Stories Beneath Our Skin (3 page)

"
Red." Alice said.

"
Yeah." June nodded slightly. "But, I was thinking black on the outline instead of yellow?"

"
That'll pop for sure. It shouldn't take me too long to get this onto transfer paper. Did you want to do this tonight?"

"
Yes." June laughed, high and tight. "Yeah, okay."

"
You'll be fine." He assured her, putting on his best smile.

"
Yes, she will." Alice regarded Liam warily, putting an arm around June's shoulders. "She's tougher than she thinks."

"
Yeah, I can see that." He rubbed a thumb over the paper. "Give me a half hour or so? You can wait here or take a walk."

"
We'll wait." Alice settled back into the chair, drawing June too close to kiss her temple. The glare she aimed at Liam shouted all kinds of ugly things, raising the hair on the back of his neck. He gladly retreated into the empty room assigned to him.

The stars were simple
, and he didn't bother trying to make them more elaborate before sketching them out onto transfer paper. He wound up doing it twice, correcting the wobbly line work with steadier, calmer hands. They'd look nice on Alice's pale skin. Still, worry gnawed at him, and he found his palm pressed to his lower abdomen without his permission.

"
Hey, June?" He popped his head into the waiting room. "Can I ask you something real quick?"

"
Sure thing."

To his relief, she untangled herself from Alice and left her behind. Standing just behind the curtain didn
't feel like enough layers for the conversation, but he didn't want her to feel cornered.

"
I just... I have to ask if you really want this."

"
Sorry?" She blinked rapidly.

"
It's just... I know how it can be sometimes when you're crazy for someone, but it's a permanent decision and maybe... if Alice is pressuring you or something?" His face was hot, and he couldn't quite look her in the eye as he made a stuttering mess of what he meant.

"
Why would you even think that?" June hissed. "Just because I'm nervous--"

"
No. No. I'm sorry, you're right." He swallowed and took a step back. "I just had to make sure."

"
Oh. Hey." She looked him over. "I sort of thought tattoo artists were tough guys. You look like you're gonna faint."

"
Guess I'm not typical." He laughed weakly. "I'm sorry to have asked, really."

"
No. Uh. It's actually kind of sweet. In a fucked-up sort of way." June snorted. "I mean, I didn't need the rescue or anything. If you really have to know, Alice and I've been together for eight years. This is sort of our engagement ring."

"
Oh," he said miserably. "Sorry. Again."

"
Why don't you just show me the design?" Her smile had an edge of pity, but he'd accept that over anger any day.

"
Yeah, sure."

After that, his first tattoo in four years was anticlimactic. It was indescribably good to hold the gun steady in his hand again and draw something vivid over someone else
's skin. June was stronger than she looked, barely flinching as he went over her collarbone. Alice held her hand tightly the whole time, apparently more concerned about the whole thing than June herself. Occasionally, he was aware of eyes on him, but he didn't have the attention to spare to figure out who was watching.

"
Check it out." He handed June a mirror.

"
Wow." She grinned at Alice. "What do you think?"

"
Looks way better than mine. Lines are a lot sharper. You happy with it?"

"
It's awesome."

"
Okay, so let's talk aftercare." He pulled out one of the shop's pre-printed directions and made a few notes of lotion brands he preferred.

Right before she left, June pressed a twenty into his hand and gave him a fast, whisper light hug.

"Thanks for the work. We ever need anything else, you can bet you're the one we'll ask for." She tapped his hand gently. "You're a sweet guy."

"
Thanks. And really I am so sorry. I shouldn't have assumed--"

"
Better you said something. If you believed that and went ahead with it? Sort of gross, if you think about it." She waved briskly. "See you around."

Liam barely had two minutes to collect himself before Deb knocked on his door, making him jump.

"Woah. You okay?" She gave him a once over, eyebrows cocked.

"
Yeah. Fine. What's up?"

"
We've got another walk-in. Ace and Goose are already in with appointments, so it's your lucky day."

His next customer was a no-nonsense guy already covered in ink by a dozen different artists. The appointment took a lot longer than June
's but wasn't nearly as dramatic. Liam just busted out ink and got to work, filling one of the small blank spots left on the guy's crowded back with a thorny bone cross. When the man left, seemingly satisfied, Liam took his time cleaning up. It was easing on eleven o'clock, and he could just make out Goose's endless patter across the hall.

He should probably pack it in. There wouldn
't be more walk-ins this time of night. At least no sober ones. Still, he lingered, not eager to get back to the dark house. On a whim, he started going through the drawers to inventory his supplies. He didn't have to dig deep to get the basics. In one of the bottom drawers, he found loose change, coupons for a shoe store, a twelve-pack of kids' washable markers, and a sketchpad missing a few pages. Castoffs from some other itinerant artists.

Sitting cross
-legged on the table seemed like the most comfortable option with the pad settled over his legs. He drew June's face, turned up to an unseen Alice and her new stars drifting off her shoulder, towards the sky. Though Liam had stopped tattooing, he'd never stopped drawing, and he thought he might have even managed to improve in the past few years. Faces were his favorite subjects. He had notebooks full of professors looking over their glasses, students bent over laptops, and blurry-eyed beach bums mixed among his cramped handwriting.

