Chapter 4 #2
Buddy looks entertained. He looks like he’s watching a ping-pong match.
The way that we’re bantering back-and-forth, he’s trying to stifle a chuckle.
“The problem here is that both of you are too nice. It’s something to see for a change.
Hell, in my store, people bicker back-and-forth, lowballing the asking price, but I don’t budge a smidgen see, because I’m running a business, and I know that people come from far and wide to see our store.
Now, I don’t mean to interfere, but why don’t you to come up with some kind of a compromise?
Lennie, you knock down the asking price fifty percent for Levi here, and he can still give you them riding lessons.
That way, if word gets around, which it won’t, seeing is it’s just the three of us here. But it’ll keep the story honest."
“I’m not sure if you have that kind of money, Levi. A photograph like this is worth a lot of money. And I know that a rancher's salary is not much."
With a keen eye, Levi notices the pink sticker on the photo frame, and he sees the price list posted behind the counter. He realizes that the photograph is worth two thousand dollars. “You put that picture on hold for me, Lennie. I’ll be back with the cash."
I don’t have the heart to tell him that we take cards, too. “If that’s what will make you happy.”
“It’s settled then.“ Buddy is pleased. “Best for me to head on back to the store. Need anything, Lennie, you know where to find me."
“Thank you, Buddy. I appreciate it.“
He winks at me as he and Levi leave the store.
Glancing at the picture on the wall, I have mixed feelings.
Because of the way that Levi looked at that picture, I know that he really likes it.
He wasn’t just trying to impress his friend.
Besides, I have no idea how close Buddy and Levi are.
There is no question that that photograph is perfection.
It almost feels like I took advantage of nature in stealing that shot from it.
The beauty was merely captured by my lens, but the maker is the true artist. The filter and finishing touches I placed on the photograph are my own, but they merely brought out some of the beauty of the image.
I pull it off the wall and start packaging it up, taking special care to wrap it up in several wads of tissue paper.
Just as I turn my back to grab a large specialty box for it, a client walks in the front door.
It’s a female, late fifties if I had to guess, and she doesn’t look like she’s from around here, based on the fact that she’s dressed like she belongs somewhere in New York, with a tailored pants suit.
A local woman would be in the same tailored pants suit, however, she would have a matching hat. Especially in that age group.
I’ve made it a habit just to welcome newcomers, but I never hover.
This isn’t a perfume store. This is a place where people come to spend money, where nothing here is less than five hundred dollars.
It seems almost ironic, how my customers come in for investment items for their home or office here, yet next-door, they barter and negotiate over items that cost of little as one hundred dollars.
Don’t get me wrong, he only sells the highest quality antiques.
You won’t find a trinket in his store that belongs in a garage sale.
The man has an eye for pieces. He travels all over the states and beyond, finding pieces that he can perfect and resell.
But he recently hired an antique scout as well.
And with my thriving business next-door, with items at high ticketed prices, he also offers pawn services, where people can bring their precious antiques to sell, in hopes that they will come to my store and buy with the money that they just pocketed.
It’s a fantastic system that has been working well for several years now.
And as I watch this customer peruse one of my five thousand dollar items, I smile.
“Were you looking for something in particular?“ I ask the woman who definitely has a fine eye for art. With her progressive lenses, I can tell that she’s looking at my autograph on the bottom, right hand corner, and the edition number. “That’s one of a kind, as you can see. I snapped up that photograph in Oklahoma City last year during a storm.” Of course, anyone with a good eye for art would know by the edition number that the photograph is the only one of its kind.
But I do like to emphasize that I am the artist here, and I only have one part-time staff to cover during peak times.
I believe strongly that that is one of the reasons why my inventory sells so well, because I give it that personal touch in being here.
“You are the photographer?“ She sticks out her hand for me to shake. “Clever. Very clever.“
I’m not sure what exactly she thinks is clever.
Whether it’s me being here selling my own inventory, or the picture itself, where one can see a lightning strike, as it licks the top of a tree in twilight.
You can see in the bark where the lightning strike is separating it.
Had I waited a millisecond longer to snap the shot, I would’ve lost it.
If you look closely, you can see a tiny plume of smoke at the center, where tiny shards of bark are being instantaneously burned by the lightning bolt.
I just smile, not saying anything. It’s important to only volunteer the first sentence.
If the customer is truly interested in the piece, they’ll ask questions of their own volition.
This is not a business where sales pitches are fruitful.
None of these pieces are needs. These are all items that a person wants, but don’t require.
“My grandson is turning twenty this weekend. He’s obsessed with the weather. He would be crazy enough to go storm chasing, I’m sure.”
“That’s how I got that shot, as a matter of fact.”
“I wondered.” Her eyes search my face. “Are you hearing impaired?”
“Yes, I am. But I can read lips just fine.”
“My daughter-in-law is completely deaf. Do you know sign language?”
“I do, but I don’t use it often. Does she?”
“She does the close captioning for our local television network.”
I’m impressed. “Then she uses it daily. That’s a noble career choice.”
She gestures to the tree picture. “I can see you’ve chosen a noble career as well. Tell me, what inspires you to take photographs of such mundane things, yet make them appear so surreal?”
