Chapter 168 – The Serpent Tattoo – Ellie Daniels

Holly reached out to me. It was only a short message, but it meant a lot to me. Her message said ‘I never stopped caring about you’. It was amazing that something this short and sweet could send waves of emotions through me. Yet I was plagued by mixed feelings. I couldn’t find the words for a response.

The feeling that stood out to me the most was just how relieved I was to hear from her again. I always knew that she was doing her own thing, at her own school, but it was still nice to know that she was out there somewhere. For these past several months I had been living as though she fell off the side of the Earth.

Holly was just fine, and Zara was with her. So why did I feel so confused? Isn’t this what I wanted? I couldn’t help but to wonder what Opal would say. No doubt she would reprimand me for just reading a text sent by Holly using Zara’s phone. I found myself questioning Opal’s communication boycott more and more each day.

She didn’t rule me and I was free to talk to whoever I wanted. That being said, I didn’t want to burn my bridges with her also. With Zara gone, she and Suzy were all I had left. My habitual silence and melancholic personality weren’t going to make me the prom queen anytime soon. I had few friends.

Blowing off Opal’s wishes could come with disastrous consequences if she somehow found out. I doubt Zara would openly tell Opal about my communication with Holly, but I also had no doubt that Opal would pester her about it. Who was she to monitor me like this?

Messaging Holly would be easy if I could at least smooth things over with Opal first. Why couldn’t we find common ground? Her reluctance to connect with our old friend was just cruel in my eyes. I didn’t believe that Holly was half the monster Opal painted her as. I wouldn’t be here without her.

I might’ve been confused about that before, but that confusion was dissolving with time. After living without her for almost a year I was getting a full impression of what I lost. Holly was the anchor that held me here when my parents split up. Without her, I might’ve left to live with my mother instead.

My father was beginning to realize that too. I wasn’t exactly enamored with my life at our home now that Cynthia was taking over. It was no secret that I wasn’t the stereotypical daughter-figure she wanted. Recently, she felt emboldened by my dad’s remarks that my mother leaving was hard on me.

She took it upon herself to be a replacement mother, continuously encroaching on my alone time at home. She was convinced that she could ‘fix’ me by being a ‘proper’ female role model. She was always trying to rope me into something or get me to go somewhere with her.

Her nagging about my withdrawn nature I could deal with. Her snide comments about my mother doing an ‘inadequate’ job, however, were completely unacceptable. She didn’t even know my mother beyond a few offhand comments my dad said about her. He avoided talking about her after the divorce.

The fact that my dad was so complacent about all this was what angered me the most. He lost his spine after my mother left and typically just agreed with whatever Cynthia said. After watching their behavior ever since she moved in with us I was beginning to understand that this was a predatory relationship.

I horribly misjudged Cynthia at first, seeing how my father could fall for her game. She had total control over him now. When Cynthia said she wants something, he comes to heel like a dog. When she orders him to do something, he never argues. When she believes something, he blindly agrees.

That’s how I ended up getting roped into more ‘father-daughter’ time. Normally I wasn’t opposed to spending time with my father, but it came at a highly inconvenient moment for me. I was lying in bed after school, trying to decide how I wanted to respond to Holly’s message when Cynthia barged in.

She got it in her head that sending me with my father to some car workshop on the edge of town could somehow be a good thing. If this was what passed for father-daughter time then I’d rather be left alone. Car repair was a boring topic to me regardless of external circumstances.

My dad’s car was having difficulty starting lately and so he was taking it to a mechanic. The shops in the area we lived in all demanded reservations. My father was more than a little impatient since he and Cynthia were planning a trip this weekend. And to be frank, I was looking forward to the alone time at home.

The workshop we walked into was a real junk heap with various car parts lying around, seemingly as decoration. The service ‘desk’ was just a collection of wooden planks held up by stacks of tires. The radio was playing rock music in some foreign language. I really hoped this place was above board.

“Welcome! Welcome! What can I do for you?” The man working the register asked in a deep, Eastern European accent.

“My car is having trouble with the ignition for some reason.” My dad said. “I took a look at it and couldn’t figure out what’s causing it. I think it needs professional help.”

