Page 109 of Breadwinner

“I’ve never been particularly good at that.” Nell slipped on the mask as she unbuckled her seatbelt, sliding out of the car with Sarah’s help.

They walked hand in hand into the building together. “Is this payback for all the sketchy places I’ve taken you over the last year? Because each of those had a purpose.”

“Will you be quiet for a minute? You’re going to ruin my fun if you keep talking through this.”

She led Nell into the building and through a set of double doors to where a small group of people wearing matching canvas coveralls was gathered. Sarah couldn’t help the laugh that was already building in her as she tried to contain her excitement.

“Okay,” she whispered in Nell’s ear. “Mask off, please.”

Nell slid the fabric up over her eyes, blinking as a wave of noise hit her.

“Surprise!” the group gathered before them shouted, jumping up and down with excitement.

Standing before them were Lily, Wren, Nate, and her sister Kelly. Amanda had her arm draped over Kelly’s shoulders, and Jamie stood next to Amanda, with Beth, then Sean and Pat standing beside her. Everyone was smiling, looking ridiculous in their matching getup.

“For you,” Nate said, with a flourish, handing Nell a set of coveralls.

“What on earth,” Nell said, looking around in disbelief. “How?—”

“Welcome to your birthday party.” Sarah beamed as she stepped into a pair of coveralls herself, indicating that Nell should do the same. “We’re gonna destroy some stuff.”

Sarah had rented out a rage room for the afternoon—a warehouse filled with rooms and rooms of things they could smash and shatter and beat till they were perfectly content. An attendant for the space gave them all a quick rundown of theground rules and covered a few safety guidelines before letting them loose inside.

Lily and Wren made a beeline for some metal baseball bats and a crate filled with empty wine bottles. Beth naturally gravitated toward the cans of spray paint, while Amanda, Jamie, and Kelly ventured deeper into the building and out of sight, along with Nate.

Sarah and Nell moved together further into the building, broken glass crunching beneath their shoes. They turned a corner into a room where Beth was spray-painting across old TVs as Wren smashed them with a bat. Beth caught her eye and gave her a weak smile from behind her face shield.

“How did you know that I would love this?” Nell asked, leaning close enough so Sarah could hear her over the sounds of smashing glass.

“You might act like you’re too good for it, but I know deep down you love to take care of your inner child. You do it every Christmas with Nate when you go to Disney, and you do it for yourself through Mother Goth. I figured this might be something a nineteen-year-old you could have used.” Sarah reached out and grabbed a sledgehammer that was resting against the wall. “So, what is it going to be first?” she asked, with a grin. “Do you want to take this sledgehammer to a car? Or grab some spray paint and go to town?”

Nell looked at her with complete and utter delight in her eyes, and Sarah committed that look to her memory forever, promising herself that she would always do her best to pull that look from Nell for as long as their lives were intertwined.

“Sledgehammer, hands down,” Nell said, flipping down the front of her plastic face shield and taking the sledgehammer from her. Sarah laughed before following her into the next room.

“Let’s fucking go, baby.”