Prologue- We looked at each other in shock as we heard the sound of police sirens drawing near. We packed our things as fast as humanly possible and started to run. I didn’t know exactly where I was running to, but I knew I had to get out of there, and fast!


As we raced through the streets, the horrible sound was getting closer, closer, and closer still until my fears had finally been realized.


The cruisers came to a screeching halt as they saw us. Completely surrounded with absolutely no way out, we finally gave up. “What have I gotten myself into”, I asked myself as I was being cuffed. I should have never trusted him.

I awoke one morning to the sound of my mother’s tired voice. “Mark! Get up or you’re going to be late for school again!”


It was the same old boring routine every day. Get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, and hurry off to the most boring school in all of Texas, Cederman High School.


It was torture sitting in boring classroom after boring classroom. And to make things worse, I’m not the most liked kid in school. Life can be rough for a 16 year old.


Sure I’m popular but none of my teachers like me. My friend Justin and I always joke around in all of our classes. We’ve been friends since the fourth grade and we’ve had a lot of adventures together. We’ve also gotten in trouble together. Let’s just say that we’re not the best behaved kids in the world. Justin and I have been to jail before for destruction of other people’s property.
We tagged the side of a house thinking that nobody was home. Not only was somebody home but the person that owned the house was an off-duty cop. That didn’t end up very well for the both of us. We were required to pay for the extreme damage, got 20 hours of community service each and we’re both on probation for the next 3 years.
But I was determined to turn my troubled life around as a fugitive. Not just for me but for my mother who had sacrificed so much in order to keep me out of jail. But I was about to break my promise to my mom. It was something that I will regret forever.


When I arrived at school, I went to my first class of the day, math. It wasn’t the way I wanted to start my day but I had to.


While I took my seat I noticed that we had a new student. He looked puzzled as to where to sit so I invited him to sit with me and Justin. He agreed and took his seat.


“What’s up?” I asked. “I’m Mark and this is Justin.”


“Nothin much,” he said. “I’m Michael but you can just call me Mike.”


We took out our books and started to work on our daily morning problems. I thought that we were going to be good friends but boy was I wrong about that.

Three months later- It was Monday morning and my mom and I were in a fight. My grades in school had dropped a lot ever since I had met Mike. I had been hanging out with him so much that I didn’t even think about doing my homework.

Apparently Mike has also been in trouble for tagging various things and wanted me to help him on the biggest tag he's ever done. I told him no because of the promise I had made with my mom the last time she had bailed me out of jail. He wasn't happy with me but I knew that I was doing the right thing.
I stormed out of the door and started to walk off to school. I didn't want to ride the bus today mostly because I didn't want to see anybody. I knew I was going to be late for school but I didn't care. I had better things to do.
When I finally made it to school (an hour and a half late) I immediately went to Mike. I told him that I was in and that I wanted to do the tag tonight.
"What made you change your mind?" he asked.
"I got into a fight with my mom and I miss the good old times. Back when I used to tag all kinds of things," I replied.
"Sweet," he said. "Meet me by the railroad tracks at 6:00p.m.. Me and Justin will be waiting for you there so don't be late."
"Wait," I said. "Justin is coming?"
"Yeah. He told me he wanted in on the action last night."
"Okay. See you there," I said.
That night I told my mom that I was going to bed because I had a stomach ache and luckily she bought it. I dressed up in my black sweats, t-shirt, sneakers, and beanie. I opened my window, climbed down the tree and I was off.
I was sure to get there early just to be safe but in the distance I saw two faint black figures. It was almost like they were shadows in the night. Blending in to every nook and cranny they could find. As I got closer I noticed that it was Mike and Justin.
When I could finally see their faces I asked, "So what are we taggin tonight Mike?"
"There are a whole lot of trains out here that we can tag. But we're not just goin to tag any train. We're going to tag the train headin for Houston tomorrow so everybody will see our stuff," he said.
"Sounds all right to me," I said. "How bout you Justin, sound good?"
"I don't know guys it seems a little risky. Somethin just don't feel right," he said.
Then he was off. He wanted no part of this and there was no point in trying to reason with him so we just watched him walk away until we couldn't see him anymore.
"So," I said. Do you got the spray?"
"Of course," he replied casually. "Every color you need to get the job done."
We walked toward the train, got out our paint, and started to tag the first car. As we were doing it I felt right. There was just something about painting that made me feel good even though I knew I was doing something completely wrong.
After about an hour we started to hear sirens and that is when it all happened.
Turns out that Mike was actually an undercover cop that went around from school to school busting fugitives. He set the whole thing up just like he's done with hundreds of other kids like me.
I had to call my mom to tell her that I was in jail and wasn't coming home. This time I was staying in jail. For 3 years. She said okay and hung up. I never knew that my life would end up this way.