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It was way too hot outside to be doing the kind of training they were doing. Yes, they were inside the dojo, but the air conditioning was broken, so it was hot as hell in the building. It didn’t help that the body heat of twenty students plus the two senseis was heating the room even more, to the point where it seemed to be distinctly possible that the temperature inside the room may have been even hotter than the temperature outside.
Robby hadn’t hydrated himself well that day. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t. Perhaps he was so distracted by the upcoming tournament to remember. Or maybe taking care of your body doesn’t seem so important when he was getting abused every day. But, for whatever reason, Robby was dehydrated to begin with.
Then, during class, Sensei Silver and Sensei Kreese decided it was a great day to do hard core calisthenics. When it was 110* outside and the air conditioner wasn’t working. The room heated up fast. Students began to ask for water breaks, but their requests were refused. They all kept moving, doing their pushups and jumping jacks.
After about ten minutes, Robby began to feel dizzy. He did everything that he could to push through the dizzy feeling. But it just got worse. He didn’t even realize that he had stopped sweating, a major sign of heat exhaustion. Then, as Robby and the rest of the class were standing up to do jumping jacks, Robby’s body couldn’t take anymore strain. As his feet hit the mat when he came down from a jump, instead of holding his weight, Robby’s knees gave out. He fell to the floor and welcomed unconsciousness as temporary shelter from his pain.
When Robby collapsed, Silver sneered at Kreese, “Look at your favorite student,” his expression said.
Kreese dismissed the class with a sharp, “Class dismissed.” None of the students needed to be told twice. The students left quickly, with Silver following after them, also going home. Kreese dumped some water onto Robby’s face and the teenager woke up with a start, grabbing the cup from Kreese’s hands and drinking what was left of the water. He was so thirsty.
Robby had hoped for comforting words from his sensei, even though he should have known better, but that’s not what he got.
As Robby looked his sensei in the eye, Kreese said to him, “You are weak, Keene. The weakest of all the students.”
“No. I’m strong,” Robby responded, but his voice came out weakly, more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone else.
“Did you notice anyone else who collapsed during class today?” There was a pause as Kreese waited for Robby to respond, but he refused to do so. “That’s because you are weak, Robby. Your body can't handle it, and neither can you.”
“I’m not,” Robby said, his voice a whisper.
“You are. And I am very disappointed in you,” Kreese said as he stood up. Then he too left. Robby was alone again, drowning in his misery and his weakness.