Broken Scars

by J. M. Walker

  Cleaning up our mugs and the coffee station, I put everything away when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Fishing it out, I glanced at the small screen. There was someone at the back door. Checking the time, I was thankful that I had no other appointments for the rest of the night, so I turned off the Open sign and locked the door.

  Shutting off the music pumping through the speakers mounted on the walls, I closed shop and headed to the back. Making sure the security system was set in place and turned on, I went to greet my guest.

  Opening the door, I leaned against the frame. “You do know it’s rude to show up to someone’s house without calling first, right?”

  Lena pushed past me. “Whatever.”

  “What’s going on? Is there something wrong with your new ink?” I asked her, closing the door and clicking the lock into place.

  “What?” She scowled. “No. Not at all.” She pulled off her jacket and placed it on the back of a chair sitting at my dining room table.

  I walked back down the hall and waited.

  Lena fidgeted. She pulled at her shirt, tucked it into her ripped jeans, pulling it free and repeating the movement.

  “Hey.” I closed the distance between us and grabbed her hands. “What’s wrong? You were fine half an hour ago.” I had known Lena for years after she came into my shop strung out on whatever her drug of choice was at the time. I got her clean and then she fell into the bottle.

  “I didn’t want to say anything earlier when that woman showed up but it’s my parents. I love them but God.” She blew out a slow breath and then another. “I need a drink.”

  “No. You don’t.” I kept her hand in mine and led her to the kitchen. “Have a bottle of water.”

  “I don’t want water, Lucas. I want a drink. Alcohol. Drugs. Sex. Fuck.” She pulled her hand free from mine and pushed me back.

  “Don’t.” I gripped her shoulders. “Whatever is going through your head right now, stop it.”

  Her pupils dilated. “Please.”

  “No, Lena. We’re friends. That’s it.” She had never made a pass at me before so that was how I knew she was desperate. But I meant what I said. We were just friends.

  She pulled away from me, a lonely tear falling down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” I handed her the water before heading to my living room. “Let’s watch a movie and talk.”

  “I hate fucking talking,” she grumbled, joining me.

  “Would you rather go to a meeting?” I countered. I had been her sponsor for the last two years, but she had been going to AA for the past five. She didn’t have a lot of leaves on her tattoo because she kept having relapses. But this year had been different. She had eight tattoos and she was finally determined to get more. She would get there. But not by having sex with me.

  “No.” Lena sighed, slumping on the couch. She pulled her long black hair free from its elastic. “I’d rather talk to you.”

  “Tell me what happened.” I lifted my knee onto the seat of the couch and gave her my full attention.

  “Are we going to watch a movie?” she asked instead of answering me.

  I turned on the TV. “There, a movie’s on. Now talk to me.”

  “You know, sponsors aren’t supposed to be so damn crabby.”

  “I’m the only sponsor who doesn’t put up with your shit,” I threw back at her. “Now talk.”

  “Fine.” She huffed. “My parents are refusing to let me see my daughter.”

  “They do have full custody, don’t they?”

  “Yes.” Lena picked at the paper wrapper on the water bottle. “I’ve been good, Lucas. I haven’t had a drop since you started my tattoo eight months ago.”

  “What happened to make them not let you see her?” I knew her parents were controlling but Lena didn’t talk about them much, so I didn’t know any more than that.

  “I showed up with a black eye,” she mumbled.

  “What?” My hackles rose. “Who the fuck hit you?”

  “Who do you think, Lucas? The only man who always hits me.” She jumped from the couch. “This was a week ago. I went over to my parents’ place earlier tonight, thinking they had gotten over it, but they refused to let me see her because they don’t want my daughter to see how much of a fuck up I am.” Tears started rolling down her cheeks faster. “I’m trying and I’m failing.”

  “No.” I pushed from the couch and wrapped her in my arms. “You’re not failing.”

  “I just want to see my baby,” she sobbed, her voice muffled by my shirt.

