Adorned With Colour

I walked into the tattoo parlour, shivering.  Was it because of the cold outside or was it my nerves, my body saying ‘no’?  Regardless, I carried on in, taking my jacket off and finding my wallet in my pocket.

 

  “ID please,” the burly man, his body covered in art, growled.

 

I took it out and showed it to him.   “It’s like a 21^st birthday present to myself,” I stated nervously.

 

He laughed, and handed my ID back to me.  I was so nervous I could actually feel my body pulling me back towards the door.  But I stayed.  While I was waiting, I watched a guy getting Chinese dragons tattooed around his n*****s.  God, that looked painful.  Again, my body began urging me to go, but the colours had intrigued me so much that I couldn’t help but stare.

 

  “You’re next,” a friendly voice behind me said. 

 

I spun around not expecting the sight I was faced with.  Behind me stood a young, beautiful lady with long black hair tied back in a make-shift braid.  Her arms were full of the most fascinating blend of colours I have ever seen. 

She led me to what looked like a cross between a dentist’s and an executioner’s chair.  Warily, I followed her and stood next to the ‘chair of doom’.  I explained what it was I wanted: “A blue butterfly with a black tribal,” I had told her, and showed her exactly where on my lower right hip I wanted it.  She had to be careful to make sure it was the same size and position on my hip as the Heartagram I had had done before on my left hip.

 

  She smiled when I showed her the Heartagram, “HIM, right?”  I smiled proudly, “Yeah, they’re my favourite band.  The butterfly idea is inspired by their song ‘Rip out the wings of a butterfly’.” 

HIM is a Finnish ‘love-metal’ band (as they call themselves).  Their music is special to me on a level I cannot even explain.  Their words, the music…  It fills me with this undeniable feeling of being alive.  So, what better way to tribute to the band than to have their artwork displayed on my body?  The Heartagram, Ville Valo (the lead singer of the band) explained, is a symbol of all things opposite: Love and Hate; Life and Death; Dark and Light; Heaven and Hell…

 

With the tracing of the tattoo in place and me on the chair, Sylvia looked at me and said, “Come on Josie, this is your second tat.  It cannot hurt any more than the first one.”

And she was right – the first one had hurt a whole lot more.  There were spots where I thought I was going to bite through my cheeks because of the pain, but other than that, it went pretty well.

 

Once Sylvia had wiped off the last bits of blood, and let me see the final design, I couldn’t help but stare.  It was beautiful!  The bright blue of the butterfly glistened sexily against the black of the tribal.  The dark red Heartagram on my left made a nice contrast to the vivid blue butterfly on my right.  I loved it!

 

Walking out of the parlour, my jeans sitting low on my hips, my tattoos peaked out just enough to get curious glances from sexually aroused men.  It was the type of reaction I had always hoped I’d get, and I was going to milk this one for what it was worth.

 

He walked up to me, staring hungrily at my tattoos, and said, “If I asked to see your tattoos more clearly, would you be offended?”

I blushed and said I wouldn’t be at all.  We walked together to a quiet spot where I lowered my pants just that little bit more to show off the tattoos to their fullest.  He licked his lips hungrily and ran his fingers lightly over the Heartagram.  I gasped as his fingers traced their way along the top of my pants. He moved closer to me and began kissing my neck, biting lightly as he moved down.  His hand then moved up to my stomach and began making its way up my shirt.  I grabbed his arm, my nails digging into his large, rich red, deep blue and raven black tattoo.  The eyes of the Grim Reaper began running red as my nails dug deeper.  The passion between us was undeniable.  His kisses were hungry and forceful; but his touch soft and gentle.

 

When I heard a sound a short distance from us, I pulled away.  “It’s nothing, Babe.  Just a rat or something.”

I smiled - he was right.  “Sorry, Philip.”

“Are you okay, Josie?”

I nodded, “I am, thanks.  Let’s just take this elsewhere.  Somewhere a bit more private.  I haven’t seen your dogs in weeks.  Can we go to your place?”

Philip’s face lit up with excitement.  Although we didn’t know each other well, we had been together a number of times.  It was his Grim Reaper and my Heartagram that had brought us together.  I guess I had always hoped I’d get together with the man who had adorned my body with the most beautiful form of art next to poetry…

 

Copyright©JosieWentzel11January2008