Page 37 of Elijah

Elijah

aged 28

“You ready or what?” Sam snapped, poking his head around my lounge door.

“Okay, I’m coming, I’m coming.” I snagged my wallet and keys and followed him out into the hall. “What the hell’s got you in such a bad mood?”

“I’m not in a bad mood. I just don’t want to be late.”

Sam and I were both booked in for tattoos at Heaven & Ink in town and for some reason, Sam appeared to want to get there about an hour before our appointment.

“Something has upset you,” I pushed. “You’re not nervous are you?”

I nudged him with my elbow and he walked past me through the front door.

“Why the fuck would I be nervous about having a tattoo?”

I looked at him and grinned. He had as many as I did – every one we’d had done had been together and today we were both getting something done on our back or that had been the plan anyway, I now had other ideas.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Just trying to figure out what’s wrong.”

“Like I said, nothing. Just pissed off with waiting for you.”

His face pretty much told me to shut the fuck up, so I rolled my eyes instead, and got into his car. As soon as I did, I had an idea what might be upsetting him. The seat was almost pushed up to the dashboard and there was strong smell of perfume. It was obviously women trouble so I was most definitely keeping out of that. I had enough of my own.

“You still getting the fox?” Sam asked as he drove us toward town, manoeuvring through the Saturday afternoon traffic

“Yeah, but not on my shoulder blade.”

Sam glanced at me, his brow lined with a frown. “I thought you were going to start a nature theme.”

“I am going to, but I’m not having the fox there.”

“So, where?” he asked impatiently.

I paused not feeling ready to say the words, but what would be the point of delaying it.

“I’m going to see if Isaac can cover my heart tattoo.”

“What?”

“Sam, watch the fucking road,” I bellowed, as the car in front of us slammed on its brakes.

Sam followed suite and then stared at me. “No way.”

I nodded. “Yep, it’s time.”

“Well fuck me.”

“Yeah, well by the mood you’re in, it appears whoever you’ve had in this car didn’t. So shut up and concentrate on the road.”

* * *

As we walked into Heaven & Ink I felt a peace come over me that I always did when I was about to be inked. The scratching pain of the needle didn’t bother me, it calmed me because I knew at the end of it I’d be getting something amazing that gave me confidence. Not that I was particularly lacking in it. I was decent enough looking, had a good body through manual work and jogging every day, but the pictures on my skin were all important and represented my life. They represented that I’d lived – I’d got through it, and that gave me confidence that I could achieve anything. Yeah, Heaven & Ink was my happy place. I’d even tried to get Amy to come and get inked once, but as soon as Jethro, the guying doing it, turned on the needle she passed out. She loved my tats though and while they’d increased a lot over the five years we’d been apart, I’d still had a fair few back then.

“Hi guys,” Scarlett, the receptionist called, her ruby-red lips turning up into a huge smile.

“Hey Scarlett,” Sam said, giving her his best flirty grin. He’d fancied her for ages, but she was well and truly loved up with Isaac, the guy who was doing my tattoo. It was Isaac’s step-dad, Dex, who officially owned the place, but he’d hung up his tattoo gun a while ago, and was now enjoying a quiet but chaotic life with his wife and kids.