My Name Is Venus Black(27)





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AFTER EASTER, TINKER is more nervous than ever that the Mexican girl is onto him. She keeps asking to visit Leo, and Tinker keeps putting her off. When Tinker goes to the shop to pay for May’s rent, Tony brings up the tattoo. “Hey, you still want that tat you mentioned?”



Tinker is stuck. He doesn’t want the tat, but he can’t see how to squirm out of it. “You bet,” he says with fake enthusiasm.

“What kind of design do you have in mind?” Tony asks. “Maybe Leo? I could do a cool lion image with his name.”

“That sounds great,” Tinker answers. “I’m kind of busy lately, though, so maybe in a few weeks?”

He wishes he could say years. When Tony suggests a day and time in late May, Tinker agrees. It will give him enough time to think of a way to get out of it.

Instead, he finds himself in Tony’s shop on the designated day and time. He figures he might as well get it over with. He tells himself he’s only a little nervous, but the truth is that he is terrified. He knows that getting a tattoo is no big deal for most dudes. But Tinker hates pain. He hates needles. What if it’s so painful he runs crying from the room?

A few days earlier, Tony had knocked on the door and showed him a drawing of a lion’s mane with the word Leo inside it. Tinker had acted as if he liked it, but what kind of idiot gets a tattoo of the name of the kid he kidnapped? At least it will be hidden on his chest. He can cover it up.

And now the time has come. When Tony directs him to take off his T-shirt, Tinker hesitates. What had he been thinking? He’d wanted to make sure he could hide the tat. But he hadn’t thought about having to take off his shirt. The last thing he wants is for anyone to see his jelly belly or his man boobs.

He tries to act like it’s no big deal, whipping his shirt off in a flash. But he feels totally naked and can’t help crossing his arms over his chest. Tony directs him to lean back on a padded contraption that reminds Tinker of something they’d have in a gym.

He’s sitting there shirtless when the daughter comes in and takes a nearby stool. Tinker can’t believe it. He waits for Tony to throw her out. Instead, he asks, “Okay if Tessa watches?”



Are you kidding? It’s the last thing he wants, but he can also tell Tony isn’t really asking. “Fine by me,” he says. “Promise you won’t tell if I cry?”

But the girl doesn’t even laugh. “It happens,” she says, serious-like. And then she smirks at her dad.

Tony is swabbing Tinker’s chest with something. Cleaning it, probably, which makes sense, he supposes. This is sort of like getting a shot, needles and all. Then Tony applies some kind of cream and Tinker spots a razor on a tray.

“You gotta shave me?”

“Oh yeah,” says Tony. “But just this one spot. It’ll grow back, don’t worry,” he says.

Tony explains that the first part of getting the tattoo is the most painful. Then Tony asks about his music preference.

“Got any Van Halen?”

“Sure do. Tessa, you want to put that on?” Tinker sees that the girl doesn’t like his choice. Good. Maybe she’ll go away.

“Runnin’ with the Devil” comes on, but it’s not nearly loud enough. When the girl asks about Leo, Tinker’s not surprised at all. But why is some girl who’s almost a teenager so interested in a kid like Leo?

“Leo’s good,” says Tinker. “He likes the fire truck you gave him at Easter.”

“Great,” she says. “It was so fun to have him.”

Ha! Tinker resists the urge to snort.

“Do you think I could go up and say hi to him while you’re getting the tattoo?”

Tinker stalls. He can’t see a way to say no. “Sure, you can pop in for just a few minutes,” he says. “But Leo probably needs his nap soon.”

“So does Leo have any friends around here?” she asks.

“Not really,” he says. “He doesn’t like to play with other kids.”

The girl falls silent then, but Tinker can tell her mind is loaded and aimed right at him.



“Did Leo ever have siblings? At Easter he mentioned a sister named Venus.”

Tinker panics at the mention of Venus. “Venus?” he asks. “Well, that’s a strange name. But, no, Leo’s mom and I never did have another baby. You can’t take what Leo says seriously. As you know, he’s not right in the head.”

Tinker’s thoughts are racing. How’d she find that out? Little snoop! Now he’s more desperate than ever to get the girl off his back. Why doesn’t her dad make her shut up? Instead, he seems perfectly fine to have his daughter torment a customer while he gets ready to stick him with a needle gun.

How did Tinker let this happen? What did he ever do?

Finally, the girl hops down from the stool by Tinker’s head. “So I’ll go check in on Leo,” she says. Tinker pulls out his apartment key and hands it to Tessa.

“I’ll see you later,” she says. “Good luck with the tattoo.”

Soon, the pain comes. Tinker shuts his eyes—he can’t watch. There’s the needle. Maybe more than one needle. He suspects that Tony hates him, so he’s probably using the thickest needles he has.

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