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Elvie flips her off.
She goes around to her side of the car while Elvie kisses me. He tastes like cigar and chicken. We had dinner at Miss Darcy’s Grill. I wipe my lipstick off his mouth. He has the good sense not to complain this time.
He even kisses me again on the cheek. “Stay warm, Gwennie.”
“Break a leg. Not both, though. Or I’ll have to send you away on an ass’s ass.”
This is Elvie’s and my private joke. One time I told him I would always love him, even with no arms and legs. It was meant to be funny. Romantic, dark funny—but funny. He said he would love me always, too. But when I got too old and ugly to be photographed with him, he’d send me away on a mule’s ass.
“Such a comedian,” he says now. He runs a hand along my hair. “Be safe, now.”
“For sure. You too. Talk to you soon?”
“I’ll call tomorrow.”
I blow him a kiss and climb up into Jamie’s silver Caddy, bound for my favorite place on earth.
SEVENTEEN
Barrett
November 6, 2015
“Hey, man.” I hold my phone against my ear and lean against the bathroom wall. “You probably won’t remember me, but you did a tat for me about three years ago.”
“Yeah, man. Sounds right. I’ve been here since ’09.”
“It was a snowflake.”
“Yeah?”
“A little snowflake on my neck, kind of near my hairline in the back.”
“I think I remember you. Real big guy? Dark hair?”
I nod, and blink into the mirror. “That was me.” In my line of work, it’s wise to assume you’re going to stick out. When you’re six-foot-three, you have to.
“So what can I help you with?” he asks.
“I was wondering if you drew it.”
“That snowflake?”
“Yeah.”
“I draw them all. So yeah. All my shit is custom.”
“You give them out a lot?” I ask.
“You got a problem, man?”
“No. No problem.” I inhale slowly, hoping to bring my voice up from where it goes down deep when I’m thinking hard about something. So I don’t sound pissed off. “I saw a girl the other day—same tat. I was wondering if that means she got it up in Breckenridge.”
“Exact same?”
“Yeah. You do the same snowflake on everybody?”
He hums, as if he’s thinking. “For a while I did. Last year I started doing another one, seven pointed, kind of artsy. Gotta keep it fresh.”
