32 Memories - Cameron Dallas

Day 3

chapter 4: memory 3

~*~

"Where are you taking me?" Mary questions me and I just tell her to be quiet and wait until we get there. She sighs and stares out the window for the remainder of the car ride.

We arrive at the tattoo parlor about ten minutes later and she stares at me in confusion. "Why are we here?"

"This is memory number twelve." is what I say in return. I had already taken out a memory from the jar before I picked her up to take her here.

"Wait... didn't you say we could talk about my dad when we get to memory number twelve?"

I nod.

"What does a tattoo parlor have to do with my dad?"

"Just let me explain..."

Memory #12: Getting Tattoos

"Are you nervous?" Cameron asks Mary as they sit there, about to get their first tattoo together.

Before they came here, they discussed what they wanted to get and what the meaning of their tattoos meant. They had the same opinion on tattoos. If it's going to be on your body for the rest of your life then it should mean something to you.

"Kind of, but not really." Mary answers his question. "You?"

"A little." he says.

When it was all over, Mary had a smile on her face for accomplishing getting her first tattoo. The two best friends stood outside of the tattoo parlor and looked at each other's tattoos, studying how good of a job the tattoo artists did.

Mary's was on the back of her neck. She wanted it to be in a place she couldn't really see. It was the date of her father's death. A small date on the back of her neck: 5/13/07

Cameron stood behind Mary and she held up her hair so he could look at the ink on her neck. Her skin was red and it was kind of gross-looking but it would look better in a couple days.

That's what Mary's tattoo meant to her; it was her father's death. It was in a place she couldn't see for a reason.

Cameron's tattoo, however, was right next to his collarbone. It was a simple tattoo of an ellipsis inside quotation marks: "..."

He knew nobody would really understand what it meant, but that didn't bother him. What it meant to him was most important. The meaning behind it was silence. Some nights all he could hear was his parents screaming at each other and the sound of glass shattering on the floor, meaning one of his parents threw something while they were fighting.

The sound of glass shattering was way too familiar for a young boy like Cameron. On those nights, he would hold in his tears and call Mary. "They're doing it again..." he would say to her and she would know exactly what he was talking about. Mary would walk straight to his home down the road and they would walk out to the hill together and sit at the top.

Mary knew what he needed. He needed some peace and quiet, so she sat there with him in silence and let him get the quietness he needed. Neither of them spoke a word until Cameron was ready.

~*~

Cameron's POV

"I have a tattoo?" Mary asks in a shocked voice, trying to see the back of her neck but she couldn't. I show her a picture of it on my phone and she just stares at it, frowning. She lifts her hand and touched the back of her neck, as if she can feel the tattoo back there but she just traces her finger over the skin.

"So my dad is dead," she whispers, "but you didn't tell me how he died."

"He was out with his buddies one night," I start, "and they all got way too drunk. His friend was driving and they crashed. Your dad and the driver were the only two that didn't make it, and the lady in the other vehicle got badly injured. Since then, you have never touched alcohol in your life."

She fiddles with her fingers and stares at them while I look at her closely. A tear slips down her cheek and she squeezes her eyes shut. I reach over to hold her hand but she moves it away, shaking her head quickly. "Please don't touch me."

"I'm sorry." I whisper, feeling bad now. We sit in my car for a long time, neither of us saying anything. The only sound was her quiet sniffles and the noises from outside. My hand twitches by my side because all I wanted to do was reach over and wipe her tears away. I just wanted to hold her and tell her it's okay.

"Can I see yours?" she finally speaks.

"Hm?"

"Your tattoo." she responds.

"Oh- yeah, you can." I unbuckle my seatbelt and turn more towards her. She looks at me with glossy hazel eyes and waits. Since I'm wearing a loose tank top, I move it over a little so the ink on my skin is revealed. She stares at it for a long time, and for some odd reason I don't feel uncomfortable about her staring at me like this.

"Cameron?" she speaks. She has never once called me 'Cam' since the accident. She just calls me Cameron all the time. Before, she would rarely call me Cameron.

"Yeah?"

"Can I go see Shawn?" she asks, surprising me. He wasn't even apart of this whole conversation.

"Why do you want to go see him?" I ask her while trying not to sound jealous or upset in any way.

"I want to meet him."

I take her to see Shawn at his house because I wanted to do what she wanted. I didn't want to say no to something as simple as visiting one of our friends.

When we get to Shawn's house, I unbuckle myself and go to get out of the car, but I stop because I notice Mary hasn't moved. "Are you coming?"

"I'm nervous."

"Why?"

She shrugs. I understand what she means though because she even got nervous when she met her best friends. Raine and Diana were a little overwhelming for her.

"It will be all right, I promise." I assure her and finally she takes her seatbelt off and gets out of the car with me. I ring Shawn's doorbell and Mary moves to stand behind me.

Shawn's mom opens the door and smiles at me. "Hello Cam. Is that Mary standing behind you?"

"Yeah, we came to see Shawn." I tell her.

"Of course, he's in the backyard." she smiles at us and I thank her, leading Mary through the house and out the backdoor. Shawn was outside in just a pair of basketball shorts with no shirt on. It was pretty hot today and I could see the sweat glistening off his forehead.

He sees us and his eyes go wide at the sight of Mary beside me. "Mary, hey!"

He comes over to us quickly and I stay quiet and wait for Mary to start speaking for herself. "Hi..." she blushes, looking down at her feet and Shawn smiles at her shy state. Anger boils up inside me because I have a feeling things are going to be very different with the two of them. That just gives me all the more reason to try harder.

.....