Tatted Cowboy (5 page)

I just wanted to check in and make sure you’re ok. You left all of a sudden and you looked sad.

The message from Ava was sent not long after I left the pub, but I only just got it now, about three hours after I left there.

I sink back into my pillow and hit the reply button.

I’m okay, I promise.  I’ll tell you one day, but I can’t right now. It still hurts too much.

I hit send and put the phone on my bedside table. 

I finally arrived back at Gran’s not long ago.  All the lights were off except the porch and hallway lights so I knew she was sleeping. I tiptoed up to my room and changed into my pajamas before slipping under the covers of my bed.  As I went to check my phone for the time, I’d seen Ava’s message.  I felt bad I hadn’t seen it until now. She was probably worried.

My phone beeps again.

Whenever you’re ready, just know I’m here for you. Always. Xxx

She’s
such
a good friend!

Just as I’m about to hit reply, another message comes through from Ava.

Hope you had a good time tonight.  We should do it again sometime???

I quickly type out my message letting her know I had a great time and I’d love to do it again.  I hit send and my eyelids droop shut.

***

“Up and at ‘em.  The day’s a wastin’,” Gran shouts while knocking on my closed bedroom door.

I groan as I wake.  Rolling over, I fumble blindly as I reach for my phone.  I crack my eyes open and blink when the clock shows ten am.

I never sleep late.

“Wakey, wakey,” Gran shouts again.

“I’m awake,” I call back, my voice sounding hoarse because it’s dry.

I hear Gran walking away as I climb out of bed and head for the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, Gran hands me a cup of coffee.  “You might need to zap it in the microwave, it’s probably cold by now.”

“Thank you.”  I warm my drink and when it’s ready, I pull it out and take a grateful sip.

So good.

“I can’t believe I slept so late.  It’s so unlike me.”

Gran nods.  “Your body must have needed the extra rest.  How was your night with the girls?”

“Good. We had a great time.  I saw Skip.  He hasn’t changed a bit.”

“No, he hasn’t,” Gran agrees with a chuckle.  “Did he recognize you?”

I bob my head in the affirmative.

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“So, what are we doing today?”  I ask as I bring a piece of vegemite covered toast to my mouth.

“I thought we could drive into Darwin and do some shopping for the salon and the house.”

“Sounds great.  I’m ready when you are.”  I finish my coffee and shove the last bite of toast into my mouth.

“I’ve been ready for the last three hours,” she mutters with a rueful smile.

***

Just over two hours later we arrive in Darwin.  It’s the closest city to Pine Creek and where all of the Pine Creek locals do their shopping.

“Where shall we go first?” I ask as we pull up at the traffic lights.

“I saw an ad on television for a new store that opened up.  They sell all kinds of pretty things.  Lotus, I think they called it.  It’s down on Bertram Street.”

“Okay.  We can check it out.”

The light turns green and I hang a right for Bertram Street.

We find a park easily enough and go inside.  The scent of vanilla and sandalwood fills my nostrils as we browse.  There’re a lot of Balinese inspired items. Nothing really suitable for the salon, but there are some beautiful pieces I’d love to put in my new home.

“How are you today?” the sales lady asks as I place my items on the counter.

“Good thanks.  And you?”

“I’m well.  Just these items today?”

I nod and look around for Gran.  I spot her bending down, sniffing some incense. 

“That comes to thirty-three dollars and fifty cents.”

I hand her my card to pay and then take my bag over to where Gran is standing.

“Find something you like?” she asks.

“Yeah, just an oil burner, some scented oils and tealight candles.  What about you?”

“All this stuff makes me want to sneeze,” she whispers, wrinkling her nose.

I stifle a giggle and we leave the shop

We stop at Office World next, which is the perfect store for the salon supplies.  Gran sees my eyes light up when we walk through the twin sliding doors and she immediately takes off to locate a trolley, knowing we will need it.

“This store is freaking amazing,” I gush as I continue to pile stuff into the trolley as Gran pushes it along.

“What about this?  Will you need one of these?” Gran asks.

