I shook my head.
I waited for Iggy and the big dude I helped ink up.
This guy was big as in both muscle, fat, and size.
Definitely some biker dude.
And of course my first thought was if Belle’s mother had ever been engaged to the guy.
Because Belle never left my fucking mind.
And because nothing about Belle’s mother surprised me anymore.
When Iggy and the big dude emerged from Iggy’s room, they did some kind of handshake and Iggy slammed his shoulder off the guys chest. They said something to one another and laughed.
The big dude looked at me and pointed.
He gave a nod and disappeared.
Iggy looked at me. “Come talk to me, kid.”
Iggy darted into his room and I followed.
Someone grabbed my arm at the last second though.
“Hae…”
“That’s my name,” Hae whispered. “Your beautiful girl is here looking for you.”
“Belle is here?”
Hae smiled. “Yes she is.”
“I’ll be right out,” I said. “I have to talk to Iggy.”
“Want me to keep her company?”
“No,” I said. “Have her hang with Lark.”
“Well, she’s talking to Rocco right now. He’s got his chest all puffed out, talking like he’s some mega billionaire real estate guy. She looks bored.”
“That’s okay.”
“You know I can keep her entertained, Ash,” Hae said. “I can even pierce something else for her. Actually, for you. It’ll be a surprise later…”
“Just give me five minutes here,” I said.
“That’s all I need too,” Hae said with a devilish smile.
I walked into Iggy’s room and shut the door.
He leaned against a wall, sunglasses back on his face, rolling an unlit cigarette between his fingertips.
“You ever go near that?” Iggy asked.
“What?”
“That wild one there,” he said. “You been in it?”
“Hae? Hell no.”
Iggy grinned. “That’s good. That’s something you need to know what you’re doing to take care of.”
Does that mean you…
Iggy nodded to me. “Take a seat, kid.”
I swallowed hard and sat down in a leather chair.
Iggy’s room was the best in the shop.
It was all black with soft lighting. There was a sense of badass to it too. When he tattooed someone, he put his sunglasses up on his head and turned on a single light that was bright enough to see where he was tattooing.
“You did good,” Iggy said.
“Yeah?”
“That was a big piece,” he said. “There’s still a lot to work on. But I appreciate the help.”
“I appreciate you letting me help,” I said. “I need it right now.”
“Bedroom troubles or life troubles?” Iggy asked.
“How about both?”
“Simple fix, kid. Leave the life troubles in the bedroom and take the bedroom troubles somewhere else. Know what that means?”
“No.”
“It means leave everything in your mind behind and find someone who can do what’s needed without questions or commitments.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
“Can I count on you again?” Iggy asked.
“Again…?”
“We have to finish that piece,” Iggy said. “Always finish what you start. And I talked to Tin and told him we have to throw you some work.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely, kid,” Iggy said. “Look, it ain’t no secret who you are. You think we don’t know it, Ash? We know. We know who your father is. Where you come from. That your pockets are bigger than Rocco’s ego.”
I laughed.
“Made no sense why you were down here,” Iggy said. “But I get it now. What it seems to mean to you. Sometimes whatever life we have… the path… it has an appearance but that doesn’t matter to what you feel.”
“Is that how your life went, Iggy?” I asked.
“We’re not friends, Ash,” Iggy said. “The only part of my life you need to know about is when I’m coming to the shop.”
“Understood,” I said.
I stood up.
Studying Iggy, something came to me. He was one of Them. Just forty years into the future.
“Thanks for everything, Iggy,” I said.
“Hey, wait a second,” he said. “I’ve got something for you.”
He moved to his desk and counter area.
He held up a picture of a butterfly.
“Women and butterflies, you know?” he asked.
“Oh?”
“Friend of a friend called in a favor,” Iggy said. “His wife wants something done. I told him I don’t have time for this kind of shit, but I know someone who does. Someone I trust. That’s you, Ash.”
“Me…”
“Her sister and mother died of cancer,” Iggy said. “One year apart. And then she got diagnosed with that motherfucker of a disease. But she survived. Normally the butterfly thing would piss me off, but she has an idea to make each wing a symbol…”
“One for her mother and one for her sister,” I said.
“There you go,” Iggy said. “You got it already. This one is yours. And don’t fuck it up. It’s my ass on the line here, Ash. You don’t want to know what this lady’s husband is capable of.”
“No pressure,” I said.
“None at all,” Iggy said.
He stuck the unlit cigarette into his mouth and turned his back to me.
Which was my cue to leave.
I looked at the picture of the butterfly that Iggy had sketched up quick. Just a bunch of scribbly lines.
My mind moved in all directions, wanting to make this amazing.
I’d have to catch up with Iggy again at some point.
I walked to the front of the shop and looked for Belle.
Lark pointed behind me.
“What?” I asked.
“She’s in the back.”
