Three cans of spray paint: Red, white and black,
Two paint markers, and a stencil he cut from cardboard.
It was midnight when we left the house, maybe sooner, I don't really remember.
Me-still in my work clothes and curly hair,
and him-in those jeans I love and his favorite, black band shirt.
We set ourselves up!
First: an abandoned historical building, broken by time, cascaded with stars and paintings
And now, stenciled faces and bad graffiti.
It was my first time with a paint can.
Next: downtown, my sanctuary and new-found-run-away-spot;
We hit two alleys.
There weren’t any cops or pedestrians around,
We were safe and unknown.
We rode with the windows down to keep the paint fumes from the stencil out of his car.
One, last location: college campus, a felony if we got caught;
Carelessly, we pressed on, sneaking past the freshman and campus security.
Anything clear of anyone but us became the victim.
I was in love and
Addicted.
We went home sweaty, hungry, tired, and with a car full of new paint (for next time).
He sat in a jail cell for four days before I knew where he was.
I got away, only because he covered for me.
He says it doesn’t matter, the charges won’t be split, and I’ll be put on probation too, but-
It’s been two weeks and nothing has been the same since.
We set ourselves up!