  “I know, Lena.” I held her against me. “I know.”

  ***

  (Lily)

  Lucas. Lucas. L-U-C-A-S. Luuuuucas.

  I rolled over in bed, covering my head with a pillow, trying to drown out the noise my brain was making.

  Tattoos. Eye patch. Tattoos. Muscles. Tattoos. So many tattoos. I kept fantasizing and wondering how many he had. Or how much of him was covered. I never reacted this way to a man before. I usually saw them, decided then and there if I was attracted to them or not, and either went for it or I didn’t. But this man…Lucas Crane…was a whole other level of man. One I had never dealt with before and it made me nervous and excited all at the same time.

  I sat up, throwing my pillow on the floor. “Seriously, Lily.” It wasn’t like I had never seen a good-looking man before. No, I had just never seen one that looked quite like…Lucas.

  It was pushing midnight but clearly, I couldn’t sleep. Only just meeting Lucas a few hours ago, I couldn’t get him out of my head. Literally.

  Slipping out of bed, I headed out of my room and down the hall. A light in the living room was on. Was my grandma still up at this hour?

  When I rounded the corner, I found her in her rocking chair, fast asleep. I smiled to myself, pulled the crocheted blanket off the back of the couch, and laid it on her lap.

  Shutting off the lamp, I turned down the volume on the TV and went in search of a snack. Maybe reading the newspaper would help dull my brain enough that I could finally sleep.

  Pulling the paper gently out of my grandmother’s hand, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a box of chocolate chip cookies off the counter before heading back to my room.

  Flicking on the light, I kicked the door closed and jumped onto my bed. “Alright, brain, let’s shut you down for the night.”

  Flipping through page after page of the newspaper, I read every word and stuffed my face with half the box of cookies before I realized it was done. But I was still no closer to being tired than I was an hour ago.

  I sighed, rolling over onto my stomach and pulling my laptop from beneath the bed and placed it in front of me.

  I checked my social media accounts, email, read all the news sites I could think of, and was still wide awake. What the hell was wrong with me that I couldn’t sleep?

  Getting an idea, I decided to Google Lucas and his shop. Everything came back clean. Too clean. It was like the guy hadn’t existed at all until ten years ago when his shop opened. When I couldn’t find anything else, other than a basic website mentioning the services he offered, I dug a little deeper. Something was off, and curiosity got the better of me. I knew there was something else and that it wasn’t just a simple tattoo parlor.

  Cracking my knuckles, I entered the dark web and searched for him. I eventually came across his tattoo shop. Crane’s Ink.

  But there was no more information than what he had told me. Which was hardly anything at all.

  “Alright, Lucas. Who are you?” After a few minutes, I had hacked into government records that were supposed to be sealed tight. Until I came along of course. But again, nothing was really out of the ordinary. Maybe it was just a simple tattoo parlor.

  As soon as I was about to start reading more on him, a message popped up on my computer.

  What the hell?

  Who is this?

  No username or anything? Interesting. I also wasn’t stupid though. I logged out of everything, cleaned up my st
eps and shut down my computer. How could someone know I had hacked in? I had never been caught before.

  My heart started racing. God that was a rush.

  Putting my computer away before I got into further trouble, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. Who the hell was Lucas Crane?

  Lily

  THE SCENT OF COFFEE woke me a few hours later. I must have finally fallen asleep. Rubbing the grit out of my eyes, I sat up. Remembering the unknown person who messaged me last night, I still wondered how they even contacted me. It wasn’t like I left a trail. I was smart that way. I wasn’t an expert and my hacking skills were hardly something to make a big deal over. But after teaching myself a thing or two about hacking, I knew how not to get caught. Until now.

  “Lily, breakfast is ready, girl. Get your lazy ass out here.”

  I laughed, shaking my head and did as I was told. Making my way to the kitchen, I was greeted by the scent of eggs, bacon, and toast. And coffee. Much needed coffee.