"
You did good there." Ace leaned in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, still and quiet. He could've been standing there for ages and Liam wouldn't have been able to tell, wrapped up in the drawing as he had been.

"
Wasn't a hard piece. Good way to warm up."

"
Not what I meant." Ace shrugged loosely. "Not the call I would have made, but I've never been accused of being nice."

"
Yeah?" Liam capped the blue marker, sliding it back into the box. "Deb said you were a sucker for sad stories."

"
Did she?" Ace snorted. "Man, save one stupid cat from the gutter and everyone thinks you're a pushover."

"
You saved a cat?"

"
Kitten," Goose shouted out. "Sad, pathetic Siamese kitten with big eyes and pathetic little mew. Now an angry old cat."

"
He's not angry," Ace yelled back, then turned back to Liam with a half-smile. "Maybe grumpy. Probably learned that from me."

"
What's his name?"

"
George."

"
You named a cat George?"

"
Sure. St. George. Dragon slayer. Eater of mice and scratcher of annoying assholes named Goose."

"
Huh. I like it." Liam closed the sketchpad.

"
What do you want on your pizza, kid?" Deb popped her head around.

"
Oh, I don't need any, thanks. Not hungry."

"
Like hell. You came in five hours ago and haven't had so much as a cracker. I know Ace and Goose run on vodka fumes and beef jerky, but some of us require real food." She narrowed her eyes. "You're too skinny."

"
I have a fast metabolism," he muttered, fighting the urge to fold himself away from her gaze.

"
We always get two pies on Friday, so you might as well just tell her what you want," Ace put in. "Half-Hawaiian for me, half-jalapeno for Goose, and a plain for Deb and whoever else is around."

"
I like Hawaiian." He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually had a decent slice of pizza. Cafeteria food usually sustained him at college, and the few times he did get takeout, it was more exotic fare.

"
No one likes Hawaiian." Deb wrinkled her nose. "Not even Ace. He just orders it 'cause it makes the rest of us gag."

"
You don't appreciate sweet and savory, it's not my fault." Ace pushed off from the doorway, back to his room. "Glad I got someone on my side now."

"
Whatever." Deb shot Liam a small smile. "Hey. What you said to that girl, that was kind of decent of you."

"
The walls really are thin in here, aren't they?"

"
The thinnest," she said wryly. "At first, I was gonna jump down your throat about trying to play white knight to a girl that could clearly defend herself. But then I got the feeling you would've done it even if it was a huge burly dude. Right?"

"
I don't like anyone getting pressured into doing something they don't want," he told the sketchpad. June smiled up at him, lips cherry red. "Especially something that's gonna last the rest of their lives."

"
Yeah. I hear you. We've all got a few regrets to wear." She gave him a tight smile. "Okay, so one nasty-ass Hawaiian pizza."

The waiting room apparently doubled as a dining room, pizza boxes open on Deb
's desk and paper towels deployed as plates. Goose stretched out on the couch while Ace tucked one leg under himself in a chair and Deb stayed behind her desk. Liam slouched into the chair across from Ace's and picked off the pineapple to eat first.

"
I'm telling you, I'm totally against this dash thing." Goose started up, dripping hot sauce over his pepper-studded slice. "Deb won't hear me out."

"
She's probably right." Ace folded his slice in half and bit into it like he hadn't seen food in a week. "Customer wants a dash, you give 'em a dash. We're not the grammar police."

"
Man, why do you always take her side?"

"
Because I'm usually right," Deb chimed in.

"
So what have you been doing the last four years?" Ace asked after he'd managed to swallow.

"
Uh, I've been here, man." Goose craned his neck back. "You going senile?"

"
I meant the kid, G."

"
College." Liam started on the ham next. There weren't any forks, so he'd have to eat the cheese with the bread. Couldn't be helped.

"
No tattoo parlors where you go to school?"

"
I needed a break." He tried to make it sound casual. "Anyway, I have to keep my GPA up for my scholarship. Takes a lot of study time."

"
Let me guess." Goose pointed a finger at him. "You're a total liberal arts type, right? Not gonna do art as your major though, too careful for that, I bet. Probably something general, flexible. English major."

"
How'd you know?" He frowned. It hadn't been on his resume. Why bother when it had nothing to do with the work?

"
He's got good people sense. Hard to believe, I know." Ace frowned. "English? What're you going to do with that?"

"
Teach English." Maybe he didn't need a fork. He tested the top layer with a tentative fingertip. The cheese had cooled off enough to touch. Carefully, he peeled it up and ate the first messy strand. "They sort of want you to know your stuff before you get up in front of a group of kids and try to shove it into their heads."

"
He knew what that dot dot dot thing was." Goose nodded sagely. "English type, totally."

"
Seems like a waste." Ace broke his crust in half. "You're good at this. Decent artist, steady hand."

"
I'm good at teaching, too." He hunched his shoulders and concentrated on getting the rest of the cheese up in one piece.

"
Kid has dreams of a pension plan and summers off. Sounds like a better deal than this to me." Deb tossed a balled up paper towel at Ace.

"
So what, you like him now?" Ace caught the projectile easily.

"
Sure, why not? You do."

"
Shut up, Deb."

"
You guys," Goose said slowly. "There's a wicked huge spider in the corner of the ceiling by Deb's desk."

There was a mild cacophony after that. Deb ran off to get a broom, brandishing it like a sword.