I stood up.
Kyan showed me my own drawing. “You should dump that girl and do what I do.”
“Not going to happen,” I said.
“Sad, sad, sad,” he said.
“What’s sad is that I had to do your job for you,” I said. “So if you fool around with this girl with the banana tattoo, you’ll have to think of me.”
Kyan looked up and thought about it.
Lark opened the door and chomped on her bubble gum.
“Someone’s here for you,” she said.
“Banana girl,” I said.
“No, for you,” Lark said. “She’s really pretty. And I told her you were busy with some guy in a private room. And I told her I could keep her company.”
“Shit,” I said.
What the hell was Belle doing here?
* * *
I walked to the front of the shop and I saw Hae standing with Belle.
“This would look killer on you, sweetie,” Hae said.
Belle stared at Hae with mesmerized eyes.
Which was the effect Hae had on anyone she met.
And, yeah, her name was pronounced Hey!
“What are you doing here, angel?” I asked.
Belle turned her head and smiled at me.
“I was helping her pick out something for that cute nose of hers,” Hae said.
“What do you think, Ash?” Belle asked.
“I think I love your nose the way it is,” I said. “Or do whatever you want. You know I’ll love you no matter what.”
“Ah, it’s so beautiful,” Hae said. “Come on, let’s go do this right now.”
What Hae was holding looked like a fat, crooked finger. She wanted to pierce it through Belle’s septum. Ouch.
“Not quite that,” Belle said. “How about just a nose ring? Something small?”
“Diamond or ring?” Hae asked.
“Diamond,” Belle said.
“This is really happening?” I asked.
“It sure is,” Hae said. She walked to me and touched my chest. “I knew I could feel it between you two.”
“Did you touch Belle’s chest?” I asked.
Hae nodded.
I looked at Belle.
She shrugged her shoulders.
Hae reached her hand back. “Come on, Belle, let’s go together.”
Hae walked Belle to the back of the shop.
Lark appeared again. Chomping on her gum. “Did Hae just steal your girlfriend?”
“I think so,” I said.
“Rad.”
I walked to the back and heard Kyan’s voice as he talked to the banana tattoo lady.
Hae’s room was in the far back corner. She did everything too. She was amazing at tattooing. She handled most of the piercings.
I won’t say which ones were saved for Shuffle.
And when I walked into the room, Belle sat in a purple, leather chair with Hae putting on black, rubber gloves.
“I’m watching,” I said.
“Sure,” Hae said. “The calming energy is needed. Her heart is racing.”
I looked at Belle.
She shrugged her shoulders again.
“What are you doing here, beauty?” I asked.
“I wanted to see it,” she said. “You’ve mentioned it so many times. I asked Hil.”
“Of course he would tell you,” I said.
“Hil,” Hae said. “Your stepbrother, right?”
“That’s the one,” I said.
“You pretend you don’t like him but you really do,” Hae said. “I get that vibe.”
“Just poke her nose with a needle,” I said.
Belle cringed. “I hate needles.”
“Just close your eyes and relax, sweetie,” Hae said in her soothing voice.
I couldn’t believe I was standing there feeling jealous over Belle and another girl.
But Hae was just… something.
“Here, hold her hand, Ash,” Hae said.
I walked to the leather chair and Belle had her eyes shut.
I touched her hand and she squeezed my hand tight.
She was scared.
And I couldn’t believe this was happening like this.
She must have walked in the door and gotten pounced on.
“Here we go,” Hae said. “You’ll feel… nothing.”
When she said nothing, she pierced Belle’s nose.
Belle gasped and opened her eyes.
They welled up with tears as she sucked in a breath.
“You’re good,” Hae said. “All good… shhh…”
She touched Belle’s hair.
“I can take care of her from here,” I said.
Hae looked at me.
Her eyes were amber… like ten colors in one… so unique…
She put her hands together and nodded to me.
“How do I look?” Belle asked.
The little diamond shined in the light.
“You look even more beautiful, angel,” I said.
“It’s perfect between you two,” Hae said.
She turned around and Belle pointed to the door.
I nodded fast and helped her out of the chair.
“Hey, thanks a lot for that,” Belle called out.
“My pleasure to-”
I shut the door.
And I grabbed Belle by her hips again.
“I’ve done some crazy shit, Ash…”
“Yeah, well, welcome to Ink-a-Tat.”
“Who the hell was that woman?”
“That was Hae,” I said. “That’s how she always is.”
“She might be the prettiest person I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Look in the mirror, angel,” I said.
“Aw, that’s what’s wrong with the world today…”
I turned my head. “You done with banana girl, Kyan?”
“Who’s banana girl?” Belle asked.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Kyan asked. “This wild hot girl that Ash helped me cover up a bad tattoo on. He wants to bang her.”
I looked at Belle and grinned.
Her eyes moved left to right, taking it all in.
The life of Ink-a-Tat was a little bit different than BFH.
Lark came from the front again, waving her phone. “Oh, look, I got Shuffle to respond to me. He’s reflecting. And I’m going to go reflect with him too. With no clothes on.”
