The Wrong One

“No.”

“What about this one?”

“No, not that one either.”

“Sian, I’ve pointed out like thirty different tattoos and you’ve said no to all of them. You told me you wanted a tattoo and you wanted one today. I’ve pointed out several that would be nice, but you’ve said no to every single one of them. Now, you need to fucking choose.”

She looked at Zacky and knew he wasn’t really angry; he was just frustrated. The truth was, she’d known what she wanted for a tattoo for a month, and he just hadn’t asked her. She smiled at him and moved to look at a few more.

They’d gotten to London the day before. They stayed in Paris for another three days after her birthday. She hadn’t really spoken to Zacky since then, and since his confession. She felt like a total and complete bitch for not really talking to him, but when he’d confessed that he loved her that night, she knew she was an even bigger bitch for keeping secrets from him. She felt even worse knowing he was supposed to be engaged to her sister. He didn’t have any memory of it, as he’d been drunk, but even if she had been drunk, she couldn’t get that statement out of her head.

“What do you want, Sian?”

“Thank you for finally asking,” she said and smiled. Looking at the tattoo artist, she said simply. “I want ‘Through every dark night, there is a brighter day’ in script underneath my left breast. I also want my tongue pierced.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Zacky asked, staring at Sian.

“No, Zacky, I’m serious.”

“You knew what the fuck you wanted this whole time?”

“Yes, I did. You never asked me what I wanted. You asked me if I wanted one of those up there on the wall, to which I replied that I didn’t.”

“You bitch,” he said, but he was smiling.

They moved into the booth where Sian took off her shirt. Zacky couldn’t help his eyes from wandering around her top half. He wasn’t sure why, but since he’d taken her out for her birthday, he’s felt this hesitation from Sian and he wasn’t sure why.

He watched her lie on her back and get comfortable. Her breasts rose and fell with her breath and he looked up to find the tattoo artist, Colin, getting everything ready. Every once in a while, he would steal glances at Sian and Zacky grew jealous.

She looked up behind her to find Zacky staring at Colin. She looked at Colin to find him trying to sneak glances at her chest. She reached up with her hands and her right one waved around until Zacky reached his hand up to grasp hers. She smiled and settled back down to watch Colin fill the needle with ink, after placing the stencil on her.

She heard the sound, before she felt the sting. It wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be. The buzz was a bit of a shocker, but the actual feel of the needle wasn’t bad. In fact, it felt like someone was holding a massager over her chest until he got right over her ribs. She inhaled sharply and squeezed down on Zacky’s hands, but she didn’t move. She looked down to watch Colin concentrate on the letters.

Thirty minutes later, she was completely done and Colin was wiping away the remaining ink. Once he was finished, she stood up and looked at it in the mirror. She smiled at Zacky while he took a picture, and allowed Colin to put plastic wrap over it. While he cleaned up the station and got the supplies to pierce her tongue, she put her shirt back on, careful not to mess up the bandage.

“It’s starting to hurt a bit,” she said to Zacky as she leaned to her right to get pressure off of her left side.

“Yeah, it probably will for a little while. Just be careful when you shower and stuff.”

“I can do that,” she said and watched as Colin entered the booth again.

This time, he had mouthwash, a huge needle, and the tongue ring she’d picked out. He also had clamp-like things that made her raise an eyebrow. Once he was ready and she’d rinsed out her mouth, he had her stick her tongue out. He used the clamp to hold her tongue, and she watched him rubber band the clamp in place. She watched him as he lifted the needle and aim it in the middle of the tongs.

“One…two…three,” he said and shoved the needle through.

Much to her surprise, she barely felt him shove the needle through her tongue. The needle remained in her tongue as he prepared the metal bar. Once it was in place near her tongue, he pulled the needle out and shoved the bar up through her tongue. Clamp still in place, he screwed the top ball on, took the rubber band off, and removed the clamps. He handed her a paper towel and a mirror so she could wipe the drool away and look at it.

She smiled and thanked him, while she and Zacky moved to pay for her activities. Once they were done in the shop, they walked outside and down the road to the street fair that was happening a little ways down.

“It’s thwelling already,” Sian lisped.

Zacky laughed and pulled her into a booth with different clothing. “You’re gonna sound funny, too.”

“Thut up,” Sian tried to say, but felt herself drooling. She wiped it away and moved around to look at some of the clothes hanging up on the racks.

