Page 62 of Nine

“Relax. I’m joking,” he says.

He takes a good look at me. I pray to God that he doesn’t pick nipples. I heard it’s extremely painful during and after the piercing.

“I’ll pick…your belly button,” he finally decides.

I sigh in relief. Thank God.

“I was going to say tongue, but then I can’t kiss or do dirty things to that mouth of yours for weeks.”

“Damn. A piercing and a tat in the same day. You like to torture a girl, don’t you?”

The tat artist, Max, comes out and smiles at me. He waves me toward him.

“Come sit here, pretty lady.”

“In this chair?” I ask, nervously.

The tat artist nods.

“So what are we doing?”

“Belly button piercing,” I say through my teeth as I look at Trig. “And a tattoo on my rib cage.”

Trig crosses his arms against his chest and winks at me.

“Do you know what tattoo you want?”

“The word consumed,” I say, keeping my eyes on Trig.

I lean in and whisper something to Max.

“I can do that. I’m good at freehand. I got you, girlfriend,” Max says.

Trig looks slightly uncomfortable. I show the artist exactly how I want the placement of words. Every so often, I look up at Trig who can’t take his eyes off me. I smile. Max brings me a box of belly jewelry to look though. I choose a cute little pink butterfly.

“Let’s do the piercing first. It will only take about a minute,” the guy says.

He leans the chair back and instructs me to pull up my shirt. I watch as he wipes the skin down with alcohol. He pulls out what looks like a clamp and needle and goes to work.

“Breathe in,” he says, as the needle pokes through the skin. I scrunch up my face in pain. I feel a little pressure. “Okay, all done.”

“That’s it?” I look down to see the butterfly dangling. “Oh, that’s pretty.”

“What do you think?” I say to Trig.

“I like it. That’s sexy, baby.”

“Are you ready for the tattoo now?”

My adrenaline is still running from the piercing. I’m more than ready for it.

“Yeah.”

I watch as he pulls out clean needles for the gun. He starts prepping for my tat. I stare over at Trig and wince. He smiles. Max motions with his hands for me to lift up my shirt. He swings his chair closer to me. I lean my head back and close my eyes as the needle dips in and out of my skin. It’s not painful at all, just incredibly irritating. I want to push him away and stand up, but I refrain. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. Minutes are passing and after a while, my side becomes numb. I can’t even feel the needles anymore. I look over to see Trig reading a magazine.

“You are done, baby girl,” Max says. “What do you think?” He points to a mirror.

I stand up and gawk at my very first tat.

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