Ann wants a tattoo

Ann had just turned fifteen when she got it in her head that she wanted a tattoo. She had seen other girls her age get inked up and she wanted a butterfly of herself. Butterflies were her favorite animal after all.

But her mother would be a challenge to convince, she was conservative that a girl shouldn’t have a tattoo until they could provide for themselves or move out. Ann feared that her mom would reject her outright but there was no harm in asking.

One day, Ann found her mother reading a book on the couch. The girl took a deep breath and walked over to her. Her mother’s eyes lifted up from the pages of the novel and looked at Ann.

”Whatcha need, darlin’?”the woman asked.

”Mom”,replied Ann,”I want to get a tattoo”

Her mother’s eyes didn’t widened nor did she as her daughter recited reasons why she should be allowed to get a tattoo.

”And pray tell”,Ann’s mother asked,”What kind of tattoo do you want?”

Ann was surprised,”A butterfly one. Wait, are you saying I can get a tattoo?”

”I guess I have enough cash for this”,her mother replied.

Without hesitation, Ann jumped for joy and hugged her mother tightly. She couldn’t stop thanking the woman and was very excited for the day she could get a tattoo.

And that day came faster than the girl expected, in fact, her mother said they would be going to the tattoo parlor the next day. Ann couldn’t wait. Her foot tapped liberally on the car floor as her mother took the car into town.

As she watched the buildings go by, Ann was perplexed. Her mother had passed the tattoo parlor, she assured her daughter that they would go there on their way home but she had to run errands first.

Ann was unsure what errands her mum was talking about and was even more confused when the car stopped outside a barbershop. She figured her mother had an appointment with the hairdresser and went inside with her no question.

The hairdresser working there was about fifty and she was thin. Her hair was short and curled all over her head. Her voice was soft and her words were polite when she saw the customers coming in.

”Hello”, she said with a smile,”What can I do for you two”

Ann’s mother replied,”My daughter here needs a haircut”

The girl was shocked, she thought she was just getting a tattoo not a haircut. But again, she thought her long, brown hair was just getting a trim. With this assumption, she walked up to the chair and sat in it as the barber lady covered her up with a striped cape. She watched as the hairdresser secured the cape behind her neck and turn to her mother,”So, what do you want done to her hair?”

Ann still presumed that she going to receive a trim, at worst a bob.

”Be a deer and give her a shave”,mother replied.

Ann’s eyes widened,”What?!”

”Your hair would be in the way”,her mother reasoned,”You want a tattoo, don’t you?”

Ann was confused at what her mother was saying but she did want a tattoo and figured this was some sort of sick compromise. Reluctantly, the girl sat still for the hairdresser who started cutting off her long, brown hair. The hair fell down in big quantities, either on the floor or in Ann’s lap or shoulders, it was sad to see it all go.

The hairdresser didn’t stop til all of Ann’s hair was cut very short and close to her head. When it was, she picked up her clippers and revved them up. She tilted the girl’s head down slightly and went up her scalp with no guard attached to the device. So, when she was done, Ann’s head was basically bald.

Ann hated her bald head but still held out hope that her new tattoo would make all of this worth it. The barber lady used a much smaller clipper to completely rid the girl’s head of any kind of hair. She released the girl and her mother stroked her head lovingly.

The mother paid for her daughter’s shave and the two got back into the car. Ann wanted to hide her bald head but had to go into the tattoo parlor as is. The tattoo artist was hesitant to work on such a young girl but Ann’s mother had promised to get her inked.

Ann sat in a chair and couldn’t move as the artist worked. The needles poked and pricked the back of her head and she wanted to cry, she let a lone tear go down her cheek but that was it. When the poking had ceased, her mother awed the creation while her daughter could only speculate what the final product looked like.

When the tattoo was set, Ann ran into her bathroom and looked into the mirror with her peripheral vision. It was… not bad.

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