Two drunken cowboys pressed close to the stage, their glassy red eyes fixed on Kayleigh’s ass. “Damn,” said the cowboy who looked like Will Ferrell with a Tom Selleck mustache, “I’d like to ride that all night long.”

His friend elbowed him in the gut. “You couldn’t stay on for eight seconds you dumb bastard.”

The mustached cowboy held a hand to his mouth before leaning forward to vomit across the stage.

Will Kline stepped back from his theramin. Kayleigh shook her head and frowned at him as if it was his fault that the cowboy hurled a half-digested barbecue sandwich. Her attention returned to the band’s guitar player, Ricky Logan, a self-proclaimed rock god, who played the guitar like a stoned Bob Dylan and had a Flock of Seagulls mullet and pouting lips covered in black lipstick. Will grimaced at the sight of his wife watching the young guitarist. Everyone in My Two Cents Worth knew that Kayleigh and Ricky were having an affair but they acted like nothing was going on. When the band arrived at the Swinging Dicks Nightclub, they went to work setting up equipment, followed by a quick sound check. This left four hours to kill before the show started. Ricky volunteered to go out and pick up burgers. Kayleigh said that she would accompany him. They returned three hours later without food, their clothes damp with sweat.

“Sorry,” Ricky said with a sly grin, “we got lost and couldn’t find a burger place.”

“We passed a Burger King on our way over here,” Will said.

“Oh wow man, where was that?”

“Next block over.”

Ricky slapped his forehead. “Damn man, I feel like a dumbass.”

Kayleigh leaned into him and softly punched his arm. “We should have been paying more attention.”

“You shouldn’t have distracted me with your short skirt,” Ricky said and then laughed like a hyena on steroids before leaving the bar with Kayleigh.

“We’ve been a band for over a decade and that punk is going to be the death of us,” Charlie Logan, My Two Cents Worth’s trumpet player said into his beer.

Will said nothing but nodded in agreement. The strain caused by Ricky and Kayleigh’s affair tore at the fabric of the band. Tempers flared, arguments ensued, and the close-knit unit drifted into separate spheres of isolation.

Now as Will watched her prancing across the stage with her bass guitar, light shining down on her long, golden legs, he filled with growing rage. He had invested five years of his life in their marriage. That should mean something to her, but he knew otherwise. Everything about their life was a lie. She loved her pet iguana more than she loved him. He could handle the isolation and the times when she didn’t talk to him for days, but he couldn’t handle her screwing Ricky.

Will gritted his teeth throughout the show. It took all of his strength to keep from stomping over to Ricky and strangling him with his guitar cable. The band played poorly, feedback whining through the monitors, and Tim’s microphone hissing and popping as he tried to sing. The crowd was too high to notice the problems, but onstage all the band members exchanged looks of disgust, except for Kayleigh and Ricky. She never stopped watching Ricky who wiggled his tongue at her as if Gene Simmons starring in a porno movie.

When they finished their set, the band retreated to a small dressing room. Tim heaved a water bottle at a mirror on the wall. It exploded in a flash of silver. “What in the hell was that?”

“Worst fucking show in years,” Charlie said grabbing a towel to mop the sweat off his forehead.

“I thought we rocked,” Ricky said and fist bumped Kayleigh.

“You would you ass hole,” Tim mumbled over his shoulder.

Will approached Charlie and touched him on the sleeve. “Would you mind packing our shit? It’s Kayleigh’s birthday and I’ve gotten her a surprise.”

Her gaze fell on Ricky whose mouth turned down before coming back to Will. “I thought we’d celebrate with the band.”

“Not tonight,” Will said, “I have something special planned.”

She rolled her eyes while adjusting her bra. “This is going to be lame.”

“Give him a chance,” Charlie said in a firm voice.

“I’ve been giving him chances for years. Will is a dick in need of a million Viagra pills.”

Will stepped between her and Ricky. “I won’t disappoint you this time.”

She stared back at Ricky and rolled her eyes again. “Christ, I can’t believe I’m going along with this. I only get one birthday each year, why do you have to be a part of it?”

Will drove to the east side of the city, an area known as Little Asia. Small Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants dotted the landscape, sandwiched between stores that sold authentic Asian souvenirs such as paper lanterns, jade jewelry, ceramic pots, and bonsai trees. He stopped in front of a building with boarded up windows. A light burned in an upstairs bedroom. She turned toward him, her mouth pulled down. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He turned off the car. “Come on, you’ll like this, I promise.”

She growled under her breath before joining him on the sidewalk. “What are we doing here?”

Will knocked on the front door. “You’ll see.”

Kayleigh folded her arms across her chest. “I knew this was going to be something stupid.”

