I nod and flip my face shield down, and he steps back and does the same with his. He leans against a vintage car, waiting.
We’re clearly not leaving until I demolish something, so the chimney will have to do. I decide to make this quick. The faster I smash this chimney up, the faster we get back to Manhattan. Logan promised me pizza afterward.
I raise the pipe over my head with both arms and swing it down hard and fast. I gasp as the lip of the chimney crumbles.
Drips of adrenaline trickle through my bloodstream. That felt… satisfying.
That one’s going to be a little harder to fix, though.
Not the point, I remind myself.
I look over at Logan, who’s beaming. “Amazing!” he cheers.
Fueled by his encouragement, I knock one of the two pipes right off the top.
After this strike, adrenaline is joined by dopamine. It rushes through me in tingly waves. They crash down on the feelings I’ve packed away neatly inside, chipping away at each one.
Dad is the first to come to mind. His manipulation. His lies. His selfish charm.
I go quiet and try to name what I feel.
I feel frustrated. I feel mad. I feel small.
I whack the second pipe off, and it flies into a sunset-painted backdrop.
Thoughts of my brother and his lies float to the surface.
I feel annoyed. I feel used. I feel betrayed.
I take another swing, this time from the side. The pipe crashes into the chimney’s walls. It collapses.
I think about losing Mom.
Whack!
Losing Grandma and Grandpa.
Thwack!
Losing myself.
I wallop the other side of the set where the paint has started to crack from the force.
Losing the lake house.
Thump!
Losing my sense of home.
Whack!
From behind a chandelier, the tip of the Empire State Building peeks out. It’s a painted backdrop of the New York City skyline. This city is my home. It’s where I moved to have freedom. To be my own person. It’s taken me a while to get there, but now it’s time. Time to start building not just a life, butmylife.
I tighten my grip on the pipe.
The rest comes in bursts: my divorce. My job loss. Being alone. Feeling alone.
My nose tingles, and what’s left of the chimney blurs. I blink through it, still swinging.
