Chapter 14 #2
Around all of this, as defined by Ainsley’s signage, had been set up dozens of vendor booths and demonstration areas catering to both the body-modification and the hippie wellness crowd, which made for quite the interesting Venn diagram of decor.
Cardboard skull cut-outs blinked red LED eyes next to racks of magnetic bracelets that aligned chakras or communed with foxes.
Vibrant tattoo flash art gleamed from black velvet curtains, contrasting delightfully with a cheerful display of herbal bath bombs with healing properties.
And the people made it even better. A lace-clad woman was affixing a rock-climbing harness before preparing to launch herself into the middle of a rotating ink display, where presumably she’d spend the day like a spinning tattooed mermaid.
Next to her, two women with Rapunzel-esque hair extensions were arguing over a plant wall decorated entirely with microgreens.
Zoey snapped a surreptitious photo as inspiration for the selfie wall at The Smoothie Maven.
Boppy bluegrass music played quietly over the mall sound system – although not for long. There was a whole line-up of performers set to do their thing. According to a billboard stretched between two giant cardboard roses, Wall of Knobs were set to headline.
‘Ooh, and Ship of Theseus.’ Nick perused the poster, which Ainsley had done a spectacular job on. ‘I love them. Although are they really Ship of Theseus now that they don’t have any of their original band members?’
Zoey quirked an eyebrow. ‘These are the philosophical questions of our times. Well, and of Plutarch’s times.’
They picked their way along the glossy mall floors, Nick clearly thinking that said floors would be fun to slide around on your socks, which funnily enough was exactly what today’s Ice-Skating 101 involved, explained a passing InkWell guide. You had to work your way up to skates.
‘Booth 33,’ muttered Zoey, as though the location of her booth was a great mystery, even though she and Nick had set most of it up the previous evening. Her rolly wagon kalunked along behind her, whacking into the odd display and occasionally terrorising a mall walker. ‘Aha. Here we are.’
Zoey wheeled the wagon around behind the Smoothie Maven cart and started unpacking the jars of pre-blended smoothies, arranging them in tidy rows based on colour.
Nick helped, only pretending once to put them too high up for Zoey to reach.
He relented immediately when he saw her scowl, popping some decorative fruits and flowers up on the higher shelves behind the cart instead.
‘Thanks again for taking over for Terriffany. I’m sure you’d probably prefer to be doing … mushroom stuff.’
‘Mushroom stuff?’ Nick sounded delighted at the very concept of this. ‘That sounds very illegal. I would love to hear what you think mushroom stuff entails.’
Before Zoey could come up with a fitting reply, Reba came strutting over, brandishing her half-eaten cheese toastie. Her purple Doc Martens squeaked on the tiles.
‘Did I hear someone say mushroom stuff?’ she bellowed.
‘No, wait, it’s smoothie girl again. Have you thought about putting magic mushrooms in those?
Maeve never went for it, but I bet you’d make bank.
Especially with this audience. And it’s Portland.
No one’s going to narc on you. You can buy mushroom chocolate online these days.
Just be careful if you’re a chocoholic like me, because things can go sideways fast. Like the walls. And your sense of embodiment.’
Zoey blinked, trying to process this. Meanwhile, Reba picked up a jar of taro smoothie and squinted at the purple mixture. ‘Hmm, I’ve got a tie-dye that matches this one. Back in a tick.’
Polishing off the rest of her grilled-cheese sandwich, she squeaked off to a huge tent with a tie-dyed canopy. Dyer on the Mountain, proclaimed a hand-painted sign that Zoey suspected was older than she was. Ainsley needed to pop over to touch it up.
‘Here you go, love.’ Reba thrust a purple bookbag at Zoey. It was printed with the text Read or Dye and embellished with bookish ornaments. ‘And a tie for your man here. Get it? A tie-dye.’
‘I knew I liked you, Reba,’ said Nick. He poked his tongue out in concentration as he tied the tie over his Movie Madness T-shirt.
‘How’s that?’ he said, showing off the vibrant tie, which somehow looked good on him, because of course it did.
‘You can wear it to your wedding,’ said Reba. ‘I know a girl, if it comes to that. And a guy who does funerals, if it comes to that.’
‘All the important bases covered,’ said Zoey. Who was this woman?
‘Ah! And I’ve got something for this good girl here.
’ Reba stooped with a groan and the snap-crackle-pop of ageing joints.
The huge silver rings on her fingers flashed as she gently tied a bandana around Alice’s neck.
‘Oh, but she’s cute. Let me take a photo.
