first treatment, second day

tattoo2
Originally uploaded by kaitlynwhat.

the place where i am getting my tattoo removed is called homeboy industries. it is in east la on first street. daniel doesn't want me going there alone. i'm not sure its really that big a deal. it was in a nice looking building. i was the only white person there except for some college kids doing community service. everyone else was hispanic, and most had tattoos that were in the process of being removed. i saw a faded "eighteen" written in cursive on a girl's neck. there were guys who had tattoos on their foreheads. "who would get a tattoo on their forehead?" daniel asked. "maybe the gang forced them, or maybe it sounded good at the time." like mine. i felt uncomfortable but everyone there was nice and the process only took about two minutes. i'm glad it wasn't any longer because they were burning my flesh with a laser for those two minutes. it hurt. i started to sweat the minute the laser touched my skin. the goggles they forced me to wear got all fogged up. i said something about how it smelled like burning flesh and the technician guy said, "oh yeah, BBQ." i'm glad they have a sense of humor.

the tattoo should fade 30-50% with this first treatment. i have to go back in a month for my second one. the whole process could take six months. in the picture the tattoo looks the same, but the area is swollen a bit, and there are little red marks around the letters. the letter "n" in and, and part of the "d" are fading fast, as well as the "k" and "e" in like. the laser breaks up the pigment and then the ink is absorbed and broken up more by my immune system.

i have been re-reading my favorite judy blume books and i feel like i am writing like her. which wouldn't be bad, if this were a yound adult novel about girls getting their periods.