I turn and see she’s holding up a yearly diary.

“Oh, yes.  Where did you find that?”

She points and I crouch down to find a nice black one with gold trim.

As I stand, I see a monthly desk appointment calendar so I grab one of those as well.

I add in some cool wall hangings, a whiteboard, way too many stationary supplies and some nice lamps.

By the time we leave, I’ve got everything I need for the salon except the larger furniture items that I will have to order online.

“I think I’ll come back another day to buy the products I need.  I’ll have to make a list first,” I tell Gran as we buckle our seat belts.

“Okay, love.  Have you got everything?”

“I think so.  I probably went a bit overboard,” I wince slightly.  “But, the salon will look amazing and professional.  That’s the main thing, right?” 

Gran nods her agreement.  “Let’s grab an early dinner then before we head home, shall we?”

“Sounds good.”

LUKE

Scrunching up another piece of paper, I bend my elbow back and toss it towards the rubbish bin a few feet away.

Another drawing ruined.

Fucking Christ!

I pull out a clean sheet and line it up.  I need to get this piece drawn up, but damned if I can get that sexy chick from the pub out of my mind.  She’s invading my thoughts and clouding my usually faultless artwork. 

This should have been an easy job.  Yet, here I sit.  Three am and I am still going at it.  My guy will be here in a matter of hours and he trusts me to ink him with an elaborate tattoo aimed at covering a fucked up job he had done years ago.  A classic drunken mistake.  

Usually, I could do this with my eyes closed.  He wants a skull with a sword going straight through the head and out the jaw.  The stem of a rose will be clenched in the skull’s teeth and on the partially open petals will be the dates of birth of his three kids.  Simple. 

Then, why is it, every time I relax my mind to let my fingers do their job, I end up drawing the bombshell from the pub?

Fuck, she is beautiful.  And, the best part about it?  I bet she doesn’t even know how good-looking she is.  

Her tight little body has been the star in my fantasies for the last two weeks.  All I’ve wanted to do is go back to the pub and see if she’s there.  I don’t even know if she’s a local or if she was just passing through.  Sucks for me, but I’m putting my money on the latter.  I’ve lived in Pine Creek for the last ten years and I have never seen her.

If I had, she would have been warming my bed for the last decade.

I shake off my thoughts and try to steer my mind in the direction I need it and I begin to draw.

I own Pine Creek’s only tattoo shop, Premier Ink.  I built it from the ground up eight years ago and customers come from far and wide to be inked by me.  My business is my life and I pride myself on providing professional and quality tatts that people will admire and wear with confidence for their entire lives.  I do a lot of cover up work, providing my clients with custom drawn art work to hide their mistakes and it is one thing I don’t ever want associated with Premier Ink – no one will ever cover up one of my tattoos.

My eyes focus on the paper and I grit my teeth.

Fucking Christ!

Instead of the skull, sword and rose combination, staring up at me is a lifelike picture of the girl who won’t get the fuck out of my mind.

I toss the paper and push up out of my chair.  I walk outside and let the cool air wash over me as I try to channel my thoughts.

Two hours later, I draw the final intricate details on the sword handle.  The design is finished, and just in time, too.  My client will be here in about four hours.

I carefully place the design in a sleeve to keep it crease free and then curl up on the lounge in my office to get some sleep before opening my shop. 

I seriously need to put a bed in here somewhere.  I spend more nights here than in my apartment, so three years ago, I had a small ensuite bathroom put in.  At least now I don’t have to race home before the shop opens to shower.  But, my back is starting to ache from spending so much time curled up trying to fit my six foot one frame on a pussy-arsed couch.  I find a semi-comfortable position and close my eyes.

Even in sleep, she won’t leave me alone.

My dreams are filled with the beautiful face of a nameless girl.

***

I wake half an hour before I’m due to open the shop and after taking a quick shower, I head out to grab a cup of coffee from the Coffee House.

“G’day Ava.”  I smile and nod to the woman who stole my mate, Jeremy’s, heart.  Actually, she didn’t so much as steal it, as he gave it to her years ago.  It just took them a while to get together.

