Sketch by Laramie Briscoe

package and put them on. You better be wearing them when you get here.
    I smirk to myself as I turn the phone on silent and put it in my back pocket.
    “What’s up, my man?” I ask as I put my cigarette out and get up to greet my friend.
    “Things are good,” he says as he claps my hand and pulls me in for a half-hug. “How are things going with you?”
    “It’s going good,” I tell him. “Nina and I have been having some problems, but we’re working things out.” It feels good to tell someone what I’ve been through and to admit that things are looking up.
    Reaper grins at me. “Gotta water that grass, my man. Sometimes it’s hard to get that alone time, but you’ve gotta do it. Even worse when you have a cock-blocking son, but you do what you have to.”
    I laugh as he mentions the child he and Harmony had almost a year ago. “How’s EJ?”
    “Dude, he looks so much like me it’s fucking scary.” He’s reaching into his back pocket, pulling out his phone and showing me a picture of his son. “He acts like me too. I’m already dreading when he’s a teenager, I know what a fuck face I was.” He laughs.
    “At least you know what to look forward to.” I clap him on the back as we make our way into the building.
    I go into the room off the main area and grab the drawing I’ve done. Reaper is making his way around the shop, saying hi to all the employees. There’s one person getting inked, and he’s looking up in awe. Reaper makes a point to say hi to him too before he walks back over to me. “We’ll go in here, like normal,” I tell him. I don’t like to ink him out in the main area—too many gawkers.
    “Let’s see what you got for me. You know I trust you to make it badass.”
    Taking a deep breath, I show him the tattoo and wait to hear what he’s going to say. I reach over and run my finger along the sheet music. “I left this blank; in case you and the wife have more kids, but I can easily fill it in with some shading if that’s not in the cards.”
    I don’t like getting into his personal life, but tattooing is personal, and when I do have to delve deeper, I do my best to be respectful about it.
    “We do plan on having more. Not right now, obviously.”
    “Because of the cock blocking.” I laugh.
    “That too, but she’s decided to work on a new album, and that’s tiring enough without being pregnant. We’re thinking about trying again when EJ turns two.”
    “That seems to be a good age. Then you won’t have two in diapers.”
    Reaper shakes his head. “Oh fuck, I know. And at least one sleeping through the night.”
    I laugh as he shivers. “So if this looks good, I’m gonna put it on some transfer. Go ahead and take your shirt off and lie face down on the table.”
    “How many sessions are we looking at?” he asks as he lets his body go lax and gets comfortable on the table. I prep his back and then grab some transfer paper.
    “Depends on what we get done today, but I’m thinking three, maybe four, depending on how I feel about the shading.”
    “I’m ready. I told Hannah I was doing this up big.”
    I bring the paper over and lay it on his back. “Doing it up big is an understatement. This is gonna cover your whole back.” I lay it down and get it situated how I like it. “Go check it out in the mirrors and let me know if that’s where you want it.”
    “Looks good,” he confirms, lying down on the table again.
    I get my colors set up and put my gloves on. “Let’s get to work.”
    *
    I glance up at the clock on the wall and see it’s nearing six o’clock. True to my prediction, Reaper has sat for the whole thing, not once moving a muscle, being a model client. “I’m gonna finish this one section, and we’ll be done for the day. You good with that?”
    “Yeah.” He nods. “I’m starting to get sore.”
    “You’re definitely going to feel it later on tonight and tomorrow,” I tell him as I finish up and start patching him up. “Might want to