"What do you mean you're helping me?" Miguel asked, confused. "You must be the same age as me..."
"Son, Clark came here to pay all the hospital bills..." Carmen explained, with a grateful smile.
"What? You're really going to pay those bills? They're so expensive..." Miguel exclaimed, surprised.
"Money is no problem for me, Miguel," I replied with a smile. "All you need to do now is improve, do your best, so you can get out of here as soon as possible and get back to karate..."
"Clark, even though I appreciate this, please don't encourage my son to do this karate thing again," Carmen said, concerned. "All of this only happened because he did karate..."
"Is it true, Miguel? Did all this happen because you did karate? Or did you do something else?...", I asked, looking at Miguel.
"Mom, he's right. All of this happened because I kissed Samantha at a party... while I was dating Tory. She saw all of this and caused all of this. But in the end, I was the one who started all of this. I'm the one to blame for being here...", Miguel confessed, sadly.
"!!!!... I see...", Carmen murmured thoughtfully.
"Don't worry, Carmen. Miguel will get over it, and when he does, he'll go back to karate," I said with conviction. "People, when they are young, like to live, to do crazy things, because that's what being young is. I'm like that too. We only live once, and in the end it's better to do what you want, knowing the consequences, than not having done it and regretting everything..."
"I understand. Okay...", Carmen replied, with a nervous but calm expression.
Two hours later...
"Hey, haven't you fixed the leak yet?" Tory asked the landlord.
"And you still haven't paid the rent. Do you understand how it works?" the landlord replied sarcastically.
"I'll have money next week. I'm working two jobs," Tory replied.
"You already brought up this conversation about your mother's diabetes last month," the owner retorted.
Dialysis "Respondeu Tory
"It's the same thing. My job here isn't to listen to excuses, it's to collect rent. If I can't do my job, you can't live here," he continued, threateningly.
"Don't do this, okay? You know my mom, she..." Tory pleaded.
"You're only not in reform school because of karate. I heard you got kicked out because of the fight...", the owner teased.
"You don't know anything," Tory replied angrily.
"I know if you guys had a mud fight in the pool, you would sell a lot of tickets and I know I would make a lot of money off of it," he continued to tease her.
Don't say that" Tory said in a slightly louder voice
"If you had a real man by your side instead of a boy, things would definitely be a lot easier for you, you wouldn't have to worry about rent" he teased
While this was happening...
"So this is it..." I thought as I parked my bike in front of the apartment complex. "Shit, my heart is racing... I'm going to find her again."
I got off the bike and heard some voices.
"So I'm at this part of the story..." I thought, as I walked towards the voices.
As I turned the corner, I saw her...
"Man, she's so beautiful..." I thought, feeling a wave of emotions wash over me. "Happiness, longing and nostalgia..."
"If you had a real man by your side, things would definitely be a lot easier for you," the owner continued to tease Tory.
"Who said she doesn't have a real man by her side?" I said, moving closer.
"CLARK!" she turned around quickly and, upon seeing me, her eyes widened. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" she asked, her voice shaking, as a mixture of love, nostalgia, longing and anger took over her.
"Hottie... You're still as beautiful as before...", I said, with a smile.
"Who's that guy?" "He's strong!" the owner exclaimed in surprise. "Hey, so you hit someone, Tory? The kid's strong as hell! Can I join in the fun?"
I walked up to him and punched him in the nose.
"Get out of here, you worm! If you come near Tory again to talk shit, I'll break both your legs. Now get lost!" I threatened him.
"THIS ISN'T GOING TO STAY LIKE THIS, DAMMIT!" he yelled, before looking at Tory. "IF YOU DON'T PAY ME THE RENT BY TODAY, I'LL THROW YOUR SICK MOTHER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, DAMMIT!" he threatened, before walking out, holding his bleeding nose.
"Why did you come back, Clark?" Tory asked, looking sad.
"I came to fulfill a promise with a certain girl...", I replied, approaching her.
"Tory slapped me in the face."
"You have a heavy, hot hand...", I complained, as I bent down to pick up my sunglasses that had fallen to the floor.
"Why... WHY DID YOU COME BACK? I DON'T WANT... I, I...", she stammered, tears in her eyes.
"Why did you come back, Clark?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"I wanted to see you, Tory," I said sincerely. "The time I was gone... all I could think about was you."
Tory looked at me in surprise, but then her expression turned angry. "I don't want to see you anymore... Get out of here... GET OUT OF HERE, CLARK!" she yelled.
"Is this what you really want?" I asked sadly.
"Exactly! Get out of here, I don't want to see you!" she replied, her face sad and her fists clenched.
I lowered my head, turned my back and walked away.
"Clark..."
She raised her hands, as if to grab me or call Clark, but then lowered them. She kicked an iron pipe that was next to her.
He ran to his apartment with tears streaming from his eyes.
A few minutes later...
"Toc, toc..."
Tory opened the door and was surprised to see Kreese there.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.
"I could say I'm an expert on Vietnam, special forces, covert operations... But your address was on the paperwork...", Kreese replied, with a smile.
"I'm not going back to the dojo..." Tory said firmly.
"Why not?" Kreese asked.
"Community service, probation, I want to graduate, I have to take care of my mom and brother, and I still have to pay rent... Life is killing me right now. And there's something else too..." Tory replied, her voice breaking.
"What happened? Were you crying? Is that your mother?" Kreese asked, concerned.
"No, it wasn't my mother. It was something else...", Tory replied, looking away.
"But you can fight back," Kreese insisted.
"THAT'S WHAT BROUGHT ME HERE..." Tory started to say, but then stopped herself. "You know about Miguel... It's all my fault what happened to him. I have to stay out of trouble..."
"Is your mother in bad shape?" Kreese asked compassionately.
Tory nodded.
"Mine was too. I get it. We lived in a less charming place than this." Kreese replied.
'Trust me, there's nothing charming about this place,' Tory said, looking past Kreese to the landlord. ' Is she okay?' Tory asked.
"No, it didn't get better. It was a different kind of disease. I didn't understand it at the time..." Kreese replied sadly.
"Look, if I could go back to the dojo, I would. But I don't have money for rent, let alone karate...", Tory explained.
"What if I pay your bills? The other students, they weren't born fighters like you," Kreese offered.
"Thank you. I have to change for work. I need to get some money or..." she said, looking back again. "Don't worry..."
Kreese looked back and realized what or who she was looking at.
He understood everything at the same time
Somewhere far away...
"Vruummm, vruummm"
"So this is what you really want? Okay, I won't look for you anymore...", I thought, as I walked away from Reseda.