Page 1 of Break

Chapter 1

19 years ago

Ethan

“Seriously, Max. It’s not supposed togolike that! You have to pull this part out before putting in the darts, or they’re gonna bend and won’t fire!” Vincent complains as he tries to pull his new Nerf gun out of Max’s hand to show him how to load it.

“Back. Off. I can do it!” Max yells back.

Watching him get angry as his dirty fingers slip and slide over the plastic is annoying. I wish he’d just let Vincent do it so they would stop fighting and we can just play already.

I roll my eyes when Vincent yanks the gun out of Max’s hand. “Just let me do it. You’re going to break it, you jerk!”

Max’s face turns red as he glares at our friend. “I’m not gonna play if you’re gonna keep being a… adick.”

Looking up, my eyes widen at Max and then I look around to make sure none of the parents at the park heard him. Whispering, I warn, “Don’t say that. You’re gonna get us in trouble.” I see one of the moms sitting on a bench staring at us. She’s a little scary and looks like one of those church ladies that always wear dresses and buns in their hair.

Max walks over to the edge of one of the swing sets that holds in the wood chips, grabbing a stick on the way, and sits down. Digging the end into the ground, he waits while Vincent tries to load the gun, then asks, “Where’s Danny anyways? I thought he was supposed to bring his guns over too, so we can all have one?”

Vincent doesn’t pay any attention to Max’s question while trying to pop the chamber out. “This stupid thing won’t budge!” he whines, then tosses it to the ground.

“He’s probably just eating lunch,” I remind Max, then walk over to pick up the Nerf gun and try to pry it open. “Ugh, my fingers are too big for this. We need something small to bend in here to pull it out.” Looking around for another stick, I didn’t see any that wouldn’t break in half.

“Go ask that kid over there,” Vincent tells me, pointing at a little girl who’s playing in a sandbox by herself. “She’s got a bunch of toys that I bet could pry this stupid thing open.” He puts the gun in my hand and pushes me toward her.

Glaring at him, I roll my shoulder to get his hand off me. “Stop pushing me.”

“Just go ask her, would ya?” I don’t know why he can’t do it. HeknowsI don’t like talking to people I don’t know. At least it’s not someone older.

“Fine.”

Marching over to the sandbox, I stand on the side and wait for this stinking kid to look up at me so I can get one of her toys. That mom with the old church lady face is staring at me again, and I try not to get frustrated with my friends for making me talk to a toddler. “Hey,” I say, trying to get her attention.

The little girl stops moving for just a second before looking over at that lady on the bench, and then she keeps digging her hole while ignoring me. She has really dark brown hair that’s in one of those fancy braids going down her back, and a dress that looks like someone made it for her. I don’t know how old she is, but she’s so little that I bet she’s only like four or something.

“Hey, do you hear me? Can I use one of your toys for a second? I gotta fix my Nerf gun,” I ask again, tapping my toe on the edge of the box she’s in.

Finally, I get her to look up at me. She grabs an ugly brown bunny and hugs it to her chest as she looks me over. Big ol’ brown eyes that match her hair peek through the long bangs on her forehead. “You want one of my toys?” She looks down at a couple of them in her hand and frowns. “Which one you want?”

Okay, maybe she’s not four, but she’s really small like she could be. I squat down because it seems like I’m scaring her. Pointing at one of the digging tools that looks like a metal rake, I ask, “Can I use that one? Just for a second.”

She doesn’t say anything, but she nods her head and then hands me the one I was pointing at. “Thanks,” I tell her, and then use one of the tips to dig open the chamber. The plastic on this stupid thing bends and cracks, but finally, I get it to pop open. Sighing happily, I set her toy back down in the sand next to her. “Got it. Thought it was gonna break, but it didn’t.”

Her voice is quiet, so I lean in to hear her better when she says, “I’m glad it’s not broken. You guys playing shoot the bad guy?” She looks over my shoulder. I look behind me at Vincent and Max, who are standing with their arms crossed, watching and waiting for me to come back over.

Turning to face her again, I smile. “We were gonna play, yeah. But we only got a couple of guns right now. Our friend is coming with two more so we can have even teams,” I tell her.

She bites her lip and then nods her head again. “I never played that before. Can I shoot your gun?”

Looking down at the Nerf gun I’ve got set on my knees, I think about it. I probably should let her try it since she let me use her toy; it’s only fair. “I don’t got any of the darts in it right now. Let me go put some in and I’ll let you shoot it for a minute, if you want.”

She gives me a huge smile and sits up on knees, moving towards me a little. “Really? Sorry, I didn’t say please when I asked. But I meant to… andthankyoufor lettin’ me shoot it.”

“It’s no big deal. I’ll be right back.” Grabbing the gun, I run over to my friends to get some darts so she can try it out. Thankfully, Danny is finally here, so we can actually play instead of standing around while Vincent and Max fight with each other.

“‘Bout time. Did you fix it?” Vincent asks, holding his hand out for the gun to check it over. I don’t give it to him just yet.

“Yeah, I fixed it. I just gotta grab some of these darts. I’m gonna let that girl shoot it really quick,” I tell him, squatting down to grab a handful of the green foam bullets he shoved into a plastic bag.

---