“Let’s just go home. Nobody in his or her right mind is going to do this to you. Look at you. You can barely breathe.”
As if on cue, he exhaled sharply, his body shuddering. “Have you seen the kinds of people in these joints?” Andy joked, managing a chuckle. “Trust me, they aren’t going to have a problem doing this.”
The young guy in the shop, heavily tattooed and pierced, raised his eyebrows as we walked in. The place was empty, apart from the dude and a girl laying on her stomach on one of the beds. Ink went in all directions across her back like a rainbow.
“Can I help you?” the guy asked, getting up off his chair.
Andy nodded confidently. “Yes, I think you can. I’m looking for a tattoo. Can you fit me in? I’d make an appointment, but I can’t promise
I’ll still be alive to honor it.”
The guy’s eyes widened. He glanced back at the girl he’d been working on, who shrugged. “What were you looking for?” He patted the second bed. “Can you get up here okay?” he asked, his voice uncertain.
Seth wheeled Andy over and helped him out of his chair. I stood back, my arms across my chest, taking in the images that donned the walls.
Tattoos were something that had never interested me, and I was surprised that Andy wanted one. He’d never mentioned it before today. The whole concept of injecting ink into my skin wasn’t something I found particularly appealing.
“What were you looking for?” he asked again.
Andy lifted up his shirt. “Just a little something on my back.”
“Did you have a design in mind?”
“I do.” Andy grinned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled bit of paper. “Don’t tell them. I want it to be a surprise.”
The guy took the paper and smoothed it out. He began to laugh. “Are you serious?” he said with a grin. “Because I will totally do this.”
“Dead serious,” Andy shot back, his eyes twinkling.
“Man, what are you doing?” Seth groaned, shaking his head.
“What, are you going to tell me to think about it, that it’s permanent? That it will be with me for the rest of my life?”
Seth shot him a dirty look. “Just don’t do anything that is going to get us killed by your mother, okay?”
“Well don’t let her flip me over and she’ll never know.” He turned back to the guy. “Is this going to hurt?”
“Um, yeah,” he replied, his eyebrows shooting up.
Andy shrugged, and then nodded. “Great. Maybe it will take my mind off the crushing pain in my chest.”
I covered my face with my hands; I couldn’t help it. This whole thing made me want to laugh. Seth was eyeing me like I was crazy, and maybe I was, but this guy was just so cool with Andy’s insane behavior that it was hysterical.
“Are you laughing, Emsky?” Andy accused.
My body shook as big chuckles escaped from my lips. “I’m sorry,” I gasped, “but this is just so freaking crazy . . .” I walked over to watch the guy at work.
“Hey, no peeking!” Andy yelled.
I ignored him and looked at his back as the tattooist began to poke black ink along the outline of the words he had written. I chuckled even harder. Seth jumped up and came to my side.
“If you’re watching then so am I.” His brows furrowed, and then he laughed. “Are you kidding me? You mom is going to freak.”
Right across the center of his back, in big bold letters, were the words
Fuck you Cancer! It filled half of his back.
“Doesn’t that hurt?” I winced. Fuck, I was in pain just watching him.