Encino, and they also saw each other often at the new dojo, their relationship grew closer and they gradually became good friends. They even took an official first dan black belt exam together, which they passed easily.
During that academic year, Miguel only returned home three times: for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. And each time he seemed more overwhelmed than the last. Pre-Med was not easy.
Robby's efforts with his studies paid off. Not only did he graduate, but he also got a place at the Los Angeles Regional Fire Academy.
The following summer brought changes again.
The long-distance relationship between Miguel and Sam ended up being too difficult for both of them, and after a year of seeing each other very little and constant virtual arguments, a new attack of jealousy from Miguel because of a Icelander boy that Sam had met in Morocco, made her decide to end the relationship.
Dimitri returned to Los Angeles to spend the summer with his new girlfriend, a very pretty and very red-haired girl named Sandy with the same nerdy tastes as him. But when he realized that Hawk and Robby had become so good friends, Dimitri had an attack of jealousy that Hawk took several days to quell.
Neither of the boys saw Sam that summer, surely because of the recent breakup with Miguel. But they learned from Daniel that the young woman had finished her trip around the world and had gotten a place at Yale.
Summer ended. The college students left for their universities again, and Robby finally began his studies at the fire academy.
The academy was tough, more than he had expected. But Robby didn't give up. And not only did he get his firefighter's license in one year, but the following year he also got other degrees that could help him get a job soon, such as a paramedic's license, among others.
And boy did he find a job soon, though not in Los Angeles like he wanted, but in San Diego.
At first, he had been a little reluctant to move to Southern California, where he didn't know anyone. Living with Johnny, Carmen, Rosa, and Sara hadn't been bad, actually. Robby had spent the first sixteen years of his life practically living alone, with an absent father and an alcoholic mother, and going from that to living with a family of five members (six when Miguel was there) had been a big change, but a good one.
Now he had to manage on his own again, in a small one-bedroom apartment located in the East Village, right in the nerve center of the city, and just a few minutes away from Station 41.
"Hey, kid. Keene, right?"
Robby looked up. A middle-aged firefighter with short gray hair was looking at him with an amused expression.
"That's right." Robby stood up, left the phone in his locker, and offered his hand to the man. "I'm Robby Keene. The new first shift's candidate."
The veteran firefighter shook his hand firmly.
"I'm Sexton. Welcome to Station 41."
"Thanks."
"You're early."
"Well, it's my first day. Gotta make a good impression."
Sexton smiled.
"That's right. Well, do you want me to show you around? Or have you already seen it?"
"Chief Peterson showed me last week."
"Okay, then we can go straight to the kitchen for breakfast while we wait for the rest of the crew to arrive, while there are still donuts. Because as soon as Connery gets here, forget it. That glutton will gobble them all up."
Robby smiled. Sexton seemed a nice man. He closed his locker and followed him into the kitchen.
The kitchen at Station 41 wasn't just a kitchen. The kitchen only took up a small part of the large room. Most of the room was filled with sofas, tables and chairs, and also a huge television.
Little by little the rest of the firts shift members appeared. Sexton introduced them all to Robby: Connery, Geigerman, Clarke, Reynolds… Robby couldn't remember any more names. But there was one name that hadn't been mentioned yet, the only one Robby knew beforehand.
"And Lieutenant Powell?"
"Oh, he'll be here soon."
Robby couldn't help but feel a little anxious about the imminent arrival of the man who was going to be his direct superior. Chief Peterson had spoken wonders of him.
Jason Powell was an army veteran, and after leaving the army he had retrained as a firefighter. He was promoted to lieutenant at just 29 years old, becoming the youngest lieutenant in all Baja California. That was six years ago, so he was 35 years old at the time.
"Look, there you have it."
A tall man, strong but thin build, with disheveled dark blond hair and a two-day beard came through the kitchen door with his hands in his pockets.
He stopped right in front of Robby and gave him a smile that the boy thought was somewhat mocking.
"The new candidate, right?"
From that distance, he could see that the lieutenant had the lightest blue eyes he had ever seen in his life.
Robby gulped.
Damn. He wasn't expecting that.
Fin del capĂtulo 1