Good Graffiti

Rebels' uproar

Protesting art is commonly referred to as insurrection, uproar, rebellion, revolt; it never has a good connotation. Not even cautious Jacqueline Therese Montreal could've foreseen the upcoming tragedy that would come with their protesting art.

It didn't take much for the aim of the 'hundred 100' petition to start spreading like wildfire. Bianca Williams was so invested in it that Jacqueline didn't bother being angry with her; too much effort. With Bianca's blog, the veteran vandals and their newbie tweetiebird were more famous than Alexandria by the end of the week. The environment was suddenly second place in Bianca's followers' eyes.

Thankfully, that Saturday both Mr and Mrs Montreal were working. The girls (Hana; Tiegan; and Jacqueline) were admiring Jacqueline's very first street art piece while the guys - Ryo; Andre; and Brennen - were setting up barriers. The slaughterhouse was closed after Alexandria's protest so it was mostly barren.

People were already gathering so the six street artists were already hiding their faces. Hana had the black bandana around her face with her baseball cap hiding her distinctive mohawk. Tiegan had her hair cover half her face and wore sunglasses to hide what was exposed. Andre and Brennen both wore gas masks while Ryo wore his bike helmet and Jacqueline the black surgical mask and blonde wig.

Their supporters were an ocean of blues, ranging from midnight to pastel. Many had posters, showing love for either Jacqueline or her cause or both. The same way Alexandria's supporters did it. Many of whom were among the ocean of blue.

The six vandals wore blue too; it was their idea, after all. Bianca was there as were several other film crews - some wore blue but not all. Jacqueline searched the melee of supporters before turning to Tiegan beside her. "Did we really do all this?"

Tiegan didn't take her eyes off their strident supporters as she replied. "No. All we did was paint walls and say what we felt. You gave them the strength to make this happen. You did this."

Hana took Jacqueline's hand in her own with a warm smile, hidden by the bandana. "You gave them what we never had." Jacqueline nodded, for once proud of herself. "Shall we?"

Jacqueline nodded again, this time, turning to Ryo. Before he could do anything with the megaphone in his hand, sirens filled the air. Police cars and a motorcade escorting the mayor appeared just beyond the crowd of protesters. From a police car came Sergeant Harris Franklin with a megaphone of his own.

"This is Sergeant Harris Franklin of the Long Shore police station. Offenders, you need to dismiss the protest and raise your hands where we can see them."

The crowd was filled with murmurs and confusion, as were the six on the makeshift stage. "I'm not going to jail, again," Tiegan voiced and Jacqueline turned to her with surprise. "Did you think I'm naturally this blatant?" Jacqueline turned to Hana who stood her ground stiffly. "They'll take us, no matter what."

"She's right," Hana stated.

More police cars showed up and but the crowd stood firmly. The officers - officer Hyde among them - exited their vehicles, armed. "If you do not disperse," the Sergeant bellowed, "we are firing tear gas!"

The warning caused a panic and people shoved and beat each other to escape. Some rampaged across the makeshift stage, disintegrating it. The six rebels were separated by the feral fear of their supporters. Tiegan, at least, grabbed Jacqueline and they hurried through the chaos with Ryo tagging a distance behind.

Hana and Andre were heard calling for each other and Brennen and that's when Jacqueline felt everything turn to slow motion. At the foot of the collapsed makeshift stage, Brennen's trampled body laid motionless. The only movement was from feet forcing him into the dirt.

"Brennen," she cried as Tiegan tossed her onto the back of Ryo's motorcycle. "I killed him," she panted hysterically but Ryo and Tiegan only eyed her in concern. "I killed Brennen!"