Page 12 of Christmas Luvin

AllIcould think about was the stuffIhad read online about people getting their first tattoo.Oneof the things many people kept mentioning was the number of needles in the gun.Ilooked right at the needles and wanted to bitch up so bad, put my shirt on, and leave, but in the words ofPee-Wee,Iwould be so pussy for doing that.I’dcome this far, soIguessedIcould sit through ten minutes of pain.

“Alright.I’mready,”Ilet her know.

Ididn’t even want to see when she started, soIpressed my eyes closed and bit my bottom lip.Thesecond that needle hit my breast,Ifelt likeIwas going to damn die.

“Fuckkkkkkkk,”Igroaned and tried to keep still.

Ididn’t want her to mess up, but at the same time,Iwanted to push her ass off me because this shit hurt so damn bad.Icould hearDuchesslaughing.

“Ineed this video, so you can’t go home and act like you thugged this shit out when you really sitting here, acting like you about to die.Ona scale of one to ten, what’s the pain,Bri?”Duchessasked.

“Tennnn.Shittttt.”Atear fell because it felt like she was digging that shit into my skin.

Ididn’t know if it was because my breasts were so little or what, but it felt like the pain was double what it was supposed to be.Duchesshad that damn phone in her hand, laughing her ass off.IfIcould’ve moved,IswearIwould have grabbed that damn phone from her and tossed it across the room.

“Almostdone,Bria.You’redoing so good,”Gwencoached me.

Ihad my left arm up, covering my face becauseIwas trying to hide the fact thatIwas crying.Thewhole time she tattooed me,Imoaned and groaned.Icould tell she was doing the mini pink heart and coloring it in because the soundsImade had increased.Acouple of times,Ihad to ask her to stop, which only prolonged me getting this little ass tattoo.

“Alldone,”Gwencalled out.

Iwiped my face and removed my arm.

“Bria, you let me down.Ijust knew you were going to thug it out.It’sso pretty, though,”Duchesscomplimented, standing next toGwenas she admired the tattoo.

Gwentold meIcould go over to the mirror and examine it, and that’s exactly whatIdid.Iwalked over to the full-length mirror and smiled onceIsaw the red lettering ofEfremand the pink heart thatI’dgotten.Itwas medium sized in cursive writing, and althoughIcried and acted likeIwas dying, it came out really nice.

Ialready knewPee-Weewas going to lose his shit the second he saw it.Also, becauseIknew he wouldn’t walk away from an opportunity to talk some shit, he would want to see the video of me getting the tattoo.Myman knew me well enough to knowIdidn’t sit down and get this tattoo without shedding any tears.Nah.Notme.

“Whatyou doing, nigga?Thislike my third time calling you.Gotme ringing you up likeI’ma hoe,” my shit talking big brother,Orion, said into the phone with that permanent mug on his face.

Wewere on aFacetimecall, andIwas in my bedroom, feet kicked up, praying toGodthat whatever my girl was in that kitchen cooking, she didn’t call me out there to eat it.Iain’t even think she was going to come home and cook anything because she had been running the streets all day withDuchess.ItwasSaturday, one of my busiest days at the store, soIwas handling business at both stores, andIeven spent some hours at the warehouse.

I’mnot going to even act likeIpulled up to the shop every weekend becauseIdidn’t.Iworked so hard during the week thatIallowed myself some time to have a break on the weekends, but shit, sometimesIliked to be in the mix of everything just to see the way shit was running.Imade it home beforeBriaat around five, and she didn’t get in until almost seven.Sheloved on daddy when she walked in the house, showered, and now she was in the kitchen cooking.

“Youact likeIain’t running multiple businesses and shit.What’sgood with you, nigga?Wheremy nephew and nieces?”Iasked.

“Upstairs.MeandSonyaabout to take them bowling.Shegot her baby boy here too, so we about to have some family time and shit,” he let me know.

Ismiled upon hearing that.Orionwas still the biggest assholeIknew, but that nigga was doing much better now.Therapyhad paid off for him in a big way.Truthbe told,Inever thought my brother andIwould ever get back right.Toomuch damage had been done, andIdidn’t know a lot of motha fuckas who would forgive someone for firing a gun in their direction, inches away from a bullet striking and killing them, whether it was their brother or not.

Now, any other nigga wouldn’t get away with no shit like that, butOrionhad always held a special place in my heart.Hewas a nigga whoIlooked up to, andImissed that nigga when it got bad between us, butIdidn’t plan to have any kind of relationship with his ass until he dished out an apology, actually meant that shit, and changed his fuckin’ actions.He’dbeen good, andItalked to my brother damn near every day, kicking my shit with him.

“Sonya,Sonya,Sonya.Youlove her ass,”Ishot, and he started laughing.

“Iknow your soft ass not talking.YousayBriaso much thatI’mstarting to think that’s the only thing your in love ass knows how to say,” he fired back, andIcracked up laughing, knowing it was true.

“Whatever, man.Wherey’all going?Bowlero?That’smy spot right there to go withBria.Thedrinks at the bar are fire,”Ishared.

“Yeah.Youin the house tonight?” he asked.

“Yep.Briacooking.Mystomach gon’ be fucked up in about another hour.”Iwhispered that shit, so she wouldn’t hear me, even thoughIwas in the bedroom and she was downstairs in the kitchen.

“Man, ain’t that much love in the fuckin’ world to have me eating some nasty ass food thatIknow is going to fuck up my stomach.Shestill be going over there withMa, taking lessons and shit?Man, tell sis to come over here tomorrow.I’llshow her what to do with them pots,” he said.

Ihad to turn his ass down because he was too fuckin’ loud and was going to haveBriapissed at me again.Shehadn’t brought up the shit that happened last week when we were getting theChristmasdecorations anymore, and we had been fuckin’ so good.Iain’t been getting under her skin either, so the last thingIneeded to do was get on her bad side for cracking up at the jokes my brother made about her cooking.

“Thething is, though, bruh, her food don’t even be nasty.Sometimesit’s just missing seasoning, or that shit be undercooked.Shebe going over there withMaandGrandmato get lessons, though.WhenThanksgivingcame around, she was in the kitchen withMaandGrandma, and they were both teaching her shit.She’sgetting better.Theonly reasonIdon’t knock her too much is that you know she doesn’t eat meat, like at all.Thesight of some bloody ass meat will make her ass gag, but she still gets in there and will whip some shit up for me.IfIdie behind that shit,Idied out of love,”Itold him and started laughing again.

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