“With Hae?” I asked.
“No,” Lark said. “I told her to go wait for you. Hae was all over her. She looked flustered. She’ll get used to it. I did.”
“You know Belle is much prettier than you,” I said.
“Well fuck you too, Ash,” Lark said.
I winked at her.
Tin then made an appearance and looked right at me.
“Tin,” I said.
“Talk with me,” he said.
“I have Belle waiting.”
“Waiting is good,” he said. “Shows trust, love, and all that other bullshit.”
I grabbed for my phone and texted Belle that I would be right there.
Tin laughed at me.
He led the way to his office, which was the only office in the tattoo shop.
The closest thing to making the place look like an actual business.
He had a long desk with a laptop on it that was always open.
And the desk was always immaculately clean too.
Tin loved to sit behind the desk, hands folded, looking like a monster.
“Is this about Iggy?” I asked. “He gave me something to work on. I was going to ask you about it.”
“Fuck that,” Tin said. “You want to throw ink on someone? Do it. I wouldn’t have you here if I didn’t trust you. I wanted to talk about something else.”
“Okay.”
“I know we haven’t gone deep into the personal life shit but I’m not an idiot. You’ve mentioned a few things here and there. And I know something is going down.”
“Right.”
“Talk to me about it, Ash.”
“Nothing to talk about, Tin,” I said. I felt uncomfortable. “My mother was killed in a car accident. The guy who caused it got released from jail. I thought he was going to stay there forever. I guess I was misled.”
“Shit,” Tin s
aid. “That’s a hard one. I went through something like that.”
“Yeah?”
Tin nodded. “A buddy of mine was on his motorcycle. Of all things, he was actually sober for once. Actually, he had just gotten cleaned up. Three days out of rehab. Taking a ride. And some asshole hit him. Killed him. Gone. Dead. Done. I got word of it and I wanted nothing more than to find the guy. I got my chance too. And you know what happened, Ash?”
“What?” I asked.
“I looked into his eyes and realized he was going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. No matter the fault. Which was his. And he had whatever ways to get out of it. He barely did any time for it. But in his eyes, he was dead. He was fucked. More fucked than anything my fists could have done. And if I did do something to him… you know, beat the hell out of him… I would have gotten in trouble.”
I nodded. “That’s smart thinking.”
“It’s logical. It’s how life goes. Don’t throw everything away, Ash.”
“Tin, I don’t even know where the guy is,” I said.
“Good. Now get out of here. And just so you know, Iggy tells me everything. You did good work on that piece with him. And he told me he was giving you something to work on. Be here, Ash. Make something happen.”
Tin insisted we shake hands.
I left his office and gritted my teeth.
I didn’t know where the guy was… that piece of shit that killed my mother…
But with one phone call, I could find out where he was.
* * *
Rocco was on a phone call and gave me a head nod and nothing more.
I nodded back and hurried to get to my little room in the shop to see Belle.
When I opened the door, she gasped and jumped, clutching her chest.
“Angel,” I said.
“Ash,” she said.
She dove toward me and I caught her.
She wrapped her arms around me so tight it was fucking refreshing to feel.
I noticed her bag on the tattoo chair.
“I love you, Ash,” she said to me.
“Whoa,” I whispered. “What happened to you?”
Belle backed away a little and looked ready to cry.
“Angel… what’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Don’t say nothing,” I said. “You brought a bag with you. What’s going on?”
“Oh, that,” she said. She hurried to the chair and opened it. “I wanted to show you something. It’s why I came here.”
“So you didn’t come here to tell me you loved me?” I asked.
“That was just added on at the last second,” Belle said.
“Still pissed?”
Belle looked at me. “Not so much. Only because I miss you and you’re really good at drawing stuff.”
“So that gets me out of everything then?” I asked.
“This time… maybe.”
“I’ll take maybe as a win then,” I said.
Belle looked like she was shaking as she reached into the bag.
She brought out a big notebook and dropped it on the floor.
“Fuck,” she said.
She crouched down and I hurried to do the same.
I gently touched her face and made her look at me.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“The way I’m acting,” she said.
“Don’t be. I’ve missed you too, angel. I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did. You did nothing wrong. And you were right about my father. What he did and why. He wanted to give me a chance to get through my mother’s death. And whatever made this happen, it falls on him.”
Belle nodded. “I could have been more sympathetic too, Ash. Sometimes I forget with the way our lives are… my mother compared to yours…”
“Which I told you not to do,” I said.
“I know. Sorry.”
“Stop being sorry.”
“Well one of us has to be,” she said.
“You’re never sorry. You’re Belle. You’re a badass bitch.”
“Just look at the notebook, Ash,” she said.
I lifted it off the floor and stood up.
I opened it and let out a deep breath.
It was Belle’s writing paired with my sketches.
Everything she had sent to me to work on with her.
During our fight and time of not talking.
