Rewriting Destiny

by Shelly Morgan

  Mack pulls me out of my thoughts by yelling into the phone again, which causes me to flinch and pull the phone away from my face. “DANI!”

  Putting the phone up to my ear again, I yell back at him. “What the fuck happened to my shop!?” He must already know what is going on because the prospect would have called him, which is probably why he called me in the first place. This couldn’t have been the rival club; they don’t do petty shit like this. Someone else did this, and mark my words, when I find out who it was, they are going to wish I’d just called the cops on their ass. But I won’t – no, I’m going to take pleasure in teaching them not to fuck with me or my shop.

  “I’m on my way right now. We’ll figure it out when I get there. Do NOT go inside, do you hear me?” Like I’m going to stand outside my shop waiting for him to come and “clear the scene.” Does he even know who he’s talking to? “Yeah, sure,” I reply, then hang up before he can say anything else.

  Walking up to the prospect, I see he’s on his phone, so I decide to go inside without him. I want to make sure nothing was stolen and see how much damage I’m looking at. I really hope it’s just the window. If it’s more than that, I’m going to have to close down for who knows how long to get everything fixed up and replace whatever is missing. Fuck, I can’t believe this happened!

  After briefly checking out the busted window, I walk slowly toward the front desk. I take the money out of the till every night before I leave, so I don’t have to worry about money being stolen, but I want to check on the computer.

  I walk around the desk and see nothing out of place, just a little messy, and the computer sits untouched. Then I walk into the back where our stations are set up. I check Louie’s station first, but when I find nothing out of the ordinary, I move on to mine. I instantly regret walking back here because all of my supplies are thrown around the room, my tattoo gun lies broken on the floor and on the wall where I have a huge canvas with my name in graffiti, someone took red spray paint and wrote ‘WHORE’ over the letters of my name. This wasn’t random, this shit is personal.

  I’m still standing in front of the wall looking at the red spray paint when I hear motorcycles pulling up to the front of the shop. Seconds later I hear yelling. Not even bothering to try and figure out what is going on outside, I walk up to the canvas and reach up to take it down. But before I even touch it, Zane is yelling my name from the front.

  My hands pause in the air and in less time than you would think it would take someone to get from the front of my shop back here, Zane is pulling me away from the wall and into his arms. “You ok baby girl?” I scoff and step out of his embrace. “Does it fucking look like I’m ok? Look at my fucking shop Zane!” I turn around angrily, rip the canvas off of the wall and throw it towards him. I know I should stop right now and not take this out on him, but I’m too fucking pissed to be thinking rationally.

  “No! I’m not ok! Some motherfucker broke into my shop and destroyed my work station. And not only do I have to deal with the busted window and broken tools, they wrote THAT over my fucking name!” I yell, pointing at the picture I just threw at him. “So no, I’m not fucking ok! I am pissed!”

  He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me, in shock and maybe a little angry himself.

  I turn my back to him and look around the room. It’s going to set me back a couple grand to replace all of this and fix that window. It’s not like I’m hurting for money, but its money I shouldn’t have to fucking spend. When I find the person who did this, I’m going to string him up from the ceiling and tattoo the words ‘Needle Dick’ across his forehead. Then I’m going to have a little fun with him by making long, narrow slices with my buck knife across his chest and stomach. I might even see how much I can cut him before he passes out from either blood loss or pain.

  I walk into the back room and grab the broom, dust pan and a couple of boxes and start picking up the mess. Zane is still standing there, just silently watching me. I don’t even acknowledge him. I just want to get this shit cleaned up, call someone to come in and fix my window today and then go home and order new equipment. Since it’s a Monday, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to close down for a couple of days. I’ll make sure to rush my new supplies so I have them in by Wednesday, then I can spend Thursday cleaning up and making sure everything is back in place.

  After a couple of minutes pass of Zane just standing where I left him and me flying around the room, throwing everything into the boxes to get rid of, he walks back out to the front of the shop. I don’t even bother to watch him walk away, nor do I take the time to feel like shit for taking my frustration out on him. I don’t even waste time checking to make sure if anything is salvageable because I can tell just from the look that everything is trashed.

  When I finish picking everything up off the floor, I sweep to make sure I got all the tiny bits and pieces, then head out back with the boxes to throw them in the dumpster. At least my tattoo gun wasn’t new so maybe it isn’t; I was wanting to buy new equipment anyway, I just wasn’t banking on doing it this soon. I could have gotten at least another year out of it.

  As I walk back into the shop, I hear Zane and Mack arguing with each other. Since I don’t feel like breaking up their hissy fit, I bypass them and head out to my truck.

  I don’t make it far before Mack is running to catch up. He steps in front of me. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Trying to calm myself by taking a couple of deep breathes, I cross my arms over my chest and glare up at him. “Well, I’m going home to put on some sweats and then I’m going to order new equipment. Then I’m going to come back down here and make sure someone comes in to fix my window.” I move around him, heading for my truck.

  After I jump in and close the door, I notice Mack glaring at me through the windshield and Zane approaching behind him.

