“I want to see you at the apartment tonight,” she barked into the phone, which was unlike her. She rarely lost her temper with her nieces and nephew. She preferred to explain things and be reasonable. But what Kate had done was not reasonable. Annie was not willing to let her drop out of school, and she hadn’t asked Annie’s permission. But at twenty-one, she didn’t have to.
“What’s wrong?” Katie asked, sounding stunned.
“I’ll discuss it with you when I see you,” Annie said tersely. “Not over the phone. I’ll be home by eight o’clock. Be there.” And with that she hung up, without waiting for Katie to answer. Annie was so mad, she was shaking. She hadn’t raised them for sixteen years, and taught them everything she could, and given them all the opportunities their parents would have wanted, in order for them to become dropouts. Katie was a talented artist, and Annie wanted her to go to school and get the degree she’d started.
Annie finished everything on her desk in record time and took the plans she had to change with her when she went home. She’d been so distracted for the rest of the afternoon that she couldn’t think straight. The lights were on when she got home, and Katie was in her room listening to music. She walked out the minute she heard the front door close and stood looking at her aunt. Annie was obviously livid. She took her coat off, hung it up, and walked into the living room, and Katie followed. Annie sat down and looked at her, with a mixture of disappointment and anger. It was the disappointment that shook Katie, more than the anger.
“What the hell are you thinking?” were Annie’s opening words to her. “I got the notice from your school. You didn’t even ask me. How disrespectful is that? And what are you planning to do now, without a degree? Work at McDonald’s?”
Katie fought to keep her voice calm. She wanted to prove to Annie that she was an adult, not a child. She had a right to make her own decisions. “I got offered a job that I want to do for one semester. I thought maybe I could do it as an art project or an internship, but they wouldn’t let me. So I took a semester off to do it. It’s not such a big deal. I’ll go back to school next term.”
“What kind of job is it?” Annie said, still upset by the way Katie had done it. She had said nothing to her aunt over the holidays about wanting to drop out of school, or do an internship. She could at least have discussed it with her.
“It’s a good job,” Katie said, balking at the question. “I want to do it.”
“What is it?” Annie was fierce as she asked her, as only Annie could be when she was angry, which was infinitely rare. And all she wanted was what was best for Katie.
“I’m going to be doing designs at a tattoo parlor,” Katie said quietly, and Annie stared at her in horror.
“Are you crazy? You’re giving up a term at Pratt, one of the best design schools in the country, to work in a tattoo parlor? Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“I’m not kidding. They do some great art. I know I can do some really creative things there. There are some major emerging artists who have gotten their start in tattoo parlors.”
“If I didn’t love you so much, I’d kill you. Katie, you can’t do this. Is it too late to sign up at school for this term?”
“I don’t know. I won’t do it. I’m going to work at the tattoo parlor. I started on Tuesday, and I love it. I’ve already given up my room at the dorm, as of this weekend.”
“Then I expect you to live at home.” Annie’s tone was icy. She was so angry and upset, she could hardly speak.
“I was planning to do that anyway,” Katie said politely. “I told you, I’ll go back to school next semester. I want to do this for a while. It’s very creative.”
“Will you please tell me what you think is creative about tattooing anchors and eagles on people’s asses? This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” Katie had always been different from the others. She was more independent, more artistic, more of an individual, braver, and was never afraid to try out new ideas. But this one was one of the worst she’d ever had, in Annie’s opinion. She had always been supportive of her niece’s creativity, but this time she had gone too far.
“Did Paul have anything to do with this?” Annie asked suspiciously, and Katie shook her head with tears in her eyes.
“No. He’s mad at me too. He thinks it’s stupid, and undignified, and not right for a woman.”
“He got that right.” Annie couldn’t even imagine saying that her niece was a tattoo artist, or what her parents would have thought of it. It didn’t bear thinking. “I’m very disappointed in you, Katie,” Annie said, calming down a little. “I expect you to finish school. Not for me, but for you. You need the degree to do something important with your art, or even to get a good job.”
“I know I do,” she said reasonably, as tears slid down her cheeks. She hated to disappoint the aunt she loved so much and whose respect was so important to her. “I just wanted to do something different and more creative, and I’ve always loved tattoos.”
“I know,” Annie said, as she leaned over and put an arm around her. “But I just want you to finish school, and a tattoo parlor is such an unsavory place to be. The people are awful.”
“You don’t know that, and I don’t care anyway. I just want to do the art. Someone else can do the tattoos.” She didn’t tell her aunt that they were teaching her to do that too.
“Do Ted and Lizzie know about this?” Annie asked, wondering if it was a conspiracy or just one of Kate’s crazy ideas. But Katie shook her head. “They’re not going to be happy either.” And as Annie said it, Katie stuck out her chin in defiance, just as she had when she was five years old. She had always been the toughest of the kids to manage, never afraid to back up her own ideas or take the consequences for it when she did.
“I have to do what makes me happy, and what’s right for me, not just what works for all of you. I want to learn how to do beautiful tattoos. It’s a form of graphic art, even if you don’t like it. And after that, I’ll go back to school.” She sounded stubborn and defiant as she said it.
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Annie said sternly, and then wiped the tears from Katie’s cheeks, and spoke more softly. “I wish you weren’t so damn independent and listened to me once in a while.”
“I do. But I have to do what I think is right too. I’m twenty-one years old. I’m not a baby.”
“You’ll always be a baby to me,” Annie said honestly. It was the conversation she’d had with Whitney a month before, about letting them go, make their own mistakes, and have their own lives. She couldn’t protect them forever.
“Where is this place?” Annie asked, and Katie told her. It was in a horrible neighborhood, and just the idea of her being there filled Annie with terror. What if something happened to her? Or she got AIDS from one of the needles? “I wish you’d give up this idea,” Annie pleaded with her. “It really is one of your worst.”
“I’m not going to,” Katie said fiercely. “I’m an adult, and I have a right to make this decision.”
“I guess you do,” Annie said sadly. “But not all the decisions we make are good.”
“We’ll see,” Katie said quietly, prepared to defend her independence with whatever it took. She didn’t share with her aunt then that she also wanted to do some traveling, and she wanted to go to Tehran with Paul for a visit to his family in the spring. She figured that right now that news could wait. And after they talked quietly for a few more minutes, Kate went back to her room. She was planning to bring home all her things from the dorm that weekend.