My Cobra Guy

Episode Seventy-Nine

At the end of the practice, Johnny called Robby over to the sitting room. Daniel stayed with the remaining students in the dojo; they'd all decided to stay late to practice.

"I guess you want to talk about the letter," Robby said, standing in front of the television rather than sitting beside Johnny on the couch.

"Not unless you do," Johnny said. "Do you?"

"Not really. I thought Kreese would do something," Robby said. "Honestly, after what happened to Daniel, I thought he'd send that clown after me. So, this isn't that big of a deal."

Johnny had thought he'd be more upset. But, yes, in light of an attacker that seemed straight out of an 80's slasher flick, a disqualification seemed pretty mild. "Good deal. If you want to talk though..." Johnny paused, trying to find the words he needed to say. "I talked to Daniel. It's...I'd like it if you came here to live with us."

"This is because of the letter," Robby said. "Kreese bought me everyone's trust with this." He paused and withdrew the letter from his sweatpants, then held it out to Johnny.

Johnny took the letter, crumpled with torn edges, and read it. It was short and cold. "I don't want it to be this way anymore. How about it?"

"No," Robby said, with no hesitation.

"You're not even gonna think about it?" Johnny fought his anger with himself. If he had done more, they wouldn't be here right now. Robby would've never gone over to Kreese.

"I'm training Regina. I can't. If I can't be in the All Valley, I'll have a replacement. Someone you seem to think of as another kid, like Miguel."

That explained a few things, too. "You don't need to live with her for that. And, uh, you two aren't...." That would be a little too Cersei and Jamie for Johnny's liking.

"No." Robby looked at him like he'd grown another head. "I do need to live there. It's training before school. Training before bed. All day on weekends, except a few hours for school work, which she's been doing during study hall. She's got me doing the same."

"You two are going to be graduating soon," Johnny said. If Robby didn't end up getting held back for all the work he'd missed. "What are you thinking about doing after?" That's what a responsible parent would say, right? "After the All Valley, you can come live here. You'll be welcome." He wouldn't be another Sid.

"Thanks," Robby said. "I don't know what I'm going to do after school. Thinking about working on cars, going to trade school."

Okay, so he had some kind of plan rather than aimlessly drifting. That was good. Johnny made a mental note to see if Daniel would allow Robby to help them at the lot on the weekend. Johnny wanted to spend time with his son; he'd missed too much.

"Sounds like a good game plan," Johnny said. He took a deep breath; he still had trouble speaking some thoughts. "So, let me know how I can help you with that."

"You've changed," Robby said. "A lot. It's like you're a different person."

"It's not that I'm a different person." Johnny looked into his son's eyes. "It's that I held a lot back, and now I have some good people in my corner, people who helped me. I'm still gonna make mistakes. I'm still an asshole."

Robby laughed at that. "Yeah, okay, Dad." He folded his hands and sobered. "Regina said I'm too hard on you. She said a lot of things. Like she's jealous you're my real dad. Her old man doesn't even contact her. She's eighteen now, so he doesn't even send money. She laid into me on my first day there, and I'm starting to think she was right."

"Too much shouting and not a lot of listening," Johnny said. "And not a lot of explaining. I should've told you about the coma. But I shouldn't have been going dirt bike riding when I should've been with you. I just didn't want to turn into Sid. And I thought I would. Instead I turned into a corpse for eleven years."

"Still better than Sid," Robby shuddered. "I should've let you explain. But it sucks to see your dad and think, 'He doesn't want me.'"

"I just thought I'd make things worse by being around," Johnny admitted. "I'm fucking terrified, but I'm gonna do this." He adjusted his headband. "Did you want to go on that rafting trip?" Johnny remembered Robby's extended absence from school, where he'd lied to the staff that he was on a father-son rafting trip.

"I don't know about that. Maybe something else? Arcade night?"

"All right. We'll do that this weekend," Johnny promised. He had one more question to ask his son. "And, you're okay with me and Daniel being...together?" He still wasn't used to saying it aloud, even though their faces had been spammed across the local news, and because of Happy Gilmore's accident, some national outlets, too.

"Yeah," Robby said. "Kreese told me, when he told me what he did to Daniel. I was surprised when I had time to think about it. Then I thought it can't be true. You're...you, and you and Daniel couldn't even be near each other without throwing hands. But, it's not like that now. This is probably the healthiest relationship you've been in. And I like Mr. LaRusso."

"Me, too," Johnny said with a grin.

"God, you're blushing." Robby shook his head with a smile.

"Seriously, you're not getting picked on in school about this or anything?" Johnny gave voice to one of his biggest fears. If Johnny and Daniel had gotten close in their youth, they'd have faced swift repercussions.

"Only Kyler and Brucks," Robby said with a shrug. "They said one thing once, and pissed off most of the student body. Literally, no one else cares."

Johnny didn't know why that surprised him. How had the world changed so much in only a few decades? He thought again how things might have been different for him and Daniel if they were born later. His young brain had been too afraid to even entertain the idea of having an attraction to Daniel. "You're lucky the world is different now."

"I guess so. We still have to worry about our parents and employers and all, though."

"Well, don't ever worry about me, all right?" Johnny clasped his shoulder.

"Thanks, Dad."