Chapter 22

The Next Step

“So how was it?” Was all I could think to say. I mean what do you really say after your husband tells you he just slept with one of the women he fantasized about sleeping with?

He came clean with the details, admitting that it was different than he expected and how he felt awkward to the point where he didn’t get to enjoy it fully. A part of me listening wanted to be mad, but the other part was slightly amused and even vilified knowing that he felt awkward. A part of me wanted to also call out his lie because I’m sure he was just trying to downplay it to keep his position with me. I figured at least he came clean to me, we could get it over with and move on while making light of it all. I mean I really couldn’t be mad if I looked at it, I offered, she accepted and he, well, he just got his chance of a lifetime. I never expected him to be a saint but I knew it would be the end to me if he completely lied. There was beauty in honesty. One of the things that I had taken away from everything with Billy(my father) was that no matter what I felt , that as long as you were honest, it was easier to see what would come at me next. Nothing was worse than the constant worry about the unknown of people’s dark workings. That was what hurt the most with Joey and D, they had lied and gone behind my back. At least Joe had been honest. My disappointment was there but it was not enough to cause a major divide. It felt more like a crack or a small chip out of my armor.

We continued on with our day. When I returned home as normal,  Sue was now slightly more reserved. She skirted and ignored the topic of having my husband. Her energy had now shifted. I watched as she would remove herself more and try to keep busy in my presence.  I know it was her guilty conscience. I could see it all so clearly. I tried to make it known that I didn’t care, but I could tell there was something she couldn’t get over. I don’t know if she thought that there was something more going on behind the motives but I truly didn’t care. Everyone had shown their cards and that’s all I cared about.

At work the days went on as normal and I was getting more and more busy with new clients. At home I kept the time  filled with family time and activities trying to keep family time as much as possible when I wasn’t working.

The tattoo shop was trying to move around more people, but most of them wouldn’t last long. They would get aggravated that I was keeping busy with requested clients while they were slow. I would try to give them people and offer to buy lunch from time to time but I still would be met with animosity from most of them. After a while I stopped trying because it was getting tiring getting attitude and false niceties from work members that I was just trying to be nice to, and while at home with Sue.

Sue had made herself busy more and barely interacted with me after her time with Joe. It was the slow pull away. I ignored it and let her do what she needed hoping she would find herself in her own grove and people so that she could move on when she was ready.  With the lease to the apartment coming up in a few months, Joe and I had discussed moving and if we wanted Sue to move with us. Sue had started pushing the envelope with little things at first in the house to cause a rift while more and more going further when the little things didn’t cause issues. Joe and I could see it and both decided that the best scenario would be to just move and go our separate ways when the end of the lease came. So I started planting the seed with Sue about the move dates. As the time got closer her antics became more and more clear that she made the decision that she was moving in with friends.

Joe and I had found a great little townhouse not far from the shop and it was within the price range and the range of Slater’s school so it worked out perfectly. It was still in range to bike to the shop and Slater’s school if needed but she would now be riding a bus to school which she was excited for the new experience.

The moving day came and went and as Sue left we said our goodbyes and the basic “see you later” even though we all knew it would only be in passing. Sue had moved on and we were excited to start in the new chapter. The new neighborhood was a little more friendly and had a few kids on Slater’s bus so she made friends easily. While at work I was now down to a basic crew but they were showing signs that a move was coming eventually. I hung in to see where the road would take us.

While moving in we had made friends with an elderly lady a few doors down and she was inserting herself into our lives a little everyday. She was alone and you could tell she was starving for attention some days. We really didn’t mind since it would be an extra pair of eyes on the neighborhood and Slater. She did food collecting with the local grocery stores for the local church that would feed the homeless and we offered any help if ever needed. When we ate dinner and knew she would be home we invited her over as well to enjoy her life experiences.

We were settling in to the townhouse nicely and it wasn’t long before we settled into a grove. After a few months I randomly ran into Sue. She was hanging on the front  steps of an apartment complex with a guy and when I saw her I pulled over to say hello since I had tried to check in with her phone and had gotten a message that the number was disconnected.  Sue was light in her step and super relaxed in telling me that she was doing great and homeless but chose to be and felt more free than she ever had in her life. I could understand the feeling after squatting when I was younger and not a mother. I was genuinely happy for her being happy but offered if she ever needed anything to please reach out.

Life went on. The shop eventually admitted that they were closing that location and moved me to the Eastern location. I really didn’t mind the commute, however the staff was somewhat of an adjustment. There were two other artists working at the location and both had to basically share their stations with me. One was a guy nicknamed Tank, who was a large biker looking guy that was extremely misogynistic and made inappropriate comments constantly. The other was his apprentice or a green horn artist that was close to the same energy that we will call Box. Both of them were constantly in the mindset that I was some dumb chick that  they didn’t want there to stop their “fun” and rude shit.  Little did they know I was brought there because of all the complaints they received at that location and the owner wanted to move them because she didn’t want to deal with the lawsuits anymore. 

I met the head piercer that we shall call Christ {he prides himself on that name}and his apprentice that I’ll call Frazier because he was more intellectually armed than the rest. The counter crew were a bunch of younger kids in their late teens and early twenties. Most of the counter kids rotated quickly so I never bothered to really remember their names but the ones that stayed longer became friends. Shea was a beautiful tattooed Elvira looking young girl with a bubbly personality, Lil B was a little skater punk lesbian that reminded me of a little brother. 

