Adventures of Alexander the Great(er)

v

v. Art Boy (1)

It started when he was little. His mom would put a blank sheet of paper and a handful of crayons in front of him so he stayed occupied. At school he would scribble and doodle for hours on his work, not paying attention to the teacher. He brought a black pen with him everywhere, drawing on napkins at restaurants and even food wrappers left in the car.

It kept him occupied and was always there for him, but it never occurred to Alex that his art was good. Not until years later when he finally showed his work to people other than Aimee and his mom.

-

"Why is there a letter for this art school in California in the mail?" Alex looked up at his sister from the table, a confused look painted across his face. The two sat across from each other at the dinner table while their mom was out, probably drinking. "You can't even draw a stick figure and I didn't apply to any art schools. Why is this here?"

"The mail man delivered it to the wrong house?" Aimee lied, blinking rapidly, Alex always knew when she was lying and the blinking was her tell.

He gave her a flat look. "I don't believe you," he started to rip open the letter.

"Don't be mad, don't be mad, don't be mad," She chanted under her breath as he read the letter.

"Dear Mr. Alexander Deven-" Alex stopped. "You didn't."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted you to see that your art was good enough! You always are talking about how you're so inexperienced and you and I both know we don't have enough money to ever get you lessons, but you have so much potential. So I might have sent in a scholarship application to the school you always talk about. I used the charcoal drawing and watercolor painting you did for my birthday. I wasn't going to say anything unless you got in, but I guess we'll find out together."

His eyes softened at the explanation, "thank you," he said genuinely. He turned back to the opened letter sitting on the table and let out a shaky breath. "Okay, let's do this.

"Dear Mr. Alexander Deven,

We are pleased to inform you, that you have been accepted into New Rome: School of the Visual Arts on a full ride scholarship. In the envelope you will find a plane ticket to San Francisco for January 16th at 6:30 am. If you can not make that plane, you will need to find another way (at your own expense) to get to San Francisco by January 17th.

If you make the flight on January 16th there will be a ride waiting for you, they will take you to the dorms you will be staying in for the next 6 months. Good luck and welcome to New Rome: School of the Visual Arts."

"Oh my gosh!" Aimee yelled. "You got in! You got in!" She jumped up and down, smiling at her brother. Alex was sitting on the other side of the table, a stony expression painted on his face. "Why aren't you excited? You just got into your dream school!"

"I'm not going," Alex said quietly, so Aimee barley heard.

"What'd you say?" She asked. "'Cause it sounded like you said that you aren't going to your dream school, which you've only been talking about for years."

"Do you know what day it is? It's January 15th, there is no way our mother would let me go on such short notice." Aimee opened her mouth to shoot his idea down. "And don't even think about telling that I'm 16 and I get to make my own decisions, because we sure as Hades know that if I up and leave things will just get so much worse for you. I can't take you with me to keep you safe, so I'm staying here to keep you safe." He took the letter in his hand and ripped it into tiny pieces.

"I can not believe you!" Aimee yelled. "You do not get to turn down the opportunity of a life time because you want to protect your little sister! I'm 14, Alex! I can take care of myself! I'll be fine with Mom, if anything happens I'll call you. If you turn down this opportunity, because of me, I'll never be able to forgive myself. Please take this opportunity, if not for you, for me. Please." By the end of the conversation her voice had quieted to a whisper.

Alex stared at his sister, "I promise I will go if you promise to keep yourself safe." He said after 5 minutes of thinking. "You have to promise me."

"I promise." She said, a grin spreading across her face. "Now get packing! It's only 5:30 and if Mom says no, then you'll have everything packed by the time she gets home and you can just run!" she said the last part of the sentence with a smile on her face, like running was a good option (which it totally wasn't).

-

5 hours later Alex was packed and ready to run at a moment's notice. He made sure to only pack one big suitcase and a duffle bag so it was easier to carry if he did have to run. Aimee had gone to sleep an hour earlier, she needed to be at school early the next day. He heard the front door open and walked to meet his mom. She walked in the door, not stumbling, and Alex knew she was sober. "Hey, Mom."

"Oh, Alex, hi." She was caught off guard as she closed the door. "Shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you about this art boarding school. I just got my acceptance letter today and I have to leave for it tomorrow. I know it's really sort notice, but I can go to the school on a full ride scholarship for the rest of high school. I really really want this and it's the best chance I have to follow my dreams. So can I go, Mom?" he asked. Alex knew that begging and pleading never works with his mom, so he got straight to the point.

She thought carefully for a moment, and finally looked at him with a glint in his eyes that he couldn't recognize. "If it's what you want to do, then go ahead and follow your dream."

"Thank you, mom," he smiled happily and took his luggages from the front hall. "I'm going to put these in the car, early flight tomorrow."

That night he went to sleep clutching his plane ticket in his hand, dreaming of the best.

-

Alex had to be dreaming. His mother never cooked breakfast for them, let alone got up before 6:30. All just to bit him goodbye. He smiled and opened his eyes, expecting to see anything but the sight in front of him. "Wha-? Aimee!" he yelled.

What Alex mistook for the smell of the stove being used was really the house burning down, because of a fire. He choked on the smoke that surrounded him and heard yells from outside his door. Before he knew it Alex was out of his house and in the streets with firemen. The plane ticket still stayed in his hand, his grip firm.

"Where is she? Where's Aimee?" Alex asked the men that stood around him. The men standing around him passed uncomfortable looks back and forth until one of them spoke up.

"There was a girl, she died from inhaling too much smoke. She looked like you, but younger, I'm guessing that was your Aimee."

He swallowed, Aimee was gone. "No one else? My mom came home around 10:30 last night, what time is it now?"

"There was no one," the fireman told him, and he checked his watch. "Now it's 4:30 in the morning."

A police officer came up behind the two talking boys and started to question Alex, "You have any other family, besides the mother who for now is M.I.A." she asked.

"Just my sister who died in the fire," he choked on the word died.

The officer nodded her head, "Okay, have any friends or neighbors that you know would take you in while we get this all sorted out?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be going to New Rome: School of Visual Art today. My bags are in the trunk of the car and I'm supposed to be leaving right about now." Alex stated.

The officer nodded, "Okay, this fireman will drive the car to the airport with you and I in it, so I can question you and you can be on your way to your art school. If you refuse to answer questions I will take you to the police station and you have the chance of missing your flight."

The fireman and Alex agreed to the plan and hopped into the car. Alex answered questions as they drove 45 minutes to the airport. He didn't remember much from that morning, just the feeling of numbness as he fulfilled his last promise to his sister.