by Ellie Messe
Entering the shop, the bell above the door echoes off the checkered floor. A moment later, Lynch emerges from the doorway to the left.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” I echo.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. Drew’s uncle showed up super pissed and I needed to get out of there. Are you tattooing anyone?”
“Nah, my schedule’s empty today for walk-ins.”
“Oh. So what do you do when you’re waiting?”
“Watch T.V., plays games.”
“Sounds thrilling.”
“Keeps me on my toes.”
“I bet.” Moving around, I admire the templates on the wall. Everything is different, yet somehow the same.
When Lynch starts to chuckle, I pull my eyes away to look at him, “You look so out of place.”
“Why?”
He waves to my arms, “So much skin. How does someone, especially a chick, in this day and age not have tattoos?”
“I have a tattoo.” Bending over, I pull up my pant leg with one hand, while the other pushes my sock down to reveal the flower on my Achilles tendon.
“Well you took the jump.” He says, looking at it, “When are you gonna let me put some real art on you?”
“This is real.” I frown, looking down at my little gray flower.
“That’s a cookie cutter tattoo. And it’s not even shaded correctly.”
“You wanna fix it?”
He shakes his head, “Nah, like I said it’s a cookie cutter tattoo. I fucking hate doing those. If you want a real tattoo, that’s another story.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. What do you want?”
“I like flowers.”
“Of course, you do.” He mocks with a smile. “Follow me.”
We move into the room that he used to tattoo Drew, and hands me one of the black binders that line one of the counters. Inside, page after page, are detailed flower tattoos.
“Did you do all of these?”
“Mhm.”
“How long does is take?”
“Depends what you get, how big it is, and how long you can hold still.”
“What if I got this one but on my arm like this one?” I show him the two photos. The first image is a row of three black and gray flowers with large dark leaves peeking out underneath. The second is an image of red roses spread over a woman’s shoulder, bicep, and collarbone. “Just a little smaller.”
“So, you want the gray ones, right?”
I nod and he moves the strap of my shirt to the side to get a better look. “Yeah I could do that. You’re looking at four or five hours. You gonna be able to sit for that long?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, go sit down.”
“Wait, you’re going to do it now?”
“Why not? You’re bored and I’m not doing anything.”
I laugh a little in disbelief but go with it. “Well, alright then. I guess I’m getting a tattoo.
The process actually took a little over five hours but I am completely in love. Twisting in the mirror I admire his work. A large flower sits on the edge of my shoulder, a smaller one rests below on my shoulder blade near my armpit, the third on my bicep. Leaves bow in towards my collarbone, tricep, and spine. Leaning in closer, I huff in amusement.
“You can’t even see my scar.”
“The one on your arm, right?”
“Yeah, it was so obvious before but I can’t even find where it is now.”
“So, you’re happy with it, I take it?”
“Oh, God. I love it, are you kidding?”
“Come over here so I can get a picture of it and get it covered.”
Obeying, I move over to his table where he moves my arm where he wants it and I watch as he takes multiple photos from different angles. Once happy with his photos, he takes a roll of blue paper towels and pulls a section off before smearing what looks like Vaseline over my tender skin and taping it to my skin.
“Alright, these are the care instructions.” He hands me a folded piece of paper, “Leave that on for about an hour or until you get home if you’re gonna be running around. When you take it off, wash it with warm water and unscented, white soap. Dab it dry with a clean paper towel and give it a few minutes before adding this ointment,” I accept the little packets as he continues, “You only need to use a tiny bit for the first four days, after that let it dry out. Keep it clean, don’t wear constrictive clothing and when you go to sleep tonight don’t lay on any light-colored fabric cause it might bleed a little and stain your shit. Any questions?”
“How long did it take you to memorize all that?”
He chuckles, “Shut up. Alright, get the hell outta my shop. I’m tired of looking at ya. Make sure to tell all your friends.”
“Pretty sure he already knows. His ass healed nicely by the way.”
He pauses briefly from cleaning his station to laugh, “Oh fuck, I still can’t believe he went through with that. Anyway, tell him to tell his friends seeing as you don’t have any.”
“Har, har. I’ll see you later, thanks again.”
He offers a quick ‘mhm’ before disappearing into the back room.
Pulling up to the house I notice that Drew’s bike is gone. I know I’m supposed to leave it covered but I’m exhausted. We didn’t get back until late last night and then with my pissed-off-hot-uncle wake up call, I’m in need of a good nap. After a quick wash and some ointment I lay down on my bed and admire my new tattoo before my eyes start to burn, within two blinks I’m out cold.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Drew
Well, today has been fun.
I have been officially screamed at by every member of my family. Were my actions reckless? Maybe. Was I being a selfish prick? Absolutely. Should I have texted someone to let them know I was alive? Yeah, probably.
But you know what? I’m not sorry. I don’t have the ability to be sorry after the time I had. I get that with recent events, disappearing wasn’t what this family needed, but it’s what I needed.
