Zelda pressed an oval-shaped piece of white paper on Wayne’s chest and wet it with a damp cloth.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“It’s a decal of your tattoo,” she said. She pulled the paper off and Wayne could see the outline of the tiger.
“So you just fill it in, like a coloring book.” His words sounded slurred. Zelda’s potion had given him a mellow vibe and numbed his tongue.
Zelda picked up what looked like a fountain pen with a cord attached. It hummed when she flicked a switch on the side of it. “Not a good idea to insult your artist when she’s holdin’ a weapon.”
She pressed the needle into his skin and scraped it across a section of his chest. “Fuck! That hurts!” Wayne screamed. He wanted to twist himself out of Zelda’s chair, but that would have made his rib hurt even worse. He gripped the side of the table and squeezed as hard as he could.
Zelda stopped etching and wiped his chest with a damp rag. “Just relax, Wayne. Tell me about Anita. How long have you two been married?”
Over the next hour, between inkings, Wayne told Zelda about his life with Anita from high school right up until he arrived home unexpectedly from Iraq.
Zelda sponged his chest again and then stood back to study her handiwork. “Almost done. Lookin’ good,” she said. “You didn’t tell your wife you were coming home?”
“No. Sonny’s death fucked me up. I wasn’t thinking straight. We didn’t get any notice. It was just, ‘Okay guys, pack your bags, we’re shipping out.’ When I got to Fort Hood I called her, and she told me not to come home. Said we needed to move on.”
“Damn. That’s one cold bitch.”
“She’s just confused. That woman she’s been hanging out with is messing with her head. Turning her against me.”
Zelda opened a bottle of a clear liquid and poured a few drops on to a soft white cloth, which she rubbed into his chest. It smelled like fingernail polish remover. “We’re almost ready for you to take a look.”
Wayne started to sit up, but Zelda put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Not yet, Wayne.” She took a cool cloth and gently wiped his face and neck and then swabbed all of his chest. She brushed her lips over his nipples and down to his bellybutton. “Why do you want to be with a girl who disrespects you?”
Wayne closed his eyes and now it was Sonny, running his hands all over Wayne’s body. “Oh, Sonny.”
A brilliant lightning flash illuminated the dark room and a crack of thunder like a tree splitting rattled the tattoo parlor.
Wayne opened his eyes with a start. Had he said Sonny’s name out loud? Or was he still dreaming?
“It’s okay, Wayne.” She was staring at him with a sad, wistful look. She said something about being gay, but the rumble of rain pelting the tin roof drowned out her words.
“I’m not gay,” Wayne said. His voice croaked like he’d been asleep for hours.
“That’s just a word, darlin’. You can’t help who you love.”
Wayne started to roll over on his side away from Zelda but was immediately jolted with a sharp pain in his back. He fell back on to the recliner and covered his face with his hands. “I want to love Anita. I want her to love me. I want things to be normal again.”
Zelda sighed. “Normal’s overrated,” she said. “And boring.” She handed him her makeup mirror so he could see the tattoo. “Rad,” she said. “This is totally rad. Do you like it?”
The skin was red and raw but the tiger looked just like Sonny’s tattoo. Serene and powerful. Lethal.
Zelda grabbed a roller of clear surgical tape from her workbench. “Raise your arms, Wayne.”
“Wh-what are you gonna do?”
“We need to cover the tat so it doesn’t get infected. You can take it off tomorrow. Hold on to the mirror.” She stood in front of him, so close he could smell her Juicy Fruit gum. She started the taping in the back, reaching her arms around Wayne and sticking the tape to his shoulder blade. The tape made a rippy, ratchety sound as she unwound it.
“Be careful,” Wayne said.
“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt your rib. Just breathe normal.” She wrapped it around him three times. When she was done, she cut the tape and gently pressed the end of it on to his chest to make sure it stuck. She leaned into him and kissed him on the forehead. “All done.”
Another thunder and lightning combination rocked the building and Wayne flinched and dropped her makeup mirror, shattering it on the concrete floor.
He looked at Zelda with alarm. She smiled. “It’s just glass, darlin’. It don’t mean nothing.”
Above the din of the rain pelting the roof, there was the sound of someone pounding on the front door.
“Wayne! Zelda! Are you in there?”
Dancer had returned.