Page 81 of Hate You Later
Which quote?
Her tattoo says, “Though she be but little, she be fierce.”
Accurate.I type the 100 percent emoji.
But of course, now I’m wondering what that tattoo looks like. Where exactly on her back is it? Does it skim her shoulder blade? Hover above a hip? How large are the letters? If I were to trace a finger down her spine and lay my palm flat against the small of her back, would it cover the entire expression? I’d like to try to capture her fierceness, though I’m not sure it can be done without injury.
What about your owner’s pawprint tattoo, Cookie? What’s the story there?
It’s the logo for the shop.
Great logo. Did she design it?
I don’t recall the clever logo from my childhood visits to Celestial Pets, and the matching mural wall with all the additional celestial designs certainly wasn’t there before. I have a feeling there’s something special about that particular tattoo.
Yes, she did, Furball. That tattoo is a Georgia Starr original. Her first ink, in fact.
Well, that sounds like a good story, Cookie. Would you tell me about it?
She doesn’t answer me right away. The three dots come and go a few times, the last time for several minutes. Long enough for me to make myself a cup of Earl Grey tea and settle on the sofa.
Oliver admonishes me with his stare when I set my cup down without a coaster. I go and fetch a coaster for the cup and a saucer for the teabag. By the time I return, “Cookie” is typing again.
Georgia was seventeen when she got the tattoo. She drew it in math class. Mr. Foster, her math teacher, was always giving her detention for drawing on herself.
Mr. Foster doesn’t sound very nice at all.
No, he wasn’t. He always said, “Get your head out of the clouds, Starr!” and then everyone would laugh because it sounded weird telling a star to get their head out of the clouds. Which only made him madder.
I’m so sorry, Cookie. I hope she didn’t get in too much trouble.
Her mom understood. She said that being creative is just how some people process.
She sounds like a great mom,I type.
She was, but my owner wasn’t the easiest kid. The same week her adoption was final, she ran away from home. She took a bus to Seattle and tried to get a tattoo. The owner of the shop made her choose between calling the cops or calling her mom to come get her. She chose her mom.
Was her mom angry?
No. She came into the shop and said, “Ok, Georgia. You can get the tattoo on one condition.”
What was the condition?
She rolled up her sleeve and said, “You’ll just have to deal with your MOM having a matching tattoo.”
And did she do it too?
I send back my message with the heart emoji.
Yes, and she also made the design the store logo.
Can I see the tattoo again?I ask.
She shoots me back a photo of her wrist, and I can see all the delicate details of the design. It’s clever the way the paw print contains a small cluster of stars. My fingers ache to wrap around her wrist. I want to kiss the tender spot, feel her pulse where she was inked.
I bet that hurt!I say.
Not as much as a cat scratch!
