Chapter sixteen #2
“Dreco.” He was laughing so hard he could barely talk. “You look like you about to cry.”
“Man shut up.”
The artist laughed too then the needle touched my skin.
“Damn!”
The word flew out before I could stop it.
Rico nearly fell out of his chair laughing. “There it is,” he said.
I glared at him. “That shit hurt.”
“I thought you was tough though.”
“I am.”
“Ssshhhiiid! Don’t sound like it,” he said.
I rolled my eyes while the tattoo artist continued working. A few minutes later the worst part was over. The pain wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. The waiting was over. Finally, the artist leaned back.
“Take a look,” he said.
I stood and walked over to the mirror. For a second, I just stared at it. The crown sat cleanly below the name, Dreco… simple and sharp.
A smile spread across my face. I couldn’t stop it. Felt like I had just got my driver’s license all over again.
“What you think?” I asked as I looked at Rico.
“It’s hard,” he said as he nodded.
“Yeah.”
For several seconds, I just stood there staring at it. I couldn’t believe it… sixteen years old with my driver’s license and my first tattoo. The day felt unreal.
As we headed back outside, Rico draped an arm across my shoulder. “Big day for ya huh?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“You got your license.”
I smiled. “Yep.”
“You got your first tattoo,” he said.
I looked down at my wrist again. “Yeah.”
Rico grinned. Then pointed towards the Charger. “Now let’s get back before Caine thinks I kidnapped you.”
I laughed hard as I remembered what Aunt Wanda said earlier. As I climbed behind the wheel, I caught another glimpse of the tattoo… the crown and the name, Dreco.
I took a picture of my tatt because there was one person I wanted to show this to. I sent the pic to Devyn and waited for her response.
Devyn ??: WTH! You got a tattoo?
Me: Yeah. You like it?
Devyn ??: Who is Dreco?
Me: It’s a nickname that Rico and the guys been calling me. You know… my street name
Devyn ??: You got a street name?
Me: Yeah
Devyn ??: For what?
Me: Cuz Dylan sounds too soft
Devyn ??: No, it doesn’t
Me: Yeah, it does
Devyn ??: Whatever DYLAN!
Me: So, you don’t like the tatt?
Devyn ??: I didn’t think you wanted that crap on your body
Me: It’s on my wrist Dev
Devyn ??: For now! Next thing you know you’ll have two sleeves and your back and chest covered too
Me: Now you going too far. It’s one tatt
Devyn ??: One tatt for now!
Me: You know something I don’t?
Devyn ??: Do you see the tattoos that my daddy and Rico and his boys have?
Me: That don’t mean I’ma be like them
Devyn ??: Uh huh. Tell me anything
Me: Stop trippin
Devyn ??: I’ll text you later
Me: Yeah. Aight
I released a heavy sigh and Rico looked over at me. “What? Devyn don’t like the tatt?” he asked.
“She talkin’ ‘bout I’ma have a whole bunch all over my body like you and her dad,” I said.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing… except that shit hurts like hell!” I admitted. “Next one I get gon be when I’m twenty-one and can get drunk as fuck!” I laughed.
Rico laughed too as I admired the ink on my wrist. For the first time, it felt like I was becoming somebody. Not just Dylan Foster, the kid no one cared about. Not just the kid from Aunt Wanda’s apartment. Not just a lil nigga working for Caine Vaughn, but something more.
I didn’t know exactly who that person was yet, but I was excited to find out.
Later that afternoon, I was still looking at my license when Rico walked into the garage.
“You done admiring yourself?” he asked with a laugh.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Man, leave me alone.”
Rico laughed as he tossed a small package onto the workbench. “I need you to make a run.”
I looked up surprised. “Me?” I questioned.
“Nah. The other nigga we call Dreco.”
I laughed. “Aight.”
Then it hit me while I looked around. Nobody else was moving to grab the package. Nobody else seemed like they were getting ready to go anywhere.
“You want me to go by myself?” I asked. “Seriously?”
Rico leaned against the workbench. “Dreco.”
The use of my street name immediately made me smile. “What?”
“You licensed now.”
I smiled. “Yeah, you right.”
“And the car is insured,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“So why wouldn’t you go by yourself?”
My smile widened because this was the first time nobody was talking about riding with me to supervise. I was being trusted to do this shit all by myself.
Rico tossed me the keys and I caught them automatically. “Don’t make me regret it,” he said.
“I won’t.”
“You hit something and I’m blaming you.”
“Who else you gon blame if I’m going by myself?” I laughed. “I got it.”
A few minutes later, I was behind the wheel by myself… no Rico, no passenger and no one to instruct me. There was just me and I couldn’t stop smiling.
While I was sitting at a red light I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick picture. Then sent it.
Me: Guess what
The response came faster than I expected.
Dev ??: What?
I grinned.
Me: Just guess
Dev ??: You got another tattoo? ??
I laughed so hard I nearly dropped my phone.
Me: No ??
Dev ??: Thank God
I rolled my eyes.
Me; Guess again
A few seconds later…
Dev ??: Wait… are you driving?
The smile instantly returned to my face.
Me: Yeah
Her response was immediate.
Dev ??: WHAT?!
Me: I got my license today
For almost thirty seconds there was nothing. I rolled through the green light then my phone practically exploded with text after text coming in back-to-back.
I didn’t have a chance to check my phone again until I made it to my destination. Once I got there, I went inside and delivered the package, took the money and headed back to the car. Then I left and once I got to the next red light, I opened the texts from Devyn.
Dev ??: DYLAN!!!!
Dev ??: YOU PASSED?!?!
Dev ??: I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!
Dev ??: OH MY GOD!!!
Dev ??: NOW YOU DOING BIG THINGS!!
I started laughing because this was the exact reaction I had been looking for earlier.
Me: Yeah
Dev ??: Why didn’t you tell me?
I shook my head then typed…
Me: I tried
The typing bubble disappeared, reappeared then disappeared again. Finally…
Dev ??: Sorry. The tattoo distracted me
I laughed.
Me: Clearly
Dev ??: Congratulations!
Me: Thank you
Dev ??: Did Rico take you?
Me: Yep. Woke me up early this morning too
Dev ??: See! I told you all that practicing would pay off! I am so PROUD of you!
The message made me smile really hard because she had always told me that. Back when Rico first started teaching me and after I complained every time he made me drive. Even when I thought parallel parking was impossible, Devyn had always said I’d get it eventually.
She continued to cheer me on through it all. Now here I was, a licensed driver in the state of Georgia. I was finally growing up and once again, Devyn was still cheering me on from a whole other continent.
Me: I thought I was gonna fail
Dev ??: You passed even though I wasn’t there. That just proves that you can do anything you put your mind to
Me: Maybe
Dev ??: But I like pretending I helped
I laughed out loud.
Me: You did help
The message sat there for a few seconds before she replied.
Dev ??: I’m so proud of you, Dylan
Just six simple words, but for some reason they hit harder than everything else she had said. It hit way harder than the congratulations, than the excitement, or those crazy ass emojis.
Because Devyn wasn’t the type to hand out praise for no reason. One thing I knew was that if she said she was proud, she meant it. I stared at the message for a moment before putting my phone down.
The light turned green and I pressed the gas. And for the first time all day, I realized something. Getting the license felt good. The tattoo was cool. And driving by myself felt amazing.
But hearing Devyn say she was proud of me… that might’ve been my favorite part of all.