“I believe that there’s beauty in everything. Even in a piece of garbage, if you look at something with that eye. Angles, lighting, mood, movements, all those things play a part in objects.”
“Do you use any special effects?”
“Only to add special touches like this one, where the back fades out into an oval shape.
" I explain, showing her a photograph steps away.
"Or this, where I add a small fairy to the hand of this child to give it a touch of whimsy.
" I illustrate, showing her the hand-sketched fairy in color, against a black and white photograph of a child, which just so happens to be my neighbor's daughter.
"I added a little pink to her cheeks to tie it in with the fairy's coloring, but that's all the effects I use.
This child is a real live person that lives next door to me. "
The woman is intrigued. She smiles. "Really. That's adorable."
"She is. I couldn't help myself. And her mother is just as beautiful."
She steps back to the lightning bolt picture. "I think I'll take this one. It's high time I impressed my grandson, since all he's been into since he turned thirteen is video games and watching storm videos."
"Is he going to be a meteorologist?"
"Lord knows. Maybe. That's the only thing he ever seems to talk about when it isn't the latest electronic device."
"Would you like the photograph in a special gift box?"
"Sure, honey. That would be great."
"Are you able to fit it in your car, or would you like me to arrange to have it shipped?"
"No, that's fine. It should fit."
I package it up nicely, grateful that I've already got all the materials out, and I cash her out, just as Levi returns.
He tips his hat kindly at her, and gives her a hand with the package to her car, which is parked just outside.
My heart sort of melts. There are plenty of gentlemen out here, but nothing like that.
She's not even an elderly woman. "That was awfully kind of you. Thank you."
"No problem. I didn't want to see her trip and fall and lose your first sale of the day."
I smile. "So, if you have a change of heart about buying that photograph, there are no hard feelings, Levi."
He pulls a wad of cash out of his pocket. "I wouldn't think of it. I told you I wanted that picture and I do."
As he hands me the cash, I look at him. "Where are you going to hang it? I'm always curious about that."
He tilts his head slightly. “That’s a great question. I’m sort of hanging my hat in several places right now.”
I don’t want to pry, so I just smile, as I walk to the cash drawer and ring up the sale. As I count the money, I notice that he’s given me way too much. “Levi, there’s two thousand dollars here.”
He purses his lips together. “That’ll be our secret.”
“But that’s not what we agreed on.”
“No, that’s what you and Buddy agreed on, but not me. And I’m not arguing about it any longer if it’s all the same to you.”
His voice is sweet but tight, like if this were any other circumstance and we knew each other better, he would put up a fight, but instead, he’s just setting me straight. “I was sort of looking forward to riding lessons.”
“Y’all can do that, too. I’m not squelching here.”
As I place the bills into the till, I look up at him. “You come into some money? It’s none of my business, but I just wondered how a rancher has that sort of cash just laying around like that.”
He frowns. “You’re right. That’s none of your business. That’s like me asking you how y’all can afford to keep this here store. Although I’m getting the picture, literally, seeing as you just made more than two months of my salary in one morning.”
The receipt is printed and I hand it to him. “I can go weeks without making a sale. And some days are just like today. It’s all about balance. So long as I keep fresh inventory, things keep moving.”
He changes the subject. “You bringing some work to that annual Hoedown next weekend?”
“I am.”
“I’ll be there with Digger, one of our horses, offering free rides to kids for Billy. Piper says it’s a great way to bring more business to the ranch and the new resort.”
My response comes with hesitation. “Billy got himself a girl?”
He gives me a strange look. “Why do you ask?”
“Send her on to me. I’ll give her a deal on some artwork for that resort. I can even do some custom things for her with the horses if she wants.”
“I tell you what.” He leans an elbow on the counter. “I’ll hang this here picture at the resort for now. Since it was taken on the property and all.”
“You’re living at the ranch?”
“Darlin’, like I said, I’m hanging my hat in several places right now. But that’s a long story.”
Something behind his eyes tells me that he’s not a man of many words, and those words count.
He’s full of mystery and intrigue. A man with no fixed address, a Stetson that looks like he’s had it for as long as he’s had his driver’s license, tattered jeans, boots that look like they’ve been mended by an untrained pair of hands, and yet he walked in here with two thousand dollars cash to buy a photo that he surely doesn’t need.
“You come on over to the ranch later and I’ll give you your first riding lesson.” He hesitates. “Before seven o’clock if you can manage.”
It comes out before I can stop it. “Got a hot date tonight?”
He looks agitated. “More like an early morning tomorrow.”
“My apologies.” I say evenly.
He’s about to turn towards the door. “Hey, don’t forget your picture.”
He’s suddenly distracted, like he’s a million miles away. I notice the way he glances at the photo of a pregnant woman with angels in the background. “Thanks.” He says, walking towards the door.
I stand there, staring at the photo I took and then altered so her face isn’t obvious, almost blurred.
Then I look over to Levi, as he loads the picture carefully into the back of the cab.
The way he looks back at me is almost haunting.
It’s an image I can’t get out of my mind for the rest of the day.