It was late Tuesday evening when I made my way over to the tattoo parlor. I'd been debating for some time whether to finally get inked, but life and work and everything in between had managed to get in the way. Yet the thought never left the back of my mind, and so I decided tonight would be the night.
The parlor was like most I'd seen in my life- small, sterile, with crazy artwork on the walls and an eclectic looking bunch inside. I passed a heavily pierced and inked woman on my way inside and noted that at this time of night only three artists seemed to still be working.
Of the three, two of them had clients and one- likely the one who had inked the woman I'd passed, was cleaning up her station. Not wanting to disturb any of them, I simply stood at the front and waited to see if any of them would have the time to take me.
After about fifteen minutes, the free artist seemed to notice me sitting by the door. She left her little part of the shop and came over to me, and as she did I took the opportunity to check her out. She was short, a little on the chunky side but in a good, healthy way. Her hair was dyed a bright blue, and tattoos were covering most of her arms and upper body. She was wearing a faded Jack Daniel shirt that sagged in places and showed off her ample cleavage, as well as the ink upon it. A pair of greyish sweatpants covered her thick legs and dove-tailed into two scuffed up and dirty black boots. She certainly looked the part.
"Hey there, can I help you?" She asked cheerfully, and I rose to greet her.
"Yes. I was hoping I could get a small tattoo tonight, if it's not too late I mean."
She looked back at her colleagues who were finishing up with their clients and nodded. "Well, we close in an hour, but I'm usually here 'til the doors shut so it should be fine. Follow me."
I did, trying hard not to stare at her ass, which the sweatpants still managed to show off in all its glory, and quickly joined her in her little section. I took a seat on the small cot and watched as she moved a few things around before heading over to speak with one of the other artists.
This one- an older man also covered in ink, had seemingly finished up with his client, and the two of them seemed to be discussing my inquiry. From the look of things, I gathered she was explaining she might be working a bit later, and though he didn't seem to like this, eventually they came to some sort of agreement and she headed back to her section. The other artist packed up his gear and headed for the door, seemingly waiting for the second one whose client was paying at the front.
A few minutes later all three of them were gone, and it was just her and I. She shook her head, "Sorry about that. I've only been here a year and they still don't fully trust me to be here on my own... I'm Betty by the way."
I smile, not the least bit worried. "Don't worry about it. I'm Jeff."
The introductions out of the way, we got to discussing what I had in mind. It was a small piece, nothing too complicated or unique. She nodded, searching and finding a stencil that more or less fit what I was looking for. Then Betty slipped on a pair of black gloves and began to prep her tools and told me to lay down, my right arm out for her to work on.
As I laid back, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Betty was kicking off her boots. I almost commented on it, but I quickly noticed she wasn't wearing socks, and her feet were as tattooed as the rest of her. I couldn't quite make out what she'd had inked on them, but it was plain to see Betty was a big fan of the needle.
And, unknown to her, I was a big fan of feet.
My quick glimpse of her ink-covered bare feet was more than enough to get my mouth-watering, but once I was on my back they were out of my sight, so I figured I'd try and forget about them as Betty went to work.