Substance

Chpt. 9 Apart yet not so

For the remainder of the night Veronica stood by Courtland’s side as his girl friend. He could tell that some people were surprised by that even more than the fact that he was able to paint. He didn’t mean to make her apart of the exhibit but people were dying to know how they met, which was just another way of asking how a guy like him could nab a woman like Veronica. He even heard someone say “if that’s what it takes to get someone that hot then I need a wheelchair, stat.”

Veronica was normally put out at the idea of being paraded around as someone’s arm candy but with Courtland she didn’t mind all that much. She had to keep herself in check when some arrogant fool tried to slip her a card and some cheesy line. Other than that she was simply awe struck by the way the room lit up around Courtland. She shouldn’t have been surprised, she thought, Courtland was just that type of guy. He was the quick to laugh showing off those adorable dimples and his infectious smile, a person would had to have had some serious problems not to instantly take to the man.

Taking her own time to look at all the ark work that hung on the walls of the gallery, pride blossomed within her. She was by no means an art expert, still, she had to acknowledge that Courtland seemed to have some serious talent. And the way he was so natural with the audience was just wonderful. If she didn’t know Courtland and had only to guess about who he was without meeting him, she would have penned him as the type to shut themselves off from the world cause of his disability. It couldn’t have been easy for him to withstand the stares and whispers. Yet there he was impressing the crowd just as easy, without an ounce of tension noticeable. She supposed it was because of the familial support system he had. A lot could be said about the family a person had; the way they influenced a person at an early age. It was through those strong ties that one caught a glimpse of who they were. What followed was if they wanted to make a change.  Looking over at Courtland as he explained his artwork to the small mass of people, she could tell that his family had helped him to become the man that he was, apart from them but yet not so.

Maybe even the witch of a sister of his, Fain, served her purpose. Veronica could hardly believe that that woman was an active police officer. The way she acted reminded her of those Western movies her mother’s father used to watch on their old floor model television. Annie Oakley had nothing on Fain Faurr.

Sometime after Fain left Courtland’s agent, a man that looked a lot like Jason Lee as Earl Hickey from the show My Name is Earl, introduced himself to Veronica as Russell ‘Rusty’ Greiggs. And right off the bat Veronica was no fan of his and vice verse. He was supposed to have been some savvy art expert in the community but what he came off as was a trailer park hick that tried to insinuate that Veronica was a gold digger upon meeting her. After she calmly told him to kiss her tan Latina ass he pretended to get his act together, politely asking for Courtland and he to have a few moments alone. Veronica begrudgingly acquiesced.

“Court,” Rusty said as a warning.

“Don’t even start in on me Rusty. Fain’s already suspicious of her. I’ll be lucky if she hasn’t had her checked out already.”

“Well she’s a cop. They aint got shit else to do but act as glorified meter maids so she might as well make use of our tax dollars somehow,” Rusty exclaimed as he pulled a flask from his inner jacket pocket and took a swig of its contents. “All I'm saying is for you to be careful.”

“I am.”

“That’s what you said with Rubie and that bitch almost wore your balls as earrings and your dick as a pendant.”

The mere mention of his ex-girlfriend’s name made him blush from shame and embarrassment. He thought she was everything he had ever wanted in a woman, caring, loving, and affectionate. What she really turned out to be was a backstabbing, cheating, lying manipulative bitch. There weren’t too many people in Courtland’s inner circle that didn’t agree on that sentiment.