The Masterpiece

Grace reflects on her first day of work at Roman’s house, still uncertain whether it will prove to be a blessing or a prelude to further trouble. She is impressed by Roman’s artistic talent and acknowledges his desperate need for a personal assistant to bring some order to his life, but she is wary of his intentions.

Roman, for his part, is impressed with Grace’s efficiency and doesn’t want to lose her, but his tortured past—his days growing up on the streets as Bobby Ray Dean—makes him feel out of place in his own life. He thinks that “Bobby Ray Dean couldn’t get any further away from the Tenderloin than this. He didn’t know who he was anymore” (22). While he focuses on his work for a mural project in San Diego, assisted by a subcontracted artist onsite, Grace reminds him that her initial two-week work commitment is done. Roman convinces her to stay on as his assistant.

This chapter is a short flashback to Roman’s youth as 15-year-old Bobby Ray Dean. He has gotten involved with a local gang by delivering packages for them and eventually earns some respect from the leader, Reaper, by standing up for himself and demanding payment for his services. Roman’s interests in gang life shift toward tagging, and he experiments with graffiti, assisted by his friend Lardo. He signs his graffiti with his initials—BRD—and this signoff leads to his street-world pseudonym of “the Bird.” Dodging police and finding ever more dangerous places to paint, Roman is living a dangerous life. At school, Lardo and Reaper talk him into coming to a party happening later on, but Roman also has schoolwork hanging over his head. His social studies teacher notices his sketches and mentions to him that he would accept sketches of Civil War soldiers in place of a paper that Roman hadn’t turned in. Roman misses the first part of the party to go to the library instead, working to produce the drawings of soldiers.

Grace meets with her friends—Shanice Tyson, Ashley O’Toole, and Nicole Torres—on Sunday after church. This little circle of friends is her support network, and she tells them about working for Roman. They playfully tease her about Roman’s attractiveness but support her decision to put in her notice. They also encourage her not to give up hope regarding Samuel’s long-term placement with her instead of with the Garcias.

Back at work, Grace reveals to Roman that she has other job interviews lined up, and he encourages her to alleviate some of the distance-related difficulties of working for him by moving into his guest cottage on the property. Although Grace is at first suspicious of Roman’s motives, she considers the offer and brings her friends over to see the place and meet Roman. Encouraged by their enthusiastic response, Grace agrees to take the offer and continue her work for Roman.

The narrative flashes back to Grace’s experience as a 20-year-old, when she was married to Patrick and working to help pay his way through college. Patrick gets injured and loses his football scholarship, but he refuses to get a job and do his part to sustain their life and studies. Grace ends up earning their living and doing the homework for both of their courses almost single-handedly, but Patrick continues to guilt her into doing more. Grace’s Aunt Elizabeth tries to warn her about the unhealthy patterns in the marriage, and those warnings are proven right when Grace catches Patrick in an affair, which brings them to the brink of their marriage’s end.

Jasper Hawley, an old mentor of Roman’s, comes to visit him for the first time at his new Topanga Canyon mansion. Hawley has been a presence in Roman’s life since Roman was a teenager, and he has worked with Roman at the Masterson Ranch, a group home for street kids. Hawley is older now and has recently undergone a bout of chemotherapy, but he continues checking in on Roman’s life. He encourages Roman to pursue the kind of art he’s good at, not just what sells well. Hawley’s reflections on his late wife make Roman think of Grace. Later, Hector Espinoza, the subcontracted painter who fills in Roman’s murals, also comes by, and Grace gets to meet him. Grace gets a look at a mural they’re preparing for a hotel in San Diego, near a zoo, and she protests that a hidden scene of a lion devouring a baby giraffe would not be appropriate for it.

The narrative jumps back to Roman at 21, as he journeys around Europe after his time at Masterson Ranch. Encouraged to study the great artistic masters, Roman wanders around Italy, Switzerland, and France, visiting churches and museums and filling his sketchbook. He observes but does not quite understand the devotion that he sees in pilgrims and worshipers at the churches. While he learns from the great art of the past, he is also resolved to leave his own mark, and he tags graffiti around the cities that he visits, further developing his “BRD” signoff as “the Bird.” In the Louvre, he scouts out a way to leave a hidden painting of his own in plain sight—an oil painting of an owl, which he furtively secures to a wall beside the other paintings. He laughs to himself as he leaves, “wondering how long it would take for the staff to realize something didn’t belong” (76).

With Grace’s housing sorted out, Grace and Roman begin to get to know each other better in their semi-permanent professional arrangement. A mural commission proposal comes in from the town of Golden, near Masterson Ranch, and their ensuing conversation brings up Roman’s association with the group home for the first time. However, Grace doesn’t pry. Amid their talk about Roman’s work and life over the past few years, Grace’s faith comes up naturally and casually, and Roman pushes back against what he perceives as her naiveté. Roman eventually falls asleep in the studio while working, and Grace leaves some dinner for him. He awakens disoriented and terrified, fighting flashbacks of previous trauma, and his thoughts drive him back to reflections on faith.