The B Girls - By Cari Cole Page 0,9

Mae said. "A woman who dances on the bar at the Shitkicker Club should have a tattoo. Maybe a nice butterfly."

"You're both crazy," Jane said. "Maybe we should come back tomorrow when we're all sober."

Lucy pulled open the door and stepped inside. "It'll hurt less with a few drinks onboard."

The beep of the automatic doorbell announced their arrival and brought a man out of the back room.

"Can I help you ladies?"

"No," Jane said.

"Yes," Lucy said. "Are you Spike?"

"I am. What can I do for you?"

Lucy was more than a little surprised. She'd expected Spike to be sporting tattoos on most of his visible skin, wearing black leather, and possibly pierced in places involving mucous membranes.

The real Spike was slim and wearing pressed jeans with a golf shirt. His only piercing was a single in his left ear and his only visible tattoo was a Celtic Cross on his right forearm.

"Can you do a tattoo of a bee?" Lucy said.

"The letter B or the buzzing insect bee?"

"Insect. I'm thinking something about an inch long right here." She pointed to her right butt cheek just below the dimple in the small of her back.

"That's no problem." He walked behind a counter and pulled out a book of art, flipped a few pages and held it out. "How about this?"

Lucy looked at the picture of a small almost-real looking honeybee. "Perfect. Let's do it."

"I want one too," Mae said.

"Lucy . . ." Jane said.

Lucy shot her a look. Getting this tattoo was a declaration of independence. A marker for the start of a new, more adventurous life. It was time for her to remember what it was like to have a future filled with possibilities. After all, her future filled with certainties hadn't worked out so well.

Jane threw up her hands. "Fine. Go ahead. I'll watch and say 'I told you so' tomorrow."

Spike looked at Jane. "Is there some reason I shouldn't tattoo your friends?"

"Oh no. Go right ahead. They're just going through their second adolescent rebellion, complete with impulse control problems."

"That's why I have this lovely release of liability," Spike said. "For buyer's remorse."

Lucy and Mae both signed while Jane shook her head at them. Jane signed as witness and Spike invited them all into the back.

Lucy was sober enough to be comforted by the fact that the place looked and smelled as clean as any hospital she'd ever been in. Her new fearlessness only went so far.

She bared her butt and lay face down on the table.

Spike rubbed the spot with alcohol, then put something that looked like one of those wet and apply tattoos from a Cracker Jack box on. It was the outline of the bee Lucy had chosen.

"Okay now we're going to do the outline. It'll probably sting but you have to hold still."

"No problem," Lucy said.

Spike pressed a button and the buzzing started.

Lucy was a trooper. No girly screams. Not even a tear. She smiled through the entire experience.

When Mae's turn came she was stoic but grinned like a fool when she admired her new body art in the mirror.

Jane couldn't stand it. "What the hell, give me that release form."

###

Mae woke with a pounding head and a pounding . . . butt?

She moaned and twisted her head around to try and get a look at her ass.

The glaring white of the gauze square held on with surgical tape brought it all back.

What the hell had she done?

###

Jane didn't need the burning pain in her ass or the sight of the bandage to remember. "Oh fuck," she muttered as soon as she was fully conscious.

###

Lucy winced against the glare of the sunlight streaming into the bathroom as she peeled the tape from her skin to get a look under the bandage.

Yep, it was real.

Big as life on her right butt cheek just below the dimple in the small of her back was a one inch tattoo of a honey bee.

She felt a small twinge of guilt at dragging Mae and Jane into the madness but it had seemed like a good idea at the time. Spiceritas would do that to you.

At least they'd had the good sense to choose a spot that no self-respecting woman over thirty would ever reveal in public even in a bathing suit.

She pressed the tape back in place and went to face the music. No doubt the others were experiencing tattoo remorse.

# # #

Lucy was shocked to find Mae smiling and chipper, puttering around the kitchen making breakfast. "You're not mad at