Ink

She walked into his shop five years after she had last seen him. She still remembered the look on his face at their high school graduation; it was the same look that she had carried on her face, relief. They had finally finished.

Now five years later, she was ready for his offer. When she had been walking out to her La Baron, after all of the festivities where over, all of the pictures taken, after her father left her to set up her surprise graduation party, that she knew all about, he came over to talk to her.

"So, you're off to college next year?" He ran his hand over his cleanly shaved head, and she almost mourned the hair he had had so briefly that year.

"Yeah, NYU, the Kane's are even footing the bill." She cocked her head to the side, "What are you going to be doing now, you going to keep working at your uncle's garage?"

"I got an apprenticeship with San Diego Ink, I might not be going as far as New York, but I'm getting out of Neptune, too."

"That's great. You going to start to ink up everyone else, now that you're running out of space?"

"I've always liked art; I was just good at fixing cars. The diploma was the only thing keeping me from apprentice work." He smiled almost uneasily, like he wasn't sure what to tell her next. "Come see me, I'll give you your first tat on the house."

"If I ever feel the urge to permanently ink myself, you'll be the first person I think of." She reached over and pulled him into a quick hug, "Take care of yourself Weevil, I'm not going to be around next year to pull your ass out of jail."

Now, here she was, a design in her hand, ready to let him scar her. She hadn't called, or let him know she was coming; it had been almost too long for her to feel comfortable showing up, but the night before she had run into a girl with a beautiful Celtic design winding its way up her arm, when she stopped her and asked where she got it, the girl gave her a card, the card only had two lines of print, the rest was covered in artfully rendered angel wings. It said, 'Eli Navarro, San Diego Ink, Owner.' And like that, she knew where she was going.

The woman behind the counter was covered in colorful tattoos, the ink almost overwhelmed her tiny frame, but instead of making her look over done, it accentuated her beauty. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Weevil, or, I mean, Eli Navarro."

"Can I tell him whose asking for him?"

"Tell him it's an old friend, that if his offer is still good, I'd like to collect."

"Wait right here, I'll see if he's finished with his client." The woman stood up and walked to the back to the shop, her tiny frame even more colorful now that it was in motion.

Once the woman was out of sight, looking for Weevil, she sat down on the colorful bench, underneath the framed picture of past customer's finished tattoos. She thumbed through the binder on the table that was marked 'Eli,' floored by the beauty of his designs. She had seen the tattoos that he had had in high school, the craftsmanship that he had displayed, but she had never gotten to see his work, any art that he had done himself, the pictures in the art binder where beautiful, breath taking works.

"Well, Blondie, I didn't think that I would ever see you in here." Weevil's smile was genuine when he laid his eyes on her, and she couldn't help but return it.

"Has it been so long, Weevil, that you forgot my name?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Veronica." The word made her heart flutter a bit, the way an old friend, seen after a long absence, has a tendency of causing. "So, you want to get inked?"

"I think its time." She extended her design, but he waved it away.

"I knew you would come, I have one already ready for you." He turned on his heals and walked to the back to the shop, without waiting to see if she would follow.

The woman who had greeted her had settled back behind the desk. "He had almost lost hope that you would come in. He has been working on this for years." The flutter in Veronica's stomach had become more urgent, she knew that whatever Weevil had designed for her, she would let him put on her skin. Her design fluttered to the table forgotten, as she followed him back to look at his creation.

Weevil was busy pulling a frame off the wall when Veronica caught up with him. The picture in the frame was a butterfly, the pattern inside the shape itself created different pictures; the entire design was one line, flowing in and out of the pictures inside the butterfly shape, almost like a stain glass window. There was a lily and a magnifying glass and a pit-bull on one wing, and a basketball, a spade, like you would find on a playing card and a flask. Each one of them was represented, Lilly, her father, Back-up, all on the right wing, and Wallace, Duncan and Logan on the left.

"Where are you?" Veronica held the frame in her hands, and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm the ink, and you're the butterfly."

"So, where am I going to put this?" The design was bigger then she was thinking of, the butterfly spanning a full hand length.

"I would put it on the small of your back, but that's just me."

"Okay, I'm ready."

He looked shocked, but instructed her to tuck the bottom of her shirt into her bra and then sit backwards on the massage bench that was in the small cubical like room. When she had trouble with her shirt, he helped her. He took it slowly, placing the design on her back, measuring it precisely on her back, centering it. He showed it to her in a mirror, asking her how she liked the position. In the end she had to unbutton and zip her jeans, and fold them down so that the bottom of the design could extend onto her upper butt.

When he started the machine with the needles, she started to get scared, he rubbed her back until she was ready, then he took it slowly, taking breaks when she couldn't take the pain anymore. The design took almost three hours in the end, and she was exhausted and shaky when it was finished.

He held her hand and showed her the finished design in the mirror, before putting ointment on it and covering it with gauze. He told her how to take care of the new tattoo, and told her to wait while he closed up the shop.

"Let's go get some food in you, your bodies going to want it to heal." She smiled up at him, and took his hand, pulling him out of the shop with her.