Chapter 11

As for his art, well, there isn’t a time when Brody isn’tdrawing. He sketches when he’s out eating lunch. He sketches in the park, or on the sidewalk, or downtown in front of the old burlesque theater that now shows second-ran movies for two bucks on the weekends. To pay his rent and feed himself, he draws advertisements for small businesses and local bands, and his artwork graces many of the windows around town. He’s created some tattoo flash for a few parlors he frequents, images in exchange for free ink, but he always makes sure he’s credited for the work.

Still, he never did finish high school and never bothered to go to college. He hasn’t seen or heard from his parents in fifteen years, and he doesn’t care to, either. All he wants to do is draw. To him, there’s nothing more important in life than that. 9