WA6 Final Draft

My name is Llechtim. Don’t ask, my parents are Russian. Anyways, I came to the states three years ago to live the American Dream. 1095 days later and I’m struggling to meet month’s end everytime. My first year here I spent most of my time in a community college trying to get a degree in Fine Arts. That was going fine, until I realized my semester grade was roughly that which resembled a 6-year old attempting Calculus. Shortly after, I was dropped from the college. Yes, I was dropped from a community college, and most people I tell that to didn’t even know that could happen. By this time, I was really starting to doubt of any dream coming to fruition.

I managed to find a cheap apartment a few weeks after my release and I had to start searching for a job. However, I still couldn’t speak English too well, and no one really seemed to trust me. I decided to pick up urban art, otherwise known as graffiti. This was probably the cheapest and easiest way I was able to develop my artistic abilities. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m skilled, but I’ve received some accolades…along with some civil court appearances due to obstruction of public property.

One day though, I felt like my luck had changed. I saw the most beautiful thing beside one of my better pieces. Not a thing, like someone else’s work, rather another human. This came to quite a shock, because I had never seen someone at this particular site before. More interesting however, was how they carried themselves. She proudly stood tall, dressed in the most elaborate clothing money could buy. I wouldn’t be surprised if what she was wearing doubled my life earnings. It was quite a rare sight to see such a person admiring my work. Cautiously, I approached. In return, she turned around, startled by my appearance. And then, with a comforting tone asked if the work belonged to me. I wasn’t sure how to respond, fearing she may have been part of some ‘Clean-up the City’ foundation, and I just stood there, dumbfounded. She then gave me a second looked, sized me up, placed a card in my front pocket and said “Call me.”

At the very least, one could say I was pleasantly surprised at the whole incident. Then again, if one knew what would happen in the future, one might not be so inclined to say so. I wasn’t too sure to call this new found friend, but I let curiosity get the better of me and decided to anyway. Our first conversation seemed to be going nice, it was one of those run of the mill, typical conversations. I also found out her name was Rachel, how sweet. After that, one thing led to another, and we started seeing each other more often. One time, she finally told me that her job was being an agent for modern artists. This was also the reason she was so interested in me at first. She was rather impressed with my sense of style, and if she could manage the presentation of my work, we might have something special. That was the beginning of my official art career.
To speed things up, things went well. After about two years, I was roughly making six figures for every piece of art. However, things started going a little rocky with my agent friend. A little word of advice, never get involved with someone with a law degree. You will never win an argument. Not to mention English was my second language. Anyways, it seemed as though the more success I had with my career, the worse things turned with Rachel. Things went pretty downhill from that.

Apparently, I signed a contract with Rachel. This particular contract was an end-client release form, and stated I gave up all rights to all of my pieces, if I was found unable to handle them. I personally thought I was capable, but Rachel did not. To make her point, she had me deported, by bringing light to unaccounted immigration documents. To say the least, that was the end of that.

After awhile back in Russia, I finally made enough money to make a trip back to America. Don’t ask me why I did it, I’m not really sure. Maybe it was to take another shot as an artist, maybe I still secretly wanted to see Rachel. Whatever the reason was, I decided to come back. And now here I am.