The girl serving in the book shop has a diamond tattoo on the middle finger on her left hand, just below the top knuckle. About where a real ring would sit. It is only a blue outline but it looks to be at least two carats and has little radiating exclamation marks to show how sparkly it is.
Someone must love her a lot to pay for a tattoo like that.
As it is not on her ring finger, perhaps it is a friendship tattoo, or maybe an eternity one. After all, nothing says eternity like a tattoo. Not even the funeral parlour can undo what the tattoo parlour has wrought. (The crematorium, on the other hand, has the final laugh.)
Perhaps she is saving her ring finger for a wedding tattoo, maybe a simple blue ink band, or one with her lover’s name in it. For the wedding, she will also choose earring tattoos, perhaps a solitaire, or something tribal. Around her neck will be a formal tattoo, echoing the antique jewellery worn by her grandmother.
Her boyfriend wanted to give her a Cartier watch tattoo (the classic Tank model) but she laughed and called him a creep. She is not yet ready for that kind of commitment, and opted for a Casio Baby-G tattoo instead.
In the street, two girlfriends walk and talk. One has “CARPE DIEM” tattooed down the back of her left calf. She also has some colour on her upper left arm, not quite a half sleeve. Some black ink curls out from the neck of her frock. Her friend has less body art but does have a startlingly large one on the side of her right lower leg. It appears to be an animal, perhaps a tiger or a crouching dragon? They walk and talk and seem proud of their bodies, showing off their tattoos. Seizing the day and marking it.
Entering the building, the tall blonde has some fine Japanese lettering on the back of her neck. Black, spidery kanji. What does it say? Carpe diem? It looks classy, like something Angelina Jolie would have on the back of her neck.
The woman in the fruit and vegetable market has three numbers tattooed on the inside of her left forearm. They could be the birth dates of her offspring. Permanent reminders of the temporary insanity wrought by children. These tattoos are also reminiscent of Ms Jolie’s. In Angelina’s case they represent the latitude and longitude of her children’s places of birth. Or is it their places of adoption? In any case, these are the tattoos of a wealthy woman who wants to remind people of the fact. The fruit market woman is just happy to think of her kids whenever she reaches for a plastic bag or gives a customer his change.
The executive at the bus stop has a small blue and yellow bird tattooed above her right ankle. It only comes out in summer when she wears a skirt and strappy shoes. It is as though it migrates for the winter. The bird speaks of an earlier time, when life was simpler and dress choices didn’t involve suits and scarves and briefcases. Her bird is trained now, it just sits there quietly, not making a sound or a flutter. Riding on the bus with her to the city.