  “Hi, Grandma.” I kissed her weathered cheek.

  “Morning.” She handed me a plate. “What time did you get home last night?”

  “Just after eight because of the storm.” I sat at the table, shoveling a forkful of food into my mouth.

  “How was your date?” Grandma asked, placing a mug of coffee in front of me before sitting beside me.

  I groaned. “Killian’s married.”

  Grandma’s eyes widened. “I was right!” she exclaimed. “I really enjoy being right.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, you were right.”

  “So, tell me more.”

  I took a breath and told her what had happened during my date.

  “Did you give him a chance to explain?” she asked, raising a gray eyebrow. “And did you at least take the free meal?”

  “I didn’t, I paid for my own meal and stormed out of there. I felt like there was something strange about him, but I also thought that if we could get past it, things could have been good.” Although, if the date had gone well, I wondered if I still would have ended up at Lucas’s tattoo shop. Either way, I was twenty-six and single. Hell, I never even had a serious boyfriend before. I dated, had one-night stands but that was it. Nothing more.

  “Well I’m glad he’s out of your life, dear. You deserve better than that.”

  “I know, Grandma.” We finished our breakfast in silence. When we were done, I put the plates in the dishwasher and poured myself another coffee.

  “Plans for today?” she asked, taking a sip from her mug.

  “Nothing really.” It was Monday and a day off for me. But I found that I wanted to see Lucas again. Maybe I could get a tattoo or a piercing. Did he do piercings? The thought of him touching me sent a flutter of heat racing over me. I also wanted to know how the hell he found out I was doing research on him. If it was him who messaged me last night anyway. But I wasn’t stupid. Everything inside of me told me to be leery. To be careful because if he had his information on the dark web, clearly, he had something to hide. Or he was into illegal shit.

  “You met someone.” Grandma placed her mug on the table in front of her and sat back.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” My cheeks burned.

  “No?” She pointed a finger at me. “You’re fidgeting, and your cheeks are flushed. Trust me, I know what that means.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, averting her gaze.

  “It means that you met someone.”

  I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck.

  “Is he nice?”

  “I think so.” There was no point in denying it. My grandma was good and knew me well. Too well if you asked me.

  “Well, bring him by,” she said, picking up the newspaper off the table. “If things go well, let him stay and I’ll make my specialty.”

  “I just met him, Grandma,” I reminded her. Although, if I did bring him by and my grandmother liked him, maybe that would help curb my thoughts on if I should trust him or not.

  Lily, you just met the guy. Trust isn’t even an option at the moment.

  I bit back an eye-roll at myself.

  Grandma looked at me over the top of the paper and gave me a wink. “Your grandfather didn’t like my cooking too much in the beginning. Said it was spicy. Well I showed him a spicy lasagna.”

  “You made it spicier, didn’t you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  She gasped. “I would never do such a thing. I’m a good Christian girl.”

  I snorted, shaking my head.

  “Anyway, once you get to know this boy better, bring him by. I’ll tell you if he’s a keeper or not.”

  “Alright, Grandma.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I will.”

  ***

  (Lucas)

  Giggles sounded around me, grating on my every last nerve. I was half tempted to turn up the music to drown out the noise but I didn’t think the little girls would appreciate my choice of music. When “A.D.I.D.A.S.” by Korn hit the system, the girls stopped giggling. I could feel their judgmental stares burning into the side of my head, but I didn’t listen to my music for them.

  Go back to your tattoo choices, girls. I had shit to do.

  I respected anyone who wanted to get a tattoo. I got it. I had hundreds of them. But when tweens showed up at my shop because they wanted to rebel by getting a tattoo of a butterfly on their tailbone, it annoyed the shit out of me.

