Half Wit

Chapter 8

Emelie pushed the door open and smiled at the familiarity of the tattoo parlor. She had been here for her first tattoo's on her wrists and had been overjoyed when she heard her father had made her an appointment with the same girl who had done them. She smiled and looked around, different drawings were hanging on the walls, examples of tattoo's for people who didn't know what to pick out yet and wanted to see some designs before they eventually decided to get one.

“Are you pretty sure you want this?” Emelie looked at her mother and nodded firmly with a decided glint in her eyes that convinced Adrienne. Her daughter couldn't be more like her father when tattoo's were concerned. The young girl grabbed the napkin with the original design for her tattoo out of the pocket of her trench coat and looked at it again, excited to see this on her skin.

“Are you going to put any color in it?” Adrienne asked, looking briefly at the design on the napkin before she turned her eyes back on the road. Emelie shook her head, she always had a thing for tattoo's with only one color. Adrienne nodded understanding and smiled, standing behind her daughter as they checked out the various beautiful designs on the walls.

“So what about the text. Have you decided already?” Adrienne questioned, standing behind her daughter as Emelie checked out the different designs on the walls. Emelie frowned and sighed, she was still battering between two texts and she would have to decide soon enough.

“Can't I get two tattoo's?” Emelie whined, “I don't want to pick,” she muttered under her breath, pouting a little. Adrienne chuckled and shook her head, knowing that this would've been thrown on the table by the young girl.

The bags under her eyes were clearly a sign of the long drive to get to the tattoo parlor. But Emelie had handled it just like she should, knowing that she would be coming back with a beautiful tattoo on her arm. Even though that her arm would be clad in bandages and would hurt for at least a couple of hours, if not days, but she could deal with that little detail.

“I just can't pick,” Emelie sighed, “I mean, I like the text 'Homophobia is Gay' but I'm not sure if it fits with the design,” she looked at her mother with a pleading look like she was trying to convince her to let her have another tattoo while she knew that Adrienne wouldn't give in.

“If the text doesn't fit with the design, don't take the text,” Adrienne smiled, placing her hand on Emelie's shoulder before leading her towards the young woman at the other side of the parlor. The woman herself was covered with some tattoo's, not ashamed to show them as she was wearing a low cut top with short sleeves, showing her chest and arm tattoo's.

Emelie smiled and greeted the woman, named Mackenzie, recognizing her from last time. They shared a brief hug and grinned at each other. After catching up on each other, Mackenzie decided that she should be doing her job and took the necessary papers for Emelie and Adrienne to fill in.

“Alright, do you have a valid identification of your age?” the girl asked, moving behind the counter and laying down the papers so the two girls could see them and fill them in where necessary. Emelie nodded and got out her passport, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get the tattoo anyway on her age. Adrienne did the same and laid it down next to her daughters and signed one of the papers, giving her written permission for the 16-year-old to get a tattoo.

Mackenzie looked at the papers a couple of times to see if everything was filled in as it should be and made sure all the paper work and payments were worked out before Emelie would get her tattoo.

“So, did you already decide on a design?” the young girl asked. Emelie looked taken back by the sudden question but nodded, putting the napkin with the drawing on the counter and showing it to the girl.

“My friend drew this, its based on my mothers but still,” Emelie shrugged, “I'm planning on getting the text “The Stiller I Stand - The Faster I Run” in the middle of the design. Centered if that's possible,” Emelie explained, showing where exactly she wanted the text. The young woman smiled and nodded, taking in every little detail of the drawing, clearly impressed by the details. Picking up her pen, she carefully wrote the text in the middle of the tattoo, so the machine could pick it up and make sure it was included in the stencil transfer.

“Wow, you're going to have an awesome tattoo honey. Alright, all your paperwork is filled in, here is your receipt,” Mackenzie smiled at Adrienne and gave her the receipt together with her credit card before she lead the two women towards the back room.

The back room was decorated so that the customer would feel at ease and be more relaxed about getting the tattoo. Several beautiful designs hung on the walls together with some band stickers and pictures of the finished works. Somewhat in the middle of the room, the chair was placed. It was a comfortable chair, resembling one from the dentist office.

Emelie removed her black sweater, under it she was wearing a black sleeveless top, making it easier to get the tattoo on her arm. A somewhat older woman entered the room, slightly resembling the younger girl they had met earlier.

“Hi Ramona,” Emelie smiled, shaking the older woman's hand. Ramona smiled warmly at the girl and winked before greeting Adrienne and getting everything ready for the tattoo.

“She managed to convince her father to get another tattoo didn't she?” Ramona asked, looking over her shoulder at Adrienne who rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Well you know Billie,” Adrienne shrugged, sitting down on one of the couches at the other side of the room. Ramona chuckled and nodded, putting on the latex gloves before she picked up her razor and shove the little cart with the material closer to her as she sat down next to Emelie.

