Extraordinary Love

Chapter 28

Song: Don't Wake Me Up by Chris Brown

Aaliyah

I've always thought that Chris was insanely talented, musically and artistically. I loved his voice. I could listen to that boy sing or just talk for hours upon hours. I was in awe of how accurately and beautifully he could portray others and the scenes in his head. He could think outside of the box and create monsters and different worlds. He was a multifaceted artist of many trades.

For weeks I had watched him plan and put together his show while pursuing his music career. He was constantly meeting with vendors, managers, customers, associates, curators, lawyers and scouts. I just hoped that
everything would work out for him.

Tonight, the Royalty Galleria was packed. A large sign in a cursive script read "Love: A Collection by artist Christopher Brown" sat by the door on an easel when you walked in. All of the boxes and packages that had cluttered the hardwood floor before had been removed and the place had cleaned up and redecorated. Waiters and waitresses floated around holding trays of hors d'oeuvres and beverages.

Uneasy was how I felt walking in alone. Many people were passing by me, staring but I didn't recognize a single one. The gang was supposed to come out to support but I assumed they were running on Black People Time. I couldn't even spot Chris out in the sea of people so I just joined the flow of traffic migrating around the room.

His collection began with a sketch of mother and child. The boy was clearly a young Chris with his arms thrown around the neck of his mother. I had yet to meet her or to even see a picture of her, until now. She had loose curly hair up in a ponytail and kind eyes and deep dimples like Chris. Their sunny deposition matched the sunny beach they were sitting at.

The next picture wasn't as warm. It was a side profile of his mother kissing him on the forehead in a cartoon style, but both had a river of tears streaming down their cheeks. The sheer blue and purple overlay around her eyes and her cheekbones resembled bruises.

Other surrounding ones were of him finding love for dancing and singing and creating art. I recognized a young Trey in a few and a couple I assumed was Mr. and Mrs. Neverson.

As it flowed like a timeline of his life, the next chapter was Robyn's. I spotted many of the pieces he had shown me at Trey's on that stormy day. Knowing now what she looked like in person, Chris had definitely done her justice.

"Honey, isn't that the girl that's on all of the magazines right now?" An older woman asked her husband as they passed by.

She noticed my involuntary glance in her direction.

She gave me a smile and said, "He really loves you, you know? You two remind me of me and my husband back in the day. Head over heels for each other. You hold onto that."

Bewildered, I could barely utter out a thank you before they have walked away.

Brushing past the Robyn section, I headed towards the final section coming full circle to finally locate Christopher. As I approached the wall, the crowd surrounding parted the sea for me as if I were Moses. The stares and whispers and comments from the guests all clicked together as I took in the final piece of the puzzle.

It was me, front and center and larger than every other piece in the gallery. The main canvas was several people wide and spanned from the floor from the ceiling. He made me into an icon. I was in vivid pop art style, bright and colorful with an expression of playful annoyance. I was often rolling my eyes at Chris for him saying something corny or stupid but couldn't stop myself from laughing too. He seemed to capture that moment perfectly.