I stood in the shower letting the cool water wash over me. After a hot night with little sleep, that shower felt great. I rubbed my eyes. Come on I thought wake up! Today was going to be an exciting day. I was getting my tattoo today. I heard footsteps coming to the bathroom door. There was a knock then the door opened. “Come on, kiddo,” My mother said “We gotta leave in an hour to make it there in time”
“Alright mama.” I replied

I stepped out of the shower a few minutes after, dried off, and walked upstairs to my room and got dressed. I’d put on a pair of black pair of shorts and a black tank top, and I walked back down stairs to find my mother in the kitchen. My mom is a bigger woman with black hair that she dyed to hide her grays and brown eyes. She had on a pink shirt and a pair of off-white shorts. She had her back to me as I walked in to the bathroom to put my wet hair back into a ponytail. She poked her head in, and smiled a smile I realized to be a smile that she always wore when something fun was going to happen. “What can I do for ya?” I asked

“Are you ready? You get your tattoo today” She said, smile still on her face.

“Yeah, I’m ready. I’m just really nervous. Like what if this guy…I don’t know, Messes up?”

“Oh you’re just over thinking it.”

“Yeah….” I trailed off still uneasy about the whole tattoo. I finished my hair and walked in to the living room to wait. We didn’t have a car at the time-it was getting repairs-so we had to wait for a ride to the tattoo place. I sat in the living room watching a Law and Order: Special Victims Unit marathon.
It is my favorite TV Drama. It was fast-paced, interesting, and the characters are so easy to feel. It was like you were in the room with them understanding the emotions they were feeling at the time.
After the climax of the episode I was watching when Chris, a family friend and my second mom, pulled in to the drive way. Grabbing a light sweatshirt, I slipped it on and I walked out the back door and into Chris’ van. It was dark purple and kind of beat up. Chris was like my mom, a big girl, light brown hair, and dark brown eyes. Chris was the kind of woman I wish I could be. She was always there for my mom, my brother, and me. She was the first person to be there when you needed someone.

On our way to the tattoo shop Chris teased me the whole way.

“Y’know when you get older your skin’s gonna sag and your tattoo isn’t gonna look the same.” She teased

“You’re not helping…” I grumbled

“Why? Are you scared?”

“No…just nervous. Chris, what if he messes up?”

“Oh, stop it,” my mom jumped in “You’ll be fine.”

Besides all the teasing, the drive there wasn’t too bad. It was a nice sunny day out. The sun felt great when you stood out in it. Warm and golden. When we drove by the lake the sun shined beautifully on the water.

We got in to Geneva-a town that was about 15 minutes from my house-and drove around till we found the tattoo place. It looked a little run down on the outside and seemed to have a dark secret. Then again…I’ve always thought tattoo shops were shady. Stepping out of the van I stretched in the sun. It felt so good. I took a deep breath and walked in. The inside was clean with blood red walls and pictures of tattoos the guy who ran the shop had done.

There was a man and a woman behind the counter. The man was super tall with tattoos all over his body and bald. I don’t even think there wasn’t an inch of skin on this guy’s body that wasn’t covered. He was kind of rough looking too. The woman had dark hair, face covered in rings and studs, and a bad attitude. I honestly wanted to smack her. I didn’t like the dirty look she had given me.

So, I talked to the guy instead of her. I signed all the paper work, talked about what colors and where I wanted my tattoo. Once we finished, we went in back. I was still super nervous. He got the ink and needles and turned on the needle while I sat backwards in a chair. The buzzing made my nerves shot up. I griped the chair tight…then it began. It didn’t hurt that much. It strung a lot though. It was scraping feeling but not too painful. 20 minutes later, he was finished.

It was beautiful. A purple rose with a green stem on my shoulder blade. At the end of all I thought I’d be relieved it was over but I was thrilled and proud. I faced down my nerves and got want I wanted.

Ever since then for some reason I’m never really nervous to do anything. My tattoo really helped me get a more of a back bone and push forward with all my choices and not back out at the last minute. All that time I spent worrying about what was going to happen I could’ve spent thinking of how my tattoo would look, where I want it, and where to put it. Not doing all that at the last minute at the tattoo shop. I’m happy I did it. Now that I feel a little stronger, I know I can do whatever I want with little to no fear. And I mean hey, I drew it. I guess that’s something to be proud of too.