Page 138 of Reasons We Break

BLOND CHICK:

Only through the cops. You know what’s gonna happen if they find him here. And we’re toast, too.

(There’s a long pause as they all digest that. Then, suddenly, BLOND CHICK moves back to the door.)

NICK:

What’re you doing?

BLOND CHICK:

I’m gonna distract them. Get him out.

NICK:

Zohra! Wait!

(But she’s gone. After a moment, NICK turns back to you. The scene begins fading again.)

NICK:

He’s going again. Do you have another dose?

(YOUNGER KID gives it to him. NICK fumbles with the packaging.)

NICK:

You know, your brother said he’d kill me if I ever came near you. Let’s hope he gets the chance.

YOUNGER KID:

You’re the one who put out a call for people to look for him.

NICK:

Well, I didn’t meanyou. I never even wanted to know you existed. God, is fucking up in your genes or something? You should walk away from all this. Now I have to blacklist your name to everybody I know, so you never get a job with us. And hope he never asks me about you ever again.

(YOUNGER KID doesn’t reply. He just cradles your head in his arms. There are shouts from outside, the squealing of tires.)

YOUNGER KID:

Do—do you think that’s our people—

NICK:

Guess we’re about to find out. Let’s go.

(You don’t hear anything else.)

THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON,Simran comes downstairs fully dressed to find Kiran happily munching leftover chaat next to their mother. And ifthat’snot a strange enough sight, their masi stands at the stove, stirring a pot and talking to her mom.

“...I’ll speak to your oncologist. I don’t think you need further treatment. With negative lymph nodes, the chances of recurrence are low.”

Simran reaches the foot of the stairs. Kiran and her mom look up and freeze. Her masi, who has her back to Simran, keeps going as she shuts off the stove. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of—” She halts as she spots Simran, too.

Simran sighs inwardly. After her chat with Manny, she’d asked TJ to take her home. They spent the rest of the evening in her bedroom, Simran ignoring her buzzing phone except for when Nick called to tell her Rajan was alive. Then she sank to the floor in her beautiful anarkali and cried so hard not even TJ could have salvaged her makeup. TJ left shortly after, and when Simran’s family came home, she simply pretended to be asleep.

So, now’s her first time showing her face with all the secrets out. Is it too much to hope she’ll walk away unscathed? She gives them all a bland smile and heads for the door. One, two, three—