Tattoo Artist | o. diaz

sesenta y siete: back in business

"Papito, what are you doing?" Venus laughed. She had just given Luis a bath, but he was playing with the spray bottle she uses for his hair.

Luis looked at the bottle, staring at it and squeezing until water came out. He started laughing when it wet his face again.

"Dámelo. I need to do your hair, then you can play with it." Venus told him. Luis pouted as Venus took the spray bottle away from him and moved him so he could sit between her legs. "Now your hair's even more wet, papito."

"I was playing."

"You're going to get sick." Venus told him, running a comb through his hair before it dried. "Want your hair up or down?"

Luis tilted his head back to look at his mom and pursed his lips. He started humming as he was thinking and said, "Up! Like yours." Luis point to the pineapple bun on Venus' head.

Venus didn't want to tell Luis he didn't have enough hair to do that, so she just nodded and made him look at the TV as she did it. Since he was actually sitting still, it didn't take long to put his hair up. "All done."

Luis looked back for a second and stood up on the bed so he could see himself in the mirror across the room. "We match." Venus smiled and nodded, putting her head beside Luis' as he touched both of the bun on their heads. "We're cute."

Venus smiled and kissed Luis' cheek, holding the side of his face so he couldn't run away. "Just you, papito."

"You too." Luis told her. He turned his head to kiss her cheek, making Venus smile as he turned back to the mirror to stare.

"You guys want pizza or tacos for dinner?"

Luis and Venus both turned around and looked to Luciana standing in the doorway. "Pizza!"

"Both." Luciana nodded her head and went back to the kitchen. "Want to go to the kitchen?" Luis nodded and Venus rolled off the bed with a blanket around her. Luis jumped into her arms and Venus engulfed him into the blanket with her.

They walked into the living room and sat beside Luciana on the couch. "So, you good?"

Venus nodded as she pet Luis' hair. "He's in prison for at least 4,000 years with no bail. If we're lucky, the inmates will find out he raped children." Venus told Luciana. Luciana wanted to laugh, but restrained herself.

Luis looked up from the TV and crawled out of the blanket and over to Luciana. "Tía, where's pizza?"

"They're coming, you have to wait, amor." Luciana told him. Luis pouted and fell in between the two, his legs dangling off the edge. Venus decided to be generous and unwrapped the blanket to lay it over Luis and Luciana. "Want a cookie? They're almost done."

Luis nodded his head with a smile and looked back to the TV. "You made cookies?"

Luciana nodded and turned her body to face Venus. "And cupcakes." Venus furrowed her eyebrows because she didn't know about any occasions happening. "I got bored while you were giving little man a bath."

Venus nodded and looked down to Luis who was completely ignoring them. "Thanks for letting us stay here, Lu."

Luciana waved her hand like she was throwing away the thanks. "You know I got you, V. No matter what." Luciana grabbed Venus' hand from the back of the couch and dramatically kissed her hand. When she pulled back, Luis had his hand up since he wanted the same treatment. Luciana smiled and kissed his hand just as dramatically when the oven went off. "Cookies are done!"

× × ×

Venus and Luciana were back at the tattoo shop, but Venus was kinda hiding since she wasn't working on a tattoo and didn't want a certain someone to see her. "V, some couple wants a tattoo. I'll tattoo the boyfriend, you take the girlfriend." Luciana said, walking into the backroom where Venus was eating a burger. "You good?"

Venus nodded and wiped her mouth as she chewed. Luciana went back out while Venus washed her hands before doing the same thing. When Venus walked out, there was already a girl in her chair and a guy in Luciana's. For some reason, the tattoo shop was packed, so everyone was working with someone and there was about 4 people waiting.

However, the couple looked out of place since they were white and were dressed like they're from Brentwood. "We're getting matching tattoos." The girl said. "I sent the pictures already."

"The one hands with the moon and snake?" The girl nodded and Venus turned to her desk to pull up the picture. She studied it as the girl played on her phone. "Where do you want it?"

The girl turned her arm and pointed to her forearm. "Does it hurt?"

Venus nodded as she put on her gloves. "A little but not too much. It might feel like sore muscle." The girl nodded as Venus wiped her arm down with alcohol wipes after shaving it, even though no hair came off. The girl went back to her phone once Venus turned the tattoo gun on and started to outline the tattoo, occasionally looking at the picture on the screen. "I thought you're supposed to put a sketch on me first?"

Venus continued, but shook her head. "I don't do that. I just freehand it."

"It'll still turn out good, right?"

Venus nodded, not really easing the girl's small freakout. "I'm guessing you haven't heard of me?" The girl shook her head, trying to not move her arm while Venus worked. "I was voted the best tattoo artist in this part of LA. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. I won't mess your shit up."

The white girl was a little skeptical, but stayed still since Venus already started. The tattoo she wanted didn't take too long so Venus only spent about 2 hours doing it. Her boyfriend was getting a larger one so she went over to him while Venus went to get another customer.

Venus looked up from the counter and took a step back. "What do you want?"

"I can't talk to my girlfriend?"

I want a Luis :/