Flash Fiction: Graffiti by RC Bonitz

Welcome to the Spot Writers. Today’s contribution comes from RC Bonitz, author of critically reviewed, DANGEROUS DECISIONS, which was recently released. The prompt for this month: Opening sentence: “It’s still not clear what started it all.” Closing sentence: “What can be done to change that?”

GRAFFITI

by RC Bonitz

It’s still not clear what started it all. He didn’t understand the meaning of the graffiti on the plate glass window; it was to him unintelligible glop. Except for two things. The letters NRA and a 2, both clear, both with black diagonal slashes through them. He’d heard about those symbols before.

“Can I clean up the mess now, Detective?” the gun shop owner said in an exasperated voice.

“Yeah, we got pictures,” Detective Sloan said.

“Do you need to get samples of the paint they used?”

Sloan frowned. The painter would be back, no need. And these guys were smart enough to use common spray paint you could buy anywhere. “It’s probably some generic stuff you can buy in any of a hundred stores.”

The shop owner snorted. “Too much work to trace a little graffiti paint?”

Sloan stared at the man. The temptation to tell the guy he’d been marked was testing, but he controlled his tongue. He knew what was coming, and the guy would find out for himself soon enough. The gun control people had given up on legal ways to limit gun sales. Their tactic now was simple–take out the gun dealers. Or blow up their shops. It was poetic justice in a way. They’d walk into a guy’s shop, buy a gun, and then use it on him later when there were no cameras or witnesses around. Sloan knew of four gun shops in the state that had ceased to exist so far and no one had a suspect yet.

“What’s wrong?” the shop owner asked.

Sloan shook his head. “You better protect yourself. We can provide security for a while, but we can’t do it forever.”

The shop owner blanched. “You figure this is like what happened to Jimmy Carlson over in Weston?”

Sloan nodded.

The guy gave him a sick stare. “What can be done to change that?”

~*~

The Spot Writers–our members:

 

RC Bonitz: rcbonitz.com

Val Muller: https://valmuller.com/blog/

Catherine A. MacKenzie: http://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/

Tom Robson

 

Blog pending

 

 

 

 

 

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