“How do you know, we haven’t gone inside yet?”

“Anything involving you is stupid.”

He grimaced at her words and reached out to knock on the door again. His hand stopped as the door opened with the squeal of rusted hinges. A Chinese man with heavy lines crisscrossing his face peered out. Light from inside the building gleamed across his bald scalp. He had a few strands of long grey hair that hung down to his rolling shoulders. Black eyes darted over their faces. “May I help you?” He said in a voice with a thick Cantonese accent.

“Hi, yeah, I’m Will and I—”

“Called me earlier, I remember.” The old man’s gaze moved to Kayleigh and then back to Will. His dark eyes held a thousand questions yet he asked but one. “This is lady you talk about?”

“Yes,” Will stepped aside and motioned to Kayleigh with a sweep of his hand. “My wife Kayleigh.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” the old man said holding out a quivering hand. “I am Jinhai.”

“Beautiful name, what does it mean?” She said.

“It mean golden sea.” He waved for her to enter the building. “Come, come, everything ready.”

Her eyes narrowed at Will as she walked past him. He followed close behind. Jinhai locked the door and clapped his hands together. “Welcome to my store.”

Dusty and broken furniture lay scattered about the room. Grey cobwebs dangled from the corners of the ceiling. Kayleigh shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. “What kind of store is this?”

“Ah, good question. This is best store. I offer what is otherwise unobtainable.” He shuffled toward a black curtain that divided the room. “Come on, what you want is not in here.”

“This is starting to piss me off,” she said before starting after Jinhai.

“Give it a chance.”

“What am I supposed to be giving a chance?” She said over her shoulder.

They passed through an opening in the curtain and entered the back room. Unlike the front of the building, this area was spotless. The waxed hardwood floor shimmered beneath their feet. The walls appeared freshly painted and there were no cobwebs in the corners. Positioned on shelves around the room were incense trays. Thin trails of white smoke spiraled out of the trays. The air smelled of jasmine. A barber’s chair occupied the middle of the room. Close to the chair was a black, lacquered dresser decorated with painted autumn leaves. A blue ceramic bowl containing water sat on top of the dresser, with a bamboo stick lying next to the bowl. Further down the table were a red glass bottle and a large thorn from some kind of plant.

“Please, have seat,” Jinhai said pointing to the chair.

She looked back at Will. “What is this all about?”

“You get tattoo,” Jinhai said.

Kayleigh turned to will her expression softening. “You brought me here to get a tattoo?”

“Surprised?”

“I thought you hated my ink.”

The truth was he did hate her tattoos. When they first met, she had a single tattoo of a lily on the inside of her right thigh. Now tattoos covered her back and thighs. Elaborate designs that cost hundreds of dollars, a Van Gogh painting, zombies eating Christ at The Last Supper, and her personal favorite, two panda bears humping.

“If I hated your tattoos we wouldn’t be here.”

Kayleigh climbed onto the chair. “Do you have a book?”

“Book?” Jinhai said a look of bewilderment on his face.

“That shows all the designs you can make.”

“No, no,” he said bowing, “make only one design, dragon.”

She glared at Will. “I don’t get to pick out my tattoo?”

“This special dragon, one of a kind,” Jinhai said taking the top off the glass bottle. He poured several drops of a burgundy colored liquid into the bottle of water. He next immersed the bamboo stick into the water and stirred.

“What kind of ink is that?” Kayleigh asked.

He brought the bowl of reddish liquid to the chair and smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth with gray tarter built up along the gum line. “Oh, this is very special, one of a kind.”

“I’ll bet,” she said.

“I will make two tattoos. Dragon on forearm and Chinese writing on chest.”

“I’m not sure I want a dragon on my forearm, and why another one on my chest?”

“Instructions for dragon.”

Kayleigh tried to suppress a grin. “Instructions for the dragon huh, that is kind of cute.”

“A dragon on your arm will look cool when you’re onstage,” Will said.

“Yeah, all right.” She peeled out of her t-shirt and tossed it to him.

When Will saw that she wasn’t wearing a bra, he felt blood rush into his cheeks. Jinhai’s eyes widened at the sight of her breasts. He studied their teardrop shape for several seconds before looking up at Will. “You sure you want this?”

Will reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of money. He handed it to Jinhai. “Five thousand as instructed.”

“Five thousand dollars!” Kayleigh’s mouth fell open. “Where did you get five thousand dollars?”

“I sold my Les Paul.”

“You sold your Les Paul to get me a tattoo?” She shook her head. “Sweet, but stupid. Now every time you see my dragon you’ll be thinking about that guitar.” She chuckled. “That’ll be great.” Kayleigh lay back on the chair. “All right, let’s do it.”

