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It was only Robby and Miguel in Johnny’s apartment because Johnny and Carmen were out on a date. The boys were extremely bored, but none of their friends were answering any texts. They must have been busy. The boys decided that they would make their own fun and do an activity to get to know each other better. Each boy would tell the other something that they had never told anyone.
Miguel went first. “I don’t have a whole lot of secrets honestly.”
“That’s okay, just tell me something that I don’t know about you yet,” Robby said in response.
“Okay. Well… The first time that I went out with Sam, it was mostly because I had heard that she was… you know… easy.”
Robby looked offended on behalf of his close friend.
Miguel brought up his hands in a placating gesture and said, “I don’t think that anymore! Now that I know her, I know that that was just a rumor, and I am honestly okay with that. I love Sam for who she is, not who I thought she was.”
Robby tilted his head and glared at Miguel critically, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. Upon seeing the open honesty in Miguel's expression, Robby released his tension and said, “I believe you.”
There was a moment of silence, in which both boys were waiting for the other to say something.
Miguel broke the silence saying, “Now it’s your turn. Tell me something that you have never told anyone else.”
Robby knew immediately what it was that he wanted to say. It was something that he felt the need to tell someone but felt that his father wouldn’t understand. Robby thought that maybe Miguel would understand, so he decided to tell him his biggest secret.
Robby knew that his story was kind of long, so he gave Miguel a fair heads up, saying, “It’s kind of a long story, if you’re into that.”
“That’s fine. We’ve got nothing but time,” Miguel said, stretching out on the floor.
“Okay,” Robby said. He took a deep breath. He was getting nervous now. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. Robby took another deep breath in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. Then, he spoke, “When I was in juvie after the school fight…” Miguel winched at the mention of the school fight. He still felt pain in his back from when it hit the railing of those stairs. Miguel had long since forgiven Robby for pushing him over the banister, but Miguel still preferred not to think about the events of that day. Robby didn’t stop speaking, “They forced me to talk to a counselor. I hated it at first. I was raised in a way that feeling my emotions was inappropriate and potentially unsafe. After a while, though, I grew more comfortable with the counselor. Her name was Ms. Cherry.
“I came to trust her. She explained to me why feeling things is so important to people, how emotions enable us to have healthy relationships with other people and stuff. I agreed to let myself feel things and to try to find out what I had been feeling. We talked about a lot of stuff, sometimes it was things that happened in my childhood, sometimes it was things that were more recent. She would try to help me discern what I may have been feeling in the moment and what I feel in the moment. Miss Cherry says that it’s important to understand what you felt in the past and how you responded to that emotion so that if you start to feel that way again, you can try to find a better and healthier way to deal with that emotion.
“I talked to her about all the fights and arguments that we had and realized that some of them were my fault. I was the aggressor. Miss Cherry helped me to acknowledge that this behavior was a result of fear.”
Miguel interrupted him then. “Fear. Fear of what?”
“Of you, Miguel. I was afraid of you.”
“Why would you be afraid of me?”
“I thought you were going to take away the only opportunity that I would ever have to have a real relationship with my dad. And that scared me. A lot. It still kind of does sometimes.”
Miguel didn’t know how to respond to that, so he simply didn’t.
Robby continued his story. “Once I got back, I was too afraid to see you, even though I wanted to make it up to you. I moved into the Cobra Kai dojo because I wasn’t ready to try things again with my dad. I was afraid of him too, scared he would leave me behind again. And I didn’t want that, so I kept on making bad choices, even though I knew they were bad choices. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know what else to do.” Then, Robby burst into tears, surprising them both. Miguel simply sat down next to Robby on the couch and put an arm around him. Robby couldn’t stop crying. It felt good to finally tell someone, other than his councilor about how he had been feeling.
Robby took a deep breath and looked at Miguel when he said the next part, “Back in the center, Miss Cherry diagnosed me with both clinical depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.”
“Have you told anyone?” Miguel asked. He was becoming concerned for the boy who was quickly becoming a friend of his.
“No,” Robby responded. “Who exactly would I tell? It’s not like my dad is exceptionally accepting of mental illness, Miguel. And I don’t really have anyone else.” Tears started running down his cheeks again.
“I’m glad you told me Robby. I’ll do everything in my power to help you. Just tell me what you need.”
“What I need to do is tell my dad.”
“I thought you didn’t want to tell him,” Miguel said, confusion written all over his face.
“I don’t, but there are certain things that he says and does that set me off, and I know that he doesn’t mean to. Or at least, I don’t think he means to. I just… I guess that I hope that he will stop if I tell him,” Robby said.
“I think he would stop if he knew how badly it impacted you.”
“I hope so.”
“But whether he likes it or not, I’ll be here for you. Just tell me what you need. Tell me what to look for.”
“I will,” Robby said. “But not now. Being emotionally vulnerable makes me tired.”
Robby laid down on the couch with his head on Miguel’s lap. And fell asleep quickly.
As Miguel looked down at the boy sleeping in his lap, he decided that he would do anything for the younger boy. It was then that Miguel officially accepted Robby as his brother, a brother that he would care for until the day he died.