Quiet as shadows, the crew navigated the dark streets. Already bent, they crept low hugging the pavement curves. Ahead lay their target.

G Unit was running point. Synchronized timers linked them but a shared history kept them in sync. With a furtive nod, she sent B Bop and X Ray ahead into the clearing. G Unit followed with A Train on her six.

A Train had hacked into the town’s surveillance system already. Outdated and cheap, it had been too easy for the old school programmer especially since it had been his firm that originally installed the municipality’s security.

Despite the aches in their knees, the crew’s fingers were nimble. T Bone, getaway driver and outlook, gave a long warning whistle. Everyone froze as the Adam 12s rolled past the slumbering suburban Main Street.

Heart hammering, Bernice aka B Bop slid across their van’s back seat. Whipping off her balacava with a flourish she gave a whoop. Next, Albert and Xiomara, A Train and X Ray respectively, jumped in laughing like the newlyweds that they were. Exhausted and exhilarated, their leader Big Gladys “G Unit” took the shotgun seat. She high fived their driver.

The fastest wheels in Sunny Acres Senior Home and ex-cabbie Tillie T Bone turned over the ignition. The wood panel station wagon purred to life. The crew stowed their equipment in the car seat secret compartment. Now was the time to wait.

Big Gladys aka G Unit had been the head of the secretary pool for Allied Insurance for 30 years until her retirement. Between the stenographer pads and typewriter ribbons, Gladys had learned three things; plan well, be organized, smash the patriarchy.

Tomorrow morning would dawn on the yarn bombing of Maryville County park. The Bluest Eye, Two Boys Kissing, Lord of the Flies, The Hate UGive, The Color Purple these titles glowed in all othe colors of the rainbow. Tree trunks, park benches, monuments all covered in vivid red knit swatches with the names of all of the library books banned by the Maryville Town Council.

Attached with heavy gauge wire and fishing line, the protest pieces would still be up when the TV news cameras arrived. Fighting for the freedom to read, the crew had set up protest installations across Florida. It worked in their favor that as senior citizens they were below suspicion.

The hardest part of any scheme was not getting caught. They knew the police would be looking for vehicles coming and going from the site. The crew knew to blend in with the other grey-haired snowbirds. As the sun rose, Tillie eased out onto the roadway. Circling the block, the crew joined the early bird special breakfast crowd.