Jinhai took the bamboo stick and began to mark the dragon design on her forearm. “In ancient times, people of Taklamakan Desert wore tattoos, but during Han Dynasty only criminals received them. During late Ming Dynasty, Drung began tattooing. Dai men tattoo their strongest muscles and Dai women their hands and arms.”

Will moved behind Jinhai to watch him work. The weathered hands that trembled at the door now moved with the steadiness of experience. The dragon started to take shape. First, the long tail covered in scales, followed by the back legs with clawed feet. Jinhai continued to explain the history of Chinese tattoo culture as he worked. “Dai and Drung continue to wear tattoos. Women have them on their faces. Girls get tattoos young, around twelve, to mark their arrival as sexual beings.”

He finished tracing the dragon on her arm and moved to the characters on her chest. Will noted a slight tremble in the old man’s hands as they brushed over Kayleigh’s nipple. When he finished the design, Jinhai retrieved a mirror and held it up so she could see his work. “Like so far?”

Kayleigh nodded, a smile creeping up her lips. “Very nice. What do the characters say?”

Jinhai looked back at Will. “They say, to the heart.”

“To the heart, how unusual.”

“This okay?”

“Sure, why not?”

Jinhai returned the bowl to the table and came back with the thorn. “Now to make permanent.”

Her eyes flew open. “You don’t use a tattoo machine?”

“This is old tattoo, must use old technique to apply.”

Jinhai hovered over the dragon design and jabbed the thorn into her skin. Kayleigh flinched, a soft gasp escaping from her mouth.

Will covered his mouth to hide a smile that grew with each gasp she made.
It took less than an hour for Jinhai to complete the work. He looked back at Will and motioned with a sideways nod to the tattoo. “You approve?”

Will stared at the fierce dragon poised to climb up Kayleigh’s arm. Its mouth stood agape, fangs ready to tear flesh. His gaze came to Jinhai and he nodded. “Perfect.”

“Hey, I’m the one who needs to approve,” Kayleigh said pushing onto her elbows, “it’s my damn tattoo.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Jinhai said bowing. “Take look, you like?”

She stared at the dragon for several seconds before saying, “Yeah, I like.”

Kayleigh continued to admire the tattoo when they returned to the car. “I can’t believe you actually did something right for a change. Maybe there is hope for you after all. I can’t wait to show it to the band. Ricky will die.”

“Who gives a shit what Ricky thinks.”

“Don’t spoil the moment, just shut up, and drive.”

Will wanted to get home as fast as possible, but he forced himself to drive the speed limit. Kayleigh put the radio on death metal, cranked up the volume, and sat back in her seat, continuing to admire the dragon.

When they arrived at their modest house nestled in the Rocky Mountain foothills, Will went straight to the shower. He stood under the hot water for a long time as if it could wash away past and future sins. When he returned to their room, Kayleigh sat on the edge of the bed rubbing her new tattoo.

“What’s wrong?” Will said climbing into bed.

“I don’t know. The skin around my tattoo feels tight like someone is pinching me.”

“Maybe the dragon is pinching you with its claws,” he said turning out the lamp next to his side of the bed.

“Very funny,” she answered before turning out her light.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but found himself too excited. His heart raced, sweat pearled along his hairline. Will rolled onto his side and stared at the clock. Two AM. He forced his eyes shut once more and tried to relax.

Something warm spread beneath him. Will’s eyes flew open. The clock read Four thirty two AM. What did he feel touching him? Was it a dream? He waited for a moment and then felt it again, warm liquid oozing against his flesh. He held his breath. It wasn’t long before he heard a cacophony of ripping, snarling, chewing and moaning. Will snapped on the light and recoiled at the sight of Kayleigh sitting with her back against the headboard, the bottom half of her left arm lying on the bed in a pool of blood. On her remaining arm, the dragon gnawed through flesh, while its clawed feet dug into her skin. It advanced slowly toward her shoulder crunching through flesh and bone.

Kayleigh stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. “Will…what…is…happening?”

He felt nauseated when the metallic smell of blood hit him. Will clenched his teeth to steady his nerves. “This is a special tattoo, one of a kind, created from real dragon’s blood. Now the dragon is following the instructions written on your chest.”

“To the heart,” she said in a crumbling voice.

“Yes, to the heart.”

“What does it mean?”

“That tells the dragon how far it needs to eat.”

The blood rushed from Kayleigh’s face leaving it a ghostly hue. Will climbed off the bed and stared down at her. “You shouldn’t have slept with Ricky. Enjoy your birthday present.”