Johnny and Seeley lifted their cans, the hissing sound produced as they sprayed onto the wall piercing everyone’s ears. Jodi shook her head, more at herself than anyone else, and dropped her can in the black canvas bag that stood at Tibby’s feet.
‘Won’t they hear it?’ Jodi nervously glanced around, searching for hints of trouble. Despite the darkness around them she noticed the carefree smile on Tibby’s face.
‘Seriously, are you not worried?’
‘Kate’s on lookout, as we call it. She’s in the store making a complicated request. We know that what she’s asking for isn’t available in the butcher shop, so it’ll keep them busy trying to find an alternative’ Mark spoke, leaning casually against the wall, his eyes on his spray painting friends. They were halfway through the second word, lingering on the S to make sure it looked perfect.
To the Freedom Fighters placing tags wasn’t a matter of making the shopkeepers angry, it was a matter of leaving their mark behind in a careful manner. Their tags were neat, readable and with purpose, hence they considered it art, not destruction of property.
Johnny and Seeley always did the main letters, after which Tibby spray painted the face of a cow besides the words while Mark decorated the statement his friends had written with blood-red outlines.
Jodi felt her heartbeat rise with every passing minute, scared of the consequences if they were caught. They could be arrested!
‘Don’t worry Jodes. If Butcher Bob finds out what we’re doing Kate will come running out of that store like lightning. Then it’s all a matter of following her as fast as you can. We’ve planned an escape route, Kate always takes care of that’ Tibby had apparently decided that it was a good time to explain the who-does-what of the group ‘Mark’s the brain of the FF, he locates the shops, decides over the time, and brings in the supplies from his dad’s arts and crafts store’
‘Cool’ Jodi said dully, then bit her lip, watching Seeley and Johnny finish their part of the graffiti. The boys turned around, smiles on their faces, no matter what went wrong now they had the words down already. The rest were decorations, but the main statement was on there, loud and clear.
MEAT IS MURDER.
Tibby clapped her hands, beaming and enthusiatic ‘Good job guys!’
‘We know’ Johhny laughed, handing her a canister ‘Do your thing, Tibbs’
‘RUN!’ Kate threw open the door of the butcher shop and tripped, only just regaining her balance, then sped past them ‘COME ON!’
Jodi gasped, motionless, watching the door open a second time as a man dressed in a butchers apron stormed out, yelling furiously.
‘Jodi! Run!’ Tibby snatched up the canvas bag, then closed her hand around the girls’ arm and dragged her along, until Jodi began to sprint by herself.
Kate shot Tibby a glare of annoyance, they all knew that Jodi had increased their chances of getting caught.
‘Run! Fuck, they’re right behind us!’ Johnny jumped a wooden garden fence and took off at full speed, the rest of the group on his heels, dropping several cans of spray paint as two of them tripped over the protruding edge of a street tile. They let the cans roll away; there was no time to retrieve them.
‘Shit!’ Mark cursed, scrambling to his feet before hauling Kate up by her arm. The angry shouts of the shopkeeper and his assistant were echoing through the passageway as the teenagers lifted themselves over the barrier that stood between them and freedom. Dropping down on the other side they caught their breath for a second, then continued running, glancing back over their shoulders to check that the angered adults weren’t making their way over the wall. Of course they were not, the fat shop owner wouldn’t be able to lift himself over even if his life depended on it.
‘Get to Chestnut lane, come on’ Tibby shouted, tightening her grip on the black canvas bag that was swinging wildly around her shoulder and setting off in the direction of her house.
Tibby’s were the only parents who wouldn’t get them in trouble for their latest act against animal cruelty, spray painting Meat is murder on the wall next to the local butcher shop, Butcher Barry.
She was raised vegetarian since birth, seeing as both her parents had not eaten meat since their teenagehood, and had thereby grown a healthy sense of skepticism regarding the use of animals for consumption. The others had converted later in their lives, the newbie Jodi a mere week ago.
They slowed their pace steadily, until two streets from her house they were trotting along calmly. Johnny’s face spit into one of his common lop-sided grins ‘That was awesome, man’ his breathing was still rapid, from the sudden sprint they’d been forced to take to get away from trouble.
‘We almost got caught, it wasn’t that awesome’ Jodi breathed, slightly agitated, it was the first time she accompanied the Freedom Fighters on one of their missions, and thus the first time she’d had to bolt her lungs out to get away from furious grown-ups. The experience was proving to be more active than she’d imagined.
