The Curtis Sister

Late Night Needles

A knock on the window made me jump, opening my eyes and jolting up immediately. I looked at the window and saw Steve laughing outside. He held up a bag and pointed to the driver door. I turned to the side and unlocked it. Still half asleep, I barely even noticed that the car had started driving. Steve drove to the lot and took out the food.
"I didn't know what you wanted so I took a wild guess."
I took what he gave me, even though I hadn't even looked at it really, I still thought it was good. I looked down and saw it was actually my order every time.
"You guessed?", I asked.
"No I was kidding. I remember what you ordered from after Fourth of July.", he said.
Forth of July was one of the funnest nights I've ever had. Except for Soda almost getting decapitated by a firework. After everyone had fun with beer and fireworks, which we realized is an awful combination later, we went and got kicked out of Dairy Queen. I'm pretty sure Steve was wasted, so I had no clue how he remembered anything from that night, let alone my order.
"Oh. Thank you.", I said.
"I have an idea."
"Oh no.", I replied.
He paused and looked out the window laughing.
"What?"
"Oh no?", he asked.
"Your ideas usually have some sort of weird twist and it's almost midnight. Also I just woke up from...how long of a nap?"
       "Like, 3 minutes."
       "I just woke up from a 3 minute nap. I'm not prepared for your 'idea'.", I explained.
       "Okay but just hear me out."
       I crossed my arms across my chest and laid back in the seat.
      "Okay. Go on.", I allowed.
      "I want another tattoo."
      "Okay go get one. Why am I included?"
      "Because you should get one.", he said.
      "Oh hell no. That is not happening.", I protested.
       "We aren't getting the same one. Get one on your arm."
       "Darry would kill me."
       "Then get one on your stomach or something where he can't see."
       "I'm not getting a tattoo, Steve.", I said.
       "What can I do to convince you."
       "Your tattoo has to be something I pick."
      "Done.", he said not even taking a second to think about it.
       I stopped for a moment. "Really?"
      "If you get one, you can choose mine."
      I sighed. "Fine. I'll get one."
       "Yes!", Steve silently cheered.
      He started the car and drove quickly down the roads. Once we got to roads without houses along the side he sped up much faster. I laughed as the butterflies in my stomach grew bigger.
      "Steve you're going really fast!", I yelled.
      "I know, that's the point."
     We finally made our way back into the city portion of Tulsa and he had to slow down again. I brushed my hair out of my face, laughing in almost tears. Purple light from a large 'Tattoo' sign caught my eye.
      "There?", I questioned.
      "There."
      He pulled into a parking spot and we both got out. I had only eaten a little of my food because I thought it was probably a bad idea to get a tattoo on my stomach while full. Once we got into the tattoo shop a short woman with short curly hair greeted us.
       "What are you looking for."
       "She's surprising me.", Steve pointed to me. The woman laughed.
       "We usually get comments like those from drunk people.", she said.
       "I don't believe we are drunk.", I said.
       "Just a little mentally challenged.", Steve added.
       "Is that all?", she asked.
       "She's getting one since she gets to pick mine."
       "Okay. Who goes first?", she asked us.
       "You," Steve turned to me. "So you can't back out."
       "I guess me.", I said nervously.
       "Okay.", she seemed excited about our idea.
       I sat down on the chair where they actually gave the tattoos. Steve sat on a chair beside me, smiling all the way.
        "So what do you want?"
       "I know where, just not what."
      "Well where. Maybe I can give suggestions."
      "My stomach."
      "That may hurt depending on where you get it. I've heard that hip to the side of your stomach hurts less."
       "Then I want it there."
       "How do flowers sound?"
       I mean, it would be pretty big, taking up the whole left side of my stomach. But, it did sound pretty.
      "Y'know what, Yeah. Flowers from my hip to my rib cage."
      "Okay.", she laughed.
      Steve was shocked by my confidence. I smirked at him.
      "Just wait until the needle hits you.", he mouthed while the tattoo artist had her back turned. I rolled my eyes.
      I lifted my shirt up to the top of my rib cage, a little insecure about myself. I pushed myself up more on the seat. She pushed the chair back a bit and took out black and gray. After she cleaned off the space she was gonna put the tattoo on she sketched what it would look like with a pen. I looked at it and thought it looked nice.
      "Yeah?", she asked.
      "Yeah."
      The needle started making a noise and I tensed up a bit. Although, once she started, I was shocked about how less painful I thought it would be. It still hurt, but not as much as I prepared myself for. I laid back and took deep breathes when it started to hurt. I winced a lot, but only made a noise once or two times. After what seemed like hours and hours and pain, she laid a piece of plastic over it and taped it down. My side was sore, but it looked cool through the plastic. I carefully pulled my shirt back down and got up from the chair.
       "Guess who's turn it is?", I said.
      Steve got up from the other seat and slid himself onto the actual one, while I sat down where he sat.
      "Thanks for keeping the seat warm."
      He sneered at me. The tattoo artist pulled me away from Steve to the front of the shop.
    "What is he getting?", she asked.
    "He should get a wrench on his shoulder blade.", I responded.
     "Any reason?"
     "He fixes cars with my brother."
     "What does your brother think about you two?"
      "Well I mean, I'm his twin sister, Steve's his best friend."
      "Yeah. What does he think about you two together?"
       "Oh no, we aren't together. He's one of my my best friends, too.", I explained.
      "Oh. You two seem a lot like a couple."
    She walked back to Steve waiting with his face in his hands. I grabbed his wrists and pulled them away.
      "Turn around.", I laughed.
      "What?"
      "It's gonna be on your shoulder blade."
"Oh god, that means I can't look at it."
Both the tattoo artist and me laughed.