Two days of stress-free living. I got to get shitfaced and fuck a babe without any thoughts, worries, or demons. Anytime one tried to surface, I just took another shot, just hit deeper. It was what I needed to get my head on again, and I can’t say that I’m sorry for it ‘cause I’m not. I’ll give you two guesses on how well speaking that thought out loud worked out for me but I’m fairly certain you’re only going to need the one.
After each person took their turn on me, I made nice with Haley. I’ve been so mad at her but too scared to voice it because I was certain she’d run again. I’m also not sorry for being mad at her. Those days in California helped me get over it, and again, I needed that. Parker was the least angry out of everyone, though he did rope me into secretly moving Haley’s apartment into his as punishment.
Hales gets to go home tonight so we’ve been busting our asses trying to get as much shit as we could into his place. Let me tell you this now, stairs? Are the work of the devil. Never in my life will I be doing this again. I have money. I will pay someone to go through this instead of me.
“Jesus, fuck.” I groan, flopping onto his couch, “Y’all better never move. ‘Cause I’m not doing this again.”
“Sounds like you’ve been cutting the gym with all that huffing around.” Parker chuckles, leaning against his kitchen island. “So, what? You get cozy with Emma and decide to let yourself go?”
“Fuck off with all that. I am not getting cozy. Besides, I’m getting plenty of cardio in, don’t you worry about that.”
He chuckles, shaking his head back and forth. His eyes looking around his now full apartment. We’ve moved everything in, now we just have to find a place for it all.
“We better get back to it,” I say getting up, “She could get released at any point today, and you know she’ll kill us if we make her wait there any longer than she has to.”
“True that.”
“Hey, so did Kaylan ever go in?�
��
“Yeah, he came in for a second on Saturday but he ended up pissing Haley off and she kicked him out.”
“What he do?” Not that it’s difficult for him to piss her off, but I’m still curious.
“He wanted to know why she came back.”
“Did she tell him anything?”
“Nah, not really. I ended up telling him what I knew in the hall.”
My face scrunches up as I stop to stare at him, “The fuck? Why would you be talking to Kaylan about that shit?”
“He’s her brother.”
“That she hates.”
“She doesn’t hate him, she just doesn’t know how to deal with him.”
“He abandoned her.” I point out with a scowl, “Twice.”
“Drew.” He sighs, tipping his head back as he rubs his jaw, “He did what he needed to do, just like she did what she needed to do. I love the fact you’re Team Haley, I really do, but you’re the one person she hasn’t tried pushing away. You don’t know what it’s like on this side.”
“Maybe she’s never tried pushing me away ‘cause I don’t run my mouth to people she hates.” I offer with an unapologetic shrug. “I mean, I’m just saying.”
“You can say it all you want.” He fires back, a slight annoyance is threaded through his words, “But talking with Kaylan actually gets me answers.”
“Answers to what? Haley’s had a shit life and after recent events I’m not really sure what questions you have that are unanswered.”
“How did her dad know she was in Georgia? How did her brothers get your phone? How did both her parents end up at HEAT? None of those bother you?”
“Well, sure. When you put them all out there like that.”
“I found out how.”
“What?” Curiosity straightens my spine as I move closer to him, as if the act of moving will make him speak sooner.
“Oh, I don’t know. I figured it out by talking to Kaylan and since you’re so Team Haley, I don’t want to put you in a spot or anything.”
“Shut the fuck up, what do you know?”
“She had to get a new I.D.”
He says this with an air of obvious but I have absolutely no idea what the hell kind of point that proves. “What?”
“Josh and the MVD had to run her name. Her real name.”
“Again, what?”
Parker sighs loudly, pinning me with a determined stare, “She said her dad has the cops in his pockets right?” I nod, “Now look at her life like some bad action show. Dad pays off the cops, he wants to find her right? Don’t you think he’d pay the cops to tell him anything that came up on her? She got an Arizona I.D. with her real name. Putting her name, address, everything into the system. Then Josh had to add her to payroll, her place of employment would be in the system too. It gave him everything he needed.”
Well shit. I guess that does make sense. “But what about my phone?”
“Where’s your phone right now?”
My hands search my pockets just to come up empty, “Probably in the truck.”
“There you go.”
“There I go? That doesn’t answer shit.”
“You’re never on it. You just leave it wherever.”
“That doesn’t mean shit. I agree with the dad thing but the fact I leave my phone laying around doesn’t explain how they got it or how they swapped it out.”
“You’re dumb.” He chuckles, “If you left it in the truck, all they had to do was swap the phones. You probably grabbed it when you got out without even thinking about it.”
“I’m not saying you’re right, but I guess it could happen. Seems a little too out there.”
“But it’s possible.” He points at me and I nod.
I mean, it is possible. “What about the other stuff? Like how Kaylan and her mom got here.”
“Well Kaylan’s the one who gave that girl the money and stuff to get her out of Reno. And I think Haley said the mom followed her here with Kaylan.”
“What about Georgia?”
“Now, that one I have no idea yet. Kaylan believes one of the brothers was watching them but when he voiced that to Haley she didn’t agree. Said the brothers would have jumped me, she thinks if someone was watching her then it would have been one of the dad’s lackeys.”
