Set the World on Fire
Style and Ambition
Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he finished the final letter of the sentence he and his friends had spray painted on the side of the school building. He wiped them with his arm and turned to the group behind him. They all gave signs of approval.
"It looks great.” his best friend said proudly as he stepped forward.
"You think so, Mikey?" He replied, "You think the message is clear enough?”
"Definitely.” Mikey replied nodding, "If 'fuck the system' isn't enough to make them see that the system is shit then I don't know what is."
"Good, good." He nodded. He felt proud of his handiwork and was tempted to leave a sort of signature. He weighed out his options, he wasn't the only kid named Frank at his school, but he was the only one who dressed the part of the delinquent; or at least delinquent according to public standards. If fighting for what he believed in made him a delinquent then so be it. He was approaching the wall to quickly write out his initials when a snicker came from a lanky figure rounding the corner.
"That's really weak." The boy said stopping a few feet from the group, "You gotta think about the bigger picture. Fuck the system, yes. But do it creatively. Think about it."
Frank opened his mouth to reply but Mikey's voice sounded from behind Frank, "Shut up, Gerard. You were asleep when I left; how the fuck did you get here?"
Frank turned to face his friend. Mikey pushed his glasses higher up his nose and crossed his arms. He had told Frank about his older brother who had left for art school and had said his name was Gerard. Frank had seen old pictures of the guy and probably wouldn't have recognized him looking the way he did as he stood in front of the group. He had lost some weight and let his hair grow out. His raven black hair was at ear-length. He wore clothes like Frank and Mikey did; only Gerard's didn't look as old and dirty. His Black Flag t-shirt didn’t look as worn out as the one Frank had in his closet and he was pretty sure that the jeans he was wearing were a women’s cut. They seemed too tight to be the regular drainpipe jeans he and Mikey wore. They also hugged his hips in a way that Frank couldn’t help but notice. He tried not to focus on that as his best friend’s older brother made his way to their group.
He smirked, "Really, Mikey? You're gonna try and hide your malevolence from me?"
"If you tell mom..." Mikey trailed off as Gerard shook his head.
"I won't. Scout's honour." He stepped forward towards the wall and observed each letter closely, "Like I said, this is a good start. But not good enough. Who's got the paint?"
Mikey shot Frank a glare but he ended up giving the spray can to Gerard anyway. The older boy looked at the can for a few seconds before bringing the box that Frank had used to reach higher up the wall closer to him. He stepped up on the box and the group watched as he drew what looked like a dark figure sitting on a cloud beside the words Frank had written; lines were drawn moving away from it. He stepped off the box and below the cloud he began to draw a little girl, complete with pigtails and a balloon in one hand and a rag doll in the another. The lines coming from the cloud were extended to connect with the little girl's head and he finally drew x's over her eyes. Below the girl he added 'XOXO'. A signature, Frank noted.
"Holy shit, that's amazing!" A boy from the group yelled. Gerard smiled and nodded. Frank had to agree. It was a great addition to the message.
"Shut up, Ryan. You're encouraging him." Mikey said, clearly annoyed.
Ryan shrugged, "It's fucking cool. Your brother's got talent."
"Thank you, Ryan." Gerard said with a grin. He turned to Frank and tossed him the can, "You guys have the right idea. You just don’t know how to execute it right. I can help with that. I mean, if you want me to."
"No." Mikey said immediately.
Frank raised his hand, calling for order in the small group that had started discussing the events that had just taken place. The talking stopped and Gerard watched Frank with interest.
"All in favour of Mikey's opinions regarding his brother not meaning shit?" Frank asked, a stupid grin on his face.
He received various yells of agreement and he nodded as the group calmed down again. He turned to Gerard, "We're trying to get people to notice the crap that's going on around them. We're trying to open the eyes of the public but they refuse to listen. "
Gerard nodded, "Yeah. I get that. You see," he turned and stepped back towards the box. He stepped onto it again and continued talking, "people are content with the misery they live in, or so it seems. They actually are screaming for help deep down. Our job, as the knowledgeable youth of tomorrow, is to help those who got stuck in the shitstorm of yesterday. We see things as they are, not how they’ve been. We’re the ones who get to decide what happens tomorrow, and the day after, and our generation is most likely to be making important global decisions for the next couple of decades. What’s wrong with that? Nothing, except for the fact that we have no fucking support.”
