covered in paint—he was a mess of a man. His excitement brimmed within him and spread like a fire. Finally, it was done. He climbed down the ladder and was met with a deafening applause. There, in the paint splotches with the blue sky dabbled with pink and purple streaks, he revealed at the last moment a woman whose body appeared in shades of blue and parts of her were made from fluffy white clouds. She stretched across the canvas, seeming infinite, as if she—and the audience—could reach out and touch her sky. Everything was in the air, high in the clouds, with the exception of the cloudy woman’s bright red shoes…
He met eyes with Suri, and she lowered her head, shaking it, covering her forehead with a well-manicured hand adorned with a large onyx ring, but he could still see the smile on her face. And it made him feel better than he would’ve ever guessed.
“Bitch, that’s you!” A burst of laughter followed the woman’s statement. Suri held her head high and crossed her legs, looking a bit smug. The hoarse voice continued, bombarding the mood, “This motherfucka painted your ass as clouds. CLOUDS. Now that’s some ‘get in ya panties’ type shit I can appreciate! You must be on cloud nine right now, Suri. Got strangers painting you on walls ’nd shit.”
Some people in the crowd slapped hands with him, a few dropped more cash in the now overflowing tip bucket. Grabbing his satchel, he transferred the money inside before some asshole tried to steal his stash. He then quickly signed his piece at the bottom, and removed some of the paint from his hands with wet wipes. The host came back on the microphone.
“All right, there’s a bit more time on the clock, but it looks like both artists have completed their work. Congratulations to both of you!”
The crowd cheered them on. After a few minutes, several people approached him, wishing to purchase the piece. Some offers were more reasonable than others. Suri sat there patiently, but he didn’t miss how she kept staring at the painting, as if in awe.
“I’ll be right back.” She nodded as he crossed the room to go shake the other artist’s hand.
“Hey, man. Your work is amazing,” the guy said to him.
“So is yours. Impressive.”
“I didn’t expect that shit!” The guy cackled. “I thought I had this in the bag, I’d get all the tips, then you started scraping up shit and I was like… damn!” King burst out laughing. “When did he paint that lady under those layers of paint?! I missed that. Anyway, you’ve got mad skills, man. That’s wild.”
“Thanks. I hope you get a good deal on your piece. It’s wonderful.”
“Thanks again, man.” King walked back to his station, noticing Suri taking photos of the piece of art.
Before he could speak to her, he was approached by someone who offered nine hundred dollars for his painting. He was floored. He wasn’t expecting more than five hundred. The guy whipped out his phone and sent the sum to his Cash App right away.
“So, what they do is they’ll make arrangements to have it mailed to you. Since you said you only live a few blocks away, you might just want to do it yourself. Save yourself the aggravation.” He continued to talk to the buyer, and they exchanged information. When it was all over, he turned to Suri and smiled. He moseyed over and sat next to her. He studied her, loving how she smelled and looked. So, I was going to write her off. She’s interesting. I’m horny. Most people are just shitty. But, I may have been wrong about her. Let me see…
“First of all, thank you for being so patient. Now, we can finally have a real conversation.”
She offered a lopsided grin as she ran her hand along her knee.
“Yes, we can. Again, congrats on your painting, the sale, and on being chosen tonight. I hate to see me go, but I’m sure I’ll be in a better place. Up there in those heavenly clouds… The wake is at eleven.”
He chuckled at her words.
“Butter.”
She gave him a confused look, then laughed.
“Cream.”
“Cake? Like frosting? I wanted to see what popped in your mind first. You said cream, like icing. You must like sweets.”
“Are you drunk?” She sucked her teeth.
“No.” He shook his head. “Just silly sometimes. I bet I’m right though.”
“What if I told you I guessed it because I love dairy products?”
“I wouldn’t believe you.” I