Page 24 of Unlucky You

“Yeah you can.”

“Good.” And then seconds after he switched gears, telling me about his day. He had music instead of art. They didn’t get to go outside because it was raining which meant they got to play in the gym and lunch was bad. The fries were cold and the pizza was rubbery, not good like the one his nana makes.

Once again, I found myself hanging on his every word. I could spend the rest of my life listening to him talk about the simple shit and would never get tired. Then I remembered the person who would never get to experience this and my mood was shot to hell, but I pushed through because he deserved to be happy and I wouldn’t take that from him.

After I hitthe locks to my car, I reached for Raiden’s hand. He skipped next to me until we were inside the shop where Tali worked, then he took off in a sprint toward the back.

“Raidy, hold up, man.”

“Daddy, Tali’s room is back here. I know where it is.”

I glanced at the woman at the desk and she smiled, nodding her approval. “Back there to the left. End of the hall.”

“Thanks.”

I followed the path my son took but he wasn’t in the hall so I followed her instructions and stepped inside the last space on the left where he was giving a high five to Tali.

“He’s been here before?”

“I brought him a few times. Not when I was working though. Just to pick up things or check in.”

He stared at me, waiting, and I offered a nod. This shit was hard. Everyone I loved had a connection with my son and I was struggling to build one.

“You ready?” Tali asked but Raiden cut him off, running to me.

“Daddy, are you getting a tattoo?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Can I get one too? You already have a lot. I need some.” He frowned, looking at his arms as if he could see the bare skin beneath his coat. I chuckled, shaking my head.

“Not today, kid. Your nana would kill me.”

“Please. I won't tell her.”

“Where do you want it?” Raiden beamed and I cut my eyes at Tali who was speaking to my son.

“Daddy, where are you getting yours?’

“My neck.”

“Then that’s what I want.”

“Hell no.” I shook my head and he frowned.

“What about on your arm? Your dad’s getting one there too.”

“Okay.”

“Go take your jacket off and put it over there,” Tali told him and when he ran to the other side of the room, Tali spoke quietly.

“It’s henna pens. Fades in a few days. Some of my clients bring their kids and they always want one. I’ll hook him up.”

“Bet.”

It took Tali about twenty minutes to go through the process of pretending to tattoo Raiden. Since I was getting his name on my neck, he wanted to have mine on his arm. I had no plans of getting the one on my shoulder but since Tali made the offer I had to and added his name there too. An hour later we were done. While Raiden watched videos on Tali’s iPad, he and I discussed the fight happening in a few days.

“You go to the doctor?”

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