“Hey, Luke.  How’s your morning been so far?”

“Not bad.  Just after my usual.”  She starts making my takeaway double shot espresso while we make small talk.

“Did you see the old hardware store has sold?  Hope for your sake the new owners aren’t planning on opening a tattoo shop,” Ava teases as she pops the lid on my cup.

I hand her the money as I take the cup.

“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart,” I wink.  “You should be praying they’re not going to open a new fancy arse café that’ll do you out of business.”  Of course, I’m joking.  The Coffee House could never go out of business.  Locals love it because of the fantastic coffee, great food and even better service.  Travellers love it for the same reason, plus they can purchase high quality but realistically priced souvenirs as well.

“Go to work, Luke,” she calls as I flick her a wave over my shoulder.

“Mornin’ boss,” Bella greets me as I return to the shop.  She’s my receptionist and has worked for me since I opened the doors of Premier Ink.  She’s on time every day, never calls off work unless she absolutely has to, she’s friendly and professional.  She’s also attractive, but she doesn’t try and hit on me every five seconds.  In my books, she’s the perfect worker.  Over the years, we’ve managed to build a strong friendship, as well.  She’s a good person to have around.

“Mornin’.”

“Your ten o’clock just rang in.  He’s running a few minutes late and just wanted to let you know.”

“No problems.  Crank the music will ya?”  I walk into one of the private rooms and start prepping so it’s ready when my client gets here.

Bella is my only fulltime employee, but I do have a casual girl by the name of Francesca, who comes in by appointment only to do body piercings.  The way things are going though, I’m going to have to look at putting on another artist because the demand is just getting too much for me to handle on my own.

Problem with living in a small town is that most of the boys around here are farmers, not tattoo artists.  Plus, there’s only one other guy I’d want working beside me on a daily basis.  My younger brother, Zeke. 

Only, he’s gone rogue.  He pissed off years ago and only calls me every now and again.  It’s about time he came home.  The problem will be whether I can convince him or not.

I set out the small cups for the ink and lay down some plastic wrap, ready for my client just as Bella taps on the door.

“Garry - your ten o’clock - is here.”

“Thanks.”

I walk out and see the guy standing there, looking slightly nervous, his hands tucked into the two front pockets of his jeans.

“Hey, Luke,” he says, extending a hand for me to shake.

I take his hand in my firm grip and give him a nod.  “Hey, man.  You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Good.  Come check out the design.”

I lead him back to the private room and pull out the design I finished just hours before.

“I love it, mate.  It looks good.  You sure it will hide the other one?”

“Yeah, the skull is big enough to cover most of it and the intricate detail of the sword handle will cover the remainder.”  The tattoo Garry wants to cover up is almost laughable.  When he was eighteen, his buddies took him out for a drink and they ended up at a tattoo parlour.  An hour later, Garry walked out with a giant portrait on his left shoulder blade.  It’s supposed to be Pamela Anderson, but in reality, it looks like three giant balls; one for her head and two for her tits.  The tits aren’t even equal – they’re uneven in size and shape and they are lopsided.

“Let’s do it, then.”  He unbuttons his shirt and scrunches it into a ball.  Then he climbs onto the table and stretches out on his stomach using his shirt as a pillow.

I prep his skin with a methylated wipe and then rub the adhesive over the area before strategically placing the design over his existing ink.

I peel it off and check it’s centred properly.  “Okay, mate, just jump up and check it out in the mirror to make sure you’re happy with it.”

“Looks good, man.”

He positions himself so he’s comfortable and I sit down in my chair.  I give my gun two taps on the foot peddle to make sure there’re no air bubbles in the black ink.  Then, I place it to his skin.  The soft buzzing sound I love so much fills the room as I bring the ink to life.

A bit over an hour later, Garry is leaving the shop a satisfied customer.

“You’ve got a walk-in waiting,” Bella nods, gesturing with her head to the young man sitting on the couch in the waiting room.

“Cheers.”  I go over to introduce myself and ask what he’d like.

“Hey man, what can I do for you?”

