Chapter 9 - Continuation

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Chapter 9 - Continuation

*

It was Taye?

He was holding a glass vase of flowers and she watched frozen as Lloyd approached him. What did he want? What was he doing here? They chatted a little and then Taye started shaking his head no and continued to as he gave Lloyd the vase. He left just as quickly as he came. Without knowing, her body went limp, including the hand that was clutching Kehinde's champagne glass...

C R A S H ! !

Adena jumped back as Kehinde's champagne glass shattered against the gallery's slick marble floor. Conversations stopped and everyone looked around for what happened.

"That was my champagne wasn't it?"someone asked her and she turned around and faced Kehinde and a few photographers.

"I'm sorry. I'll have another coming right up-"

"Kehinde dear, it's time, let's unveil your new masterpieces"Donatella said as she put her arm in his and walked him toward the front of the gallery where the new paintings were situated. Adena sighed as Lloyd came over with her mug of tea. She took it from him and put it straight down on the table. No one should trust her with glass right now.

"Lloyd, can you do the honors? I have a mess to clean up here"she said to him.

"Are you sure?"he asked her with wide eyes.

"Yes, you don't need to be cleaning up any more of my messes today"she said to him as Donatella tried to get everyone's attention by tapping her fork on her champagne glass. As much as she wanted to ask him what Taye said to him, she didn't have the time. "Go ahead"she said to him as she nodded her head toward Donatella and Kehinde.

"Ok if you say so thanks"Lloyd said excitedly as he ran over to them.

Adena put a yellow caution sign in front of her mess and found a broom and swept up the broken glass as Donatella started to speak into the small microphone. "Happy New Year and thank you everyone for attending our first big art show of the year"she said as she gestured everyone to clap and they did. "Also a big thank you for all the artists participating today and for bringing their pride and joys to share with us and everyone who jumped at the chance to give them a home"she said as the crowd applauded,"Now for the grand finale, the biggest pieces we will show today are world premiere's from the infamous Kehinde Wiley!"she said as everyone cheered. He nodded his head, smiling for half a second as he stood next to her. "Without further ado..."she said and looked at Kehinde.

He hesitated before grabbing the microphone. "Thank you everyone. I will make this short. 100% of my pieces are about and feature young African American men. It wasn't planned and was never my intention to leave out the ones in our community who are often mistreated, underrepresented, overlooked and forgotten about. The Black woman"he said as he looked out at the crowd. "Unfortunately I only see one here"he said and Adena looked up at him. Was he talking about her? She looked around the room and gasped inwardly, why didnt she notice that? The majority of the crowd was white with a few Asians in the audience. "Well I hope you all can appreciate the beauty of these paintings like Black women hopefully will, feel and be touched by the pain like they would and stir up emotion to make a difference. Care.."he said and cleared his throat. "Let's get on with it. I am proud of this new work of mine and I hope you all will too"he said. "I present to you. Sandra and Harriet." He and Donatella looked at Lloyd and he took the cloths that covered the paintings off and officially debuted them to the crowd.

Adena gasped as she looked at the new paintings and many joined with hers.

The painting on the left was of Sandra Bland, a 28 year old activist who died while in police custody in 2015. She was laying on the ground, like the paintings of Julius Caesar when he was slain by Brutus. She was wearing a white toga, the white fabric was so bright and so realistic that it made her dark brown skin stand out and glow. She had on golden sandals and a golden flower crown on her head. Her left arm laid across her forehead as if she had fainted, her right arm lay lifeless spread out at her side, palms up. The background was a bright yet deep royal purple and gold prison bars lined up behind her. A black hashtag appeared in the upper left hand corner: #SayHerName. Her closed eyes were censored with a black rectangle that said BLACK LIVES MATTER in red graffiti spray paint.

On the right was Harriet Tubman wearing a white toga as well with a white robe on her head, she replaced what usually would be Jesus's mother, Mary, in a painting that looked exactly like stained glass in church windows all over the world. Instead of being an old woman like mostly all pictures portray her, Harriet was younger, like Mary. She had a smirk on her face and a gold halo around her head, her left arm laid in her lap and her right arm was a raised Black Power fist. She was surrounded in a bright rainbow of colors of stained glass and at the bottom of the page in an old gothic script said: GOD IS A BLACK WOMAN AND HER NAME IS HARRIET.