‘Newbie, it was awesome. We tagged the wall, managed to finish writing our message before the assholes busted us, what part of our campaign wasn’t successful?’ Mark commented dryly, brushing the grit off his hands. His knees felt as though he’d done a sliding over a sheet of sandpaper, probably ruining his pants, but as he quickly inspected his jeans he discovered they were still intact. That was more than could be said for his skin.
‘Remember that time we got caught before we finished? And it said Meat is Mu’ Seeley beamed, his eyes shining with entertainment ‘I went back the next day and changed it into Meat is Moo, for the sake of variation’
Kate grinned, recalling that day ‘Yea, those were good times’
Jodi smiled faintly, not ready to shake off the feeling of panic that had rushed through her when the shopkeeper threw open his door and leapt out, right at them. She silently followed the rest of the group, staying slightly behind.
Tibby ruffled through her bag, pulling out her house key to open the door, and stepped inside ‘I’m home!’ she yelled, loudly, and listened for a reply. Her mom poked her head out of the kitchen ‘Hey, sweetheart, what have you kids been up to?’
She’d noticed the paint stains on their hands and clothes, their messy hair, and Jodi’s somewhat shocked appearance, and, knowing it was wrong, praised them in silence. They were doing something illegal, to stop something horrible from happening, and Tibby’s mom Laila couldn’t get herself to ban her daughter from protesting for a cause close to her heart.
‘Spray painting’ Johnny bluntly admitted, rather proud.
‘I see’ Laila threw them a smile, then retreated into the kitchen shouting ‘The cookies are done in ten minutes and you better come try them’
Jody’s face was a mask of utter confusion and disbelief, and the others grinned at her while Tibby rested her arm around the newcomer’s shoulder ‘My parents are cool with it, we remind them of their childhood. There’s a limit though, violence, we’re not allowed to literally fight for the cause. A bit of vandalism doesn’t hurt though, except if we get caught, then we pay the price’
‘You ever been caught?’
‘Once, about a year ago, just Johnny, Seeley and me that day, the guy caught John because he tripped. So we went back to claim a part of the trouble, it wasn’t fair to let it all be on him’
‘The guy didn’t even call the cops, man, it was a joke’ Seeley said, acting tough.
‘You almost pissed yourself, dude, I think that Tibby had more balls than you did that day’ Johnny commented dryly, then beamed at his friends.
‘The shopkeeper called their parents, had them pick them up, they were only thirteen at the time, so he didn’t want to press charges. The parents simply paid him off’ Mark explained, noticing the others were preoccupied with laughing at Seeley.
‘Oh’ Jodi sighed, trying to figure out why exactly she had joined the gang. Animal rights was a topic close to her heart, but all the vandalism would definitely take some time to get used to. Was it actually ethical?
She highly doubted it.
‘Do you guys ever, you know, leaflet or something?’ she questioned hesitantly, not intending to anger her new friends.
‘Sure’ Tibby rested her arm around Jodi’s shoulders ‘Of course we do, but sometimes we just want… adventure, I guess. We’re not really calm people, we need some excitement once a while’
‘Right’ Jodi nodded shortly, eyeing Seeley’s face.
He grinned ‘You’re trying to figure out if you want to be ascosciated with us, aren’t you?’
She shook her head rapidly ‘No, no, its not that… I just.. I’m not sure I can handle running from shopkeepers all the time. My parents will murder me if I get caught’
‘Alright, how about this. You stay with us, for a while at least, to see if you want to join for real. We’ll go leafleting, hang up poster, hell, we’ll sticker the crap out of this town, and when you’ve seen we’re not just raving maniacs we’ll introduce you to the reasons for our behaviour. Deal?’
She puckered her brow at his, feeling the weight of Tibby’s arm around her shoulders. She knew this was her chance at doing something, anything, for the cause she believed in. Maybe once she was one of them she could tone down their destructive habits. Maybe she’d simply go along and join them; after all, it could be the best way to get through to people. She couldn’t make up her mind, a question remaining unanswered.
Is it ethical to destroy someone’s property in an attempt to change a destructive mindset?
‘Alright’ she smiled, watching their faces light up ‘Deal’
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In case people wonder, after reading this, yes I am very much into animal rights, but until now have not actually gone spraypainting or anything like that. I limit my actions to leaflets, stickers, posters, speeches, projects in school, anything possible that does not destroy the property of other people. I am definetely not 100% against the more extreme animal rights activists, but I am not one of them.
Just had to say it to avoid ruining some people's opinions of me
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