The next morning you rolled out of bed after the third time of hitting the snooze button. You decided to forgo a shower since you had taken once yesterday, but washed you face to remove the old makeup. Next you reapplied the thick black eyeliner followed by a bright dark purple eye shadow and a layer of shear pink lip gloss. You piled moose into your hands and flipped your head over before running them through your hair and flipping it back up. You applied some hairspray before applying the hair dryer. As you ran the machine on high, frying your hair into perfect shape you couldn't help but laugh at yourself, realizing that you so belonged back in the 80's. Next you stuck a black and white polka dotted hard plastic head band on. You stuck on your wide plastic off center circle earrings that were purple, black and white checkered, as you grabbed your necklaces and left the bathroom.

In your room you threw on a black and red bra and threw a yellow wide tank top that had a skull and cross bones in the lower corner. Next came your purple and black striped tights followed by your favorite pair of ripped jeans, jeans that were so ripped that you A, had to wear tights underneath and B, had more holes that actual fabric left. You grabbed your yellow and white checkered vans and threw on some black and white bangles of different sizes, with a few red ones sprinkled in there as well. You looked down at the fist full of necklaces you had grabbed and decided on which ones to wear that day. You decided on a few of the bling chains Shads had sent you over the years as gifts, along with a string of thick red beads that you knotted in the center. Grabbing your giant yellow sunglasses and your black and white stripped cloth bag you kissed Minx on the head and ran out the door, almost forgetting to lock it.

-xXx-


"Aren't you just a bag of clash this morning," Greg said as you entered the back area of the parlor.

"You know you love it," you teased your coworker.

"Like a fat kid and cake," Greg shot back as he washed his hands in the small sink.

"You should try color sometime. You never know, it might change your life," you teased once more as he left.

Your fellow coworker left, shaking his overly black clad ass at you as he exited the doorway.

"Kales, just to let you know you have," your boss started off as he ran through the back, his nose in the schedule book as you began throwing your stuff out back.

"I know, I know Zarin. I've got like a zillion people coming in today. Thanks. Maybe try and not to over book me," you snapped.

"Try to not be our best artist next time and you won't be so popular that we have people booked for you months in advance. What's biting your ass this morning?" Zarin asked as he went about finishing straightening up the shop before he opened the doors.

"My husband left me for a guy, my brother and the boys are here visiting and to do a new album so that means that foul excuse for a rhythm guitarist is with them. Basically yesterday was the worst ever possible," you explained as you checked all your inks.

"Told you that no good, now ex, hubby of yours was a flamer. I told you, we gays have like a sixth sense and can smell another one of our kind a mile away no matter how in the closet they are," Zarin said, trying to cheer you up and it did.

Just picturing Zarin strutting around with some overly large device on his head that was shaped like a nose, having it sniff the air around him and then it go off when he'd found a 'gay', made you laugh.

"And while I know you hate Zacky's guts like nothing else, at least you have to admit he's cuter than hell. I mean come on, I'd fuck him in a heart beat. Bend him right over the table and give it to him hard. Or being under him might be nice, a little rough but," Zarin continued.

"All right, all right! Are you trying to scare me into leaving today. Cuz that has to be the wrongest thing I have ever heard before in my life. And I am pretty sure he would be the dominant one in that one night stand before he turned you out like the rest of the things he whores himself on," you said trying to shake the image of a naked Zacky bent over a table out of your mind.

"Who's a whore, who is dominant, and who's gay?" Cares asked as she walked out front from out back.

"Fuck bag is back in town for a bit, and also the dominant one in Zarin's little masochistic wet dream over there. And the newly found gay is my husband, who left me yesterday for a man, who he's been cheating on me with for almost two years," you said as Cares set up her area.

"Oh you didn't say that part earlier," Zarin screeched from the front door.

"My bad," you said sitting down in your chair taking a breather before your hectic day started.

"Want us to kill the bitch?" Ryan asked as he came out from out back.

"You'll have to get in line, the boys are back in town and they have first dibs. Though if you want first dibs on Zacky, be my guest," you said, spinning in your chair.

