Forsaken By My Destiny

Chapter 18

The Art Show was incredibly formal. I wore my best suit for the event. I was invited by Angela to go with her. Her piece made it all the way to the finals. There was a lot of rich folk and art critics and enthusiasts. I didn't know this competition was such a huge deal.

"Darcus! You made it!" angela ran up to me as she greeted me. She had a friend I didn't somewhat recognized at her side.

"Of course I did. Have you checked out the gallery yet?" I asked.

"No we've been waiting for you. This is Web by the way. I don't think you two have really talked."

"We haven't, nice to meet you." With introductions done with we headed towards the art gallery.

Pieces of art were separated by category, by what form of art it was. I recognized some of the names on a couple of pieces. Marcus had a submitted a sculpture of some sort of war hero standing proudly holding a flag. It was very futuristic and the hero looked too much like Marcus. One piece was a ring, a serpent devouring its tail made by Ray. Another piece, by Jess, was a drawing of girl surrounded by men looking at the girl with lustful eyes.

"Here's mine!" Angela pointed at a painting. It depicted a figure sitting alone with grotesque monsters made of shadows surrounding him. I felt lonely observing the piece. The figure looked a bit like me. I looked down at the description:

Freddison, Angela. Encouraging Voices. 2017. Oil on Canvas.

"Hey Angela, what is this piece about?" I asked curiously.

"Sometimes people will hear voices in their heads. The voices of family, friends, strangers, sometimes even your own. In other countries it is common for those voices to be words of encouragement and praise but in America it is the opposite. I hear those voices sometimes but rarely do they speak praises. They are monsters clawing at my mind, haunting." There was a long silence after Angela spoke.

"Whoa that's deep." Web broke the unnerving silence after what seemed to be forever.

"Why did you use my image?" I asked. Angela seemed taken back by my question.

"Well...when we first met you kind were like that. Isolated and irritated like something was always bothering you. I'm not sure if it is what I guessed or something entirely different. But you've changed a lot in the few months we've known each other. I don't know who I painted." As Angela finished her phone started buzzing. "Oh it's time, they're going to announce the winners. They have three winners for each category so we better hurry before they get to paintings."

We hurried to the main floor as the announcer spoke. Marcus won 2nd place in sculpting. I waved at him in the crowd, he looked surprised to see me here. Ray won 3rd place in jewelry, he dabbed when he got on stage. Jess won 1st place in drawing, no surprise her art is amazing as always.

"And in the painting category..."

I could see Angela tense up as the announcer continued. I held her hand and squeezed it a little to give her reassurance. She relaxed a little and nodded to me.

"And 2nd place goes to...Angela Freddison for her piece, Encouraging Voices!" The crowd applauded as Angela got up onto the stage to receive a certificate and silver ribbon. Despite getting 2nd place I could see she was smiling with joy and pride.

After they finished announcing the other winners, handing out the prizes, and taking photos, we met up again with Marcus joining us.

"Hey bro, didn't expecting to see you here. Although we weren't here for me huh?" He faked a cry as he said that.

"I think we should go out somewhere to celebrate! I heard of a really good ice cream parlor near here. Obviously the winners should treat us since they just won a couple of bucks." Web joked.

We went out to Ice Cream together for a celebration. Everyone was having a good time joking around and laughing. Angela has been quiet, lost in thought the whole time.

"Hey are you okay? 2nd place is pretty good you know."

"Oh, I'm not thinking about that. Actually I'm still surprised that I actually won something. I was just thinking...can I paint you again?" Angela asked.

"Why?"

"I want to capture the real you this time."

"Sure, just make sure to get my good side." I joked as I posed.

"Ha ha, of course." Angela took another picture of me while giggling. "I like this you, the true Darcus. Edgy yet soft."

"Lies. You're going to ruin my image with that description."

We talked until it got late. I never knew I had changed so much.