"I didn't want to give him the sketch," says K.C. "I wanted to put it on eBay."
But could it fetch any bidders?
"It might," says George Lowry, of New York's Swann Auction Galleries, a high-end auction house that "wouldn't touch" a piece like K.C.'s.
"There can be a market for anything that is weird and has a good backstory. It could do extremely well on eBay."
K.C. was released from Butner on Aug. 31 and is staying at a men's shelter in West Philly, which he's anxious to leave.
He's broke, has no family and is relying on the kindness of new acquaintances to get by.
He knows that he could make a decent living sketching portraits and painting murals, if he could just get settled into his own place and establish a routine as healthy and productive as the one he had at Butner.
He needs some start-up money. The portrait could help with that. Trouble is, he doesn't have a permanent address or bank account, so he can't even set up an eBay auction.
He's getting desperate, and, he says, "I don't want to rob another bank."
E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns:
http://go.philly.com/polaneczky. Read Ronnie's blog at http://go.philly.com/ronnieblog.
