“We can’t keep waiting. Everyone’s here already.”
“Not everyone,” seven-year-old Bruiser pipes up. “Dad’s not here.”
Ximena rolls her eyes and I step in front of Bruiser so he doesn’t see her disrespect for his father. I try to protect his relationship with his dad even if things in the past couple of years between Z and me haven’t always been…
Look, no one ever said life was going to be all roses and sunshine, right?
Bruiser has a dad who’s around…sometimes. It’s more than I could say when I was a kid. And when Z is here, he’s really great and present. Mostly.
For me, anyway.
I know Bruiser’s always hungry for more of his dad’s attention and I do my damndest to foster their relationship. Z is just always so tired ever since he started doing these longer hauls. But he’s obsessed with the bigger dollar amount he can make on them, even though I’ve got the shop now and bring in a good income, too.
But Z won’t stop talking about putting a downpayment on a house and getting Bruiser into one of the best school districts in Austin.
Dream, dream, dream.
That’s all we ever seem to do.
When will we stop dreaming and startliving? I wonder sometimes.
With my shop, I try not to let the days pass me by for that reason. I want to make sure I’mlivingmy dreams.
Because as far as I can tell, I have everything I’ve always wanted. If it’s not as shiny as it was in the movies and on TV, well, I always knew that was fiction.
It’s a helluva lot more amazing out here in the real world than I really thought I’d ever get, if I’m being honest.
I’ve got the best damn kid in the whole fucking universe. If he’s a little quiet sometimes and I worry about him, well, that’s just par for the course of being a good parent, right? Being the completeoppositeof the waymyparents were.
I was absolutely terrified every second when he was a baby, and still am most of the time, if I’m honest. But occasionally here and there, I think maybe I’m starting to get the swing of things.
Opening my own tattoo shop and making my own money has helped, confidence-wise.
“Accept it. He’s not coming,” Ximena says after Z’s still a no-show a half hour later, and I don’t miss the scathing judgment in her voice.
“Hush,” I whisper, seeing Bruiser on his knees at the front couch of the shop, face pressed to the window.
Louder I say, “I’m sure Z got held up in traffic, so let’s get on with the celebration.Someonehas to be in bed early for school tomorrow.”
Any other first-grader might start to whine or throw a fit, but Bruiser’s head just drops and he turns around on the couch and plops disappointedly onto his butt.
“Okay, let’s get this party started,” Ximena says, clapping with the enthusiasm that’s suddenly completely deflated for me at seeing my son’s disappointment. Sometimes I think I could forgive Z anything except the way he continually disappoints our son.
Just be on Goddamned time for once. How hard is that? Doesn’t he see how the kid looks at him like he hung the damn moon?
“The amazing Harper Tucker has brought this shop from just a no-name hole-in-the-wall to a prestige location in just three years, giving my broke ass a job?—”
“As the best shop manager in town,” I manage to break in, trying to get back into the swing of things. This celebration isn’t just for me, it’s for the whole shop. The last few years have been a real bitch to get us to this three-year anniversary.
Ximena grins at me. “Naturally with me at the helm as the world’s best shop manager.”
Some good-natured boos come from the crowd—Ximena’s cousins are here celebrating with us. Not just Elio and Lorenzo whoIfirst interned with when I was learning to ink. But also Gael, Ramiro, and Reina, who interned with Elio, too, but came to work with me when other shops weren’t hiring back after the pandemic, and I had plenty of open chairs.
Yes, officially we compete with Elio, but unofficially they’re a sister shop in town and we refer clients back and forth.Especially now that we’re both building bigger reputations and booking further out.
Social media has really helped. Not to mention that the last couple years, I’ve really developed my style.
When Elio first realized I was good with fine line, he set me up as his single-needle specialist. From there I’ve gone onto do a lot of work in micro-realism, which has been a hit lately in Austin. I still do smaller pieces mostly—skulls, pets, creepy abstracts, gothic florals—but you can charge top dollar if you know what you’re doing. And I know what I’m doing.