He paused to allow the group to take in what he had just said. The 4 boys that stood beside his little brother gave him admiring looks once they had exchanged hopeful looks with each other. Mikey stood beside Frank, his arms still crossed with his mouth twisted in annoyance.
“Lighten up,” Gerard gestured to Mikey, “You want this as bad as they do, as bad as I do.”
Mikey stuck his tongue out, “That may be, but you’re still an ass.”
Gerard laughed it off, a small grin playing on his lips, “I love you, too.” He averted his eyes back to the 4 boys who appeared to be waiting on his next word, “Which is what I’m gonna help you get to. We’ll rally up this place with enough support and we’ll show em’ who’s boss. Remember, there would be no government if there were no people. We will always have more power than they do.”
The boys cheered while Mikey uncrossed his arms. Gerard smirked and asked, “So what do we say?”
He let the group quietly try and come up with a response for a few moments but soon answered his own question, “Fuck. The. System.” He finished by pointing at what they had created on the wall of the school’s administrative building.
The boys repeated in unison, even Mikey cheered. Gerard grinned again, watching Frank with curiosity as the boy turned to his friends, “Now you bet that I've got something personal against you! You deny sitting at the corner; you die, but the love of your own. You've got nowhere to go but down!” Gerard watched the younger boy scream the lyrics as his friends cheered. His eyes averted for a split second towards a figure emerging from the same corner he’d come around before going back to Frank, and then back to the man as he realized who the figure was.
"Hey! You there!" A man in a security uniform rounded the corner and the younger boys froze.
"Run!" Gerard yelled, jumping off the box and grabbing onto Mikey's shirt collar. He ran off with the smaller boy in tow.
"Frank!" Mikey yelled as he quickly turned his head, gaining his friend's attention in the panicked circle. Frank took off running behind the brothers quickly catching up to them. They ended up back at the brothers’ house. Gerard helped the two younger boys through the window at the back of the house that lead into Mikey’s room before climbing up himself. Frank sprawled himself out on the floor while Gerard lay on the bed with his head resting on Mikey's lap.
"That was insane. We'd never been caught before." Frank said with a small laugh.
"You weren't caught. We got away." Gerard replied as he swatted Mikey's hand away from his hair. Mikey stuck his tongue out at him and continued tying locks of his hair into knots.
"I think he did get someone, though. I saw Ryan run but-" Mikey trailed off. Defacing private property would definitely mean some sort of consequence, he thought.
"To make an omelet you gotta break a few eggs. These things are bound to happen. They'll be fine if it's their first time being arrested. Their parents'll go get them and pay a fine, or they'll spend a night in a holding cell. Not much happens after that." Gerard shrugged.
Mikey shot Frank a look of concern and Frank shrugged too, "There's not much we can do now. It's not like we can bust them out of the police station. "
Gerard attempted to sit up abruptly but Mikey smacked his forehead. He lay back down onto his brother's lap with a grunt.
"It's a genius idea!" Gerard argued as Mikey gave him an annoyed look.
"You're an idiot.” The younger said simply.
Gerard stuck his tongue out at his little brother and Mikey rolled his eyes, "It's an idea. With the right planning we could totally pull it off. Right, uh, what was your name again, kid?" Gerard turned to look at Frank who was lying on his back with his eyes shut.
Frank opened his eyes as far as they would go in an attempt to seem wide awake, "Frank. My name's Frank." He said, the tiredness in his voice gave him away.
"I'm Gerard."
Frank replied with a sleepy 'mhm' before Mikey threw a pillow at him. He took the pillow from his stomach and placed it under his head.
"Frank, you gotta go home. Your mom will kill us if she doesn't see you in the morning." Mikey said softly. He was getting tired as well.
"There isn't anything we can say? We got carried away? Next thing we knew it was like 3 AM?" Frank muttered.