"Does anyone else feel like breaking out into Thin Lizzy?" Lexi asked as she taped a new photo up on her station.

"Guess who just got back today? Them wild eyed boys that had been away," Greg sang dramatically into his spray bottle of alcohol.

"Haven't changed, haven't much to say. But man, I still think them cats are crazy," Cares added next, at which you started to laugh.

"They were asking if you were around," Lexi sang loudly.

"How you was, where you could be found," Ryan sang just as loudly and off key, and at that you started to tear up from the laughter you were holding in.

"Told them you were living downtown. Driving all the old men crazy," Zarin sang into his day planner.

"Cuz," Greg sang loudly, holding his spray bottle into the middle of everyone, posing it dramatically.

"The boys are back in town again, oh the boys are back in town. I said. The boys are back in town, back in town again. The boys are back, the boys are back," you sang into the bottle along with everyone else simultaneously before cracking up into laughter.

"And this is why I will never give up my job," you sighed, stopping the spinning to look around at the tattoo parlor.

"That is until you see your list for today. May your fingers move swiftly and never get cramped," Zarin said, bowing to you before unlocking the door and turning the open sign on and flipping the other open sign around.

"Oh my god, oh my god. I've waited months to get a tattoo by you," a bright yellow haired girl said as she came running in the shop, liberally covered in rainbow stripes, and shook your hand.

"No problem sweetie now sit down and lets discuss your design," you said as you led the girl to your station, giving a Zarin a glare as you did so.

-xXx-


"And I don't know, do I ask him? What if he isn't gay? Oh I would just die," the guy underneath your humming needle said.

"Well it looks to me Sam that this Jonathan of yours is perfect for you. I say go for it, ask him, or kiss him. Whichever seems right to do first when the moment comes a calling. Sometimes actions speak louder that words," you said as you placed your needle down and reached for your spray bottle.

"I think your, ow cold alcohol, right. I should just go for it," Sam said as you wiped the area clean with more alcohol before applying the Tattoo GOO to it and bandaging it.

"Come back and tell me how it goes. Even if you don't have an appointment, come in and chat my ear off," you said smiling and extending your hand after you had removed and thrown out the bright blue plastic gloves you had been wearing.

"No problem. Come visit the infamous Kales Mae for a chit chat about my roller coaster of a love life? You got it," Sam said giving you a hug before going to pay.

"I thought it was hair dressers that did this type of stuff, not tattoo artists. I feel like Oprah or something," you sighed taking a minute to collapse in your chair and clean your mess up before the next one walked in.

"We're on the same page as hair dressers, we're cheap therapists and less guilt ridden then a priest. We're the best there is," Ryan said, lifting his head up from the arm piece he was doing.

"I tell all my problems to my tattoo artists, like Lexi, they're just easier to talk to," a girl who was being worked on by Lexi said.

"Here here," Lexi cheered, holding her needle up in the air for a second before going back to the intricate flower design she was doing on the girl.

"Plus you're just so easy to talk to Kales, so that makes you doubly blessed, or burdened depending on how you look at it," Cares said spinning in her chair, seeing as her client was checking out his leg piece in the mirror across the room.

"Oh the joys of being me," you said sarcastically, but happily.

"I'm going for a smoke break, if I'm not back by the time my next one comes in, don't come looking for me. It's because I ran away and joined the circus or something equally less stressful than this," you said pushing yourself out of the chair and walking out back.

Cigarette in hand you went into the back alley and lit it, taking a big drag and letting the nicotine wash over you, relieving some of the stress from the day. You sighed, exhaling the smoke and bumped your head against the hard brick wall you were leaning against.

"And the day is only half done. I don't know how I'm going to be able to deal with the boys tonight," you sighed as you finished your cigarette.

After it was finished you contemplated on lighting a second, but knew your client had to be there by now. Yours just kept coming in one after another in a steady stream for a while now, there never really was any breaks.

"But that's what I get the big bucks for," you sighed as you opened the steel door and went back in the parlor.

Notes

Love you all!