Which actually fucking hurt me the most. Belle refused to talk to me during a time when we had the most in common. I flipped to the second page in the notebook and I looked at her.
I pictured us sitting together, her writing some amazing poetry and me sketching scenes to bring it to life. Just sitting on a floor. An empty floor. Just me and her. And a lamp. And it was like three in the morning. And nothing else in the world mattered.
I tossed the notebook to the chair and moved for Belle.
I touched her face again and she grabbed my arms.
When my lips barely touched her, she kissed me back with force. With need.
I kissed her back with even more force and need. I stepped at her, making her step back. Walking her to the closest wall I could find where I could kiss her even more.
Nothing was going to stop me.
Nothing was…
“Wow, fuck yeah, man,” a voice called out.
I turned my head and saw Kyan standing at the open door.
“Fucking knock?” I asked.
“Fucking lock the door?” Kyan threw at me.
“What’s happening?” Hae’s voice asked.
She pushed by Kyan and let out a gasp.
“I can feel it again,” she said. “The tension between these two… it’s so raw…”
Belle grabbed my shirt and pulled at me.
I leaned down and felt her exhale a breath to my ear.
“Ash, please get me the fuck out of here.”
* * *
The breeze from the beach kept tearing at the pages as I tried to reread all of Belle’s work and compare it to what I had sketched for her.
And it worked.
It really worked.
Belle bit her lip and bit at her fingernails.
She watched with worried eyes.
“You know this is good, right?” I asked.
“I know,” she said. “It’s perfect. Miss Whitaker is a genius for thinking of it. You and me together…”
“It’s like we’re Uly and Hil,” I said.
“Ew. Don’t say that ever again.”
I laughed. “Good point, angel.” I closed the notebook. “Why are you so worried?”
Belle shook her head. “Hey, I heard you tattooed someone today.”
“How did you hear that?”
“Rocco and Hae… and Lark… and…”
“Okay, I get it,” I said. “You’re one of us now at the shop.”
I smiled.
Belle didn’t.
“Hey…”
“Miss Whitaker wants to send this off,” Belle said. “The notebook. As a notebook. Just like this. Like here’s your pitch kind of thing. Oh, and Sarah called me. Gray fucked her over and she’s hurting. She wanted to apologize to me for what happened. She wanted to talk. And get back at Gray.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “Back up. What?”
Belle nodded.
Her emotions were raw and on edge.
“Okay, wait a second,” I said. “Sarah and Gray? Fuck those two. What they did to you? And now she wants your help? Not a chance, angel. Let her suffer alone. Let her find other friends. She’s only calling you because she’s lonely. And she wants you to come to me to use us. To use Them. Don’t buy into that bullshit.”
Belle nodded again. “I’m not stupid, Ash.”
“I didn’t say you were, angel,” I said. “Now go back again. This notebook? Send it. Send it yesterday. Make this happen. You deserve this.”
“But your sketches…”
“What about t
hem?”
“Those are yours.”
“They’re yours,” I said.
“Mine…”
I touched Belle’s cheek. “I don’t know why you’re worried about this, angel. These are your drawings. And if it comes down to money or contracts or signing anything, I’m already there. These are yours, angel. Whatever you need me to do to make sure that happens.”
Belle jumped at me and hugged me again.
I hugged her with one hand.
“I love you, angel,” I said. “Don’t ever forget that.”
“I know,” Belle said as she clutched the back of my shirt.
There was something else off about her.
I slid my hands to her waist and gently nudged her away.
She looked up at me.
“What else?” I asked.
“Do you have any nice clothes?”
“Nice clothes?” I asked. “Am I not in nice clothes?”
“I meant like a suit… tux… shirt tucked into pants…”
“Are you talking about your mother’s engagement?” I asked. “Her wedding?”
Belle nodded.
“She’s serious,” Belle said. “They have a date set. And it’s closer than you think, Ash.”
“How close?”
“Close enough that their engagement party is going to be held at the venue they’re getting married at… with a little twist to it…”
“Okay.”
“You better get some nice clothes, Ash.”
“I will. Anything for you, angel. You need me there? I’m there. I’ll smile and toast your mother with sparkling grape juice.”
“Good,” Belle said. “But hurry.”
“Hurry?”
“She wants to get married to this guy tomorrow night.”
Chapter 13
It was my version of dressing up nice.
Black pants. Black shirt. White buttons.
Sleeves rolled up a couple times to make sure my tattoos were visible.
I even considered wearing a tie but refused to strangle myself for Belle’s wacky mother.
Belle, though, stole the show.
She stepped out of the bathroom in a dark gray dress that probably should have been ugly just based on the color alone. But the way she wore it and the way she had her hair done, I actually lost my breath.
My body forgot how to breathe.
My brain screamed to my lungs to do their fucking job.
ASH: a bay falls high novel Page 12