"I'll cover for you, if you want." Gerard said. He was staring at the ceiling, "I took you guys to this gallery two towns over. We got kinda lost on the way home. Driving directions, y'know. I'm also 22."
"Fair enough." Mikey shrugged.
"Thanks." Frank turned to his side. Gerard sat up so Mikey could get out the spare blankets. The room was silent as Mikey left the room for a few moments, soon returning with folded blankets in his arms.
"You gotta have more faith in me." Gerard said from the bed as Mikey dropped the blankets onto his friend and moved to look through his closet.
"I do." Mikey replied.
"I know these things now. It's like I told you in that letter I sent you a month ago, my friend, he's shown me all these things. This place is so fucked, Mikey. We gotta make it better." Gerard rubbed his eyes with his palms.
"And we will. You just get carried away sometimes. You forget we’re not all knowing and all powerful." Mikey watched as Frank sleepily unfolded one of the blankets and brought it above his face.
"He can just sleep like that?' Gerard asked. Mikey shrugged.
"He's the human embodiment of a rock. So long as bugs don't get to him he's good."
Gerard smiled slightly and stood to walk out the door, “We’re gonna make it big. I know it. We’re gonna make things change, whether they want it to or not.” He stopped to lean on the door frame facing his brother.
Mikey returned his brother’s smile, “I know you are.”
Gerard’s smile turned into a full grin, “I’ve got plans for tomorrow.”
“Make sure you get some sleep tonight.” Mikey said in a warning tone.
“I will, mom.” Gerard said as he turned to cross the kitchen to get to their living room. He’d only arrived at the house that same morning. His summer break was two months, and in those two months he’d assumed he would get to spend time with Mikey, probably end up watching marathon after marathon of old cartoons and continue their infinite debate as to who would win in a drinking game between Spock and Luke Skywalker. He never expected to walk into a breeding ground for any sort of rebellion. The Jersey he left behind was long gone, and in its place was this new generation of free thinkers like him. If his friend Ray were here Gerard knew the man would approve. He sat down on the couch, not bothering to turn the television on. Different ways of executing their message in what he deemed as the proper way and a newly found ideology raced through his head.
He had so much to tell them, so much to teach them.
"It looks great.” his best friend said proudly as he stepped forward.
"You think so, Mikey?" He replied, "You think the message is clear enough?”
"Definitely.” Mikey replied nodding, "If 'fuck the system' isn't enough to make them see that the system is shit then I don't know what is."
"Good, good." He nodded. He felt proud of his handiwork and was tempted to leave a sort of signature. He weighed out his options, he wasn't the only kid named Frank at his school, but he was the only one who dressed the part of the delinquent; or at least delinquent according to public standards. If fighting for what he believed in made him a delinquent then so be it. He was approaching the wall to quickly write out his initials when a snicker came from a lanky figure rounding the corner.
"That's really weak." The boy said stopping a few feet from the group, "You gotta think about the bigger picture. Fuck the system, yes. But do it creatively. Think about it."
Frank opened his mouth to reply but Mikey's voice sounded from behind Frank, "Shut up, Gerard. You were asleep when I left; how the fuck did you get here?"
Frank turned to face his friend. Mikey pushed his glasses higher up his nose and crossed his arms. He had told Frank about his older brother who had left for art school and had said his name was Gerard. Frank had seen old pictures of the guy and probably wouldn't have recognized him looking the way he did as he stood in front of the group. He had lost some weight and let his hair grow out. His raven black hair was at ear-length. He wore clothes like Frank and Mikey did; only Gerard's didn't look as old and dirty. His Black Flag t-shirt didn’t look as worn out as the one Frank had in his closet and he was pretty sure that the jeans he was wearing were a women’s cut. They seemed too tight to be the regular drainpipe jeans he and Mikey wore. They also hugged his hips in a way that Frank couldn’t help but notice. He tried not to focus on that as his best friend’s older brother made his way to their group.
He smirked, "Really, Mikey? You're gonna try and hide your malevolence from me?"
"If you tell mom..." Mikey trailed off as Gerard shook his head.
