#Robin Cropper
English Comp. 1
Mon & Wed night
Getting Poked
“There’s the tattoo shop!”, exclaimed my friend Tiffany. “Well, let’s get our new tats!”, I quickly responded. We had finally located the new tattoo shop on 39th street, in Oklahoma City. Our spontaneous plot to get new tattoos was becoming a reality. We walked into the shop, and were immediately greeted by James, the tattoo artist. “What can I do for you ladies?”. “We want matching tattoos, on our backs, of this.” , as Tiffany handed him a picture. “Sounds good.” he said, smiling, “I’ll see what I can do.”
While sitting on the couch, waiting for James to sketch our tattoos, Tiffany and I discussed our ideas for colors, and also what led us to this decision. “I think blue and yellow roses would be awesome. I mean, I love blue, and yellow is a color of friendship.” I said. “No arguments here.” She retorted. “Plus, this way, you’ll never be able to get rid of me.” I laughed at that remark, and replied “Dude, you’re like, family, I would never get rid of you anyway!” We continued discussing our ideas, looking through various tattoo magazines, and waited for James to finish sketching our tattoos.
“Who goes first?” James had interrupted our conversation, which to this point, had not involved who would actually go first. “Well, I’ll go, since I’m getting more tats done today.” I reply. I was intending, also, to get my daughter’s names tattooed on my wrists. “Alright, then, let’s go back”. The three of us walked to the back room. By that point, I had the usual butterflies in my stomach. Due to the four tattoos I had already gotten, I knew what to expect. The adrenalin had already started to flow, and I began to get excited. “Have a seat.” Jason instructed. As I sat down, I looked at Tiffany. She was grinning, and I knew she was excited, too.
Jason began by placing the stencil for the tattoo on my back. It left a blueprint of it for him to follow. I looked at it from a mirror. “Awesome! Let’s do it!” I tell him. The first few seconds were a pure adrenaline rush. Once the needles from the gun began poking my skin, my body naturally sent endorphins to my brain to fight the pain. “This is why these are so addicting, huh?”, I asked, half joking. Over the next hour Jason, Tiffany, and I discussed many things. Since the tattoo was being placed on my upper back over my spine, it caused my arms, legs, and neck to twitch. We enjoyed joking how silly it looked. Once the tattoo was complete, I again looked at it from a mirror. “Wow, this is gorgeous!” I exclaimed, still in awe of my new art. “Lets get started on the names.” Jason stated, as he knew he still had a lot more work to complete before the shop closed. Once the two names were tattooed on my wrists, it was Tiffany’s turn to get her tattoo.
Four hours after we had entered the tattoo shop, Tiffany and I both had new tattoos. As we left, we began discussing how close this made us, since these tattoos were a symbol of our twelve-year friendship. The tattoos are of a heart with jagged edges, and inside that heart are two roses. We chose a jagged heart for many reasons. Over the past twelve years a very close friend committed suicide, and her brother was killed by a drunk driver. I have had two children, both of which are her god-children. Countless other things have also happened that have bonded our souls, and left jagged imprints on our hearts. We chose blue and yellow roses. Blue is the color of trust, loyalty, and honesty. Yellow is the color of friendship, strength, and stability. All of those things describe our friendship. We have become extremely close, and I know, as does she, that regardless of what life may bring, we have each other. Many people may view this as just another silly tattoo, however to us it is symbol of our devoted friendship.
