When I saw the signs taped to all the walls and poles in the school-- "You are living in a police state"-- "Think for yourself. Resist brainwashing."-- well, I just figured Shelley's been at it again. I felt like buggin her. She was nowhere to be found. Nobody knew where that bitch hung out.
I caught up with her at lunchtime though. In a dingy corner of the Indoor Theater, piled high with torn old costumes and broken sets, there she was, skinny and pale, her tattered khakis propping a ridiculous, pointed chin.
She had big but rigid eyes and a big nose that made her look like she had a little mustache. Her chin was tattooed, too, so she really looked like she had facial hair, though I doubt she got the impression she was giving. Shelly had a habit of turning her nose ring. Her scalp was shaved except for a pointed streak of pink hair. This plus her puffy cheeks made her head look like a ripe peach.
"Well! Your shit, I suppose!" I pointed to a sign on the wall above her, which read, "Free Mumia!" and had his mug shot on it.
Her cheeks flushed fruity red. She gave me a hurt look, as if to say, "Yeah... do you have a problem with that?" but at the same time, knowing she had it coming.
I shook my head. Damn it, but she looked disappointed. I think she would have enjoyed some antagonism, after going through so much trouble posting all the signs. Our school is famous for apathy; it probably won't even register her little act of outrage. If only some one started tearing down her signs! That would be censorship at least. Or if someone wrote "Fuck you!" over them... but nothing of the sort. They're just going to ignore them and wait for the tape to slowly come unstuck and the papers to be carried away on the wind.
I feel sorry for Shelley. She's just one of those passionate people, bristling to risk her young body for some good cause. We rarely need people like that anymore. I looked at her shadowed eyes, her protruding chin, her ringed long nose... if she was born a few hundred years earlier, I think she would have been burnt for witchcraft.