“Yeah, me, too. She drives a car that costs more than our trailer, but she doesn’t care about stuff like that. She doesn’t look down on me like a lot of them do.”
“She sounds wonderful. When do I get to meet her?”
“I have no idea. She’s bringing my school stuff over tomorrow after I get off work, but I think you have to work.”
“What time will she be here?”
“Around nine thirty. Why?”
“Because I’ll make sure to be here. I want to meet her.”
I groaned. “Is that really necessary?”
“Of course it is. I want to meet the girl who has finally snagged my son.”
“I’m going to bed now. You’re crazy.”
“Night, sweetie. I’m still mad at you for getting kicked out.” “Sure you are.” I walked into my room and closed the door.
I knew I’d sleep good tonight with Emma’s perfume covering my bed.
I was bored out of my mind. To kill time, I’d slept in until almost noon, and after I made myself something to eat, I’d spent the rest of my afternoon staring at the TV. I had no idea who came up with these stupid reality shows, but they needed to be tested for drugs. Who cares about a trio of rich sisters who are famous for no reason? Definitely not me. I turned off the TV and threw the remote down beside me on the couch. I still had an hour to kill before I had to be at work, and I had nothing to do.
I debated on cleaning the kitchen for my mom, but I wasn’t that bored yet. Instead, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Emma.
Me: I’m bored.
I didn’t expect a reply until later, but she responded almost instantly.
Emma: What do you want me to do about it?
Me: You could always sneak out of school and come visit me. I could give you a few more lessons, like last night. ;) Emma: I’m sure you could. And thanks by the way. Lucy just asked me why my face was so red.
Me: Ha-ha. I’ll see you tonight.
Emma: Okay! <3
I put my phone back in my pocket and grabbed my keys off the stand. I figured Rick wouldn’t care if I came in a little bit early. It wasn’t like he would pay me for it anyway.
I took my time driving to the shop as I tried to kill time. I even sat out in the parking lot with my radio blaring Devour the Day’s latest song, “Good Man.” When the song finally ended, I walked into the shop. I loved my job, but we’d been so slow lately that I dreaded going in. Time passed by so slowly when I had nothing to do.
I changed my shirt, and then I walked to the back where Rick and one of the guys, Tony, were working on a couple of clients. I liked working with all of the guys, but Tony was my favorite. He was only a few years older than me, and we had a lot in common. He was married and had a two-year-old, but he still managed to come out and party with Andy and me from time to time.
The client he was working with had her eyes closed tightly as he worked on a piece located on her foot. It was a flash piece that we had in one of the books out front, but he’d added a few extras to the standard vine and flower design. The main part of the vine spelled out the name Jane before it branched off to where the flowers grew.
I loved doing that on my designs. It was such a cool feeling to take a tattoo that had been used hundreds of times and put my own spin on it to make it something special.
The girl looked young, barely over eighteen, but she didn’t complain like a lot of clients would. Instead of yelling about the pain, she simply kept her eyes closed and gritted her teeth as he finished up the outside of the tattoo. When he used blood inking for the shading, I actually saw tears forming in her eyes. That shit hurt because he had to mix her blood with the ink. I’d watched grown men howl in pain when an artist did that to them.
“Okay, you’re done,” Tony said as he shut off his gun.
The girl opened her eyes and looked down at her foot. “Oh my god.” “Do you like it?” he asked.
“Are you kidding me? I love it! Thank you so much!”
“Anytime. Let me give you our aftercare instruction sheet. If you have any questions, just give me a call.”
“I will. Thank you!”
She watched him place a bandage over her new tattoo. As soon as he was finished, he handed her our instruction sheet and walked her to the front door of the shop.
I followed them and took a seat on my stool behind the counter. Tony pulled another one up next to me and sat down.
“Have fun at school today?” he teased.
He knew I hated going to Hamrick, and he was constantly on my case about it.
“I got kicked out for a week.”
He started laughing. “I should’ve known. What did you do?”
I shrugged. “Fought a few assholes.”
“Did you at least win?”
“I did.”
He patted me on the back. “Why the hell did you get into a fight? I thought you were the one who kept his nose clean while Andy started brawls just for the hell of it.”
“They called me trailer trash and threatened me.”
“Whoa. What the hell?”