St. James

CHAPTER 16

      A short while later we were driving through downtown Huntington Beach with Brian playing tour guide as he steered his car up one road and down another. I made Brian stop so I could take pictures of urban decay and urban progress, graffiti on cement walls, beach scenes and people walking about the city. Rows of huge power lines fascinated me as much as beautiful old churches did, upscale shops gave way to more run down, eccentric shops, bars and tattoo parlors. "BABY!" I squealed in excitement making Brian flinch "What?" he gasped with laughter "I want a tattoo!" I exclaimed happily, sure dad would kill me but once it was on my skin there was nothing he could do about it. Brian shot me a devilish smirk and quickly whipped down a side street "I just happen to know where you can get a tattoo, no questions asked about your age and for next to nothing" he said as if he was sharing a dark secret. A few minutes later we were walking into a rather run down building that had a simple neon sign in the window saying "OPEN." Once inside though I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the place was and set about looking at the different tattoo designs while Brian mumbled something to the guy behind the counter about needing to see 'his guy'. Before long Brian came over and put his arms around my waist lightly while I flipped through a tattoo book "How about that rose?" Brian murmured in my ear as he pointed to a dainty, gorgeous rose that curved upwards with a stem and leaves trailing it. I smiled at it as I ran my finger over the drawing "What color though? Red seems so...common" I said with a scowl. Brian slowly turned me towards him and trailed his hands further down my sides "I say...purple, because it's my favorite color and I say you get it...right here" he whispered hotly as he gently tugged my shorts down a couple of inches exposing my lower hip/belly area.

I was so goofy in love that Brian could have told me to tattoo a unicorn on my forehead and I would have so I quickly agreed to a purple rose on my hip bone/belly area but with one added addition to it "I want it to have the date we started dating" I whispered as my cheeks blushed pink "8/15/98." Brian beamed a smile at me before kissing my forehead "Sounds sexy" he mumbled against my flesh before pulling me behind him into a back room where a guy had hollered out his name. "Damn dude you got yourself a hot lil mama!" the tattoo guy said as he not so shamelessly eyed me making me uneasy "Carlos shut up before I tell your wife you're eyeballing younger women again" Brian said with a cocky, joking demeanor. Carlos just shook his head and laughed as he wiped down the chair I was to lay on "Baby you gotta pull your shorts down so he can stick that rose on you" Brian mumbled softly in my hair. "Here mama, take this towel and tuck it in to the front of your shorts, that way Haner here doesn't get his panties in a bunch thinking I'm gonna cop a feel" he teased as he handed me a hand towel. Hesitantly I unbuttoned my shorts while Brian tucked the towel in the way it was supposed to be before standing back so I could lay down on the chair. Once I was situated, Carlos began prepping everything he needed while him and Brian lapsed into an easy conversation about the sleeve Brian was starting on his right arm "She convinced me to do the whole arm, looks like you'll be working on me for a while" Brian said with a smile as Carlos handed him the carbon copy stencil of my rose "Put it where she wants it man" he said with a wink at me.

Brian leaned over me and gently but firmly stuck the stenciling to my lower left hip/belly area "Perfect" he said softly as he leaned over to kiss me after moving so Carlos could pull the paper backing off my skin. "Alright mama here we go" he said and the annoying buzz of the tattoo gun filled the air as Brian sat down next to me, the first touch of the gun made me jump and reach blindly for Brian's hand and when I found it I squeezed his hand with all my might and didn't let up until Carlos finally said "done" an hour later. Brian leaned over to assess my tattoo and smiled happily at it before helping me up to stand in front of the mirror "What do you think mama?" Carlos asked from behind me as I stared at my reflection with a happy smirk. "Can you add something else to it real quick?" I asked making him and Brian give me questioning looks "What's that mama?" I quickly closed the distance between Carlos and I and pointed above the purple rose on my skin "Can you put Brian's name right here?" I said almost too quietly, Carlos looked at me hard for a minute before smiling slowly "Aye mama I can...lay back down" he said as he fired up his gun again. "Dude she's tagging herself, what kind of mojo did you put on her?" Carlos told Brian with a laugh as he quickly tattooed Brian's name in a simple, scrolling writing before helping me back up. I assessed my tattoo again and smile at Carlos "Now it's perfect" I said softly before turning to Brian so he could see the tattoo.