CHAPTER 1
KIERAN
“Do that again, and you’re done here, Kieran.”
“He was a homophobic cunt.”
“Regardless, you don’t stop in the middle of doing someone’s tattoo and refuse to finish.”
“And what if he said something derogatory about one of your sisters?”
Jez threw his hands up in the air, clearly exasperated with Kieran. His boss had the whole brooding, grumpy, daddy vibe going on. Not that Kieran would fuck his boss. He had some limitations. What he didn’t appreciate was his boss not backing him up.
“So, I’m supposed to just smile and carry on when he says it’s sad that AIDS didn’t kill us all off?”
“You should have come and spoken to me. Not screamed abuse at him, so he left with an outline tattooed on his arm that looks like a massive dick.”
Kieran snorted.
“It’s not funny, Kieran. Look, I get it. The guy was a prick, but we have a way of handling things like this. We don’t cause a scene in front of other customers. We had a walk-in who turned and left as soon as they heard you.”
“I had to say something.”
“Again, you need to come and talk to me. This is the third time you’ve told a customer to get fucked and kicked them out because you didn’t agree with their views.”
“It was a bit more than that.”
“This time, perhaps. But what about that woman who asked you to personalise her tattoo, and you told her to get fucked?”
“She asked me to put ‘Tory for Life’ under a portrait of her dead cat.”
Jez chuckled. “What am I gonna do with you, Kieran?”
“I think we should keep our relationship professional, boss.”
Jez rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he was smiling. Kieran knew how to charm him. Jez might look like a criminal thug, and could come across as a grumpy arsehole, but Kieran had always made him laugh. He regarded it as one of his superpowers: make people laugh and they won’t look too closely at how fucked up you are.
“Do you have any more clients today?” asked Jez.
“No. That was my last appointment, but I’m still on the rota for another two hours. I was going to cover walk-ins.”
“Just go home early. I’ll pay you for the rest of your shift.”
Kieran wanted to protest and argue because that’s who he was, but the glare from his boss told him not to push it. Kieran knew he was an excellent tattooist, but that only got you so far. Most of his clients would follow him if he left, which is probably why he hadn’t been booted out the door already. He caused a lot of drama, but he couldn’t help it. If anyone was spewing hatred of any kind, he felt compelled to call it out, but he could never control his emotions about how he did it. With homophobia, it made his blood boil. Having experienced it from his own mother and done nothing about it, he vowed never to let that shit slide ever again.
He knew many people were too scared or didn’t have the confidence to speak up and call things out. Kieran didn’t have that problem, so he had no issues leading the charge. Besides, it was easier to fight other people’s battles than deal with his own shit.
Kieran’s mood hadn’t improved by the time he got home. He shared a flat in Camden with Hassan and Sarah. They’d all met in med school. The other two were now successful doctors, but Kieran had flunked the first year and never gone back. He had no regrets. A lot had happened in his first year in London, but he now knew that medicine was no longer the path for him.
“What’s happened?” asked Hassan. The guy knew him better than anyone else.
“Told a customer to get fucked. Jez balled me out and sent me home early.”
Hassan snorted. “What did they say?”
“You know. The usual. The gays should have all died of AIDS. I was mid-tattoo when I booted him out.”
“Ouch. Are you okay?”