"I won't. Scout's honour." He stepped forward towards the wall and observed each letter closely, "Like I said, this is a good start. But not good enough. Who's got the paint?"
Mikey shot Frank a glare but he ended up giving the spray can to Gerard anyway. The older boy looked at the can for a few seconds before bringing the box that Frank had used to reach higher up the wall closer to him. He stepped up on the box and the group watched as he drew what looked like a dark figure sitting on a cloud beside the words Frank had written; lines were drawn moving away from it. He stepped off the box and below the cloud he began to draw a little girl, complete with pigtails and a balloon in one hand and a rag doll in the another. The lines coming from the cloud were extended to connect with the little girl's head and he finally drew x's over her eyes. Below the girl he added 'XOXO'. A signature, Frank noted.
"Holy shit, that's amazing!" A boy from the group yelled. Gerard smiled and nodded. Frank had to agree. It was a great addition to the message.
"Shut up, Ryan. You're encouraging him." Mikey said, clearly annoyed.
Ryan shrugged, "It's fucking cool. Your brother's got talent."
"Thank you, Ryan." Gerard said with a grin. He turned to Frank and tossed him the can, "You guys have the right idea. You just don’t know how to execute it right. I can help with that. I mean, if you want me to."
"No." Mikey said immediately.
Frank raised his hand, calling for order in the small group that had started discussing the events that had just taken place. The talking stopped and Gerard watched Frank with interest.
"All in favour of Mikey's opinions regarding his brother not meaning shit?" Frank asked, a stupid grin on his face.
He received various yells of agreement and he nodded as the group calmed down again. He turned to Gerard, "We're trying to get people to notice the crap that's going on around them. We're trying to open the eyes of the public but they refuse to listen. "
Gerard nodded, "Yeah. I get that. You see," he turned and stepped back towards the box. He stepped onto it again and continued talking, "people are content with the misery they live in, or so it seems. They actually are screaming for help deep down. Our job, as the knowledgeable youth of tomorrow, is to help those who got stuck in the shitstorm of yesterday. We see things as they are, not how they’ve been. We’re the ones who get to decide what happens tomorrow, and the day after, and our generation is most likely to be making important global decisions for the next couple of decades. What’s wrong with that? Nothing, except for the fact that we have no fucking support.”
He paused to allow the group to take in what he had just said. The 4 boys that stood beside his little brother gave him admiring looks once they had exchanged hopeful looks with each other. Mikey stood beside Frank, his arms still crossed with his mouth twisted in annoyance.
“Lighten up,” Gerard gestured to Mikey, “You want this as bad as they do, as bad as I do.”
Mikey stuck his tongue out, “That may be, but you’re still an ass.”
Gerard laughed it off, a small grin playing on his lips, “I love you, too.” He averted his eyes back to the 4 boys who appeared to be waiting on his next word, “Which is what I’m gonna help you get to. We’ll rally up this place with enough support and we’ll show em’ who’s boss. Remember, there would be no government if there were no people. We will always have more power than they do.”
The boys cheered while Mikey uncrossed his arms. Gerard smirked and asked, “So what do we say?”
He let the group quietly try and come up with a response for a few moments but soon answered his own question, “Fuck. The. System.” He finished by pointing at what they had created on the wall of the school’s administrative building.
The boys repeated in unison, even Mikey cheered. Gerard grinned again, watching Frank with curiosity as the boy turned to his friends, “Now you bet that I've got something personal against you! You deny sitting at the corner; you die, but the love of your own. You've got nowhere to go but down!” Gerard watched the younger boy scream the lyrics as his friends cheered. His eyes averted for a split second towards a figure emerging from the same corner he’d come around before going back to Frank, and then back to the man as he realized who the figure was.
"Hey! You there!" A man in a security uniform rounded the corner and the younger boys froze.
"Run!" Gerard yelled, jumping off the box and grabbing onto Mikey's shirt collar. He ran off with the smaller boy in tow.
"Frank!" Mikey yelled as he quickly turned his head, gaining his friend's attention in the panicked circle. Frank took off running behind the brothers quickly catching up to them. They ended up back at the brothers’ house. Gerard helped the two younger boys through the window at the back of the house that lead into Mikey’s room before climbing up himself. Frank sprawled himself out on the floor while Gerard lay on the bed with his head resting on Mikey's lap.