“Let me take a look at her.” The man said, walking around the desk to join my dad.

I didn’t follow after them when they went to the car. Spectating tedious diagnostic and repair work was far from my idea of entertainment. I cursed Cynthia for convincing my dad to drag me to a place like this. What did she even expect me to do at a place like this?

I thought about playing games on my phone. Instead, I opted to have a look around this weird mechanic’s shop. It looked more like a warehouse than a proper workshop due to all the piles of junk lying around. There were a few vehicles in various states of disrepair around.

It looked like this shop’s specialties were motorcycles and farming vehicles based on what they had in stock. Those two classes of vehicles seemed to have little in common with each other, but who knows? Maybe the owner focused on these vehicles because he had a lot of personal experience with them.

There was an interesting dirt bike in one of the corners of the workshop. This one was in pristine shape, unlike the vehicles around it. I approached it curiously, trying to imagine what it might be like to ride one of these things. I looked over my shoulder. The mechanic and my dad were still busy talking.

I put a leg over the bike’s seat and climbed on. I held onto the handlebars as If I were going to really drive it out of here. Unfortunately I didn’t have a license, or even a learner’s permit. A bike like this would be incredibly dangerous, but it seemed like fun. If I owned something like this, then…

“It fits you perfectly!” Someone said loudly as they slapped me on the back.

I jumped off of the dirt bike in surprise.

“I was just…! I…!” I started to say defensively.

I caught myself when I saw the offender giving me a deviously smug look. She was trying to surprise me on purpose, wasn’t she? How annoying… That was the last thing I needed today. Instead of trying to make an excuse, I just folded my arms and faced away from her.

“Oh…? Nothing to say after being caught in the act?” She asked.

I didn’t bother turning back to look at her.

“What a shame… I was going to ask you if you wanted to ride it again so that I could snap a better picture. This first one is a little blurry.”

I quickly spun back around. She was looking down at her cell phone with an evil grin. I dashed over to her side to try getting a better look. She pulled her phone above her head and laughed.

“Hey! It’s rude to sneak a peek at someone’s phone like that. Don’t you know?” She said.

I had half a mind to tell her that it was ruder to take pictures of people without their consent, but I relented. I’d probably be playing right into this girl’s hand. She had a special knack for teasing someone she just met. What was I doing getting worked up over this?

Once again, I turned away to ignore her. She laughed obnoxiously at my retreating form as I walked over to a different vehicle in the area. She followed me of course. Clearly escaping her teasing wasn’t going to be that easy. I sent her an annoyed look. She returned a sunny grin as if we were playing a game.

She was wearing a mechanic’s uniform, the top half unbuttoned. She also had a gray long sleeve shirt that was covered in grease and oil. It was hard to make out the original color of her shirt since so much of it was covered in greasy filth. Shouldn’t she be busy? Surely she had better things to do than to harass me.

She caught me staring at her and made an expression of mock bashfulness. I rolled my eyes at her. She pulled up one of her sleeves. It was rather sudden so I got the feeling she might slug me for ignoring her or something. I did not expect her to have a tattoo beneath that sleeve.

“You like it…?” She asked. “I just got this today. You’re the first person my age I’ve shown it too. I’m going to wait until tomorrow to show my friends at school.”

I grabbed her arm and held it still so that I could get a better look. She had a habit of moving around while talking. The tattoo was a sea serpent, the type that existed only in fantasy stories and video games. This was a sinister looking tattoo for her to have. It looked like a cultist symbol.

Was she even old enough for a tattoo? It was possible, assuming that she was in the 12th grade like I was. I was reluctant to engage her in conversation. I didn’t know why she was bothering with me to begin with. It could’ve been solely to show off this new tattoo.

“Cool…” I said icily.

I didn’t want to talk too much and get unnecessarily involved with her. It wasn’t that I didn’t find her tattoo interesting. I just…

She took me by the hand.

“Come here! Let me show you something really cool in our other garage!”

“I…” I started to protest.

The other garage was through a set of double doors that we were already standing beside. I let her pull me over to see what she was talking about. She pointed out the motorcycle in the center of the room. The motorcycle was placed there like a centerpiece in an art gallery.

