Wake Him with a Kiss
By Nell Iris
“Get your ass in here right this second, Lo, or I’ll drag you by the beard.”
All sounds stop in the tattoo shop as the loud and clear voice cuts through the ambient noise. My colleague Johnny’s machine stops buzzing, his client and her friend quiet in the middle of a sentence, Tanya, the shop manager, slows her rapid typing on the keyboard until she comes to a complete halt, and I look up from cleaning my station.
The speaker is a tiny Asian woman dressed in a fashionable power-suit, sky-high heels, and with the shiniest and sleekest ponytail I’ve ever seen. She has the person she’s addressing in tow, her fingers wrapped around his wrist in a secure grip. As someone with a beard myself, I’m happy she’s not following through on her threat.
I blink at t
