Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Drawing Faces



As a child, Ben has always been one of the brighter kids at school in an unconventional manner that is. And though his zest for learning was overflowing, somehow his investments of energy doesn't seem to transcend down toward his grades. His debatable grades harbor toward the borderline cases less for his language subjects.

As a result, he has always been the bane of his mother for not being able to emulate his elder siblings who's undaunted heaps of appraisals for colourful marks sky rocketed them to the elites of their school.

Now besides languages, Ben mastered in his Art class. Constantly being ridiculed by his mother and siblings, they made him feel how wrong and unsuccessful a career Art can be. Everyone in his class usually marvelled at his paintings, drawings, and artifacts. No one knows where he got his Art genes from, but in short, Ben was simply magnificent for his age.

As much as his mother doesn't want to admit to Ben's keen eye for the arts, countless times during one of those mundane parents' teachers' meeting, she would hear Ben's form teacher muttering under her breath, "Your son Ben....well...he's just one of those creatively inclined students. And thats that. I do not know how else I can motivate the boy. He doesn't cause any trouble...well...except for his marvellous grafitti on his desk". Ironic isn't it?

And so as the prophecy goes, Ben got accepted to a good Art school, going against his mother's wishes to pursue Art as a career. He aced and came out tops in the entire cohort and in just a couple of years, he is now lecturing not only in local art institutions, but also in many prestigious art colleges around the world. I myself find it hard to fathom that he is just 28 years old today earning 6 times more than what any of his siblings are earning, having more holidays than his siblings combined, and sleeping peacefully every single night, not having to bother about a certain client, or a project deadline, and robotic accounting windows, unlike his siblings. But yet, he still years for his mother's blessing. "It's not a real job", she would whisper to the chatty neighbours.

Already giving up hope on winning his mothers' favour, Ben led the life he always wanted...unconventionally. And one fine day, his sister called to discuss on a birthday bash for their mothers' grand old 60th. They wanted to discuss about the gift. It was agreed that the siblings were to have dinner at Ben's place that night. After much friendly disagreements as how siblings usually have them, it was agreed that they would do something special, yet simple. They were going to present to their mother, in a grand brass frame, a portrait of herself. And as soon as it was agreed, all of them looked at Ben, automatically implying that he had to be the one responsible for the creative aspect of things. "Easy", Ben cooly replied. Just give me a couple of days to locate a suitable reference photo, and I'll take it from there yea?

No news from Ben, and Mother's birthday was just a day away. Rejecting their calls, his siblings grew worried and fidgety and so Joanne decided to pop by Ben's place that afternoon. Ben still refused to pick up as Joanne stared sparingly at the red front door of Ben's apartment. His car was parked outside so he is definitely at home she thought. "What an asshole", she muttered under her breath.

Joanne rummaged her handbag for extra set of keys Ben trusted her with and opened the door. The house looked like an aftermath of heavy partying and boozing. His winning art pieces hung on the walls, slanted from the norm. There were canvasses on the floor, paint everywhere. His place was a terrific mess. Ben's tattooed body lay sprawled on the floor behind the couch....motionless.

"Hey idiot", Joanne barked out at him as she gently kicked the side of his leg. "Hmmmpf", Ben muffled. "What do you want", Ben forced himself awake. "The portrait asshole...are you done with it? We heard no news from you", Joanne fluttered with desperation. "I haven't started lah. Had a party last night over here. My head hurts. Give me awhile la ok? Lemme just wash up and I'll get down to it", Ben said nonchalantly.

"What!!! You haven't started? How are we going to finish this in time. Are you sure you got time to finish it anot you idiot?", Joanne was on the verge of a catastrophic meltdown. "Relax lah. Kancheong for what? 2 hours can already. Ok?", Ben comforted his sister. He has always been closer to Joanne as compared to his other siblings, for Joanne usually was his accomplice during their growing up years, unlike the other 2 siblings who were basically hardcore nerds.

