The Lost Artist

Lacy looked around her proudly because all the paintings she spent hours on were finally on display. Jonathan had even come to check out her gallery of art. It was because of him that she was here. She would have never made it without him. Looking back it seemed so far away.1

Two years ago she had been stuck in a rut. Her father who was her heart and soul abandoned her to live in Italy with some other family he had created on a long business trip. She was forced to move in with her aunt who was a chronic drug addict. Lacy began to rebel against life by staying out late and hanging with her cousins who were a really bad influence. They took her out to clubs and illegal night races which became her love in life. She would go out each night and speed through the streets as if there was no danger. As if she didn't need to live. School was not in her vocabulary. She would sometimes go to just cruise and see her friends. As for the work, well she didn't give a fuck. If anyone looked at her past grades you could see she was a genius. If she cared she would have been out of school years ago because she was just that smart. No one understood how she could keep up her A's and be such a bad ass. She would finish the course before the year actually began. However the school system saw her as a hazardous and reckless girl who probably cheated on her work. With no one who understood she had no reason to live because of this to her life was a game.2

A year passed by and her life would finally become a reality. Her aunt died tragically of drug overdose and one of her cousins ended up in a coma as a result of a drive by shooting. Before anyone could place her in child care she turned 16 and pronounced herself an adult. She moved in with her older brother who had ran away when there mother had died of cancer when Lacy was 12 and her brother, Kevin, was 17. He had contacted her when he heard their dad was leaving and even offered to let her move in with him, but she had refused his offer by saying that she could handle herself. He now lived in the suburbs a lot of miles away from Chicago in apologized, Michigan. Later Lacy would find that that was the house their mother left to both of them, but had refused to tell their father. He was now attending Michigan State University and made her got to school. Lacy didn't agree with this at all, so she started adventuring to the city. Sometimes she hitchhiked, but she mostly got rides from old friends. When Kevin found out about her little escapades he made sure she went to school. With nowhere to hide she reluctantly went to her classes and just sat there all day. One day she ditched class to hang out at the corner cafe a couple of blocks away. That was where she met Jonathan. At first she thought the kids on stage were geeks because the recited poetry and chatted on the computers, but soon found out that these teens were all rebels who expressed themselves through art. She watched in a corner as Jonathan came onto the stage in baggy jeans and a large t-shirt. He began to spit poetry at a mile a minute he sounded almost as fast as Twista. As she listened she could feel the emotions wrapping around her and and the images were flowing through her mind as if it was happening right in front of her. After he finished she went to get something to drink when he walked right into her. He apologized and was about to walk past her when he noticed she had a tattoo on her her arm of a rose with tiger in the center. They started to talk about poetry, well he did and then he realized she was a newbie and asked what she was into. Lacy didn't have a hobby other than racing which she hadn't done in a while. When she told him about her love for racing his eyes started to dance. He told her about the car shop his family owned and how he could take her there sometime.3

Jonathan and Lacy began to hang out more often and he turned out to be a good influence on her. He told her about when he was locked up in a detetion center for car jacking, but couldn't do anymore stunts like that or he would be kicked out of school and home. After he learned about Lacy's past he made sure she stayed out of trouble. He took her to a museum to get some ideas for his poems. Lacy had never even been to a mueseum outside of a school trip and she was amazed at the painters useage of colors and the abstract objects. She became hooked to painting and wanted to paint all of the time. At first she hide her new obsession, but she couldn't hide it from Jonathan for long because she couldn't lie to him. He told her that her paintings were amazing and that she should put them in a gallery somewhere. She let her brother see her paintings and he seemed really proud of her. As for school the teachers realized her potential and skipped her to the 12th grade. Lacy wanted to celebrate so she went out with her cousin Eric who had come out of his coma and was ready to get back in the fast lane. He got drunks and tried to get Lacy to join him, but she refused. However when he offered to let her race his new car she couldn't resist her old habit and agreed. Before she could even get into the car Jonathan pulled up and started dragging her home. Her drunk cousin decided he wanted to fight and she had to jump in and stop it before they decided to do something stupid. Things escalated that night and Jonathan's arm ended up broken. He didn't get caught by the cops, but he was pissed at her. Lacy decided to put her paintings and would invite Jonathan.4

Now standing in the gallery next to Jonathan she was proud of herself for coming so far. She was about to go to Yale with Jonathan, but right now she admired her work. Her brother had invited some critics to see her works of art. She was so nervous her hands were sweating. She gripped Jonathan's uncasted hand as the critics came to talk to her. Lacy sighed...............No turning back now.5