“Lark, seriously, Rocco and Tin will be pissed,” Kyan said.
“Oh well,” Lark said. “I’m just going to shuffle on over and see what’s up…”
I grabbed Belle’s hand. “Come with me.”
I pulled her into the smallest room in the back corner of the tattoo shop.
Tin said I could have it as my own.
I wasn’t around enough to be considered working there. But it was a good little space to work on some drawings and ideas.
The oldest tattoo chair known to man was in there.
I patted it and Belle sat down.
I looked at her nose and shook my head.
“I can’t believe I did that,” she said.
“Hae is very persuasive without even trying,” I said.
“I can see that. And this is your secret place? With all these… they’re different down here, Ash. They’re beautiful. And have tattoos.”
“Are you jealous, angel?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I kind of want to know if you ever hooked up with anyone here. But then I’m afraid of the answer. And then I’m mad at myself for even worrying about something like that. Who cares, right?”
“Well, let’s fix all of those problems,” I said. “First off, you saw how hot Kyan is, right?”
“That guy?” Belle asked.
I laughed. “I’m kidding, Belle. But… we can get you some ink. I can do it for you too. How about a skull smoking a cigarette and the smoke spells out fuck off?”
“Where would I get that?” Belle whispered.
“Right across your ba
ck,” I said with a grin.
“So then I’d have to be topless for everyone to see…”
“And then I’d have to beat everyone up for looking,” I said. I touched her chin. “Because some things are only meant for me.”
I lowered my mouth to hers for a kiss.
It was good to have her back.
But crossing the lines between Ink-a-Tat and BFH… I wasn’t sure about that.
Then again, it was all part of my life.
“So, do you want a tattoo or not?” I asked.
“How about another kiss instead?”
“Yeah, I think I can do that.”
Chapter 3
I held Belle’s hand tight as Tin pushed his way from the back. He parked his monster truck out back and when he walked through the shop, his feet slammed to the floor hard. Lark always pretended the ground was shaking.
Tin would get pissed at her.
But nothing would ever happen.
Tin wasn’t the type of guy to fire people unless it was really needed.
Although I wasn’t sure what he would have done if Lark had hurried off to fool around with Shuffle.
Lucky for them, Shuffle showed up to the shop.
So Lark was behind the counter where she always was.
Iggy and Ale still weren’t there.
Which wasn’t a bad thing.
Belle could take in this life in small doses.
Tin stood a few feet away from me and he pointed to Belle.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
Hae slipped from the back and danced around Tin like some kind of angel of temptation. She went right up to Belle and put her hands on Belle’s shoulder and nuzzled her nose to Belle’s cheek like they had been friends all their lives.
Belle’s cheeks turned red.
“This is Belle,” Hae said. “She’s with Ash.”
“She owns Ash’s ass,” Kyan said as he joined the conversation too.
“This is the girlfriend?” Tin asked.
He smiled with the brightest set of teeth I’d ever seen.
If Iggy was here, he’d put on his sunglasses.
And Ale would tell Tin that having radioactive teeth was a hazard to the health of the world.
But that was Tin. He looked the part. Almost like a comic book character or one of those gigantic professional wrestlers you’d see on TV.
When you thought about tattoo shops and the biggest, baddest, wildest dudes running the show, Tin was the guy who stood first in line.
Tin stepped forward and looked down at Belle.
He stuck his giant paw of a hand out.
Belle shook his hand.
And neither let go.
They just stood there, facing off, shaking hands.
“Ooohhh,” Hae whispered. “This is getting tense.”
“She’s not letting go,” Lark said.
“You going to let my hand go?” Tin asked Belle.
“You can let my hand go first,” she said.
Tin looked at me. He nodded. Then he opened his hand and stepped back.
“Did you get some real work done here today or just walk around like a dreamy young man?” Tin asked me.
“This guy is a fucking genius,” Kyan said. “Tell him about the banana girl.”
“Yeah, I’d like to hear about the banana girl too,” Belle said.
“You know, I have a funny story about a banana,” Lark said.
Everyone looked at Lark.
She blew a bubblegum bubble.
“Remind me to never take food from you,” Hae said. “I mean, love is good in all forms… but food…”
“Not me,” Lark said. “I’m not that crazy or desperate.”
Shuffle nodded. He and Iggy were the oldest of the guys at the shop.
He had slicked back jet black hair and looked the part of a biker ready for a showdown.
“What did I miss?” Shuffle asked.
“Just the part about Lark putting a banana in-”
“Sorry about your aunt, brother,” Tin said.
They smashed hands together and hugged.
Belle looked up at me.
“His aunt has cancer,” I whispered to her.
“I’m sorry about your aunt,” Belle called out.
No fear in the world.
Shuffle looked at Belle. “Who’s this one?”
“Ash’s perfect girlfriend,” Hae said.
She was still leaning on Belle’s shoulder.
“Ash’s girlfriend,” Shuffle said.
“We were just going to talk about the banana girl,” Tin said.
“Who the fuck is that?” Shuffle asked.