Ben reappeared 30 minutes later with a roll of canvass under his left arm, an easel in his right hand, and a couple of charcoal pencils. He carefully placed his reference photo and began sketching. Joanne nestled herself comfortably on the couch as she intently peered over Ben's shoulder not wanting to be left out of the artistic developments.

"Hey!!!", Joanne wailed. "Do you think this is a joke? What the hell are you drawing. That doesn't look like Mum", Joanne rattled on as she tilted her head sideways to convince herself that she isn't dreaming. "It looks more like.... me it seems?", she now seems puzzled.

"Yah yah. What the hell do you guys know", Ben defended himself. "Anyway, you're her daughter what, so there must be some form of resemblance right?", Ben sarcastically replied. "I'm not done. This is just the base. Now is the fun part", Ben muttered, with a glint in his eye and his head tilted back at an angle, as if absorbing the energy from the canvas.

Joanne stood up and pulled a stool so that she could sit closer to Ben. "You remembered in Primary School when I chose to join the Art Club instead of Science Club?", Ben asked his sister. "Well Mum was really disappointed", Ben continued as he added a fine line across the forehead. "And then I failed one of the year end exams badly and couldn't progress to the next level. That deserved a few more lines", Ben exclaimed as he let his charcoal do the talking.

"Father had an affair when we were in Secondary School, that really took a toll on Mum", Ben muttered again as he drew a deeper groove this time near the temple and below the eyes. "It took a good 1 year before the divorce case was settled", Ben recollected as he added a few more fine lines here and there.

Joanne now began to see how the portrait began to unfold as she began to see more of her mother now. "Remember December 1998?", Ben quizzed Joanne. We attended our prom night, we got drunk and didn't come home. Mum got really angry at you, and at me for dragging you along. "If only she knew the truth back then about who devised that plan!", Ben smirked at his sister Joanne as he added a few more creases onto the face.

"And this is for the time i got my first tattoo, and when I opted for Art School, and when I went into NS. And when you were dating that older guy. Wait...older ugly guy! Haha", Ben laughed, together with Joanne as they reminisced the past. "And this is when Debra miscarried her first child. And this is for when the house caught fire one evening and we had to stay with Aunty Sue for a couple of months. God Mum hated Aunty Sue's husband", Ben went on.

Slowly but slowly, Joanne found herself starring at her mother, who is looking straight back at her from the canvass. "She seems sad Ben. Can you do something about it", Joanne commented with a tear in her eyes.

"Wait lah. Still not done.", Ben defended himself. "Remember the day Dylan was born? Mum shed tears of joy in welcoming her first grand child", Ben shuffle Joanne's memory as he drew some fine lines around the mouth. "And when all of you guys graduated from the university, and when all of you got married, and when Thomas got that president achievement thingy", Ben continued as he drew those fine crevices so it formed a smile on his mother's face.

"There, I'm almost done", said Ben as he applied the finishing touches. "Wow", Joanne gasped. "You're really brilliant. You're really something. Gift from God you are", Joanne exclaimed as she sat amazed. "Somehow, I still feel something is amiss", Joanne muttered as she snatched the charcoal pencil from her youngest brother.

"What the hell? What do you mean? What are you doing?", Ben fretted as Joanne brought the charcoal closer to the canvas. Joanne drew in another fine line around her Mother's mouth. "And what's that supposed to be?", Ben seemed puzzled and eager to know. "You know how much Mum doesn't show her appreciation toward you?", Joanne paused for a while. "Well, its not as bad as it seems. She's old fashioned yes. But she has always told us that she loved you most. And she is very proud of what you are today, albeit choosing an unconventional path, whenever she reads your name in the papers or see you on television, she never fail to say this...",Joanne stopped, with tears already welling in her eyes.

"What?", Ben whispered. She would say proudly to all, "That's my son Ben. My son."



- Inspired by an ageless Enid Blyton classic.