  Not giving either of them time to stop me, I pull out of my parking space and head toward my house. I want to get everything ordered so I have one less thing to worry about. I also need to get a sign to put on the door to let people know we will be closed for repairs, so I decide to stop at a store to pick up supplies to make one.

  In the store parking lot, I give Louie a call to let him know what happened. “Dani, are you ok? What the hell happened?” I completely forgot that one of the brothers would have called him to let him know about the break-in. Now that I think of it, I’m actually surprised he wasn’t there to check it out for himself.

  “I’m fine Louie, just wanted to let you know I’m going to close down until Friday so don’t worry about coming in.” I get out of the truck and head into the store. “Yeah, ok, that’s probably a good idea. That will give us some time to figure out what we are dealing with.” I blow out a long breath, but the tension in my body isn’t going away. I doubt I’ll be able to calm down until we find out who did this.

  “Where are you at? I thought you would have stopped by to check it out.” Picking up a blank sign, I head to the check out. “I would have, but I’m out of town till tomorrow.” Wow, I’ve really been out of it lately. I didn’t even know he was gone. “Alright, well, I was going to ask if you could call all of our appointments to reschedule, but I’ll do it when I get back to the shop. I’ll call you Thursday night to let you know if you should come in Friday or not.”

  Hanging up the phone, I make my way out to my truck and turn towards home. Hopefully the brothers will have something by the time I get back to the shop. It shouldn’t take long for the guys to figure out who did this or at least find someone who might know. Once I know who did it, I can decide what I’m going to do about it. I don’t care what the brothers think, I’m going with them to confront the person. I could have gotten over the broken window and even my trashed equipment, but writing ‘whore’ on that canvas and making it personal is something I just can’t let go.

  ***

  It’s Thursday, and I am open for business again. My equipment was delivered last night and the window was fixed right away Mond
ay, so there is no reason to wait till Friday to re-open.

  I called Louie to tell him he won’t have to come in today, but to be here tomorrow and then just waited for my first appointment. Thankfully, our clients were all understanding and didn’t put up a fuss over re-scheduling them. I was able to work a few in today last minute, but most will be here tomorrow, so it will be a busy day. I might even ask Mack if he could come in so we can catch up.

  Things with Zane have been a little sketchy since that day at the shop. Even though I feel bad about the way I left him there Monday, I haven’t apologized for it. I called him that night after I got home from making sure the window was fixed but we just never brought it up. I figure if he hasn’t made a big deal out of it, then I’m not going to either.

  Just as my first customer comes into the shop, I hear my phone ringing. I take a quick glance, and see that it’s Zane. Since I need to get going on this tattoo, I let it go to voice mail. Leaving my phone on the front desk, I lead Marlee back to my station.

  “So what are we doing today?” I ask as I sit down, and wait for her to tell me what she wants. This appointment was a last minute schedule, so I don’t have anything drawn up and ready to go like I usually would. Hopefully what she wants won’t take too long and we can get going soon. “I want to do a cherry blossom tree, starting on my lower back and working up over my shoulder.” Sweet, I’ve done a couple of those and it’s something I don’t really need a stencil for. Just draw some lines as guidelines, and I’m good to go.

  “Alright, cool. Since it’s so big, I suggest we start at the bottom and work our way up. I can probably have it done in two sittings. You ok with that?” Some people don’t want to deal with unfinished tattoos, even if they only have to wait a couple of days, but hopefully she’ll be ok with this because there is no way I can fit the whole thing into one sitting today. “Yeah, sounds good,” she says and sits down on the chair.

  I have her take her shirt off and start marking where I want the tattoo to be. She won’t be able to see what it will look like since I’m going to freehand most of it, but at least she’ll be able to get an idea of how it will flow, from her back, up around her shoulder.

  Just as I finish and ask her to go look in the mirror to make sure she likes the placement, I hear my phone ring again. I never answer the phone when I’m with a client so I just ignore it and have her sit down so we can get started.

  Two and a half hours later, I’m done with most of the back and have a good start working around her shoulder. I clean her up and hear my phone ringing in the front. Ignoring it, I put some Vaseline on her new ink and cover it with a bandage. “Alright, you’re good to go. Let’s go up front and get you scheduled for a time to come in and finish this.”

  I’m really happy with how the tattoo is turning out and can’t wait to see it finished. I may have to take pictures to post on the website and in my portfolio if she is ok with it. I don’t do that often, but every once in a while I have someone come in and ask for a cool design. I don’t have any cherry blossom trees, so it will make a great addition to show off.

  We set her up to come in on Monday, then she pays and heads out the door. As she reaches for the door knob, the door bursts open, causing her to jump back in alarm. I snap my head up to see who the fuck is barging into my shop like that. “Why the fuck aren’t you answering your fucking phone?!” Zane yells, ignoring Marlee and stalking towards me.

  I spare a glance behind him to make sure she gets out ok. She stands there in shock for a couple of seconds then hightails it out of the shop. I turn a heated gaze back to Zane and cross my arms. “What the fuck? Who the hell do you think you are barging in here and nearly knocking my customer over, huh?” I’m so pissed that I’m seeing red tinge the side of my vision. So what if I didn’t answer my phone? He needs to realize that I’m not just going to drop everything every time he calls me.

