“Too bad. You’re coming with us, and you need to trust me on this one.”
Van’s face went hard for a second, like he wanted to argue, but he gave up on the notion and followed us to Kill’s car.
“Where are we going?” Van asked when we started driving.
Kill sang along to the radio, ignoring him as we drove, his thumb rubbing over my knuckles as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Van must have recognized where we were when we pulled into the back parking lot. A genuine smile graced his face, melting away some of the pain from his eyes.
“Dude, when did he get back?” Van asked Kill, already climbing from the car. His strides ate up the pavement until he’d reached the big metal door and began to bang on it.
“He texted me last night, wanting to know if we were playing tonight. I told him about the tour, and we figured you would want to get yours finished before we left.”
The door swung open, revealing a tall, skinny guy in ripped black jeans and a black button-up shirt with a Nothing More emblem on the front. His arms were covered with bright tattoos, some of them slithering out of the collar of his shirt and crawling up his neck. He gave Kill and Van a knuckle bump and that weird half-hug, half-pat thing boys seem to always do. He looked over at me, and then back to Van.
“Is this your girl?” he asked, grinning widely at Van.
Van shook his head, and Kill pulled me to his side.
“Taze, this is my girl, Slick, but you can call her Faith.”
Taze’s mouth dropped open in astonishment as he looked back and forth between me and Kill. He pulled himself together quickly, allowing his face to split into a huge grin.
“I never thought I’d see the day. It's nice to meet you, Faith” He shook his head like he was trying to put pieces of a puzzle together.
"It's nice to meet you too," I replied, shivering as the rain soaked into my jacket.
“Well, come on in. Get out of the cold. I can’t wait to hearthisstory,” Taze said, moving aside so we could walk inside.
My ears picked up on a strange buzzing noise coming from behind one of the polished black doors that were inset in the bright-red walls. The floor was tiled in a black-and-red checker board pattern, the bright lights above gleaming off its surface. I’d never been inside a tattoo parlor, but from my assumption I was inside one now.
“So, you here to get finished up?” Taze asked, looking over at Van.
Van nodded, shrugging out of his hoodie.
Taze locked eyes on me and Kill. I could tell by the way he was studying us he was having a hard time seeing Kill with a girl, whom he claimed as his own.
“Yeah, I want to have it finished before we go on tour.” Van's eyes lost their excitement when he mentioned the tour.
“I'm so fucking happy for you guys. You're going to be amazing. I can’t wait to see you up onstage when you hit the big time.” Taze took Van's hoodie and hung it on a hook outside one of the doors.
He shuffled us into one of the rooms, where a plastic-covered massage table sat center stage. There were pictures of various tattoos on even more various body parts covering the walls. They showcased the amazing art that had been created inside the walls. I walked over to study the pictures. The bright colors of some of the tattoos were brilliant, but my eyes were drawn to the black-and-gray pieces.
“Did you do all of these?” I asked, still studying the wall.
“Yep, are you in the market?” Taze asked from behind me.
I shrugged as I turned, the thrill of putting something permanent on my body sending a shiver of excitement down my spine. Van had stripped off his shirt and lay sprawled on his stomach atop the massage table. This was the first time I’d noticed the tattoo on Van's back. His large back had the outline of a set of drums in the middle of an empty stage, surrounded by a set of tattered and torn curtains, reminding me of an old, abandoned theater.
“I've never thought about getting one,” I answered as I took in the detail on Van's back. “But looking at the talent on your walls, I could see myself being swayed.”
Kill seemed surprised. “Always keeping me on my toes aren’t you, Slick?” Kill kissed me quickly on the lips.
“Alright, where the hell did you find her?” Taze asked as he readied his ink.
Before Kill could answer, a girl walked into the room. She looked completely out of place in a tattoo shop. Her long sandy-blonde hair was pulled back into a low pony tail, and she wore a pink sweater with a pink lace shirt peeking out, a pair of tight white jeans, and a pair of awesome pink heels to pull it all together. Her face was beautiful, and she looked like she’d fit in better at a sorority house than in a tattoo shop.
“Hey, babe. I thought you were going to help me study,” she said, looking at Taze.