I was really unsure as to what I wanted. Flowers? A wolf? Some kind of celtic circle thing? I just didn't know.
I had plenty of options. I mean, everything I was possibly thinking about had meaning to it in one way or another. The first flowers my mom and I ever planted were gladiolas. I could get some of those. I knew even if I didn't get a wolf for my first tattoo, I would get it eventually. I searched and searched the internet, combing through thousands of photos.
I was also instant messaging Gina on Facebook, telling her my ideas. And that was when it hit me. I should get a paisley!
Now, it is difficult to explain why a paisley just completely showcases me. But it does. A paisley just completely encompasses me. And the one I got is perfect. It has little spikes on it, kind of how I am prickly and always got my armor and walls up. But there are parts that are pretty and delicate, also how I am, just usually people don't get to see it. So when I wanted to make a powerpoint, (because, yes, as messy as I am in my apartment, car, and outward appearance, I like to see things graphically organized.) and I couldn't find the paisley I wanted, I freaked out.
I had to comb the internet all over again, searching for close to an hour. After several keyword changes I was able to find the paisley. I put it on my powerpoint and put the show on loop so I could watch all the possible designs.
When I finally decided that the design I had to search for the longest was "the one," I printed it out, and Gina and I were almost on our way. We had to pick up Chris and Carl.
The story behind the boys coming along is kind of ridiculous. See, when Chris and I were going out, we had went to the 54th Street Grill and drawn all over the receipts. On one, we had made some serious cool shit. It was an agglomeration of everything Chris and I talked about, wanted, felt. After we broke up, I guess some sort of karmic power was laughing at me, because I lost the receipt. It was stupid of me to put so much weight into the stupid piece of paper, but when I realized I had somehow tossed it, I cried like a baby.
In another twist of karmic intervention, Chris had saved the other receipt. It was an agreement from me to Chris saying he was allowed to tag along with me to get my tattoo. When I had wrote it and signed it, I had meant that it was legit as long as we were together. Of course, then I wasn't thinking about us breaking up. Nonetheless, I am a woman of my word and told him he was going along.
And since it was Chris's last day, Chris wanted Carl to come to.
So we were all piled in the car, heading to Ironage to be inked. When we got there, the people told us it was going to be an hour wait. I had to go move my car, so we told them we would be back in a flash. We drove back to Gina's house, and somehow I was agreeing to Chris driving my car.
Why exactly that happened, I couldn't say. Gina later told me she couldn't believe I was letting him drive my car, but at the moment, I said sure. He had driven my car plenty "back in the day."
So back in the car we went, this time Chris driving instead of Gina, and everything fell back to the way things were. Chris was pumping the bass up too high, Carl was flirting with Gina, and I was watching the road go by.
Ironage actually called us up saying they could get us in sooner. I was excited and told them we would be ten minutes. When I realized after hanging up that we were fifteen minutes away or more, I was resigned to letting Chris speed a little.
We did make it there in record time. Chris and Carl wanted energy drinks, so I told them to come back. They took forever though, and by the time they came back, drinks in hand, I was just finishing up.
The whole process of getting the tattoo was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The lady was super cool. She had all pink and blond hair and showed me this wicked little rendition of my paisley she had rendered. I was so fucking excited.
She put the outline on my left shoulder, "Tail up and slightly tilted," and then had me lay down on the leather chair recliner. She told me things like, "It won't hurt too bad," and "Not a lot of people cry," and "Just take a deep breath."
When she finally started, I was like, "Ow, fuck!" but in my head. I didn't want Gina to bolt and not do it. It wasn't the worst pain in the world and I was kind of expecting worse. Still, I was uncomfortable. There were some spot that had my arm shaking and twitching. I had to grab my other arm so she didn't fuck up all over the place from my crazy shaking arm.
When she was buzzing in the last parts, I peaked over and saw Chris and Carl looking in. I was happy they made it back in time, but I was practically done. Maybe they had been there longer than that. I finally got to sit up, and was glad I wasn't all woozy or anything. Adam had said something about passing out.
I jumped up and looked in the mirror. Holy crap, I was so fucking happy with it. I was amazed by how beautiful it was.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I told the tattoo artist. I was so happy with it. She bandaged me up pretty quickly and had me pay. I was grinning like a loon. I gave her a really good tip, then waited for Gina to get taken back.
When the dude finally called her back, we all followed. The guy told us only one person was allowed to stay back there though, and Gina picked me. The guys looked disgruntled, and Chris seemed genuinely annoyed with her pick, but she was there for me, naturally I should be the one there for her.
The guy got her going, and Gina looked about ready to cry several time. She was a real trooper though, and just made a lot of funny faces. I wanted to take pictures, but the guy told me no. And he told me I couldn't leave. My bladder was full to bursting though, and couldn't wait for Gina to get done. I sent Chris some texts about the state of things, but he must have really have been annoyed/pissed/angry because he never texted back.
Even when he came back to pee in the bathroom, and I smiled, he just pursed his lips. I didn't really understand what his problem was then, but I guess that not being picked was a big deal.
Gina was finally done forty-five minutes later, and was admiring her tattoo.
It was a tree with a ying-yang heart thing on the trunk. It was pretty legit. Once she was all bandaged up and paid for, we headed back out into the world feeling really accomplished. We had finally got our first (of many) tattoos.
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