This motorcycle looked new and expensive, unlike the junker bikes in the other garage. I stopped in the doorway to stare at it, but apparently that wasn’t enough. This girl continued pulling me until we were standing beside the motorcycle. She sat on the edge of the seat and patted the spot beside her.

“Don’t be shy.” She said.

I folded my arms stubbornly. She laughed in response.

“You’re cute. I think that’s why I can’t help but to mess with you. Normally girls our age don’t come to the workshop. It’s rare that I get to show my work off. Now come on, sit. Or else I’m going to show your dad that embarrassing picture of you pretending to ride the dirt bike.” She said with a smirk.

I thought about it for a moment and then sighed. I slumped forward and released my tense posture in defeat. I’d humor this weirdo for the time being. I sat down beside her and gave her an intense look over. She didn’t even flinch at my admonishing gaze.

“My name’s Valentina. Valentina Ivanovich. That guy in there talking to your dad is my brother, Petro. My uncle works here too but he’s off today.”

“Your family is from Europe?” I asked.

“My accent gave me away?” She asked.

“Yes, but your brother’s accent is thicker.”

“He has less experience in this country. I came back and forth several times while growing up. He only recently started living here a few years ago after jumping through all the legal hoops. As for me, I already had citizenship here. Some of my family lives here in the country, but most live in Ukraine.”

“Wow, that’s…”

My voice trailed off when I reflected on the fact that I was conversing with a stranger out of nowhere. Maybe it was because of just how close she was to me right now. There was no spare space between us on the motorcycle’s seat and our placement beside each other felt personal.

My sudden silence wasn’t lost on Valentina. She gave me a mildly curious look as if she was expecting me to carry on from where I left off. Instead, I just stared deep into her eyes. She didn’t shy away from a sudden staring contest when she realized that I wasn’t going to continue.

I couldn’t keep it up and looked away out of embarrassment. She laughed.

“You’re an interesting one… Um… I never did get a name.”

“Ellie…” I said in a hushed whisper. “My name is Ellie.”

“What’s got you down, Ellie?”

I turned back to her in surprise. Could she see through me so easily?

“I know a troubled girl when I see one.” She said. “I meet them all the time. I used to be one myself.”

“It’s…” I started to say.

How could I explain my story without getting into the grim, personal details? The need never arose until now. Everyone who knew me at school never needed to ask me about my situation since they knew Holly. This girl didn’t go to my school, as far as I knew. Was she a high school student or a college student?

“You don’t have to tell me.” She said. “I can’t blame you. It took me a long time to seriously talk to anyone about the things bothering me. For years I felt too angry to even bring it up. Now though, those things don’t have any power over me. It’s a liberating feeling.”

“I want to feel that way.” I admitted softly.

“It didn’t come easily.” She said in a serious tone. “And I didn’t do it alone. I’ve made some friends this school year that helped me bury the hatchet. I’ve learned to rein in the constant anger that once ruled me.”

Everything she was saying spoke straight to my heart. Judging by the look on her face I had no doubt that she went through something equally visceral and personal as me. Could she see it on my face when I walked in? Was that why she risked talking to me?

“Did you know how I felt when you first saw me?” I asked.

“Not exactly, but I had some idea. I’ve seen that look a thousand times, sometimes in the mirror. It was your unusual attitude that tipped me off. You’re a girl with a broken heart.”

I stared down at the floor. She was right. I became a shadow of my former self ever since Holly left. She took a chunk of me with her that couldn’t be whimsically replaced. At first, I tried to go on like normal, but with each passing day it got harder and harder to pretend that nothing was wrong.

“I…”

I got a text on my phone. My dad was ready to go. The car was going to stay in the shop and a taxi was waiting for us outside.

“I’ve got to go…” I said painfully.

I stood up and looked down at Valentina.

“I…” I started to say once more. It was difficult to communicate my feelings after staying so quiet for so long.

“You…” She echoed with a quirky smile in response. “You want to trade phone numbers?”

“YES!” I said excitedly.

Valentina was taken aback for the first time since I met her.

“I mean… Yes…” I said in a more subdued tone.