The pieces were beautiful and just like Kehinde hoped, Adena smiled wide marveling and appreciating the beauty of the paintings, she felt the pain seeing Sandra laid slain on the ground, despite looking graceful and regal as ever. It stirred up so much emotion in her but she was speechless and all she could do was put down her mop and she started clapping loudly and enthusiastically, breaking the silence and awkward shock of the crowd. Again, everyone was looking at her but she didn't care. He did it again. He created two more masterpieces to add to the hundreds he's already done.

Soon many claps joined hers and cameras flashed. "Thank you"he said. "I won't be taking any questions or make any commentary. I think they speak for themselves"he said.

"A toast to Kehinde Wiley and these beautiful paintings"Donatella said as she raised her champagne glass and everyone raised their glasses with hers. Unfortunately, Kehinde didn't have a glass because Adena broke his.

Soon the crowd surrounded him and the paintings, as loud conversations resumed. Adena finished cleaning up the mess and put the broom and mop away. She grabbed another champagne glass for Kehinde and walked over. As she did, she noticed most of the older white crowd staring at the paintings in shock. Some looked awkward, confused, some looked disappointed and not impressed, expecting to see Black fictional men with swords and horses. Not hashtags that shouldn't even be controversial but were and about God being a Black woman and replacing the Immaculate "White Mary."

The crowd started to disperse as she approached and Kehinde walked through. He signaled a few of the people who came with them and they walked toward the front door. "Mr. Wiley, I apologize again about-"

"Walk with me"he said as a young woman handed him his trench coat as he walked toward the front door. Adena walked with him. "What happened here?"

Adena paused and they both stopped walking. "What do you mean?"

"With it being the new year and so close to Martin Luther King's birthday....I was under the impression I wouldn't be the only Black artist, let alone the only Black man in the place."

Adena looked at him confused,"I don't know who you spoke with but um...this show didn't have a Martin Luther King theme or any theme for that matter...we always do a showing the first week of the new year-"

"So you need a theme to include Black people?"he asked her.

She looked at him in shock,"No! No no no that's not what I-"

"I know Ms. Houghton but whoever I spoke with, which wasn't you or Donatella initially...when I told them that the paintings were political and more targeted to Black Lives Matter, I specifically asked that if I were to debut these paintings, they would be debuted to people like us. You and I. I have other paintings I could have debuted that matched the crowd here. I've been to showings after showings, all whitewashed. I've learned I get a more authentic response to audiences that are Black or at least majority BIPOC. You get what I'm trying to say? I wanted Black women to see this painting first, little Black girls, I wanted to inspire them, tell them we can do this too but at the same time ignite passions that there is still work to be done and we need to make a change."

Adena nodded as she listened to him, feeling horrible, if he didn't speak to her or Donatella, who spoke with him? Well it didn't matter now. He was disappointed, he wasted debuting these paintings to a crowd who didn't truly appreciate it and she understood 100%. "I am so very sorry Mr. Wiley. What can I do to make this right?"she almost pleaded with him. Everything that could go wrong today went wrong and now their superstar talent was upset, she had to at least fix this.

"I've been making sure to only debut my work with Black owned galleries or at least a majority of a BIPOC audience, even if not Black owned. I make more of a difference doing those shows. I don't care if I sell these paintings. I don't think anyone here would-"

"If I could afford it, I would take them both Mr. Wiley. As soon as that cloth hit the ground and I saw what was behind it. Just....so many emotions ran through me, I am actually speechless which doesn't happen when it comes to art. I love art. I studied it. I have too much to say about it but not now. Like you said, they speak for themselves."

"I appreciate that, Ms. Houghton. But I'm afraid I must go-"

"Do you have to go? I assure you, yes the old money are stuck in their opinions but there's a lot of young people like myself that were still touched-"

"I'm sorry Ms. Houghton but honestly, as soon as I walked in the door, I knew I wouldn't reach the crowd because this wasn't the audience I wanted. They came because of my fame, my glory. Us? We come for the story. To relate to each other's stories. To share our heritage, to celebrate it. No one is celebrating it. And if anyone were to buy it it would be because "the man who painted Barack Obama painted it himself and I got it." Bragging rights; and then auction it off a year or two later when the Black Lives Matter slogan rubs their white friends the wrong way"he said. "I have no power here but Ms. Houghton, you do. We gotta get people like us in these galleries. Not just to walk around and marvel but we gotta support each other. There are no Black artists here. No Black artists are making a living in here today, even me. But like I said, it's not about the money for me anymore and I am lucky enough to say that. I'm in a position to truly change the world now. You do too."

"The car is ready Mr. Wiley"one of his people said to him.

"I gotta go. Have Donatella call me if anyone decides to buy and if no one does, send these back to me immediately. Have her call me as soon as she can either way. I know of other places that would appreciate it more and need to see it"he said as he put his jacket on. "Get more of us into this gallery Ms. Houghton. Talk to your boss. What's the point? You could change lives just by getting them in here. Think about that"he said as he patted her on the shoulder.

Before she could come up with something else, he was out the door. She couldn't believe what just happened. She also felt like a fool. She looked at the champagne glass intended for Kehinde that she was still holding and took it to the head. That was followed by another coughing fit.

"Why did he leave so suddenly?"Lloyd asked her.

"Is she upset?"Adena asked.

"No thankfully, she's taking picture after picture. Interview after interview. I don't think she noticed he left yet."

"Good"Adena said sadly,"He...double booked and lost track of time."

"Figured"Lloyd said,"He's Kehinde freaking Wiley. Like wow, those paintings are beautiful but so...controversial. It's gonna have the people talking"he said as a few older patrons left.

"Why would Black lives be controversial?"Adena asked as she watched them leave. They were older, regular patrons that were huge fans of Donatella and had so much money that they loved to donate it here. They've never left a show early before.

"It's just the statement, you know?"

"No I don't"she said to him. Kehinde's words spinning around in her brain. "If all lives matter, that includes Black lives don't you think? Treating us equally shouldn't be controversial..."

Lloyd stood there, dumbfounded, embarrassed, shocked and maybe even enlightened by Adena's response. They never talk about race. Why? Well now she knew why. He cleared his throat. "You're absolutely right"he said. "Look it looks like all the excitement has died down. Majority of the paintings have been sold. We still came out on top. We may be able to leave on time today"he said to her, changing the subject.

They saw Donatella wave them both over and they got back into work mode.

*

Capricorns need to be encouraged to relax and play. They may seem very serious, but they have a sense of humor; this needs to be encouraged.

*

Kehinde's words were on repeat in her brain for the rest of the day. One of the greatest artists of the 21st century told her she had power but wasn't using it. She was just continuing to whitewash her field without a second thought. Like Kehinde, art was more than just money to her. It was a passion. She would love to get to a place like him where a painting didn't HAVE to sell to pay the rent. She learned long ago that she was more than just a saleswoman. She was a teacher of sorts, teaching history, teaching culture, teaching art, teaching about property, value and beauty. But just like her classrooms in school and undergrad, she stood out. She was the only Black girl or the darkest girl or the only minority altogether. She always longed to find a community of Black artists and she did for the most part at Columbia but she was in New York City. Home of the most influential artists and artistry in the world. There was a community, a bigger one, she just hasn't cared to venture out and find one.

She knows she's lucky to be working in her field and making enough money to survive. All of her art classmates except for a small few, were working in other fields to make ends meet because they couldn't get that big break. That big opportunity. She did.

And then she got comfortable, content.

And with all the recent drama in her life, she couldn't even concentrate or focus on that.

Her mind was all over the place and when the showing finished, she got an extra hour away from Donatella as she worked hard at cleaning up. But soon she looked around and the gallery was back to normal, they were finished.

Finally.

Then she heard a huge pop and Donatella had opened a special and expensive bottle of champagne. After each showing, they celebrated with a glass of champagne. But Adena was in no mood to celebrate. Her head was full to the brim with so much that it started to hurt, her throat hurt, her voice was raspy, her cough was worse and she was exhausted.

"Ok you two. I don't know how but we did it"Donatella said as she poured them each a glass. She handed one to Lloyd and handed the other to Adena. "How do you think we did?"she asked, still looking at Adena as she poured herself a glass.

"A success Donatella, you were magnificent"Lloyd said.

"I know that"Donatella said with a laugh,"How did WE do?"

"We did well"Adena said simply.

Donatella looked at her,"Hmmm ok..."she said as she raised her glass in the air,"....to doing it well."

"To doing it well"they said as the three clicked glasses.

"I guess I can agree. We made a decent amount of money, got donations and we had Kehinde Wiley"she said proudly,"Every artist shown sold one painting, even if they brought several...well except....."

"Except who?"Lloyd asked.

"Kehinde"she said.

"You have to be kidding me"Lloyd said.

"Well most of us can't afford him-"

"Donatella I can't afford any of these artists"Lloyd said with a laugh and she slit her eyes at him.

"Him leaving early didn't help. Many people wanted to talk more about the pieces..."she said. She looked at Adena, who was looking at the champagne bubbles in her glass,"What did he say to you when he left Adena?"

Was this a trick question? Did she already know and wanted to see if she would lie and play it all off? Or did she not know? Should she warn her of the conversation they were gonna have?

"He double booked, right Adena?"Lloyd said. "That's what she told me."

"That true?"

"He wants you to call him as soon as you can"Adena said without answering. She placed her glass on Lloyd's reception desk counter.

"Who got flowers?"Donatella said.

Lloyd let out a 'how could I forget' gasp. "Taye brought that by"he said to her,"Sorry Adena I was going to tell you he was here but he was insistent on not disturbing you and left and with all the craziness-"

"How sweet"Donatella said as she picked up the vase. Adena tensed up. She needed to throw those out. "Oooh a card"she said as she opened it. Adena froze.

"What's it say?"Lloyd said,"You know Taye is such a smooth talker, what did your birthday card say last year? Like some poetry or something right?"

"We need to talk. Please call me back, I'm just worried about you"Donatella read.

"Oh...oh no. Lovers spat?"Lloyd asked. "Well he's forgiven now right? These flowers are beautiful."

Adena didn't say anything. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Should I answer or do you want to?"Donatella asked her as she lightly tossed the card back on the desk. Lloyd paused and looked at them both, wondering what was going on.

Adena sighed. "Donatella. Again I'm sorry for being late today. I went to sleep and slipped into a coma."

"Where did you have this coma?"Donatella asked her. "I figured as much but my intuition said to make sure you were ok and when I got to your place....Taye got really worried when I came looking for you because he said he hadn't seen you either."

Adena shrugged,"Just staying with a friend. Girls night"she said as she dug through her purse for her phone and had a few missed calls from Taye and Kim.

"Makes sense, when I went through my first divorce, I stayed with my best friend Lea. Nothing like good old girl talk."Donatella said. Lloyd's eyes widened. He moved slowly away from in between them and walked around his desk and sat down.

And there it was. The dreaded D word.

"So he told you..."Adena said.

"Yes and I was surprised to say the least because remember less than a month ago, I paid for your rent. And that rent money was specifically for you. Not Taye to just live on. I'm not paying his rent while you live for free on your girlfriends couch-"

"Donatella, this all literally just happened. I still have the next two months of rent. I didn't pay in advance"Adena said. She couldn't believe that once Donatella heard about her divorce, the first thing she thought of to say was not 'I'm sorry' but to ask what she did with the money she gave her as a gift, not a loan. She didn't ask for it. She even tried to give it back. It felt weird that her boss was paying her rent in the first place.

"Good, you are getting a divorce. Work should be the last thing on your mind-"


"Donatella, I'm fine, really-"

"No you're definitely not. You were a mess today. And instead of being able to focus on my showing, I spent an hour of that time running all over town for you. I don't need my best dealer feeling like shit and having that affect her performance. I had faith in you. Once I saw you here

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