There was a movement beyond the racks and she looked up. Samantha was staring at her with a smile. Sian’s eyes grew big and she made to move and go after her, but Samantha placed a finger to her lips and disappeared. Sian looked back at Zacky and realized he hadn’t seen anything. She turned her head back to see if she could find Samantha again, but her sister was gone. She moved past the table of the clothes and through the back of the tent.

She wound her way through the different tents, tables, and booths to find the area where Samantha had been. She turned to her right to follow the direction her sister had gone. Every once in a while, she would get a glimpse of her hair to prove she was on the right track. She found herself in a part of the city she hadn’t seen, but she kept going.

Just as she walked past an alleyway, someone grabbed her from behind, shoving her into the alley and against the brick wall. Her head slammed back against the brick, and she cried out. She grabbed her head and tried to shake the colors out of her eyes.

“I’ve been waiting a long fuckin’ time to see you, girlie,” a voice said.

She froze in her efforts, and even without being able to see, she knew that voice all too well. Her breathing stopped and came out in shallow half-breaths. Her heartbeat sped up and her right side started to hurt. Tears sprang to her eyes as she saw the knife from years past gleaming.

Her vision cleared and she was able to see him. Even with the beard and different clothes, there was no mistaking the disgusting black of his eyes. His hand whipped out and her head was turned sideways as his fist connected with her jaw. She felt blood trickle out of the corner and she stood up to face him.

“You caused me a lot of trouble, you did,” he growled, coming closer to her. “You couldn’t have kept your mouth shut, could you? You had to fuckin’ scream, didn’t you, bitch?”

She barely had enough time to gasp before his hand came around her throat, pinning her up against the brick wall. She reached up with both hands to pry his fingers away, but it was no use. His hands and grip were stronger than hers. Still, she kept tearing at his hands, wishing she hadn’t cut off her fingernails.

“Now, you haughty bitch, I’m going to finish what I started all those years ago,” he said and she watched with horror-filled eyes as his other hand reached down to his zipper.

She tried to scream, but barely a sound came out. Suddenly, his grip was gone from her neck. She collapsed down to her knees trying to catch her breath, her hands flying to her neck. She looked up to see Zacky and the older man rolling on the pavement. Zacky’s head went flying into the concrete as he got a lucky shot in. In retaliation, Zacky kicked up with both legs and sent the man flying away from him. He jumped up and got on top of the guy, landing half a dozen punches before Sian moved to him, pulling him off.

“Zacky, stop it!”

“Who is he, Sian?”

“He’s… my dad,” she said only.

“What?”

“Please, can we just get out of here?” Sian said, tears coming to her eyes and her hands reaching back up to her throat.

Zacky saw how her hands shook and the tears that were forming in her eyes. She was staring at the man and working herself into a fit. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the alley. Until they were completely out of sight, Sian’s head remained facing the alley, and her eyes on the body that was barely moving.

They didn’t stop running until they got back to the hotel room where Sian moved to the balcony and lit up one of Zacky’s cigarettes. Just like in Italy, Zacky moved to the bathroom and washed his hands. He inspected his face, saw some swelling, but turned to see Sian on the balcony. He slid open the doors and stepped outside with her. He sat down, lit a cigarette, and inhaled before speaking.

“I think you owe me an explanation,” he said simply.

When she didn’t inhale, she chewed on her thumbnail, and when she wasn’t chewing on her thumbnail, she was inhaling the cigarette. Finally, with a big sigh, she faced Zacky and leaned back against the railing of the balcony.

“I always knew something was different about my dad. When I was younger, he would look at me funny and it took me until I was twelve to figure out why. He was drunk again, like always and I had come home from school. Sam had gone to a friend’s house and Kyle was at soccer practice. Mom was working and I moved to the kitchen to start my homework. James came stumbling in, bitching about how I never did anything. He…attacked me when I tried to talk back. The kitchen knife gave me the scar on my side. My mom came home on lunch when he had my pants down. I almost bled out from the scar, but she managed to call 911 in time. I almost died that night, but when we went to turn James in… he was gone. He’d escaped. Mom told me that night how James wasn’t my biological father. None of us know who our real dad is, but James wasn’t him.”

Zacky just stared at her, his mouth hanging open. Suddenly, he looked at her in a new light. He knew she was strong, he just didn’t know she was that strong. He saw the tears that came to her eyes as her hand strayed to her right side. He stood up and moved to stand in front of her. She lifted her tear-filled eyes to his, and saw nothing but pride in them, and she felt even more like shit.

She shouldn’t have told him about James, but she felt so comfortable with him. She needed to get away as soon as possible or he wouldn’t be the only person saying those four words…