Part 17 (2/2)
”It's not so bad. Yours is small. It'll take maybe forty-five minutes. Hour tops.”
”Yeah.”
Silence.
”Hayles?”
”Huh?”
”You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I just thought... you said you really wanted to, and I should've... you know, maybe should've asked you before-”
”Knock it off, Brody. I totally want to do this! Weren't you a little nervous your first time?”
I shrug. Not really. I was more p.i.s.sed off, and the pain didn't outweigh the other c.r.a.p I was dealin' with.
”That and I guess...” She shakes her head. ”Nevermind.”
”What?”
”Nothing, I forget.”
Liar.
”Hayles...”
She pretends to zip her lips, but then her mouth splits open into a real smile.
”Fine. But I'll get it outta ya sooner or later.”
c.o.c.king her head to the side, she moves her gaze to the floor. ”Hey, Brody? Where are you from?”
”What?”
”Your accent. I've always been curious about it.”
I smirk. ”I lived in Oklahoma for a while. Probably where I got it from.”
”That's way awesome! Any of your other family have accents too?”
”Just my brother. Mom's from here.”
”Oh, so what about your dad?”
I forget sometimes she's only known me for a little while. That she doesn't know that mentionin' bio-dad sets my body on fire. But with her, I don't mind talkin' about it.
”Yeah, that's where my mom and dad met. When they got divorced, we moved to Oregon.”
”Wait, so do you have a step-dad? Or is it just you and your mom?”
”Step-dad. They've been married for a while now.”
She starts twisting her fingers, cracking them. Don't know if it's *cause of the conversation or *cause of the tattoo still, but she's way nervous.
”You like him?”
I give her a big smile when she looks at me. ”He's cool. More of a dad than my real dad was.”
”That's awesome.” She stops cracking her knuckles. ”What's it like in Oklahoma? I haven't been anywhere. Lived in the same house my whole life and only been to the major cities around here, but not often. Like, this tattoo shop is a vacation for me.”
”Oh, should I bring in some Slippery Nipples?” Marisa laughs at her own joke, Hayles cracking up with her, but I think it's more of the nerves comin' into play.
”You know alcohol isn't good for tatts,” London says as he straps on his gloves and takes a seat next to me. He shows me a couple of designs, and I probably should be payin' more attention to him, but I'm watching Hayles try to sit still while Marisa talks her through everything. Then she has her pull her s.h.i.+rt off her shoulder, and I've lost all train of thought.
London snaps in front of my face.
”Yo!”
Whoops.
”You okay with this one?” He's smirking at me.
I think I say yes, but I don't really get a good look. I trust London, even though he's been checkin' out Hayles' t.i.ts this entire time.
He presses the stencil on my wrist, tugs off slowly, and yeah, it's cool lookin', so I don't tell him nevermind or anythin'.
I hear Marisa's gun go on, and she leans over Hayley's back. ”Try to relax, okay, hot stuff?”
Hayley nods, takes a glance at me, throwing out a scared smile. Two seconds later, the needle pierces the skin on her shoulder.
Her mouth pops open, but no sound comes out. She shuts her eyes real tight and starts mouthing something, but I can't figure out what she's sayin'.
We're all quiet, except for the buzzing from the tatt guns. My wrist burns, but I'm distracted enough to not really notice. I can't keep my eyes off Hayley's face, her skin, the way she's keepin' it together even though I know it hurts like h.e.l.l.
”Brody?” Her eyes open. ”Distract me please?”
I chuckle, tryin' to keep my wrist still. ”You want me to sing more Katy Perry?”
Her laughter bursts from her strained mouth, like she'd been holding her breath this whole time.
”Okay, tell me another one.”
”What?”
”Tell me another joke.”
<script>