CHAPTER 9

            I woke up fairly early the next morning, before the sun even came up. The first night went well actually, I slept sound even though I got the chills in the middle of the night. I'll have to remember to dress warmer tonight. I was surprised to find out that I wasn't even hungry, after not eating the night before, I'd surely have thought I'd be hungry by now. I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I took my book of poems to the living room, laid on my stomach, and lit a couple of candles and read by candlelight.

            After about an hour the sun started to come up, bringing with it Katie and Maria. Katie was all dressed and ready when she came out, "Morning Taya, how'd you sleep?"

            I closed the book, and rolled over to look at her, "I slept well, thanks."

            Katie grinned at me, "Today's the day you become official."

            I smiled at her and nodded in reply, "Yep, my first tattoo."

            Katie laughed at me, "And before you ask, it does hurt. It feels like scratching a sunburn."

            I shrugged my shoulders, she didn't know what I did to myself, "I'm sure I can take it."

            Katie looked down at me and raised an eyebrow, "Uh huh, I bet you can't get the mark without making a sound."

            I sat up and put the book on the floor beside me, "Oh yeah, how much you want to bet?"

            Katie bit her lip, "I'm tough and I can't even do it. Alright, I bet you five dollars, since that's all I have."

            I nodded my head and smiled, I'd never take it from her, but I needed her to have something, "Alright, it's a deal."

            She didn't know that I could turn off pain like a faucet, which was the only way I survived the years of my parents beating me, the years of my self-injury, she'd find out now. I almost felt sorry for her, knowing that she couldn't win.

            Katie laughed and shook her head, "Alright, it's your money. Let me make sure Maria is up and then I'll take you down to get marked."

            "Maria isn't coming?" I asked as I stood up, holding my book tightly, "I thought you two were inseparable?"

            Katie shook her head, "No, we both live our own lives, we just hang out together a lot. Plus she's got a job to get to."

            I raised my eyebrow, "A job?"

            Katie smiled at me, "I'll explain later..."

             She walked down to the end of the hall and went into her room to get Maria. I went back to my room and put my book away, hiding it under the mattress so that no one would run off with it. The door didn't even shut, let alone lock. I hoped that I could make it trough the marking without making a sound, I was sure I could. I knew it worked before, there really wasn't a reason to doubt it now.

             I stood at the front door and waited for Katie. It didn't take her more than a few minutes to come out, "Alright, are you ready?"

            I nodded my head as I opened the door, motioning her out before me, "After you."

            I followed Katie out, pulling the door behind me. The morning air was cool and crisp, with a small amount of humidity in the air as well. The combination made for a cold and damp morning, one that you would definitely want to be indoors for.

            Katie fell back slightly so she was walking right next to me on the sidewalk, "The guy who does this is great, he's even considered part of our gang, even though he wont get marked. He has to run all over the city, so it wouldn't be easy for him. He does really good work though."

            I shrugged my shoulders as I counted the cracks on the sidewalk as we crossed them, "So, why mark yourself then? You could go unmarked and then just not have to worry about rival gangs."

            Katie shook her head at me, "No, you'd still have to worry about rival gangs, and you'd have to worry about yours as well. By getting marked, it's like signing a contract, saying that you're part of that gang, and you pledge your life to that gang."

            "Couldn't you do that without getting marked?" I asked as I looked over at her.

            "Are you getting cold feet here?" Katie said grinning wide.

           I shook my head back and forth, "Oh no, not me. I just thought it would be easier, or safer to do it without the tattoos."

           "No, it's been tried before. It doesn't work," Katie said as she shook her head and stared at the ground, "It's a loyalty issue. If you aren't marked, it's like saying you're free game. Gangs can't trust you not to betray them by getting involved with other gangs."

             I started counting the cracks again, "Okay, I think I get it."

           Katie turned to me again, "You know about wolves?"

           I looked at her with a confused look, "Wolves? Like canine wolves?"

           Katie nodded back, "Yeah, canine wolves."

             I nodded slightly as I gave her a weird look, "Yeah, I do... why?"

             "Okay, I don't know if they've already explained this to you, but I will again," Katie said as she spoke, using body language and strong hand gestures along with her words, "Okay, wolves live in family groups called packs, right?"

           I nodded, still counting the cracks in the sidewalk, but listening close to every word she said.

             "Alright, each pack has their own scent, so the pack knows what wolves belong to its pack," Katie said without even looking up at me, "Now, if the wolves didn't have their own pack scents, they would be able to move around between any number of packs without getting killed. Each pack would accept it, not knowing which pack it actually belonged to."

