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    © All Rights Reserved
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    19 views9 pages

    The Teardrop Tattoos by Angela Savage

    Uploaded by

    Alexandria

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 9
    The Teardrop Tattoos Angela Savage You cage when you se my tattooed es. But den by the ‘same impulse that makes you slow when you pss car cah, you look dost, Oneieearsparent, house. The thes clear atthe topand ue at she bottom, Looks sola ke tight ol down ny checlea say moment Who wold dosha theo? Theat your mind cking ove het you whisper gongs mde, prin. "Docs i nen she ile somebody? The bay is young and ‘nck, doc now to Bold his tongue. His mothe shuses him tnd steps up the pace. I want to pel ou, Ye Ui but his smother has dragged im ay from the scty dye and her dog (ne of those dangerous breeds he think, kind they ten fg 1 dot hae he She ony ding hr job,Proecing het boy People chine im lesbian Beaute ofthe way T lok, though Tre neer had sex wich aworaa, not ee ln my enind, have had sex with anyone atallin longtime, but not ren cheated ‘eusare enough wo pursome men of trying, Sully sans aay the last eh, Silly ex dangers breed, an Amescan pt bal. 1 got hi. through conc made in he thou. ed upon dogs had fac al ee w do ~ and concluded an America pie bull was the one for me Theyve ot bad putin. They bok mein People fe them a wide berth, Bu et them when theyte young and tin them propery and you cat go wrong, Loa, ineliget, protective, loving. My husband had aane of these ques. T ‘could Hoody well have them ina dog, "The guy go ho fom sd Sly wale, Bu ome hehe colou of storm clouds wih reo white on his chs I think ofasisserlinng Hele on hi back sean ny fingers up and dwn his white sea, ges mea blak-ipped gn and pounds ‘the floors had with hls ll ory ee alghbour inthe at ‘below wl complain, ‘Bo Sully nt jut a defence He my lend. A dog afction Is all more chan I deserve, but Selly does hold thar against me The flat where we le iim Bruni, on of those inner city Mlbourne subube where woe and yuppies collide. Not my choi, but begat cit be choos Areas got x place whee pew arallowed I wouldve peered car Me Say could've lege ln it taken of whenever we wanted, made a home ofthe ‘open oad ‘Bueyou ca check in wih your pata ofa when yo on the toad The powers thar be gaeme lee thre dows fiom chien cee Teatheae the chldren ifep the windows hut Meand Sally ty to say on ofagh at dopo and peep times, thou vce nce we _ Ic mein ying low for up co 90 hour teach end of the dy, which ie nays pose Tews winter when I moved In. "The hdr ents opened 1 sparow’s fact and some hide were dropped of while it war ssl ask, Though the Venetian blind ia my blioom I watched smothers unbundl heir babi from apelesand carseat, dow, faces laminated by the inter lights of thle SUVs, wached ‘her juggle tel babies on one hip, close the car door wih the ches tagger loplddly othe entrance and pach nthe socaisy cade, When they reaped minutes ate, che women were ight on thf. watched them dea ly spew’ on lp lip ino cto rch up pic in rere mio. fl nothing fr dhs women, Neue Switeland, ae, When he eildeae centre taf ied down, 1 ake Sally to the park, Wel, nat eo much a pak ae «gest Hock wurounded ty temporary fencing with a hoe in it Ie soked of «led evelopment ~ like bulder had oveeaplalied and dda want to cyrlize hi loses by Lguidating his ses You supe someone i st thng Ik onregptlied and guid ane? ‘Yeah, well, you would judge a book by is come Jat 0 happent tn a pst fe Ewa gel for «nce fly with a Diploma of ‘Busines and promblng cern insurance, No tha macens so No-one eve gogo gve me ajo in inaranee (be dy, Sly and me ran sound the pas lng enough co work up evet, even though ic wa nly September and the son sar qute rong.enogh knock she cll oa of the ale While aguceed on hough the ole in he fence, Sells ahead of me ” ‘ue Testor Tarot towards the fat and nea eallided wih a woman coming down he bl pushing a pram, pact om purple sat dhe woman was deed ea o toe in blade, Her hit was back wit pple sted. The pram ~ he fancy kind dha cons es muck cir = aslo black ad purple She slowed at I neue in that way oF moter who expet yo to ‘oh ad ah ove th hid I oly gland ait, Fou or fe mothe ‘maybe, eating hand ied Beanie, And fuck me if the beanie wast blak and purple oo “The woman sled. No-one had fucking ale st me snc the ight led ny haba "Hello ae sl om 1 ued o mae ste he could se my tatoo. ‘Net seesome sun? Yah? "Ce pup, Whack isi ‘American pe bal? ‘on ‘She serge to enansin her snl, Bur I looking like a smunderous dyke was enough ro put her off Sully wis. Twas seying my smug moment 0 much tha nee le Sully camper othe ee ofthe gutter and into thet. I soap en up with ny foo, dumped him onthe fotpath end smacked bin hard across the fice: Americas pit bulls have such & high pl resol, I had to be foe old ge the mesege not o run ‘ut on che ses, Sully yelped in surprise ad [saw the womace smile ake snohe hit as she aed anima ese to the lat of Drcca Suace ~ | ‘lags she hated about me. She Ite inte the pam and Fas over the ki’ beanie, “Wel me and Char beer ge ging? she si Sce yu? She heed tothe etche at the boom of the hil, wing appro lke «vapour inher wake When the leer came a wea ar, Lew who wa behind te Cou bar rece advice that yu ae ix posesion of rnc brad dg namely American pital teri, this eng bred whe inprtation na Ansa is profited satel under the Commomrels Customs Probibied import) Regulations 1956. Ae of 2 November 2005, the Dares (Feral and Nuleacs)Anials Act 1994 maker ean fc agua reid bred dog ‘Shi an offence would be a brech of my parce Come reons show jou have not rier our do. A! sides re eid byl reer tir dog by ag te month. Peron aplbing 0 reer thle dog mt make a ‘tration a 0 whither thir deg a eid brecd. A ‘ial cout pena apples fo federation Counc amet ecps ihe garcion of ried bed dog. Fuck I couldnt keep Suly witout sginering bin, but UF ted oo colt him Te get done for acing a seced bend, So much Sul atver lng, Whyte Faken ea woman have lef us alone? Why dd he haves op and tlk a We Tewowop Taree ‘me Coulda she read the big. acon ga ve ny sd aying Fuck ft And why did el her whae kind of dog he wae? Shell ong fooced me with her anil and her chiechat abou the weather, Now losing Sally ws che rice pay for bela fucking pie Tsood 2 moment in the galley Kchen of my At, holding ‘he coun lees, bung with ge Te wat a slow burn, not conflagration. [war in contol Then eutls moment. Ialmost made me wish could atend anther sein jut oll the Op shout e ‘Check it out! I spoke aloud, oI hey wee there in the echencte with me Anger tees woked. Lm contling my Impales. Tm gong co take ny ime, ely plan my revenge tobe seo hurt di woman ike she hurt me! Sly hese lice mite though [wat ang to him and. drummed the Ror with itl. “Tac night I cook hes back where Ig i, 1 di hin tad enough hear let brea, bu yng goodbye t Sully proved mewnong, My fise step watto find out wher she ive I teary bree someone undetected when you weigh nest inet los nd ave ‘ato on your fice. You cast march ino a chat ete an tuk t see the recor for ‘Chale, Shit 1 didnt even know if (Chute was boy oral. Could be either the day. at atthe loclvideo tore when hesaaton came nme, A DVD allel Kix ‘i, Bang Bang caught my eye. AVal Kline move had ee, hough Isr alo of his movi inthe rat house My four was ‘The Sais, were ead ll the gadget od gues, Ths when ea sence @ iesrck me: ould dguse myslE Light not have Val Kliers ‘budget: bul hada Seversdow the road ands Vine around che corner Stal ws cheapat Severs andifl played my cad ight che ld dear ash Vinnie igh ge me what needed for fice. Miy spl ied forthe fet ime ince losing Sally gabbed Ki i, Bang Beng, found The Sint snd rok both DVDs to the counts “he vido ze gy cut me ming Nery sae the shit our hio, 1 ypan esac to tht ald dea athe Vion abou beng singe mum ding fom wen bastard who Fri toon ny fice "Tonly want to buy my grocele—' I dlbtately sed the ‘ld isioned word without having o look oer my shoulder" ‘Wall fick me ifthe old bile didat mobile ike pir of reed amy ofces, One of them, Eunle, found me a eouple of ‘wig sey cuy one much lke her own hal, and long brown one with thc ings "We get them fom cancer pain une sald ‘Suva? ‘Beaded gui vif mace "They dont need che wig once theirs rows back’ While Bane fed though he ks, theater one, Came, put togither an ensemble she called the Nonna Joke ble cada, shape black dress, black esc to go ovr the gry vg. She teamed thie with tome lnchedled, lace shoes and eve fund mean unopened picket of suppor sekings.Bunlee sexppezed with blue roe drs, lamin ves, beige boots and unser with lens the st of ber cose a ‘he Taran Taro08 {van erty abou yng om butte old dar were ken tnd I wasted 1 keep chem met. he Nonna look ws liane | My own mother wouldst have reogaied me, IF she diy she would costed the suet, but has beside the pol. “Un mamta! Carmela murmured at my ection Ja the change-oom mio She ducked of and rune wih «back ana Think ede wl ey 0 speak alan we you.” Vekows? “The widows! She adja the lacy hesdiarf co hide the tatsoed sea Pec? nied hippy sit loked berer than Ti ngned I at ys nce Tle alr on my shoulders or worn adres. Hooked like one of chose jovial pump women with an appetite for ie, ‘he ype I normally did what 1 could eo avon dhe interest of suche, ler Eunice drape tng of bead over my hen, But ‘nhen se sched up wo remove the sunglass, inched "May Avoce youll we with a wounded sn 1 couse sx what she wat doing, fle something cool and damp pee agunst my rgh cheekbone, She topped back “Mic betes? "Hooked inthe miror She had covered over my ec "Concealer She pret anal laderioto my hand. "Hider sme of in” Tis socked to speak used he Hippy Chick digit oti hee, When she pase by my apartment window aa, pushiog her Bac par, ave her {wen secand heads, coi the oad ad flowed her up he bil Her house cured out t0 be ffen-minate wale in che icon of Spey Roa, IF Brunswick was body, Spey Road svar the spinal cord tha eld ill together and made e move ‘Tae aotingsupeious about a hippy on Syney Road, s0 T flowed Prim Woman until she sured ino the entrance of & snd coloured wetherbord house oppose aml pe Acta lacky br Towed my pace and passed ro ub an ‘imaginary Blin on my bea, ural the pak ence for Blane. A tow of endl shrubs blacked any vew of Pram Womars howe, lbutthe front door ws ley le through the pin her picket fence A torus et sprang out ofthe way ashe paced up onto the verandah. The number on her nor was 124 Bally next morning I walked down che sae eet in my [Nona douse A dar ren sedan I adit teed the previous lng wae psked out font, T headed forthe pk and chose the bench with the but lew of the house Someone id covered one sum ofthe pak beach with klar. sen feelings, bicgle sands and slgnpost in che aeaclthed in andor bes of ‘ing ke tl. Was ta joke?A message? Nor owing made ‘me uneasy shufled co the other end ofthe bench and took out ‘cig of rosy beds found ln the Viale handbag. long ago copped bling ln God, but gue people would eave me alone they thought I wa praying os ‘ve Testor Tatoos Just before seven, a passing car proeted mile tat hit ‘he verandah of number 124 wit the thud of paper on wood, “The font door opened end the woman dashed ou, snatched the newspaper, dashed back ln asin Hale standing on ead and weutng a too-ight blck taka, she made methine of -repdoot pe. “Twenty laut later 4 man ina sit appeued, Lean and polled, 1 could practlly small his aerbave from actos the rod. The geen sedan beeped a he made for the devers side, mobile phone asi hse belie hed even fend his sextbel Ies que fr alma an ou fer ht. sipped bottle of water and ignored he growling of my stomach, ‘Acaulrhaled wom with dark cls under her eyes entered the pu behind @ cacening role. She sat on a swing and atthe asthe boy snoped up handfuls of tanbark and ung ther iso the bree. I wacked the boy, to, acienealy made fey contac with the woman. Se gave me sd smile had my hand onthe bend in case ae came over but was saved by ‘heal ofa second mother-and-hild dao, The all seme co now each oer. I etna my suv, ‘Around eight thirty my target re-emerged ia her eademare bck and purple and turned ber pram in the dsction ofthe chikcare centre. Tis cme che baby wore pink ~ 2. gi chen, ‘As son as thy were ou of ight, Teron dhe ond at pace ppp to an overweight sn erly woman aed pew out font ofthe hous as fo catch my Benth {hada head che ‘cla beep of x Burglar clarm and there was acer inthe en Sauce ve front window; no blu ght on the oof ‘The lf de gate was covered in vines the ight wat eyed wooden doot eee [No larm, no dog, ample cover snd agit le open This was ‘what the bur’ mercane in the dammer would la ‘ream jb. Took due fom my handbag, wiped my nose and lee ‘ove the ion ce tothe bio The reeysing bin was lee. Ami che empty wine bres, newspapers tn aad plat found what was looking fo An envelope adeed to Belinda Hyat pene a week of moenings Inthe pu, geting «handle on the dly oun. Hubby woke fultin; Belinda dd ice das om home, the dys lice Chae wen ofa cider, When she ad the baby with her, Belinda usally went ut: Once I fllowed beso café on Syne Roa, Ie jmied with prams, Asie ‘on che wladw sid Brutesing welome he’ Spney Road svatined with old women in black, 1 barely orc them before, but now that Iwas one of them Te them ‘verywhere. And Trelis how much we hid ln common, Tele publ priser them spare My ttooed tet eve che same prpos. earned to impersonate thee olling gl pace tha allowed sme co ruse past Belinda hous een when she was worklag “Trough the shrubbery I wath her in che fone room 2 het ‘computer she rrtoseselatlelling on he desk an overied apermigh ‘undertook evening survellnce ny hippy gle. You did. 5c to many Nonnas ou fer dak, but a8 Hippy Chick I could always pretend ro be gong ou a heading home, depending on the hour, Mow evenings wete que at Belin he green sedan slay home before seen, Lghtshone rm windows at he tr where the tchen was located, moving tro theloange rm at the Font. The place was dak by eleven aise up one evening find Belind’ husband inthe fone yd watering che garden. "The baby was supended agit his chest a one of those caer, srt and loge Bap ke a pl. sung puppet The men was chatting tthe baby but pond as I walled pst to give mea sesighe othe ale tht made my ys wate Thee walking en | ound myself outside «pul on Speney Road. “The barman ples eyebrow made him ook permanently sorpasad but he di Bink when Hippy Chie oar «pot “The smal was oom deodorie he reminded me of pion, so L headed ou the beer arden. lew lik walking in ov susmer ‘amp. A pick of hay men played ping pong. echangng banter ith the young women anny table who were inking beer sd keniting, ‘A guyat able on hs own was making colle and eng book thought net time I should ig book to, the laughed 2 myzelf or imagining these would be next tne, One of he lakey guys approached me, Laos tld hm 2 ack f when 1 reall he was ony ff the png-pong bl tha had colle under ny able “Thanh He mile, Ismied bac He went back tis ping- pong gue Iwped the set fom my upper lp A couple walked Jn, tattooed see nrelinke. On tei heels ma a Sta, blue Iie Sul. Toke at che empey space at ny fe Fi was for Belinda, Sally wouldve ben there 90, making me sie with his of rn and harping cl. 1 dined ny ber andl. “The illwing nigh ¢ wa afer ee when I ventured onto Band propery le wad pat rom dll loin the cond window on the cght side ~ 9 aighoigh in the babys rom, I lnwpected the window: old wood, new lock, key dangling init Jenin open witha crowbar would beeay but nin: I made say way othe bck ofthe hour, “The yard ws ong into aden beds, side, lnton on the other. A all dck eld rele table and chairs Seculty door, more klocked wladaws.. Belinda and te by were a slack bout sci a thought. ‘A fash of light caught my ee. I tok x cover lok ae whet wat on dhe able. Leadlight. A wod a prog Pethap a fetus indow ora panel athe dot, Leadlighe wat an actey we wee fred inthe at houte aan aerate o Bordon, nl dhe screws cngged thi Til “The Fo” Fetgno ws ng the les to conduct her ow leone in the ate of gas cing Fr BSCE fy 022 on one pupae 1 seanned the yard agi, rege the shed in the comet Tews wide open. Ona low shelf were Belinds' leslighs ros lene, rather and gla ates ‘A squar of ight ame on Tebeated inthe ad fora dhe bout, Someone wa nig "eroached in he abedows byte sha, thn hurd back the way Team ‘Sounds from she baby room. I squatted beneth th window sod Intend, leotard caked shyly, « muted fale vice accompany the geile deumming. I thought Belinda ‘ight be pulng the room, though I Bad ead she baby ey. “Then recogition hit me ike a pune nthe ge Bends was ina ockng chal with Chale ther breast. jst ‘new iI slumped so the ground, my back prewad agalns che weatherboads my tea lie ack ‘The sgh ght presence lel a weck tes. New moon, north ind, whele bins ou font I wore Blak ens, longsleeve eshte and sneakers; crea Swit Ariy knife in one pocket, ‘WD40 in the ber, Nova alg frags. [reached mambec 124s fours, the quiet ime beeween the babys one o'oc fed andthe ma stn Jog 1 let mpl sound the back and tele he gh caters om the shod ‘The sty wire screen on the window tote Hke tse paper and he ind masked the sound a carved aon the las ange enough to ert my hand and diengge the widow lock. A aqui of ‘WD40 enabled me wo eae the window open with barely ound. "a leuened wll fm Tes The Fox My hear spaded up aT prepared each Bends Hyat howe "eet lose wha shelved, I oop up he atm body a he ‘nd ofthe ot, held loved her tout and nose, hauled her ace ‘through the window with ne nd shed her shot with my tie “The body ese in spss fs ew moments then Bopp in ny arms, silent and il I stood Sed to the ep, loo sping, into my lots, ch eight glowing heavier in my sts. expec "fe ected at his pon even elite Insead Twas apple, ‘ve fel compelled ose my ghasy plan tough {reused my steps to the oat of the house and arangal "he body on the door step where would be seen when Bellada emerged to elle the newapapet. My hands were sky with ‘od ad fen in thei igh T could se lack igi pooling on the door steppe bel, engin the bloody tableau, ying eo age Belnd recon. The horot inher fice, Thelthood she would scream, But ll le a sisftion, Only dng. But Twas a hardened exminal, fr fick’ sake 1 had the teurdio tatost prore it “Thea It was aif he charcres T been plying had poten under my skin: che ety old Nonna who commanded respect ‘he Hippy Chick with so few care inthe wos thc she probly ented coves for suet pons, Fagen the psc few eck blending lwo communi. A door had opened tha i bird was load to me forever Could I step ero le Or shoud ble ie hut for good? "retuned my gee eo the mes on the doorep, My Nonna "hough abou clung up, bury the body inthe pack oe

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