inspiration

Who, Carmen? No, just down the hallway there. You must be from the school. Come on, I’ll show you down.

You see these paintings? Most of them are hers. The Center bought them to help out her family – you can see how talented she was. They’re all city scenes – people she’d meet, run-down places that caught her eye. This one’s my favorite. Look at the cracks in the boys’ faces – so dark. And the dark cracks in the asphalt. She never painted the sky, you know, just the corners and back alleys she’d come across, scampering down places God knows no Latino girl had any business seeing, looking for inspiration. They say she had a real eye. She was grabbing all kinds of recognition, was even gunning for a scholarship, if it weren’t for those scumbags that – well, you know. The doctor’s been trying to get her to paint again, though if you ask me there’s not much worth painting in this place.

Okay, here she is. Carmen? … Carmen? You have a visitor.

(Sigh.)

I sure hope she takes up painting again. Some days it’s all we can do to get her into her wheelchair.