  Although I shouldn’t judge, everyone started somewhere, these girls just irritated me. But I had a feeling it wasn’t them. Even though I liked to convince myself otherwise. No, it was a certain woman that I couldn’t get out of my head. Add to the fact that I found her snooping around in my shit. She must have been a hacker, since she broke through my firewalls as easily as she did. Or maybe it had been an accident? Nah. No one played around in the dark web because they were bored. I had to up my game. Or I could learn a thing or two from her. I had so many questions, but I also had no idea how to get in contact with her either.

  Hacker, Lucas. You are a damn hacker.

  Lily had me messed up, I forgot what my skills were. Fucking women.

  “I think I want a flower,” the one girl told her friend. “Maybe a lily.”

  My head shot up at that.

  “No.” The other girl who couldn’t have been no older than sixteen, tapped her chin. “How about a rose? Or a skull? A rose coming out of the skull’s eye?”

  Now that I could do and proudly. The first girl grimaced. Of course she did.

  “Um…ew. No. I want something pretty.” She looked my way then. “Can you do pretty?” she asked, her eyes raking over me.

  “If that’s what you want, I can do it.” As soon as those words left my mouth, the door chimed, revealing an older woman dressed in a red skirt and jacket suit set. Her blonde hair was perfectly wavy around her tanned and overly made up face.

  “Girls, have you decided on something yet?” she asked, her gaze meeting mine. Something flashed in her deep blue eyes. She looked me over, her tongue sliding along her fake pout.

  I grunted, shaking my head and went back to my crossword puzzle. Sorry, lady, you definitely don’t do it for me.

  While I had been with a lot of women and I usually didn’t care what they were wearing, I didn’t normally go for the fancy prissy women. The ones who were married but had assholes for husbands who would only fuck them to get off. I was all about pleasing my partners. It wasn’t just for me. It was for both of us. But this woman? Standing at the door and looking at me like she wanted to break her pussy on my dick? No, thank you.

  I went back to my crossword puzzle.

  “Girls, either decide what you want to get, or we’ll go somewhere else.”

  A red manicured fingernail came into view. It pushed a wad of cash in front of me. I looked up and was met with lust-filled eyes. Her mouth was plump, a red gloss coating the full lips.

  Although women like her didn’t do it for me, I was still a guy. A couple pumps of my dick
and I could get hard enough to fuck her. There had been a time where I would have taken this woman to the back and made her beg for God to come save her. But that was another life and that would not be happening. Not today. Not tomorrow. No matter how much this woman hinted for it, she wasn’t getting my dick.

  “Make sure my daughter and her friend get the proper service they deserve.” The woman pushed the cash closer, brushing her thumb over my tattooed hand. “Is there a Mrs—?”

  “This is too much money.” I nodded toward the girls, ignoring her advance. “If they get the tattoos they’re wanting, it would be two-hundred for both since they’re small.” I pulled away from the counter and prepped the nearest tattooing station, the scent of the woman’s overpriced perfume following me.

  “Fine.” She scowled. “Girls, I’ll be in the car.” The door chimed shortly after that.

  I held back a laugh. “Alright, ladies. What’ll it be?”

  ***

  (Lily)

  I stood outside Crane’s Ink, not really sure why I was there in the first place. Something about meeting Lucas the night before, drew me to him. I was curious and I wanted to know how the hell he could figure out that I had hacked into his personal information. Not that I knew if it was him or not of course, but I needed to be sure. I was off from work today so I might as well put it to good use.

  Deciding to get this over with, I entered the shop, the stupid chime on the door announcing my arrival.

  Lucas was hunched over a young girl who was lying on her stomach on the bed. She had a pained look on her face while Lucas tattooed whatever it was she wanted on her body.

  He lifted his head, looking over his shoulder at me. “Lily.”

  I swallowed hard as my name dripped off his tongue like honey. “Lucas.”

  His scarred lips twitched before he went back to work. A few minutes later, he leaned back. “Alright, you’re done. I’ll clean you up and you can go.”

  The girl sat up, blowing out a slow breath. “That didn’t hurt at all,” she said, although her face was pale.