Page 26 of Ripper
She smirked at me, and I could see the mischievous glint in her eyes like she already had something planned.
“As a matter of fact, it is. What did you have in mind?”
“I just got back into town, and I don’t know many people here anymore. Everyone kinda spread out, so I was thinking it’d be fun if you’d come along with me to get my tattoo touched up. Tattoo shops are a real treat out here. Maybe we could even get something for you too,” she suggested.
“I-I don’t know about that. I have always thought I’d get one eventually, but I don’t know.”
“Oh come on, Ronnie. You’re in biker country. You need at least one tattoo on that smooth skin of yours. Think of it as a rite of passage. You did tell me that you’re learning the ropes around riding your own bike, right?”
“I did.”
“Then it’s settled. You’re coming with me.”
She outstretched her arm with a giggle, and I took it while she led me toward the door. I quickly closed up, grabbing my keys, before betting in the driver’s seat of the truck. I looked over to see Anna chewing the inside of her lip like she was anticipating this for quite some time and that’s when I looked down at her wrist to see the soft fade of her tattoo.
“Is that the one?”
“This old thing? Nah, it’s the one on my ass.”
I stared at the little fadedR.wondering what the story behind that one was if she’d let it fade that much. It made me think that she probably had it for a few years at best.
“Wanna see?”
She pulled down her jeans slightly and right under the line of her panties, there was a small little highway sign with the wordFreeetched into it. My eyes widened as I got a good look at it under the interior truck light.
“What’s the story behind that one?” I asked curiously.
“Just a little reminder that you’ll always feel the freest out on the open road.”
I smiled, turning the key in the ignition, pulling out of the shop lot so we could head to the little tattoo shop. The drive was a short one, and it wasn’t long before we pulled up to the small tattoo shop. It was strangely nestled in between two streets of old houses with its giant red neon sign and its blasting music. I spotted at least four bikes parked outside, and it wasn’t until I got out of the truck, locking the door behind me that I realized that we were definitely in a bad part of town.
“What made you choose this place over the ones downtown?”
“The ones downtown are filled with greedy, mediocre tattoo artists that just want to charge you an arm and a leg for a small ass piece of work. Places like this are true to the craftsmanship. You’ll see,” she responded, rushing toward the door that was propped open by a cinder block. I watched as Anna made her way to the front desk. I could smell the pungent scent of weed in the air. I tried not to breathe it in, but that’s when I caught sight of someone rolling up in the back.
“What do you need?” asked the girl behind the front desk, glancing up from her magazine.
I noticed that she had quite a few interesting pieces of work on each of her arms and she had at least three piercings on each ear, two on the right eyebrow, and one right below her lip. She looked like she definitely did not want to be spending her night there with that blank stare and her glossy, pursed lips.
“I need to touch up my tattoo. Think you can do that? My friend here is also looking to get a tattoo. You know what you want, Ronnie?” she asked, glancing back at me.
“Something small. Something that packs a punch.”
“Here are some samples. See if anything catches your eye,” said the woman, sliding the book over to me.
There was a small pistol design that intrigued me. I thought it would look nice on the inside of my pointer finger. I turned the book over so Anna could have a look, showing her exactly where I wanted it, and she nodded in approval.
“Not bad for a first tattoo. Let’s get it.”
The woman behind the desk called out to one of the artists who were sitting in the back on their phones to take care of Anna. She led me to her own chair and that’s when I looked down at her name tag. The name matched the neon sign out front.
“Jess. Right. Jess’s Tats,” I said.
“Let’s do this,” she murmured dryly.
I sat there with my eyes closed trying not to move because I was so afraid it was going to hurt. The pain wasn’t that bad, and once it was all wrapped up, I realized I really did like it. Anna finished up with her tattoo touch-up while we both made our way back to the front to pay.
“Let me see. Yeah, that’s some nice work right there. Maybe next time we can rope you into something that requires a little more commitment, huh?”