“I saw that design in the window as I was walking past and I’d love it on my shoulder blade,” he answers, pointing to a design I drew a few weeks back.  As with all of my custom drawings, I hang them on the wall for clients to gather inspiration from, but some just want the design as it is.

“Sure, man.  Come on back and we’ll get you sorted out.”

The rest of the day goes like every other day.  I prep, then ink and then clean up.  Then I repeat the process again and again until close.

“See ya tomorrow, Luke.”  Bella waves as she makes her way to the door.

“Have a good night,” I call out.  Once she clears the door, I walk over and lock it behind her, flipping the sign to say we’re closed.

I make sure everything else is locked up and then I head over to The Cow and Calf.  I can’t cook for shit, so each night I eat there.  I can’t remember the last time I had a home cooked meal, and truth be told, I miss it.  My mum used to cook a mean feed.  Even after Zeke and I left home, she’d have us over every Sunday for a roast mid-afternoon so it served as a late lunch and early dinner.  Then, she’d send us home with the leftovers.

It’s been five years since she passed away and the Sunday before she died was the last home cooked meal I ate.

After that, everything turned to shit for a while.  Zeke up and left.   He took off to live fuck-knows-where and I tried my hardest to keep everything together so my business wouldn’t go down the gurgler.

Slowly, things started to return to normal for me.  But, Zeke hasn’t been back since he left the day after Mum’s funeral.  Her death took us all by surprise.  She’d been feeling unwell for a few weeks.  A bloated stomach, just feeling off.  Anyways, by the time she went to the doctor and they did a bunch of tests, it came back that she had stage five ovarian cancer.  She was dead within three weeks.

I think she had been sick for a lot longer than she let on, but there is no use worrying about all that now. 

Walking into the pub, I give a wave to Doreen - the owner of The Cow and Calf - and Skip.  I order a steak and veggies from the restaurant and then walk back out to the bar to perch up on a stool next to Skip.

“G’day, Luke.  How are things going?” he asks.

“Alright old man.  What about you?”

“I’m still breathing, so that’s a plus,” he replies with a chuckle.

We chat over a few beers as I wait for my feed, and when it comes out, Skip says his goodbyes to head home to his wife, Rhonda.

As the bar begins to fill with regulars, Dory becomes run off her feet.  Usually, she’d have Edie here helping her out, but she’s off because she had a baby.  Something tells me she won’t be coming back, at least not in a full time position, so Dory really needs to put someone else on.

“Dory, you’re gonna have to find another bartender,” I tell her as I step behind the counter to give her a hand pulling the beers.

“Thanks, Luke,” she pants as she runs from one end of the bar to the other.  “My niece is arriving tomorrow. She’s taking Edie’s place.”

“Good.”

I spend the next few hours helping out Dory behind the bar and when I finally get a chance to leave, it’s after midnight and it’s closing time.

“Thanks so much for all your help tonight, Luke.  I don’t know what I would have done without you here.”

“No worries, Dory.  Just get your niece here.  You can’t be run off your feet like that when you’re on your own; you’ll run yourself ragged.”

“I know,” she sighs.  “Since Edie left, it’s been flat chat and there aren’t many keen bar workers in town.”

“Well, you ever need a hand, you give me a yell.  Understand?”  I speak firmly. Knowing Dory, she won’t take me up on the offer.  Damn woman is so stubborn sometimes.

“I will, Luke,” she nods and reaches out to rub my shoulder.  “I’m digging myself an early grave doing all this by myself.  Sienna will be here tomorrow, though, so that will take a weight off.”

“Okay, well, I’m off.  Gotta get some sleep before morning.  You right to close up?”

“I’ll be fine.”  She smiles as she walks me to the door.

“Lock the door,” I tell her as I step through and out into the cool night air.

“Luke,” she calls out as I start to walk away.  I turn back to look at her.  She’s a beautiful soul but running this pub by herself since Edie left has really taken a toll on her and she’s starting to look every one of her sixty-odd years.

I raise my eyebrows and tilt my chin, silently asking
what’s up?