Page 14 of Hiss and Make Up
Sierra crossed the porch beneath the giant metal spiderweb of the Some Pig tattoo shop. She waved to the new guy at the front station, then threw open the curtain to the second room down the hall.
Liz sat hunched over the back of a guy’s hairy calf, finishing up a purple and gold fleur-de-lis.
“So we need to talk, I guess.”
She plopped herself on a stool facing the guy in the chair. He sneered at her, but Sierra glared back at him. He was, after all, getting anupside-downfleur-de-lis. Who was he to judge?
“Yeah, you were already crashed when we got back last night.” Liz wiped the guy’s leg and examined her work. “I missed out on one of Sierra’s Famous Storytime Hours.”
Sierra had tried to stay awake, but she fell asleep waiting for Liz and Luna to get back from dinner at Liz’s mom’s house. Her long day with work and Marc and worrying about money had knocked her right out.
“It was a long day.”
“Sounds like it. Want to start at the beginning?” Liz asked without looking up. “What happened at the restaurant?”
What happened was Sierra was completely screwed. Her job search that evening had brought up a big, fat list of nothing.
Sierra took a deep, cleansing breath and recited the mantra her dad taught her after one of his retreats.I am a rock. Neither wind nor water can move me.
Crock of crap as far as Sierra was concerned. But it took time to say it, so she recited it in her head when she needed a minute to not completely lose it. She usually said it with her eyes shut far too tightly for it to ever be relaxing.
She opened her eyes. “I got fired, so now I’ve gotta pay my half of the mortgage with what I make dragging ten-year-olds through the woods.”
At that, the man picked his head up and looked at her with a mix of confusion and horror. Liz blotted the guy’s calf with a tissue and handed him a mirror.
Sierra leaned over and rolled her eyes. “Nice,” she said, not even trying to hide her sarcasm.
After Liz put a bandage over it, she handed the guy his care instructions. “Run. Get out of here before you get sucked into this too.”
He shook his head and kept one eye on Sierra as he left the room.
Sierra pointed her thumb at the curtain. “I’m assuming he insisted on that positioning. Should we have told him it was upside down?”
“I tried.” Liz snorted. “Tigers fan. Screw him.”
“Nice. Did you get paid extra for navigating that leg acne?”
“Let’s focus on one life crisis at a time.” Liz trashed the old needle and cleaned off her gun. Her black hair fell over her shoulders in shiny, dark waves, and her makeup was perfect as usual—dark red lips and thick, black mascara. She looked like a classic pin-up model, except for the olive green cargo pants and the heather gray T-shirt flashing a middle finger across the front. “What happened? Or should I not ask?”
Sierra explained about the asshole and the server and how half a shaker of salt “fell” into his beer. Not once telling that story did she ever feel regret. Not for what she did to him. Only for the position she was putting them all in now.
“But you do realize you lost your job without fixing anything, right? Who’s gonna stand up for those girls when the next creep sits at their table?”
“It’s not my job to save anyone.”
“And yet you got involved anyway.”
“That wasn’t me saving her. That’s vengeance. He had it coming.”
The room was silent for way too long while Liz reset her station. “Do I need to cancel Luna’s appointment next week?”
“No!” Sierra shook her head. No way would she allow that.
“Can you cover your half?” Liz asked. “The cats have all been vetted. I won’t take any new ones in for a while. And if I reschedule Luna’s next two sessions, I can cover half this month. ”
“Absolutely not. I already owe you for last month.”
“You can pay me back next month.”
