Inked

Written by: Alyssa S.


I stare at her overstuffed suitcase. She was really going to leave this time. After another ritual argument with Mom, she decided that this was her chance to run. I can hear Mom muttering to herself in the kitchen. The crash of glasses and the whir of the dishwasher fill our silence. I can’t exactly blame my sister. If I had the chance I would escape too.

The horse calendar on my side of the room seems childish compared to her shrine of various grunge bands, and the spilled makeup on her vanity table. Leah is on her knees in the closet, digging for whatever an eighteen year old hides. Her dirty t-shirt rides up her skinny back revealing an intricate tattoo featuring a cross with vines of white lilies laced around it. I smile thinking of the night she got it. Mom still doesn’t know.

It was three days after Christmas. Our old neighbor Candace was having a party at the tattoo parlor. Leah only let me come because I blackmailed her about the Newports I found in her purse. After we arrived, she spotted her knight in tattooed sleeves standing in a corner talking to his burnout friends. Toast was the apprentice of a tattoo artist by the name of The Ripper. Don’t ask. Anyway, after a couple of shots Leah was pretty wasted. Toast was trying to sweet talk her into giving her a tattoo. She said ‘No’ a couple of times but then he bent his head and whispered something I couldn’t make out. Her eyes lit in an alcohol induced sparkle. I can only guess what old Toast had said. I watched across the room as he took her hand and led her behind the counter into the backroom.

I tried to follow them but some pedophile looking guy in pink leather blocked my path. I pushed my way through him and his friends getting cat calls and a slap on the butt. Jerks. I hurriedly left the party taking a side alley that led to the back of the parlor. The snow was falling heavily now. I spotted the window, smiling at the thought of what could be going on behind it. I skipped excitedly dodging a stray cat, when my feet flew out from underneath me and I landed hard on the snow-covered ice. Gasps of surprise followed by Leah’s slurred voice of “What was that?” left me dying of laughter, as I crawled under the ledge hoping they won’t come outside.

Suddenly, siren wails and red lights surrounded the building. Car doors slammed as I heard the static of walkie talkies echoing off the brick walls. Feet shuffling and some boos were coming from inside. I dug my hands deep inside my pockets and walked around the block a full six times before the cops left. I found my sister almost sobered up waiting for me beside Louise, her light blue Jack Rabbit. “God, I thought you might’ve gotten arrested,” She said irritably as we buckled up. “What’s that on your neck?” I asked sarcastically, motioning to the reddening hickey. She gave me a fake evil stare for three full heart beats before she laughed. At the next red light, she lifted up the back of her shirt showing off what else she had received.

That day felt like years ago. She was too good for me now, and apparently Toast. They went out for a while then broke up before he left for California to start his own business. She still says she never loved him. Leah rocked back on her heels and rose; the ratty t-shirt concealing a permanent regret. She turned and smiled at me dangling a velvet black box over my head.

“I got this for you,” She murmured letting it fall into my cupped hands. She walked around her bed, and picked up her suitcase. I stuffed the box in my pocket and followed her out of my bedroom. We waited on the sidewalk letting our thoughts do the talking for us. I looked at my sister for a long time. She’s still a beauty. Waist long ebony hair with magenta streaks and a smile too good for any Crest commercial. Images of us in Louise floated in my mind. Sometimes, I would ride with her late into the night while she sobbed about the bad break up with that loser she’d never forget. I could remember how odd it was that the radio station would play their song, White Flag by Dido, only causing her to cry harder.

Around the corner, I could see a flash of yellow through the fences. Here it comes. I suddenly wished that I hadn’t been so mean to her. I wished that I didn’t black mail her as much either. But, maybe if I hadn’t done those things we wouldn’t be close at all. The cab lurched to a stop before us. “Don’t open it until I’m out of sight,” She said, stooping to hug me. I hated her for having the perfect height of five eight, too. Then, she hopped in the back seat and blew me a kiss. Her golden chariot whisked her away to a new palace far, far away.

As soon as she took a right on Green Street, I opened the box and laughed. My voice broke through the summer afternoon, shattering the oppressive July sun. A wrinkled but still good ticket to California stared up at me. A little note was tucked under it. I unfolded the paper recognizing her familiar messy handwriting. “I said yes,” was all it said. I shook my head, wondering how in the world my sister had kept this from me. I ran back to our room trying to find some diary entry I had missed, but she had taken the precious book of secrets with her… along with my heart.