“Okay, lets get your arm all cleaned up so we can put your pretty tattoo permanently on your body,” Ramona winked, picking up the small disposable razor and started to remove all the smallest hairs on her arm with rubbing alcohol. After doing this, Ramona tossed away the small razor before Mackenzie entered the room with the thermal paper which had the final design of the tattoo printed on it.

“Alright, so now we're going to moisten your skin with some water so that the design transfer better and darker onto your skin. So when we pull away the paper, you'll see this purple-ish blue likeness of your future tattoo!” Ramona said excited, putting the paper against Emelie's skin.

Emelie smiled brightly and nodded, looking in awe as the paper was pressed against her skin for a few minutes until Ramona pulled it away and admired it, nodding satisfied. Mackenzie stood besides her mother and took the mirror from the small cart so Emelie could see the print on her arm somewhat better.

Ramona started to prepare the tattoo machine, placing the inks in little tiny cups. She carefully removed the needles and tubes from their sterile pouches and placed them in the machine. She poured some distilled but clean water in a cup to clean the needles during the process and eventually to change from one color to the next.

"Now its time to get down to business kid, you ready for this?" Ramona asked with a small smile on her lips. Emelie frowned and took a deep breath, nodding and knowing that the tattoo would only be another piece of art on her arm in the end.

"I'll be putting some ointment over the design now, just to make sure I don't accidentally rub it off. it also helps the needle so its more comfortable for you," Ramona informed Emelie while she knew well enough that the girl was well aware of all of this, it was just her habit of telling it to everyone who came to get a tattoo.

"Don't get too nervous alright and certainly don't hold in your breath 'cause then you might faint and we don't want that now do we? Just take a nice, slow, deep breath and try to relax. The first minute or so will be the hardest to handle because of the pain but after that your skin should get kind of used to it and the pain should start to disappear!" Ramona said, knowing all of this out of her head. Emelie nodded and bit her lip, closing her eyes and trying to calm her breathing as the needles touched her skin.

Ramona bit her lip and carefully covered all the lines with black ink. Emelie looked in fascination at how the needles went over her skin and the print of the design, trying to block out the pain that was slowly disappearing. Once the line work was done, Ramona sighed in relief and smiled at Emelie. Both of them knew that the hardest part was over because now, she didn't have to worry about the transfer anymore.

"Let's get creative with the shading alright? You just want a black tattoo, no colors at all?" Ramona asked, just to be sure. Emelie nodded and watched how Ramona changed the set of needles, especially designed for coloring and shading. "This should go by really quickly so hang on there okay? You almost got your tattoo!"

"Wow there chick, that is some nice tattoo you have here!" Mackenzie said, gazing at the finished tattoo on Emelie's arm. Emelie looked in the small mirror the girl was holding and looked in awe at the ink. It was just how she had envisioned it to be. Small tears were visible in her eyes.

"Its beautiful," she whispered, gazing at her new tattoo in the small mirror, "Thank you so much." she quickly added with a big smile on her face.

"Would you mind me taking a picture of it? To put in our portfolio, and because I really like this design and I'm sure other people would too..." Ramona said with a wink. Emelie nodded and smiled, admiring her tattoo with her mouth slightly open and her eyes filled with happiness.

"Dad is going to go crazy about this one," she muttered, glancing at her mother who was waiting patiently on the other side of the room. Adrienne frowned and stood up, walking up to her daughter and inspecting the tattoo on her arm before nodding.

“Either that or he'll be jealous. Which is probably more likely,” Adrienne muttered under her breath, knowing her husband and his fascination of tattoo's.

Mackenzie took a picture of the tattoo and promised Emelie to send one to her after she had put them on the computer before she walked out of the room to do so. Ramona smiled at Emelie and started to put on a protective layer of ointment on the tattoo, just to prevent invasion of some bacteria that could cause infection. After applying the bandage, she started to tape it and made sure that it's secure.

"Now its important that you keep this bandage on it for a certain amount of time. I'd say at least a day or two, just to make sure it doesn't effect since your tattoo is technically an open wound right now!” Ramona said, smiling at Emelie and helping her up.

“Thank you so much it's so beautiful,” Emelie muttered as she carefully hugged Ramona. The older woman smiled and hugged the young girl back, giving her a pat on the back.

“Take care of it alright? And make sure to show it off to your dad,” she added with a wink.

*

Emelie laid down on her bed and smiled, she had just send her father an e-mail with the picture of her new tattoo and was patiently waiting for him to call and freak out about it. She giggled as she tried to imagine his reaction. She was pretty sure that he call everyone around him just to show off the new tattoo his daughter got.

She wondered what he would think of it, would he like it or would he say he had envisioned it different than it was. She sighed, hoping that she could take the bandage off soon so she could admire her tattoo on herself. But right now there was this big white bandage wrapped around her arm and the tattoo, making sure there wouldn't be any infections.

Her arm was still sore, causing her to prefer her right arm whenever she needed to do something with her hands. Closing her eyes, Emelie felt the sleep taking over her senses, it had been a long day and no matter how much she craved for a cup of coffee, nothing could stop her from falling asleep.