The shop was usually bouncing from annoyed energy with the guys on crew to the fun crew that vibed once the jerks were gone.  I enjoyed working with most of them except Tank and Box. Box wasn’t so bad but he had his moments that just made you really know to never want to be good and close with him.

While working at this location, I had met some local Bikers and started tattooing the rest of the club and enjoyed the perks of the occasional invites for the family to things. Though I really couldn’t hang out very often it was nice to get a little more of a community. I made a lot of new clients into friends at this location. Many that I still hold today.

Tank eventually worked his way into being moved to another location after constantly harassing me and a few female clients. He became so irritating that I even went so far as to get a box of tampons and leave them on his station for him to “Plug his hole” because I got tired of hearing his shit. Box thought it was funny until I gave him Preparation H wipes while telling him to get whatever was lodged in his ass out. Yeah… The bosses called me saying I shouldn’t have done that, but if they could dish it out, so could I. It wasn’t my fault they couldn’t take their own medicine. The counter kids laughed watching the whole thing everyday. We made it a game at one point, tit for tat, every time they tried to do something I would One up Them. It was actually entertaining that they thought I would take it and when I didn’t the hissy fits they would throw like children. I enjoyed the days that we didn’t have to deal with Tank any further and it wasn’t long before Box left as well.

During the months I had been at the Eastern location, I had built a name for myself.  I worked at a local tattoo convention and had run into some old friends that were established in the industry. Once some of the other artists understood who I knew they gave me a little more breathing room without the constant insults. I had built repour with some of the suppliers and some of the well known names just from interactions. Joe had noticed the shift of respect that was given. I was just happy to be left to do my art.

The owners wife would call me from time to time just to talk and the counter kids and I were in a groove that if they had issues making bills, I would help because at the end of the day If I was fed they would be too.  The energy flowed nicely and the shop flourished when it did. Everyone was happy to be making money and having fun. Joe would come by with Slater to drop dinner off some nights and we would spend the quiet nights having family dinner. I was building a decent clientele but still had my down days that gave me time to read books and do other projects.

It was almost a year at that location when there was a mass exodus of the artists at the other locations in one month. They had lost six people in less than a month because the main manager was on a rampage and had pissed everyone off. She usually left me alone so I didn’t think much of it since I knew I wasn’t in her sites. She left the other locations scrambling for help, so I got the call .  I needed to bounce between them all and needed to work more days. Since I already worked five days ten hours a day it was now going to be seven days at sometimes twelve hours a day. Joe and I agreed that it would be hard but we could make it work. I was already looking at a possible exit plan for myself into opening my own place and figured it would help financially.

I figured it would only be a short time but after the second month I was exhausted. I had asked for our anniversary off to relax and get family time in and was told that they would see what they could do. 

Fate had other plans.

I had been talking to some of the artists that had left casually and kept the communications open. I was trying to get the things in line for myself to possibly get my own location. I had made a date to re-up my health license and had to get the required vaccinations. I went one day before work and for the next 3 days became more and more ill. The 4th day was my anniversary and I ended up in the local ER. I had Acute Tonsillitis and a severe infection in the sinus cavity  and upper respiratory. I was demanded for a mandatory week off  but told my work I would try to see how I felt after a few days of medication.  They were not happy. I was instantly treated as if I was lying and they wanted proof that I was hospitalized. Joe went and showed them everything from the discharge papers with me in the truck on the way home with the hospital bracelets still attached. Then and only then did they lighten up a little with the attitude.

I was home 4 days before I made myself go to work because I knew I had bills coming up. My first day back the manager tried to inform me that I owed dues for “shop Insurance” which I knew was a scam and I explained that I would pay over the next 2 days due to needing to pay rent and put food on my own table but they would get it. The next morning when I went to work I was informed by the counter staff that they were told not to let me leave until I paid it that day. I was livid. I had busted my ass for them to the point of exhaustion and here they were treating me like a slave instead of a person that had worked hard for them as an asset.  I voiced the disdain and called the owners wife to only get the voicemail. I informed her to call off her manager and that if she was throwing ultimatums then mine was she could come collect it from me herself so I could punch her in the face and quite properly. They had 2 hours to decide.

It didn’t take long for my phone to ring. But not from the owner. It was one of the other artists that had left the month before confirming the gossip he had heard already on the grapevine. I confirmed and he agreed it was their fuck up. They had known how hard I worked and how much I gave to the business and was offering me a place at his new shop and even offered to bring me boxes if needed. I told him the time clock and he offered to come sit and bring boxes to help when the clock ran out.  He showed up thirty minutes later with boxes and a snack.

I had already told Joe and he was in agreement that it was the last straw.

The two hours flew by and as I packed my thing my phone rang from the boss’s wife. She hoped it all blew over and when hearing of the opposite she noticeably started to panic trying to back peddle but made the fatal mistake of then talking down to me like I was a lower life form. That was the nail in the coffin and she knew when she hit it. She started begging me to think about it and take a few days off to let her get everything straightened out. But the damage was done. I packed everything and as I was loading the car even the boss’s father came out to  the shop to try to talk to me but once her heard everything he understood. He father was a respectful man that could tell I was not the person that they could manipulate.  I packed my truck and drove straight over to the new shop to talk to the owner and confirm a location for my appointments for the next day.

Slater was happy that I was going to have more time for her and the new shop was excited that they were getting me with my clientele. The owner was one of the original artists I had started with at the Strip location when I had first come to Vegas. He gave me the option to take time off first but since I had already had appointments set for the next day I told him I would just do light duty for the first week and only do my appointments so that I could have down time.

I went home that night already feeling better about the situation in front of me.