There were two customers in the shop who served as witnesses. Ann Marie Morgan was eighteen and didn’t need parental permission to get married. I was in too much shock to even remember the ceremony.
I remember telling him I didn’t have a ring for him, and he told me not to worry, it was being handled. I watched nervously as Eddie used his tattoo gun to create a beautiful ink wedding band on Grizz’s left ring finger. It was my name, Kit, and it had vines weaving in and out of it. Then it was my turn.
“I can’t, Grizz,” was all I could say.
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“I can’t.” My voice shook. “I hate needles. I fainted when I got my ears pierced. Twice! Delia did each one with an ice cube and a sewing needle, and I fainted after each one.”
Eddie interrupted. “It’s not that bad, Kit. How about I draw it on first and let’s see if you like it? Huh? How about that?” he asked as he held up an ink pen. “Your finger is so small it’s not gonna take a lot of ink.”
I reluctantly sat down. Grizz held my right hand and kept telling me it wouldn’t be that bad.
True to his word, Eddie used an ink pen with a really fine point to start drawing Grizz’s name on my finger. He was talking to me as he was doing it, trying to ease my anxiety.
“Then we’ll go right here and make the bottom of this ‘z’ like a vine, to match Grizz’s finger, and then we’ll—”
I didn’t hear the rest. I fainted. When I woke up, Grizz was standing over me with a big grin.
“Didn’t feel a thing, did you?”
I was so humiliated. I’d fainted before they even used a needle. That had to be a first. I stayed passed out during the whole tattoo process. I know I was beet red and just wanted to crawl into a hole.
“C’mon, Mrs. O’Connell, let’s go home.”
We stopped at a really nice Italian restaurant on the way home. He teased me the whole time about fainting. I finally saw the humor in it and laughed at myself.
“I just don’t get it,” I said to him while waiting for our dinner.
“What, baby? What don’t you get?” he asked me as he buttered a roll.
“Why me? It’s obvious you can have any woman you want. Why do you want me, Grizz? Truthfully. Why?”
He got very quiet and placed the now-buttered roll back on the plate. I didn’t think he was going to answer me. I couldn’t fathom the depth of his feelings for me. I’d done nothing to call attention to myself when I lived next to Guido. It just didn’t make sense.
I asked again, “Why me? I mean, I tell you I’m uncomfortable having oral sex and you marry me. Who does that?”
It was then that Grizz told me a story. I sat in stunned silence as he told me about a lonely biker and a little, neglected girl with a sloppy ponytail and two missing front teeth.
I didn’t completely understand it, but yes. It now made some sense.
* * * * *
When we got back to the motel there was a bigger than usual crowd around the pit. I started to walk to number four, but Grizz told me to come with him for a few minutes.
As we stood facing the group, he said, “I have an announcement to make.”
Just then, Grunt came out of his room and walked up to us. He was standing off to Grizz’s right waiting for the announcement.
“I just made it official. Meet the new Mrs. Grizz.”
As he said this, Grizz held up my left hand showing my ring tattoo with his name on it. It was so small and hard to see that some people jumped up and came over to take a closer look. I was overwhelmed by the hooting and hollering and looked at Grizz to let him know I was done and going back to number four. He nodded at me to go.
I turned to walk toward our room when I saw Grunt standing by his door. Now that I thought about it, he wasn’t one of the people who came up to congratulate us. I changed direction and started to walk toward him. I don’t know why, but I felt the need to explain this to him. I was looking down and trying to figure what I was going to say and wondering why I felt I needed to say anything. I had almost reached his door.
But when I looked up, he was gone.
* * * * *
I knocked on Grunt’s door and went in when he yelled, “It’s open.” He was standing near his stereo flipping through albums.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” His voice was casual, unreadable.
I took the plunge, blurting out in a rush, “Grunt, I don’t know why, but I feel like I owe you an explanation about me and Grizz.”
“No, you don’t, Kit.” Grunt shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Well, then why do I feel like I do?”
“Don’t know. Maybe because of our secret?”
“Maybe that’s it. I don’t know. It was a surprise, you know? He didn’t tell me where he was taking me. I don’t know why it bothers me, but are you okay with this?”
“Yes and no.”
I gave him a look that pleaded with him to continue.
“I don’t know why he had to marry you. You’re really young. But, it’s not just that. I’m concerned for your safety.”
I started to interrupt but he held a hand up to stop me. “Grizz has a lot of enemies, Kit. Yes, he also has a lot of people who are afraid of him, who do what he tells them to do. But there’s always going to be that person out there looking for a way to get to him. By announcing his marriage to you, he opened that up. It’s going to get around, you know? People will hear that he cared enough about a woman to marry her. I’m just surprised he announced it. I’m worried for you, is all.”
I didn’t know what to say. He didn’t say he was upset because I married Grizz, thereby making me unavailable to him. What in the world was wrong with me? I’d been in Grizz’s bed for months now. I’d told myself Grunt was with Sarah Jo, and if I harbored any feelings at all for him, I needed to squelch them. So where was this coming from?
“I appreciate the concern. I really do. I don’t know if it makes a difference or not, Grunt, but I feel safe with Grizz.”
“Just do me a favor, Kit. Stay sharp. Never let your guard down. You just never know with this kind of lifestyle what can come knocking at your door.”
“I will. Thanks.”
We both moved in for a hug. It seemed like it lasted a little longer than it should have. I looked up and he was looking down at me. We stood there like that for a few seconds, but it seemed like hours. He broke away first and turned back to his stereo. I left and headed back to number four.