Page 99 of Time for Change

“Nope,” the man says, keeping his eyes closed as he remains in whatever zone he’s in to help deal with the pain.

“Sit,” my sister says, focusing on what she’s doing. “So, what’s up?”

I glance at the man, noticing the buds in his ears for the first time. “Jack and I broke up.”

BJ stops what she’s doing and looks my way. “Seriously? Why?”

I shrug my shoulders and slouch in the chair. My entire body is tired, my mind refusing to calm enough for me to get any substantial sleep the last five nights. “His daughter doesn’t like me.”

My sister glances over at me before continuing her work. “That’s…weird. Why doesn’t she like you?”

I spend the next few minutes recounting what happened Saturday night, and even though she doesn’t turn my way, she bobs her head a few times throughout. When I get to the end, I sit there, hoping she has words of comfort and insight to sharewith me. Unfortunately, she sits up and wipes off the tattoo. “Hugh, you’re all done. What do you think?”

He pops out his buds and glances down at the final tattoo. A huge smile spreads across his lips. “Damn, BJ, this is amazing. The detail is off the charts. It turned out so much better than I imagined,” he says, referring to the deer head skull wrapped in moss. There’s a shotgun leaning against the head, propped up by the antlers.

My sister smiles proudly. “I’m glad you like it. It’s a great piece, especially knowing it’s honoring your dad.”

“Thanks,” Hugh replies, choking a bit on emotion as he gazes down at it.

“Let’s get it all cleaned and covered. Amanda will go over the dos and don’ts with you, but I’m sure you remember it all from your last tattoo. Oh, do you mind if we take a pic and post it on our socials?”

“Not at all.”

I sit here, watching as my sister finishes doing her thing and walks the client up to the front.When she returns a few minutes later, she asks, “How’s the piercing?”

All I can do is just stare at her. “It’s fine,” I finally respond. “Did you not hear what I said a few minutes ago?”

“Of course I did,” she replies, getting to work cleaning the chair and her tools. When she’s completed her job, she drops down on her stool and spins it to face me. “You made a very hard, very grown-up decision. I’m proud of you, because I’m sure it was difficult.”

I nod, a lump of emotion lodging in my throat.

“You and I have a little more insight into the disfunctions of family dynamics.”

“That’s what I told Jack,” I reply.

“And you would never want to come between him and his daughter.”

“Never.”

“So as hard as it was to make, you made the right decision.”

I sag in my chair and close my eyes. “But now what? I’m miserable.”

She gives me a small smile. “Of course you are. You love him.”

I don’t even try to hide it. “Yeah.”

“Well, that’s how you know you did the best thing you could for him. I know it wasn’t easy. You could have kept dating him, probably earning more outbursts from his daughter, which would ultimately make you all unhappy. You saved him from having to choose.”

“His kids come first. Always.”

BJ reaches over and squeezes my hand as tears fill my eyes. I’ve done pretty well not crying today, despite thinking about him nonstop. Work helped keep me distracted, but I’m not ashamed to admit I did avoid my brother every time he was at the restaurant. The last thing I’d want is for him to see the hard exterior I was putting on crack and run off to defend my honor.

Or whatever big brother act he threatened to do if Jack ever made me cry.

The door in the lobby chimes with a new arrival, and I know I should head home. “Your next client is probably here. I’ll go,” I say, starting to stand.

“No, sit. The next one won’t care if you’re here either,” she says, the corner of her mouth ticking with the hint of a smile.

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