I bob my head side to side in thought, “I mean, if we’re looking at this like a bad action show like you said, I guess it could all make sense. I’m mostly curious why they attacked her though. Like, what did she do to deserve that, ya know?”
“Haley’s being a pain in my ass about that, she’ll answer my questions about her past fairly easily but she’s still so closed off from talking about her scars and how she got them. She started hiding her arm from me again, I don’t know how to make her overcome that.”
“You just gotta let her wear her scars man.” I shrug. I understand her, I understand the need to hide. I don’t have physical scars like her, but if my internal wounds were on the outside like hers…. fuck man, I’d hide behind clothing too. “Let her handle it, there’s nothing you can say or do to change it, this is her battle, her problem. I’m not saying that to be a dick, I’m just trying to help.”
“It’s not that easy for me.” He shakes his head, “I hate this.”
“I do too. Come on,” I wave toward a bookcase, “Let’s get this shit moved so you can bring your girl home.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Drew
We had the majority of Haley’s shit put away when we got the call that the hospital was releasing her. She was entirely too excited to come home, I might add. Though I think she was most excited about getting laid, seeing as she asked all of us to stay behind so her and Parker could have a night alone.
At first I had the urge to argue, but then it dawned on me that she has no idea we moved her shit into his place today, after that occurred to me I realized I wanted to be as far away from her as possible when she learned it. World War III might be a thing after tonight.
After helping get Haley into Parker’s car, I headed home to find Emma asleep on her bed. Not having the heart to wake her, I hit the home gym, took a shower and warmed up some leftover food.
Three episodes deep into some weird horror show, Emma comes shuffling out of the kitchen, collapsing onto the cushion beside me.
“How was your day?” She yawns.
“Fine, everyone calmed down after a minute.”
“Nice. Wanna see what I did today?”
Not finding any true interest in the show, I turn toward her and nod.
She sits up, gently shuffling out of an oversized sweatshirt to reveal this big ass tattoo on her shoulder and arm.
“Holy fuck.” I sit up, examining the collection of flowers, “That’s nice. Lynch?” She nods, her eyes looking over it as well. “We were both bored.”
I snort gently, “If this is what one day of boredom looks like, I imagine you’ll be covered end to end in no time.”
She chuckles lightly, “Neat how my scar’s gone, huh?”
“You had a scar?” I meet her eyes and she nods, “I’ve been over every square inch of your body, I’d have noticed a scar.” I’ve noticed the one on the inside of her eyebrow, and the one on her shoulder, but out of respect I don’t mention it.
“It was big, how did you not notice?” It wasn’t big. Maybe an inch across and slightly raised, still I shake my head.
“It’s all in your head.”
“Oh, shut up.” She laughs. “Seriously though, you can’t see it at all.”
Looking over her arm I really can’t see it. I know it exists but I couldn’t tell you exactly where if my life depended on it… oh my God.
“Jesus Christ, you’re a genius.” I blurt out, desperately searching for my phone.
“Whoa, what? Why?”
“You just are.” Leaning down, I kiss her cheek while dialing Parker’s number. “Genius!”
When he failed to answer I started calling Josh, who after getting me calm
enough to explain my thought, agreed and offered to help.
I think I know a way to help Haley get rid of her scars. And I’m entirely too fucking excited about it.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Drew
Two weeks. It’s taken two weeks to convince Haley to get her arm tattooed. At first you’d have thought I asked her to star in a porn, she was so against it. But little by little Josh, Parker, and I convinced her to get it done.
Day before yesterday Parker pitched the idea of getting cactus flowers done similar to Emma’s shoulder but Haley had made up her mind. She started spouting ideas about the club, and Parker’s car, and Arizona sunsets. He took her down to see Lynch and he drew up her tattoo. Called this morning saying he could start today so that’s how we ended up here at his shop. Emma spends Sundays with her dad so it’s just Haley, Parker, Lynch, and myself.
Haley sits in the red leather chair, her foot tapping like crazy as Lynch shows her the artwork he’s done. It’s actually incredibly impressive. She’s going to have the Camel Mountains, a sunset and a bit of desert on her shoulder, VIN’s bar on her bicep, HEAT on her forearm, her apartment complex and my bike on the back of her arm, and then Parker’s silhouette and his Camaro on her wrist once it heals.
“Like it?” I ask to break up the silence.
Haley nods nervously and blows out a breath.
“Let’s get started then.” Lynch says, spinning in his chair back to his desk.
“You want me to wait outside?” I ask her.
“No,” She shakes her head, you can see the fear as clear as her complexion. “Who’s going to make inappropriate jokes the whole time if you aren’t here?”
“Valid.” Grabbing a stool from the corner, I pull it next to Parker’s as Lynch readies his station.
“Alright, Haley.” Lynch starts, “We’re going to start at your shoulder and work our way down. The longer you’re able to sit still the more we can cover in one session. Some of the risks of tattooing damaged skin is the possibility of rejection-“
“What’s that?”
