Jan and Pieter puffed and cursed as they lugged the last crate into the lock up.
“Don’t forget we have to ship all this stuff back out again when we sell it!”
“Don’t I know it! At least it will be smaller quantities.”
“I am not sure this is the best place to store it, you know. It is a bit rough if you ask me.”
“It was cheap, OK and we do have two very large padlocks and an alarm.”
“We could be miles away. No, we need something better to ward people off.”
“Like what?”
“Africans hang the carcasses of snakes around the edge of their properties.”
“…like that’s not going to attract the wrong sort of attention here?”
“What about a bit of graffiti?”
“Plenty of that here already.”
“Exactly, it will blend in.”
“It won’t scare anyone off though.”
“Depends what we do.”
They closed the garage door, locked it, pulled out a bag of spray cans from their van and began. It took them nearly an hour.
“There, that’s much better.”
“That should work.”
That night the local gang came round to examine the handiwork.
“What’s all this then?”
“Holy shit. I swear that thing just winked at me.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“It’s watching me. Now it is growling at me. I am telling you – it scares the shit out of me, I’m going.”
They ran off.
The two huge painted wolves on the door looked at each other and grinned sardonically.
*
“That has to be drugs they’re storing there.”
“It could be computer games or cuddly toys. They’re just as addictive.”
“Along with a toaster, a wine-rack and a set of decorative place mats.”
“What are you on about?”
“Don’t you remember Saturday night TV when you were growing up?”
“I do, and I also remember the graffiti.”
“Most graffiti I remember was pretty crude and didn’t involve wolves.”
“Oh, but this is Madam Li. I had no idea the Chinese were into street art.”
“Darling, she lives in Paris.” “Oh, in that case, she’s practically European.”