“444 Grand River Avenue,” Rachel replied.
Four was Rachel’s lucky number and she felt like she could use some luck.
“Birthday? You want to be 21, correct?” he asked.
“November 1st. Yes 21, please” Rachel spat out.
“Stand over there,” the man said, and pointed to an X made of duct tape on the floor. Rachel slowly walked over to the X and stood on it.
The man snapped her picture.
“Wait upstairs,” he said.
As the girls headed back up the dark musty staircase, Rachel wondered what she would need that ID for, other than movies. She didn’t go to bars or clubs, but wondered if her new friends did.
All of a sudden she heard a phone ringing. It was Taryn’s cell. Taryn picked up and Rachel wondered who she was talking to. “Cool,” “Now?” “We’re here.” She heard Taryn say.
Taryn hung up the phone and said, “Guys, let’s meet my brother, he’s a few blocks away. It’ll be fun.”
Rachel looked at her watch, it was 9 o’clock and she knew she only had two more hours until she had to be home. The man came upstairs and handed Rachel her ID; she looked at it and ran her fingers across the front.
“Nice!” she said.
“It’s $60,” the man said holding out his hand.
Sixty dollars? Rachel thought. That was a lot of money, and she definitely didn’t think she had it in her wallet. Trying not to show her worry she smiled and opened her bag and started rummaging for her wallet.
“C’mon Rach,” Taryn said, “We have to get going.”
Rachel quickly pulled out her wallet. She found $40. She looked around the outer pockets of her wallet for the $20 her dad gave her for emergencies only.
This is an emergency if I’ve ever seen one. If I don’t use this twenty dollars then I can’t get the ID and if I don’t have the ID, I’ll have no friends. And if I tell the girls I can’t afford it, they’ll think I’m poor and I don’t want that.
So Rachel unfolded her last remaining twenty-dollar bill and handed it over to the man.
Rachel was, all out of money, in the city, lying to her parents, buying a fake ID, and now, she found herself on her way to meet up with Taryn’s brother Ben.
What am I getting myself into?
The girls walked down St. Mark’s place. Rachel noticed many outdoor vendors set up selling hats, sunglasses, socks, belts, etc. She also saw restaurants, clothing stores and stores with bongs and smoking paraphernalia in the windows. This was unlike any place Rachel had ever been. As the girls stood there on the corner of the 3rd Avenue and St. Marks, Taryn said, “This is it!” as she pointed to a tattoo parlor.
Rachel stood there in horror. She didn’t know what to do. The pressure was building as Emily, Jen and Taryn headed inside. Was she really going to stand there on the street, alone? Rachel pushed the door open and followed the girls inside.
“Hey T!” said Ben
“Hi,” Taryn said back. She gave Ben a hug and said hello to his friends as well.
Ben apparently knew Emily and Jen, and hugged and kissed them on the cheek.
As Ben came closer to Rachel, she waited for Taryn to introduce her, but she didn’t.
“I’m Rachel, Taryn’s new friend at AHS.”
“You have any tatts?” he asked.
Of course not, she thought.
“Nope,” Rachel replied.
“You getting one tonight?” Ben asked.
Was he serious? Rachel thought. Were the girls getting tattoos?
“No,” Rachel said.
“Should I do it, guys?” Taryn asked, as she turned around from the wall of tattoo designs.
“Why not?” Jen and Emily said.
Rachel looked at Ben’s arms, which were covered in tattoos.
“I’m getting Brian’s name on my back,” Ben said.
Apparently Brian was Ben’s best friend in high school, who had just died from a drug overdose.
Rachel couldn’t believe her ears, and she wondered if she really belonged here. She felt like a fish out of water.
“What should I get?” Taryn asked.
Rachel thought about what her parents would do if she came home with a tattoo. She knew exactly what they would do: they would ground her for LIFE.
“Do you guys have tattoos?” Rachel asked Jen and Emily.
“Nope, not yet,” replied Jen, “but I want to get a rose on my ankle when I go to college.”
“No, don’t really want one,” said Emily.
Rachel felt better hearing that she wasn’t the only one that didn’t want a tattoo. She didn’t understand, though, why this was no big deal to these girls. Was getting a tattoo an ordinary occurrence? It was as if nothing fazed these girls.
“A unicorn!” Taryn pointed to a picture of a unicorn on the wall. “This is it, I’m getting it!”
“Are you sure?” Rachel heard herself ask.
“Um, yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Taryn said, with a little attitude.
Rachel didn’t reply. She didn’t know why she even said anything in the first place.
Rachel watched as Taryn sat down in the chair and the tattoo man rubbed her back with alcohol. The smell infused the room. Rachel cringed as the man took out his tattoo pen, changed the needle and filled it with black ink.
“Hold my hand.” Taryn said.
Jen went over to hold her hand.
Rachel listened as Taryn was screaming with pain.
“It’s not that bad, T,” said Ben. “Man up!”
After an excruciatingly long 45 minutes, Taryn was finished. The man put a white bandage on her back and taped it up on the edges.
Rachel looked at Taryn and thought she looked a bit out of it. Her face was flushed.
“You okay?” Rachel asked.
“Been better,” Taryn replied.
Ben and his friends were still getting their tattoos when Taryn said she felt sick and wanted to leave.
Rachel looked at her watch: 10:45pm.
Oh no.
How would she ever make it home in fifteen minutes? Rachel felt bad that Taryn was sick but she was also relieved that they were heading home. As the girls walked towards Taryn’s BMW Rachel tried to hurry them up. Emily and Jen walked slowly down the block looking at the many things the street vendors were selling.
“C’mon guys, Taryn’s sick.” Rachel kept prodding.
As they approached the car, Taryn said, “I can’t drive, my back hurts and I’m dizzy.”
Now what? Rachel thought. Who was going to drive them back?