           I nodded again. I already knew what she was talking about before she even started, but I let her finish.

           "So, our pack has our scent," she said as she pulled up her sleeve and pointed to her tattoo, "and that tells the other packs who we belong to. It gives our pack the ability to trust us not to mess around with other packs."

           "Okay, I see now," I replied, tripping slightly as I attempted to step up onto the sidewalk, shocking me into becoming alert again.

           Katie just nodded at me and smiled, "Alright then. And here we are."

           It didn't seem too bad, actually. It was a real tattoo parlor, and looked professional enough to me. I followed Katie as we walked inside and downstairs to the basement. The room looked pretty cool, too. There was all sorts of artwork on the walls, pictures of available tattoos and whatnot. They even did piercing down here.

            Katie walked up to a nice looking older man who was covered in tattoos and piercings, "Hey Austin, this is Taya, she's here to get marked."

            He nodded at Katie and then turned to me and held out his hand, "Well hello Taya, I see you're yet another one joining this wonderful family."

            I reached out and shook his hand, "I am, yes."

             Austin motioned for me to have a seat, so I did. I watched as he started pulling things out and setting them on the tray next to me. The ink, the needles, all sterile and safe. It all looked fascinating to me, actually. All this stuff for one tattoo.

            I took off my sweatshirts and handed them to Katie, leaving me only in a black tank top and my arm bands on both wrists. Austin turned to me and smiled, "You seem to know what to do, don't you?"

            I smiled at him, "Just figured it was coming. Hey, by the way, do you give gang discounts on piercings?"

            Katie looked at me and raised an eyebrow. Austin turned to me and started cleaning my arm, "Tell you what, I'll pierce you for free, you just need to buy the studs."

            I grinned and reached in my pocket, "How much for an eyebrow and tongue?"

            Austin sat back and looked at me, "Well, two huh? I think that would be around fifty dollars for both."

            Katie shook her head at me, "Wow, you really are getting yourself done up, aren't you?"

            I nodded my head and smiled at her, "Yeah, why not, I've always planned on getting them eventually anyway."

            Austin had finished cleaning my arm and was setting up the ink, "Well, I think we'll do the piercings after the tattoo is done, alright?"

            I nodded my head at him and watched as he grabbed my arm and started. I shut my mind off to any pain like I had done many times before. It was mild irritation to me, but not more than I could brush off. I relaxed my hands an just smiled at Katie, who was now watching me in horror.

            "That doesn't hurt you?" Katie asked as she chewed on her fingernails, "It was murder for me."

            I just shook my head, "No, not really. I can feel it, but it doesn't bother me. Kind of like what laughing gas does to you I guess."

           Katie shook her head in disbelief as I sat relaxed in the chair as if I was just hanging out talking, "So, you really are going to get pierced, huh?"

             Austin flashed me a smile, and I smiled back at him, "Sure, why not. Fifty dollars for both isn't bad."

            Katie started giggling, "Ooh they're going to love you now. Piercings are always good to them."

            Katie had a seat in the chair next to me and started looking around the room, "Maybe I should get pierced, too?"

            Austin kept his eyes on my arm, but spoke up, "If you'd like it, I'll leave it at fifty and you can have the third piercing for free?"

            I bit my lower lip and smiled at Katie who's mouth was now wide open as she looked at me, "Come on, Katie, what do you say?"

            She shook her head slightly and smiled, "Um... matching eyebrows okay?"

            I laughed, "Of course! Couldn't have it any other way."

            "You know the guys aren't allowed to have any piercings," Katie said as she started turning her chair back and forth, "It's a hazard to have anything like that for the guys. We girls on the other hand are encouraged to get them. We don't go out and get into fights, so we're allowed."

            Katie grabbed a magazine and started reading, so I turned to Austin and watched his work. Just the look of it had me thinking that this really should hurt. It made me glad to have the power that I did, the power that most people can never have. I couldn't control pain, but I could control just how much it bothered me.

            It took some time for Austin to finish my arm. Katie had been through two magazines, and I had been through one, but it was finally done. I listened carefully to the aftercare instructions, and watched him bandage it up. I got to see just how it looked before he put the bandage on, and I can say I was very happy with it.

            "Alright, how about we get your eyebrow pierced first?" Austin said as he was cleaning up the tools used for the tattoo.

            I smiled, "Sure, I'll be able to talk longer that way."

