CHAPTER 2
Most weeks, Kenny looked forward to the weekend. Usually, it felt like the weekend would never come. But that week, Kenny was not excited about the weekend. For some reason, the week flew by. Before Kenny knew it, his alarm clock was going off. It was 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.
“Rise and shine, Ken!” his dad called from the kitchen. “I’m making sausage and biscuits for breakfast.”
Kenny took a deep breath through his nose. He could smell the sausage and gravy, and the biscuits in the oven.
Well, Kenny thought, at least I’ll get an awesome breakfast.
“We need to leave in 15 minutes,” Dad said. “You can’t be late for your first day of karate class!”
“Okay,” Kenny called. “I’m coming.”
Kenny threw on some jeans and a T-shirt. He sat down at the kitchen table and started wolfing down his breakfast.
“What are you wearing?” his dad asked, smirking.
Kenny stopped eating. He looked down at his T-shirt and jeans. “What?” he said. “I always dress like this.”
Dad shook his head. “Not this morning,” he said. “Take a look in the gym bag on the chair next to you.”
Kenny frowned. He reached over and grabbed the bag.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Open it,” Dad replied.
Kenny opened the bag. He looked inside and pulled out a heavy white shirt and a pair of white pants.
“Karate robes!” his dad said, smiling.
“Are you kidding me?” Kenny asked, eyes wide. “I have to wear this thing?”
Dad got up to refill his coffee. “Of course,” he said. “What did you think you would wear for karate?”
“I’ll look like an idiot!” Kenny said.
Dad sipped his coffee and sat down with the paper. “Nah,” he said, “you’ll look like everyone else in your class. Go get dressed.”
“Come on!” Kenny yelled. “This is so dumb!”
Without looking up from his newspaper, Kenny’s dad said, “Try saying thank you instead. These karate lessons and robes aren’t free, you know.”
Kenny started to walk back to his room. But his dad stood up. “Wait a second, Kenny,” Dad said. “Don’t forget your belt!”
Dad reached out and handed Kenny a white strip of cloth. “At first, you’ll wear a white belt with your robes,” Dad explained. “As you get better and better, you’ll get a new belt as you reach each new level. It’s pretty cool.”
Kenny rolled his eyes as he grabbed the belt from his dad. He stomped back down the hall to his room to change.
Could this day get any worse? he thought.