a feel for what they’d like. I didn’t have time to sketch anything out, since I wasn’t working with a whole lot of time. But when I told them I was going rogue with some freehand work, they seemed even more enthusiastic and ready to get started. And so was I.
My cell rang in the middle of the first tattoo, a sooty moon and stars on Chad’s shoulder blade. It was Audrey and I apologized for the interruption as I pulled my gloves off to answer.
“I’m so sorry,” she immediately said, sounding breathless. “Jake needs you for something and he’s—”
“Is he giving you a hard time?”
“Oh, no! Not at all. But he’s being a little, um, resistant and says he needs you. I told him you’re working, but he’s really adamant. I’m so sorry,” she repeated.
I glanced around at the shop full of guys. Strangers who didn’t know me and didn’t understand my situation. But intuition told me they were good men with big hearts and I quickly made a decision.
“It’s fine. Bring him over here.”
“Are you sure? We don’t have to. I can distract him.”
“No, it’s okay. He’ll never let it go if you don’t, and then he’ll give my parents a hard time.” The thought was tempting, but the last thing I wanted was for them to punish him for it. “Just come down. Text me when you get here and I’ll unlock the backdoor.”
“Okay,” she relented. “We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
I hung up and Chad glanced over his shoulder as I pulled a fresh pair of gloves on. “Your girl?” he asked knowingly.
“Yeah,” I nodded, picking my machine up and situating my foot on the pedal, “she has to stop by with my brother really quick. I hope you guys don’t mind. He just needs to—”
“Dude, we’re good,” he replied with a smile. “It’s nice enough you came in. None of us can expect your life to just stop ‘cause of us.”
I chatted with him for a bit before Audrey came by. He was a dad of two, married to his best friend, and currently adding a third bathroom to his house in Texas. He explained briefly that with his chronic illness, Ulcerative Colitis, he felt he needed one to himself. “But livin’ with three women, I’m thinkin’ about adding a fourth,” he laughed and shook his head, “one for each of us.”
The more we talked, the more I found I liked and understood him. It struck me hard that, after years of tattooing in near silence, I’d been missing out on so many stories from my clients. The different walks of life, the varying circumstances that’d brought them to my chair. It was a shameful moment, to realize all of those wasted opportunities, and I made a split decision to change. Again.
Audrey texted me that they were there, and I announced apologetically that it was time for a momentary break. Chad insisted it was cool and took the moment to grab his phone and text his wife.
I unlocked the backdoor and Audrey, Jake, and Freddy walked inside.
“Hey,” she greeted me, standing on her toes to press a kiss to my jaw.
“Hey, guys. I can’t talk for long.”
“Did you hear your brother, Jake? We can’t be here long,” Audrey spoke to him with a kind firmness. “Remember, Mickey is in the car. He’s waiting. Okay?”
“We won’t be here long. Not long.” Jake nodded and glanced through the breakroom to the open workstation. Right in his line of sight was Chad and Jake pointed. “He’s blue like Blake.”
With that mention, I thought about the piece I was working on, the moon and stars. I remembered the idea Shane had pitched the night before and in a trance, I moved through the breakroom and stood above Chad’s shoulder, assessing and working out the details in my mind. I visualized a splashy watercolor background, a muted blue mixed with grey, to highlight the grit with something beautiful.
Nodding slowly, I asked, “Hey, Chad, you mind if I add some color to this?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me and shook his head. “You’re the artist, dude. I’m your canvas. Do whatever you wanna do to me.”
“Awesome.” I grinned, finding a new excitement in my work, and turned to find Jake standing in the breakroom doorway. He was eyeballing the shop full of strange men, Devin specifically.
“He’s purple,” he announced, pointing. “Bright, bright, bright purple.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, remembering that purple auras typically belong to spiritual, creative types.
Devin lifted