No, wait, that’s my banking app. And that’s …
oh, now I’m locked out. Technology! This is why Gracie handles all this stuff when we’re on the road together.
I hit the wrong button so often it’s a wonder I haven’t time-travelled. ’
Zoey snapped a few quick shots of Alice on her phone. ‘Here. I’ll text these to you. And I’ll flag down Gracie next time she comes past.’
‘You’re a dear. Oop! Punters! Gotta jog!’ Reba hurried back to her tent to greet a trio of punk women whose skin was as brightly patterned as her garments.
Zoey shot Nick a wry grin. ‘I’m going to need a Pep in My Step smoothie to recover from that. Although it’s nice to meet a friend of Maeve’s.’
And it was. It made Maeve feel real again, instead of just a memory Zoey was trying to keep alive through the business.
‘She’s great,’ agreed Nick. ‘Reminds me of my gran. Eighty-one and still tearing it up on the boules green. Makes a mean shepherd’s pie, too. Actually, can you text me that picture of Alice to send to her?’
Zoey was always fascinated by these glimpses into Nick’s family tree.
Where Zoey’s family tree was a stick that was decomposing on the forest floor, his was like one of the huge conifers at Laurelhurst Park: it stretched on forever, yet somehow felt close, tight.
She could barely imagine what it might be like to have family members you wanted to share little moments of your day with.
Nick chuckled. ‘She came right back with a picture of her cat wearing a bee beanie. A bee-nie.’
‘Remind me never to challenge your gran to a duel. Or any of those grans,’ said Zoey, pointing.
In addition to the InkWell shoppers, the mall was starting to grow busy with elderly mall walkers in bright runners and matching tracksuits. It was quite the juxtaposition.
Zoey checked her watch. ‘I wonder if Joaquin’s going to make it in time.’
Her roommate had a cool-looking set-up over by a pretzel stand, which as olfactory experiences went was hard to beat.
For weeks, Joaquin had been banging on about trying out their new vegan inks to a fresh audience, and they’d put in a huge degree of effort with their booth, which resembled a miniature version of the Inkstigators shop off Hawthorne.
Nick followed her gaze. ‘Why, thinking about getting a tattoo?’
Zoey rubbed the spot on her wrist where the temporary tattoo that Joaquin had applied had all but rubbed off. Only a few tiny flecks of ink remained – the stuff was more stubborn than henna.
‘Maybe?’ She shrugged. ‘I think I’m the only person in Portland without tattoos. You know, I was walking on Broadway once, and this old guy pulled over and shouted, “You’re not from here, are you? No tattoos!”’
Nick nodded sagely. ‘The aesthetic shibboleth.’
‘I just haven’t found something I really want. That I could commit to having on my body for life. What about when I get old and wrinkly?’
‘Then you’ll be old and wrinkly.’ Nick shrugged.
‘I suppose I don’t worry too much about what my future self would think.
I’m young-ish and not-wrinkly now, and this will be the youngest and not-wrinkliest I’ll ever be for the rest of my life.
If something brings me joy or delights me, then why not? ’
Zoey considered. This was a reasonably compelling argument.
‘Do yours all have meaning?’ she asked, thinking of the trees and birds that ribboned his arms.
‘Some,’ said Nick. ‘The trees are the view from my parents’ house growing up, and I have Lucy here on my forearm.’ He pressed two fingers to the stylised red Aussie on his arm. ‘But some are just things I like, or that make my heart happy in some way.’
His dark hair flopped as he angled his head in the way that Zoey had learned meant that he was going to suggest something she was absolutely going to say no to. ‘You and I should get a Frog and Toad.’
Zoey blinked. Matching tattoos? Wasn’t it too early for matching tattoos? But then, it was Portland. People got matching tattoos on their first date. Or if there was a two-for-one deal. Or just because it was a Tuesday and they were waiting for their cheap movie at the Bagdad Theater to start.
People did. But not Zoey. Zoey had never committed to a tattoo because she’d always been afraid that somehow she’d betray herself.
Let herself down with a poor choice or something she’d regret.
Adding a whole other person to this situation seemed even more fraught.
What if it all went wrong, and for the rest of her life she’d look at her foolishness with regret?
‘I …’ That was as much as she could manage right now. ‘Maybe?’
‘It’s just ink, Zoey,’ said Nick gently. ‘But it’s also your body. You do whatever’s right for you.’
Zoey nodded, turning her attention to a woman in an ecru romper who’d just sidled up, a giant ribbon tied around her hair and a straw bag containing a silky terrier hanging from her wrist. She wore the sort of makeup that looked like no makeup, but that you knew had taken a solid hour of painting and contouring.