DC Graffiti

 

DC Graffiti

“You’re making the loops too small,” Danny whispered. “No one is gonna be able to read that!”

“You don’t like how I paint, get your ass over here and do it,” Gavin hissed back. “Otherwise, just keep your eyes open for scouts.”

Danny shook his head as he looked at Gavin’s letter C.

“Too small,” he muttered as he looked back out of the alley to the main road.

Nothing was quite the same since the federalization of the city. While it had been welcomed at first, it turned into a nightmare of providing documentation just to get through “criminal check points” on a day-to-day basis. Danny’s dad had refused once, video taping the interaction for social media as proof of the unconstitutional actions of the troops.

He was swiftly detained and had been in detainment ever since. Three months later, neither Danny nor his mother were able to talk to him or even get a lawyer to him. “Security reasons” being the cited reason by those who would actually talk to his mother. The video had disappeared with the phone and was never uploaded.

Gavin’s old man just disappeared one night on his way back from work. No one talks to Gavin, being a minor, and since his dad was his sole parent, Gavin lived with Danny now. While his mother was distracted with overtime now that his dad was “detained”, it left Danny and Gavin some time to work with the resistance.

Mostly other Teens who snuck out on various nights to tag buildings and bridges with messages of discontent over the military occupation of their city. Danny looked back at the small c loops in “Occupied” as Gavin stepped back to admire his work.

“Loops are too small,” Danny whispered again.

“Shut up about the loops,” Gavin said. “We got it done. Let’s go.”

“Stop where you are!”

They both jumped and looked around, pressing themselves against the alley wall. 

“Stop now, or we’ll be forced to shoot!”

“We aren’t moving!” Danny tried to shout. His voice, however, seemed lost somewhere between his throat and his mouth. All that came out was an squeaky yet guttural croak that sounded more like a dying frog than a boy’s voice.

He didn’t have a chance to try again when the shots rang out. A body slammed onto the pavement in front of the alley way and skidded a bit before coming to a halt. Something metallic rolled from the body towards them and stopped against Danny’s foot.

Danny grew cold and tried to fight back the bile that surged into his mouth.

He lost the fight.

Danny lurched over and vomited all over what was at his feet.

“It’s paint,” he said spitting out the remnants of his vomit.

“Is that Clark?” Gavin whispered. He took a step towards the body.

Danny looked at the face. It was a vacant look in newly dead eyes that somehow seemed to be staring at him accusingly.  

“We have to go!” Danny hissed. He pulled Gavin’s arm just as Gavin had started to walk towards Clark.

The approaching footfalls of others registered in his ears, and it snapped his mind back from Clark’s face. Gavin dropped his own paint and ran as hard as he could.

The next few blocks would be a blur that neither of them would remember for a night that neither of them would forget.

***

The soldiers began setting up a small perimeter around the body to ensure no one could get close to it.

“Another kid?”

“They didn’t know it was a kid, Sarge,” a soldier beside him replied. “They saw a glint from the can and thought it was a weapon.”

“Looks like there were more down this alley,” came a call behind them. The Sergeant looked towards where the soldier was shining his light from the cans of paint, the vomit and then up to the graffiti.

“Do the C’s look weird?” the soldier asked. “Do you think its code for something?”

“Who knows?” the Sergeant replied.  He turned back to the body at his feet. “Let’s focus on saving our asses on this issue first, and then we’ll figure out your conspiracy theory on another day.”

“I dunno. I think it’s the small loop of the Cs that are throwing me,” the soldier continued. “They’re too small, don’t you think?”

The Sergeant sighed as he stared at the boy lying at his feet.

“Yeah. A lot of things are too small lately,” he muttered to himself.

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved