J U L Y

The desert of Nevada fell away from the two teenagers, palm trees suddenly took their place, as did the smell of the ocean and, before she knew it, Tana found herself not too far off from the coast of California. Santa Monica was a lot different than Las Vegas; they were both very touristy places, but LA seemed a lot more open than Vegas. In Vegas, it was easy for people to become stuck in casinos, gambling away all their money. Out here on the West coast, everyone was outside enjoying the Californian sun and the salty sea spray.

As Dallas drove down the street, Tana held her head out the window, her hair swaying and her blue eyes wide. This was where she'd always dreamed of going. She always fantasized about the day she'd be in California and away from Oklahoma.

"I have something for you."

"Huh?" Tana asked, sitting back in the car and turning her attention fully on the greaser. "You have something for me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what is it?" Tana looked around, seemingly looking for a bag or something, thinking maybe he'd bought her something without realizing it.

"I haven't bought it yet. But I will be. We have to drive a little ways to go and get it."

"Where are we going?"

"It's close." Dallas didn't say anything further and Tana knew he wouldn't until they pulled up to wherever they were going. They drove for another ten or fifteen minutes before Dallas turned down a side street. He gazed out the window, looking for where they were going. Tana tried to follow his gaze to see if she could figure it out, too, but she couldn't. Dally kept driving, turned a corner and finally found somewhere to park. He dropped a couple quarters into a parking meter.

The couple got out of the car and Tana made her way around to Dallas. She took his hand in hers-- the one not holding Sunny's leash-- making him whip his head around to look at her.

"Whadya doin'?"

"Holding your hand. What's it look like I'm doing?" Dallas gave her a weird look. "What? You never hold hands with a girl before?"

"No," he replied bluntly. "Sometimes I held their ass cheeks."

Tana rolled her eyes. She dropped his hand, seeing how uncomfortable it seemed to make him.

Dallas stuffed his hand in his pocket and, with his other hand, pulled a cigarette out of the Kools carton in his opposite pocket. He lit one up and seemed to relax a little.

The two made their way back up the street. Just as Dally was finishing up his cig, he stopped. He stubbed the cherry out on the sidewalk and turned to face the door of a shop. When Tana looked up, she was confused to see it was a tattoo shop.

"What are we doing here?"

"You said you wanted a tattoo, didn't ya?"

"You're buying me a tattoo?"

Dallas shrugged. "You gonna go in or not?"

Tana anxiously let herself into the shop. It seemed fairly busy. There were a few clients in a side room getting tattooed-- one was laying on his front, getting something massive on his back; the other was sitting up in a chair, his forearm completely black with ink.

Tana had never been in one of these shops before and she looked wildly out of place; with her bright blue eyes and her mini-dress with Keds, she looked like she'd gotten lost on her way to the salon.

"Hey, guys," a man said, walking up to the desk. "What can I do for you?"

"I had an appointment. Winston."

"Ah, Dallas. I almost didn't recognize you," the guy said, sounding confused but not all too surprised.

"Yeah, it's been awhile, huh?"

"You still in Tulsa?"

"No zip code at the moment."

"This your girl?" the man asked, nodding his head over to Tana.

"Uh, yeah," Dallas said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Noah Jennings. Most people just call me Jen."

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Tana."

"She seems a little tame for you, Dallas."

Dallas gave him a wry smirk, then turned to shoot Tana a rare smile.

"So, what are we doing today?"

"Tell 'im whatcha want, doll," Dallas told her.

"Um, well, I was thinking... My dog's name is Sunny and he means a lot to me. So, I was thinking, maybe a little sun?"

"Okay. I like it. Where do you want it?"

Tana shared a look with Dallas. "Surprise me?" she said.

"Ooh, she's a brave one. I like this one."

"I do, too," said Dallas.

"You getting something, Winston?"

"Uh... yeah."

"You are?" Tana asked, turning her attention from a flash sheet and toward the cowboy who was leaning against the counter.

"Surprised?"

She shrugged. "Thought you didn't want one."

"Never assume anything with me, doll," he said, giving her a sly wink.

"So, what are we gonna do on you, then?" Jen asked Winston.

"Go ahead and do hers."

"Alright." Jen beckoned for Tana to follow him. Tana handed Sunny's leash off to Dallas before following Jen back to the tattooing room. 

"Ready to see it?" Tana asked excitedly as she ran back to the front desk twenty or thirty minutes later.

Dallas nodded. Tana lifted up her dress. There on her left thigh was a little sun. It was just how he'd imagined it when Tana was telling how she wanted it. There was something else, though. On her right thigh was a name. His name.

"You got my name tattooed on you?" Dallas asked, astounded that she'd do such a thing.

Tana shrugged. "Why not?"

Before Dallas could ask any more questions, Jen beckoned the tall man back for his turn.

"So, what are we doing, guy?" Jennings asked him.

"A rose," said Dallas, almost at once.

"Black and grey? You want it red?"

"Blue. I want it blue," Dallas said.

"Sweet. Give me a few minutes and I'll draw something up for ya."

It was about ten minutes later and Jennings turned around to show Dallas what he'd drawn. It was a rose, alright. Thorny stem and all.

"It's perfect."

"Where you want it?"

"On my forearm, here. I want everyone to be able to see it."

The pain was almost nonexistent. Dallas hadn't really felt pain since Johnny had died; since that night he'd gotten shot down. He hadn't ever felt pain like that before that night and he hadn't felt it since. This kind of pain was different. It almost felt good in a weird way. It was relieving, almost letting him know that he could still feel.

Before he knew it, Jen was finishing up and Dallas was looking down at the permanent mark on his skin, representing the person he didn't know he needed until just recently. He knew, probably more than Tana, that he'd have to duck out eventually. Not because he didn't want to get tied down with a girl, but because he didn't want to get dragged down by a town he now loathed.

Tana had to go back. She only had one more year of high school before she could go on and do whatever she wanted. But Dallas-- Dallas had to get out. And he couldn't return again once he was out.

Back at the front desk, Dallas paid for the two. The couple left soon after Jen gave them instructions on how to clean the fresh tattoos.

"What did you get?" Tana asked Dally eagerly, still in disbelief that he'd decided to get a tattoo.

Dallas held out his arm to show her. It was a rose. It was perhaps a little too dainty for Dallas, but Tana liked it nevertheless.

"What does it mean?"

"Roses are beautiful. But they've got thorns, so if you hurt them, you'll get hurt, too."

Tana nodded. "I like that. My middle name's Rose."

"No shit."

"No shit."

"Well, Tana Rose. How about you and I find our way down to the pier, huh?"