Tagger by Bill Billings

Tagger stood in the little alcove at the Wood Island station and took a final hit off the joint. This is one of his favorite spots to catch a buzz between trains. He could hear the next Blue Line train coming to a stop. He flicks away the roach and runs to catch the train.

He takes his seat and looks up to see several men dressed in buckskins with braided wigs and rubber tomahawks looking like "B movie Indians. He shakes his head thinking, "Is this one of those flashbacks they promised? But the apparition is real. Tagger is sitting across from 6 guys in bad Indian costumes. Then he remembers hearing something about a reenactment of the Tea Party.

The men are talking loudly and one poor soul is taking the brunt of their verbal abuse. Tagger notices that the victim of the abuse is the only one without "war paint. They are berating him for not having a complete costume. The unadorned brave,s excuse is that he,s the only unmarried member of the group and had no access to make-up. He figured one of his comrades would bring extra. This elicits more anger from the group.

Tagger gets up and motions to the unadorned brave as he reaches into his backpack. The man comes over and with several adept swoops of the glistening cans; Tagger gives him a wonderful coat of war paint. The train stops at the Aquarium station and the pseudo band of patriots disembark with buoyed spirits.

Tagger gets out and adds the group to his growing mural.