            Austin laughed at that, and so did Katie. I watched as he set out more tools on the tray, and two bar studs unscrewed and waiting. He then cleaned my left eyebrow where the piercing was going to be made, and then marked two spots with a marker. Katie got up and stood next to me, wanting to watch what was going to happen to her before it was time. He had me look in the mirror to check out the placing. I looked at Katie in question and she nodded, so I nodded back.

            "Alright, you're going to feel a lot of pressure as it goes in, and sort of a popping feeling when it comes out," he said as he pushed it through, quickly following it with one of the bars.

            Katie flinched as she watched, but it really didn't hurt. I felt the pressure, and that was about it. I looked it over in the mirror and smiled, "I like it, I really do."

            As Austin was getting everything set up for my tongue, I turned to Katie who looked almost like she was in shock, "Hey Katie, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Do you still want to do this?"

            Austin had me rinse my mouth out and then dried my tongue. He explained the whole procedure again, and went through my tongue and followed with the bar. I now had two piercings and a tattoo to take care of, but I thought it was worth it. After all Austin didn't even ask our ages.

             Katie looked at me and smiled, "Yeah, I do want to do this."

            I stuck out my tongue and looked at it in the mirror, it was already starting to swell and was a bit sore. I just had to remember I couldn't talk too much.

            As Austin was cleaning up the mess and getting ready for Katie, I stood up and showed Katie into the chair. I smiled at her as she watched Austin set up for her like he had done to me. I held Katie's hand, and she squeezed as he pierced it, but she didn't make a sound. It was all over in a matter of seconds.

            Katie looked at it in the mirror and then looked at me, I just gave her a thumbs up and smiled. She grinned as she looked it over in the mirror at every angle. I pulled out the fifty that I had promised to Austin and handed it over. Katie and I both listened to the aftercare instructions, each of us taking a copy written down, and headed out the door. I even managed to say 'thank you' as we left. Katie was pretty shocked.

            Katie smiled at me as we headed back to the gang house, "This is so awesome, I'm glad I had someone to do this with. This actually means something to me."

            I nodded my head, "I like it, too."

            Katie laughed as I tried to sound it all out, "Alright, we'll take care of this aftercare stuff at the gang house every day."

           I nodded in reply and went back to counting the cracks in the sidewalk as we headed back. I put my hand over the bandage on my arm and smiled. It was official now, and the mark was in my skin. I was now part of something bigger, something special. I looked up at Katie, who seemed to be zoning out, and couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. I also had a friend.

           I followed Katie the whole way home, counting around three-thousand cracks between the parlor and the gang house. Nobody was outside today.

            Katie stopped me and turn to look at me, "They'll love this! And we match now too."

            I smiled, "Yeah, we do."

            Katie shook her head, "You know, you don't sound much different than normal, I'm amazed you can still talk okay."

            I shrugged my shoulders, "It's not all that hard, I just have to get more control of my tongue now."

             Katie grabbed me by the wrist lightly and pulled me inside, "Hey boys, it's official now!"

            Keegan came up to me and looked me over, checking out my bandage and then over my piercings, "Ooh and she's pierced, too."

            Ethan came up behind me, "Wow, you two have matching piercings."

            I stuck my tongue out at Keegan and smiled, "But I have the tongue."

            Keegan and Ethan both stood next to each other, and looked us over again. Keegan then walked back into the living room, "Hey Spencer, come check this out!"

            Keegan came back with Spencer in tow. Spencer looked at me, at Katie, and then back to me, "Wow Taya, I never thought anyone could get Katie to get pierced. And you got yourself pierced, too."

            "Twice," Katie said as she had me stick out my tongue.

            Spencer nodded in approval, "You are one of us now, welcome to the family."

            Keegan and Ethan went through the house telling everyone about 'the new girl'. Spencer nodded at Katie and walked back into the other room. We had both gotten his approval, and I was welcomed into the family. This day was the best day I'd had since before my parents died.

            Katie dragged me into the crowded living room, where the guys cheered us on as we walked in. She handed me a beer and grabbed herself one, "Here, this calls for a celebration."

           Katie opened hers, so I opened mine. I'd never had beer, I'd never really wanted beer, but this was a party.

           Keegan was sitting in a chair in the corner and raised his can in the air, "A toast to the new girl!"

           Katie and I both followed his lead, as did everyone in the room. I watched as everyone started drinking, and I joined them. This was a party, my party. This is my day.