There's a point i think we're missin', its in the air we raise our fists in, in the smiles we cast each other, my sister, my brother

Emelie groaned and turned around in her bed, pulling the blankets up to until they were covering her body completely. Her ears tried to block out the continuing sound.

The lives we crossed in search of change but all they see is treason.

Sighing, Emelie pushed the blankets away from her and sat up on her bed, rubbing the back of her neck and then letting her fingers run through her long hair while a yawn escaped her. The young girl blinked a couple of times, trying to get used to the early sunlight shining through her windows. Clearly she had forgotten to once again, close her blinds and so letting the sunlight in her room, bound to wake her up at one point or another.

Although we have no obligation to stay alive, on broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive, i wont be left here, behind closed doors.

Her eyes widened a little as she finally recognized the song as Behind Closed Doors by Rise Against, alerting her in her still half-awaken state that her father was calling. Her hands started to scan her bed in search for the cellphone as she hoped that he wouldn't hang up. Briefly her eyes glanced at the clock on her nightstand, causing her to groan as she saw that it was still early in the morning and practically still night since the sun was still rising.

Time out lets stop and think this through and find out better things to do, we'll talk in circles, run in place, answers inches from our face.

Emelie sighed and finally found her cellphone under her pillow. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID, seeing that her father was indeed calling. She sighed and pressed the green button before letting it fall back next to the pillow as she laid back down, laying on her side so she could face the cellphone.

“You do know that its only fucking 4.30 am here do you?” Emelie asked, still groggy from the sudden wake-up call. She sighed and yawned again.

“Oh shit, forgot about the time difference between the coasts. I woke you up didn't I?” Billie Joe asked, sounding guilty for waking up his daughter while it was only around midnight where he was. Emelie sighed and shook her head, knowing that her father sometimes forgot about that, the effect of touring.

“Why are you calling me, at 4.30 in the morning non the less?” Emelie asked, wondering why her father would want to call her. She didn't know how late it was there at that moment, her brain was still too tired to do the math of the time difference between parts of the world and she was too tired to ask him and then do the math.

“Oh just to annoy the crap out of you,” Billie Joe said, he probably just came of stage, or so Emelie thought, as his voice was a little hoarse and he had trouble talking without taking several deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Emelie sighed and shook her head at her father, turning around so she could lay on her back and face her ceiling with her eyes half-closed.

“Well you had your fun, can I go back to sleep now?” Emelie whined a little, knowing that she was only amusing her father. She heard some background noises, recognizing them as the sounds of starting vans and trucks and realized that the buses were about to pull out.

“Aw, but then I'll be all alone,” Billie said in such a low and sad voice that it caused Emelie to smile a little. Even though she was tired, she couldn't help but miss her father and wishing he was home, even if it was only to stop the middle-in-the-night phone calls from him.

“Couldn't you like...go bother Mike or Tré?” Emelie asked, sighing as she just wanted to pull the covers over her head and fall back asleep for another couple of hours before her alarm clock would eventually wake her up so she could get ready for another day at school.

“But they're no fun! And they don't have a pretty new tattoo like you!” Billie Joe said at the other side of the line. Emelie smiled a little as her father had finally reached the subject on why he was calling in the first place.

“I just saw the pictures, guess I'm a little late but it looks really beautiful. Ramona did a good job didn't she?” Billie Joe asked, clearly sitting in front of his laptop as Emelie heard brief typing in the background too close to Billie to be someone else.

“Oh and Mike and Tré send their love...in their own special way I guess, Tré stop groping me for once I'm on the damn phone!” Billie said in a lower voice. Briefly, Emelie heard Tré's giggle before it died out.

“Don't tell me you're waking me up so early in the morning just to tell me you love my tattoo. You could've send me an e-mail or something,” Emelie said, groaning a little and muttering some profanities under her breath

“Aaw, but that wouldn't be so much fun!” Billie Joe whined, “Anyway, I think I'm going to get in my bunk, my very uncomfortable and cold bunk, and try to sleep a little” he said, “Mike? Can I sleep with you tonight!? I'm lonely!” Emelie heard him in the background, causing her to chuckle slightly and say goodnight to her father before Billie hung up the phone after saying 'I love you' a last time. For some time, Emelie kept staring at the cellphone before she closed it and swung her legs over the side of her bed.

Looking at the full-length mirror at the other side of the room, Emelie sighed and shook her head before she left her room and made her way downstairs where her mother was sitting in the living room with a fresh cup of coffee even though it was only 5 am.

Clearly her mother had either been woken up by Billie before he had called his daughter or she couldn't sleep anymore and craved for a cup of coffee. The latter was more likely in this situation since Billie had sounded rather surprised when he heard how late it was over there. Yet, this wasn't the first time he had forgotten about that and woke either Adrienne up or sometimes even his mother.

Emelie looked at her mother and yawned a little before grabbing her own cup of coffee and sitting down at the table, placing her hand on her folded arms in front of her.

“Someone buy dad a second watch so he can stop stalking me in the middle of the night!”