fault - eli moskowitz

nineteen

it was the day of the tournament and i was so fucking nervous. this whole morning before school i stood in my room pacing back in forth trying to calm down. my mother couldn't come because she work but i could tell she really wanted to. she couldn't take a day off because my father refused to pay child support this month but that was whatever. 

i was standing outside the tournament place with my friends, miguel was practicing his punches. "yo, miguel. calm down man. save some for the tournament." hawk said and miguel just looked over to him before continuing his punches. "hey, don't even bother." aisha told hawk. "he's been super aggro ever since the breakup." the girl continued. "sam and him broke up?" i asked. "yeah last night at the party." aisha answered and i nodded. "where's sensei? the tournaments gonna start soon." hawk said. "he'll be here." aisha answered. 

"i don't know about that." bert spoke up. "what are you talking about?" i asked. "i saw him last night at the mini-mall." bert told us. "i was buying a carton of milk.." the boy continued. "when i heard him in the parking lot, yelling." he finished. "why didn't you tell us this earlier?" aisha asked. "i don't know. i guess i'm used to seeing him drunk, it didn't seem like that big a deal." bert replied. "well, we're here, and he's not. so it's officaly a big deal." hawk told the boy. "calm down." i said. "what if something happened to him." hawk said. "like what?" bert asked. "like he drove his car off a cliff, or brought a gun and blew his brains out." hawk said and i winced, "listen im sure he's fine." i said. "sensei would never kill himself, that's too pussy a move." aisha said. 

"whatever. i mean, we're here. we're gonna have to do it without him." hawk said. "do what without me?" i heard a voice say, sensei. "sensei." aisha said. "we didn't think you were gonna show up." hawk told him. "i may not always win btu i never back out of a fight." sensei said. "all right, let's sign up." miguel said, finally saying something. "not yet." sensei responded. "there's one more lesson i have to teach you." he told everyone.

"you've all learned to strike first, to be aggresive, not be losers. i taught you to strike hard, put every ounce of your power behind everything you do. but i haven't taught you the third rule of cobra kai." sensei paused. "no mercy." he said. "the older you get, the more you're gonna learn that life isn't fair. you wake up one morning feeling great, and then life throws a spinning heel kick to your balls, takes a big steaming shit in your mouth." sensei said and i made a face. "you get an 'F' on your test, you get suspended. you fall in love with a girl." sensei said and i felt eyes on me after he said that, i didn't dare to look to see who. "and some other dude comes and steals her away. car get's set on fire." i was beginning to think he was talking about his own experiences. 

"just when you think things are good, everything falls apart. that's how it goes, life shows no mercy, so neither do we. we do whatever it takes to keep our heads above water. we do whatever it takes to keep moving forward. we do whatever it takes to win!" sensei said. "remember who you are. you're badass! you don't give a shit! you kick ass! you're cobra kai." the man finished. "cobra kai!" miguel yelled. "yeah!" everyone yelled. "alright guys, lets get down there and kick the shit out of everybody!" sensei told us. miguel had reached into his bag and grabbed his robe out, "no. we're not wearing those." sensei said.