“Shuffle, you can come stand next to me,” Lark said. “I wanted to see you anyway and talk about your aunt. It’s so sad.”
Shuffle looked back at Lark and shook his head.
“Here, check this shit out,” Kyan said.
Kyan explained the entire story of the banana girl, right down to showing off my sketch of the leopard.
“This is good work,” Shuffle said.
“Not bad,” Tin said. “I want to see it on her skin and then we’ll talk.”
Tin’s cellphone started to ring. Which was the sound of a truck engine getting louder as it revved more.
“Rocco,” he said.
He walked away without a goodbye.
“I’ve got to get set up,” Shuffle said. “I have a few coming in soon.”
“Can we talk for a second?” Lark asked.
Shuffle looked at her. He kissed his fingertips and flicked them at her.
Lark giggled.
“Fucking relationships,” Kyan said.
He and Shuffle went into the back.
Lark sat down and grabbed her phone.
That left me and Belle… and Hae.
“What are we doing now?” Hae asked. “I’m up for anything.”
I gritted my teeth.
Belle slowly looked at her.
I casually stepped around Belle and got Hae out of the way.
“Belle and I need to talk privately,” I said.
“Of course,” Hae said. She put her hands together again. “I can feel that need between you two. That energy. It’s totally amazing. Don’t be a stranger, Belle.”
I hurried to get Belle outside of Ink-a-Tat.
She looked up at me.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“I don’t know what just happened. That place almost makes BFH seem normal.”
“I can’t believe you came down here, angel. I thought you were getting back later.”
“I just had to see you, Ash,” she said.
“Good,” I said. I grabbed her hand. “Let’s talk about some stuff.”
* * *
We walked next to the beach. We held hands. The distance from BFH and Them was actually a nice thing for once. It had been such a crazy ride lately. Too much going at once. Even before Belle showed up and fucked everything up.
But down here, it was nice.
It was totally fucking touristy, not a place to actually live.
If I wanted that, I’d have to find a place in the hills and cough up a high eight figure load of cash to make it happen.
Then again, if that’s what Belle wanted…
I looked at her. “How’s your mother?’
“A fucking mess,” she said. “But she’s not hurting herself.”
“I guess that’s good,” I said. “Want us to find that guy and rough him up?”
Belle looked at me. “I think you already did enough of that, Ash.”
“Chester, right?”
“Yeah, Chester. You knew that already. He’s an asshole. Might be worse than the rest.”
“And here it was supposed to be love,” I said with a grin.
“That’s how she is. Dr. Jo told me all the stories. The way they grew up. The way they grew apart.”
“Hey, maybe she should hang with Dr. Jo,” I said. “She offered, right?”
“Tha
t was a very thin offer, Ash,” Belle said. “My mother needs to learn to survive on her own. Without someone in her life. I can’t believe she’s held a job as long as she has. I don’t want her to mess that up too. This time… I don’t know. I guess I was glad to be there and to see her actually look strong.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“She didn’t fall apart,” Belle said. “I mean, she fell apart, but not in the way like she usually does. It’s hard to explain.”
“Aw, she’s getting all grown up,” I said.
“That’s not even funny, Ash,” Belle said. “It’s sad. So fucking sad. Sometimes I hate her for everything. And I…”
Belle turned her head.
She stopped walking and grabbed for a metal railing.
She pulled herself against it and stared at the ocean.
I watched carefully as she looked like she was fighting back tears.
“Hey,” I said as I touched her back. “What’s wrong, angel?”
She shook her head. She wiped the corner of her left eye.
“Nothing,” she said. “It’s nothing. Trust me.”
“Talk to me,” I said.
“I can’t.”
“You can’t? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Belle looked at me. “How can I talk about this with you? Your mother…”
I gritted my teeth and nodded. “Right. Because my mother is dead that instantly makes it so you can’t talk to me? I’m just going to head back to the shop then, Belle. Finish up with Kyan. Help him some more with that sketch.”
Belle grabbed my arm. “Don’t walk away, Ash. Seriously?”
“What? I’m not going to convince you to trust me.”
“This isn’t about trust…”
“Yes it is. What do you think is going to happen? I’m going to get mad at you? Or hurt? My mother is dead. Okay? There’s nothing else I can say. Just like Uly. His father is dead. That’s kind of what made us click a long time ago. It doesn’t define me.”
“It defines a big part of your life,” Belle said. “You and Hil are stepbrothers because of it.”
“What the hell does that have to do with your mother?” I asked.
“I… I…”
“Just say it,” I said.
“I wish my mother was gone and yours was alive!” Belle yelled. “That’s what I’ve been thinking lately. My mother decided to waste her entire life on nothing and your mother lost her life when she had you to raise still…”
I touched Belle’s face. “You know my mother wasn’t perfect. Far from it. We can’t compare that kind of shit in our lives, angel. Just you saying that means a lot to me. But don’t live it. My mother is gone. She’s never coming back. And your mother is here. For how long? Who knows? At least you’re able to get off the path she put you on. Remember that. Believe in it. And do your thing.”
ASH: a bay falls high novel Page 3