  Charging right into my space, he backs me up against the wall beside the desk. With barely an inch between us, he stares down at me with irritation. “Why. The. Fuck. Didn’t. You. Answer. Your. Phone?” He bites out every word separately. I see his nostrils flare and his eyes look almost black with rage. If he was anyone else, I might have flinched back from the venom in his tone, but this is Zane, so I push him back and get into his face.

  “I was fucking working you jackass! You can’t just come in here and scold me like a child for not picking up my phone. Even if I wasn’t working, if I don’t want to talk to you, I fucking won’t!” I stand my ground and level him with a seething glare that rivals the one he is giving me. He needs to get it through his thick fucking skull that I’m not his property and I will not stand for him bossing me around. Just because we’ve fucked a couple of times doesn’t mean I have to bend to his will.

  Neither of us looks away from the other for a good two minutes before he lets out a breath and relaxes his stance, but only slightly. “Look, things have been tense lately, and I just got word this morning that we haven’t been able to get eyes on our little visitors. When you didn’t answer your phone, I didn’t know if they fucking got to you or where you were. And since I was out of town, I couldn’t just come here and check on you right away. You need to answer when I call so I know you are ok, at least while we are on guard.” Knowing he means well doesn’t cool my temper at all. How many times to do I need to fucking tell him that I can take care of myself? I don’t need him or anyone else to look out for me.

  Turning around on my heel, I walk back over behind the desk. “You don’t have to worry about me. I don’t fucking need you to protect me. Now that you know I’m still breathing, you can leave.” I look down at my schedule, pretending to be busy so he’ll get the hint and leave. “Baby girl…” I’m done listening to his shit. I just want him to get the fuck out so I can get on with my day. “I said leave. Now Blaze.” That seems to have the desired effect. I’ve never used his road name. He’s always been Zane to me, but now I’m too pissed off to say his name.

  When, after a couple of moments he still has not moved, I look up at him and cock my head to the side. I give him a hard stare until he turns to walk out the door. “Fine. Don’t fucking come crying to me when you find yourself in hot water.” I don’t reply; it’s not like he wanted one anyway. He can go fuck himself. I’ve been doing just fine without him for four fucking years, so I don’t need him now. I doubt those fuckers in the rival club will come after me anyway, but if they do, I’ll be ready, if only to prove to him that I don’t need him.

  The rest of the night goes slowly with four other appointments and one walk-in. It’s late by the time I lock the doors. I clean up the shop, thinking about what happened with Zane earlier. Maybe I should go and apologize to him. I’ve been a bitch to him a lot since he’s come back into my life, but sometimes it’s hard to bring someone else in and let them take care of you after looking out for yourself for so long. I mean, yeah, Mack and the brothers watch out for me, but it’s different with Zane.

  I decide to stop by the club to talk with him and see if we can move past all of this and start over. Heading outside to my truck with the money from the till, I pull my phone out to call Zane when suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my head and everything goes black.

  Zane

  I can’t seem to get over the way Dani acted this afternoon. You’d think that after everything that has happened to her that she would be thankful to have someone care about her and want to look out for her. But instead, when I try calling to make sure she is safe, she doesn’t answer her fucking phone. Then when I race to her shop to make sure nothing happened, she freaks the fuck out.

  After walking out of the shop, I took the scenic route back to the clubhouse because I needed time to think. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. As much as I’m glad I found her after all this time and I can see that she is ok and she’s made a good life for herself with people to stand behind her, maybe things would have been better if I didn’t push.

  I never thought I’d say this, but she
could be right – we’ve both changed over the years, maybe too much to finally be together. I’m not sure we even have a friendship anymore. Everything is strained and not the way it used to be. It’s probably my fault, the way I treated her before I left and what happened when she left, but fuck! I’m trying here. The least she could fucking do is understand where I’m coming from and give me a break.

  Walking into the clubhouse, I realize I was driving around for longer than I thought. By the looks of the party already started, it’s past eight. I catch Louie’s eye on my way to the bar and the glare he sends my way almost has me changing direction and walking up to him to put him on his ass again. I know there was something between Dani and him. I may not have the details, but I know. The way he defended her proves it. Maybe that’s the kind of man who deserves her, not me. At least he’s never done anything to hurt her like I have.

  I shake my head and walk to the bar, not wanting to think about my baby girl with someone else. Sitting on the stool, I don’t even have to ask for the bottle of Jack to appear, they just know.

  Downing my first glass straight, I motion for the prospect to bring me a beer too. I don’t want to get completely wasted and not be able to think about what I’m going to do about me and Dani. Something needs to happen and soon.

  Mack taps me on the shoulder and sits down beside me at the bar. “Did you find Dani?” he asks, but the look on his face shows that he knows I did, just didn’t like what happened when I found her. “Yeah, I found her all right.” I fill my glass with Jack again and take a good drink before turning back to Mack. He had to have come over for more than just to ask me about Dani. “We got anything new about our visitors?” I just want this threat gone so I can sit my girl down to figure out where we go from here.