"That was insane. We'd never been caught before." Frank said with a small laugh.
"You weren't caught. We got away." Gerard replied as he swatted Mikey's hand away from his hair. Mikey stuck his tongue out at him and continued tying locks of his hair into knots.
"I think he did get someone, though. I saw Ryan run but-" Mikey trailed off. Defacing private property would definitely mean some sort of consequence, he thought.
"To make an omelet you gotta break a few eggs. These things are bound to happen. They'll be fine if it's their first time being arrested. Their parents'll go get them and pay a fine, or they'll spend a night in a holding cell. Not much happens after that." Gerard shrugged.
Mikey shot Frank a look of concern and Frank shrugged too, "There's not much we can do now. It's not like we can bust them out of the police station. "
Gerard attempted to sit up abruptly but Mikey smacked his forehead. He lay back down onto his brother's lap with a grunt.
"It's a genius idea!" Gerard argued as Mikey gave him an annoyed look.
"You're an idiot.” The younger said simply.
Gerard stuck his tongue out at his little brother and Mikey rolled his eyes, "It's an idea. With the right planning we could totally pull it off. Right, uh, what was your name again, kid?" Gerard turned to look at Frank who was lying on his back with his eyes shut.
Frank opened his eyes as far as they would go in an attempt to seem wide awake, "Frank. My name's Frank." He said, the tiredness in his voice gave him away.
"I'm Gerard."
Frank replied with a sleepy 'mhm' before Mikey threw a pillow at him. He took the pillow from his stomach and placed it under his head.
"Frank, you gotta go home. Your mom will kill us if she doesn't see you in the morning." Mikey said softly. He was getting tired as well.
"There isn't anything we can say? We got carried away? Next thing we knew it was like 3 AM?" Frank muttered.
"I'll cover for you, if you want." Gerard said. He was staring at the ceiling, "I took you guys to this gallery two towns over. We got kinda lost on the way home. Driving directions, y'know. I'm also 22."
"Fair enough." Mikey shrugged.
"Thanks." Frank turned to his side. Gerard sat up so Mikey could get out the spare blankets. The room was silent as Mikey left the room for a few moments, soon returning with folded blankets in his arms.
"You gotta have more faith in me." Gerard said from the bed as Mikey dropped the blankets onto his friend and moved to look through his closet.
"I do." Mikey replied.
"I know these things now. It's like I told you in that letter I sent you a month ago, my friend, he's shown me all these things. This place is so fucked, Mikey. We gotta make it better." Gerard rubbed his eyes with his palms.
"And we will. You just get carried away sometimes. You forget we’re not all knowing and all powerful." Mikey watched as Frank sleepily unfolded one of the blankets and brought it above his face.
"He can just sleep like that?' Gerard asked. Mikey shrugged.
"He's the human embodiment of a rock. So long as bugs don't get to him he's good."
Gerard smiled slightly and stood to walk out the door, “We’re gonna make it big. I know it. We’re gonna make things change, whether they want it to or not.” He stopped to lean on the door frame facing his brother.
Mikey returned his brother’s smile, “I know you are.”
Gerard’s smile turned into a full grin, “I’ve got plans for tomorrow.”
“Make sure you get some sleep tonight.” Mikey said in a warning tone.
“I will, mom.” Gerard said as he turned to cross the kitchen to get to their living room. He’d only arrived at the house that same morning. His summer break was two months, and in those two months he’d assumed he would get to spend time with Mikey, probably end up watching marathon after marathon of old cartoons and continue their infinite debate as to who would win in a drinking game between Spock and Luke Skywalker. He never expected to walk into a breeding ground for any sort of rebellion. The Jersey he left behind was long gone, and in its place was this new generation of free thinkers like him. If his friend Ray were here Gerard knew the man would approve. He sat down on the couch, not bothering to turn the television on. Different ways of executing their message in what he deemed as the proper way and a newly found ideology raced through his head.
He had so much to tell them, so much to teach them.
10/10/13