Raastein

1. Fail

The sound of the loud and thundering rain filled Shayla D'Souza's ears as she sat near her window, looking out to the rain pelting the window.

It had been raining non-stop these past few weeks; it was that time of year in Istanbul. Normal people would find heavy downpours of rain a sign of gloom and despair, but not for Shayla.

Shayla loved rain. Everything about rain. The whispering hum as sheets of precipitation plummeted to the water-forsaken ground, the often unanticipated flashes of lightning or the rolls of ominous thunder. She loved it all. Those facts were truly what created, in her opinion, a perfect rainy atmosphere.

Shayla's family consisted of four people; her mum, dad, elder sister and of course, Shayla. Shayla's dad worked at the 'AOTCE' company. It was one of the biggest engineering companies in the whole of Istanbul. Shayla's mum worked at the 'IHCC', a health care centre for young children; she worked as a nurse there. Shayla's sister, Alina D'Souza, lived in India and had started a career in acting. Shayla's family wasn't perfect, her dad was Turkish, and her mum was Indian, and there were also some parts of her that were English. But even with all of these differences, they fit in quite well into society...

"Shayla beta! Chalo, main tumhe college drop kar deti hoon," exclaimed Shayla's mum, Mrs. Abha D'Souza, interrupting the peace and quiet. (Shayla darling! Let's go, I'll drop you to college.)

"Thanks mum! I'm coming!" yelled Shayla, as she grabbed her bag and made her way to the front of the house.

The ride to college was long. All Shayla could think about was her recent breakup with the not so popular Kabir Akkaş. Kabir had broken Shayla's heart, after dating for almost two years. He had cheated on her, and with all this drama, Shayla had no idea how she was going to get through her second last year of college, and the exam that was today.

As the sound of the car's engine stopped, Shayla stepped out of the car and made her way to the entrance of her college. She was only a few steps from entering the college when something inside of her told her to stop. She decided to leave.

Making sure no one saw her, Shayla made her way towards the main road. She grabbed a taxi and asked the driver to take her some place far.

"Hanımefendi, bu ne kadar ileri gittiğim. Yakınında bir dövme yeri var, seni orada bırakabilir miyim?" (Madam, this is how far I go. There's a tattoo place nearby, I can drop you there?) asked the taxi driver in Turkish. He turned around and smiled at Shayla. The man's teeth were twisted and crooked. They were yellow, and had looked like they hadn't been brushed in days, maybe weeks. He was also missing a tooth—you could see the worn out gum from where the tooth should've been.

"Teşekkür ederim efendim, beni orada bırakabilirsin," (thank you sir, you can drop me there) replied Shayla in perfect Turkish. The driver continued driving until he arrived at a parking lot near the tattoo shop. Shayla got out of the taxi, paid the driver, and went into the tattoo shop.

"Hello ma'am, how may I help you?" asked the lady at the counter. She placed a pair of glasses on and made her way towards Shayla.

Shayla noticed that the lady had several piercings and tattoos everywhere. She had a nose piercing, a standard lobe, upper lobe and helix piercing. As for her tattoos, the lady had an eagle tattoo on the back of her neck. It was a big, black vulture, and it really stood out. If you looked closely, you could see that the lady also had a small tattoo of a chandelier behind her left ear.

"Um...I think I would like to get a tattoo," Shayla finally answered, lowering her head down.

"How old are you?" questioned the lady.

"Ahh...25," she replied with hesitation.

"Can I please see an ID?" The lady moved closer to Shayla, holding out a hand. Shayla grabbed out her purse and took out her ID.

"Here," she said, as she placed her ID in the palm of the lady's hand. The lady took the card and examined it. After a while she gave it back.

"Okay, come this way." Shayla made her way inside one of the private rooms. She was pretty shocked that the lady had thought she was 25. After all, the ID Shayla showed the lady was fake...Shayla was in fact 23, and the town she came from, the rule was that you had to be 25 and over to get one.

"My name is Nesrin, it's nice to meet you. Please sit down on this chair," said Nesrin as she made her way towards the corner of the room and began fiddling with some things that sounded like needles.

"Do you know what kind of tattoo you want?" asked Nesrin.

"Something with meaning...I want something here," said Shayla, pointing at her waistline, "and I would like another here," she said pointing underneath her right breast.

"Okay, I'll do the one underneath your breast first, what would you like?" she asked, handing Shayla some paper.

"I would like this please," showing Nesrin the paper.

Nesrin made her way to the corner of the room again, and then came back with a few utensils.

The next thing Shayla felt was the cold feeling of rubbing alcohol on her skin. Nesrin then started to trace out an outline of the tattoo and then transferred it to Shayla's skin. Once that was done, Nesrin brought out a needle, "I'm guessing you've never gotten a tattoo before? Don't worry, just close your eyes and focus on something else." Shayla nodded and Nesrin began her work.

The pain was unbearable. It felt like someone was dragging a needle across Shayla's skin. It felt close to a cat scratching her. The annoying and intense vibration that the needle gave off wasn't helping the situation either.

"Okay, the first one's done," said Nesrin, "one more to go, you're doing great,"

Shayla nodded and closed her eyes as Nesrin began work on her waistline. Once both tattoos were completed, Nesrin applied a layer of protective ointment and then put a bandage on. She told Shayla a few procedures to follow, and soon Shayla had come out of the shop.

Shayla arrived home early, making sure nobody was home. She ran to her room and took her shirt off.  She glanced at the mirror in front of her and admired the two new tattoos that were now a permanent part of her body.

The tattoo underneath her right breast was a quote written in Urdu; لائیو محبت ہنسی, meaning 'Live, Love, Laugh.' The tattoo on her waistline was written in Arabic; دون خوف بلا كراهية meaning 'Without fear, without hate.' Nesrin had done an amazing job...

"Beta, your results have come!" exclaimed Mrs. D'Souza. The door closed with a bang. The footsteps of Mrs. D'Souza became louder and louder as she got closer to Shayla's room. She handed Shayla a letter with the results.

"What does it say?" asked Mrs. D'Souza intently.

"I...I didn't pass this year," she muttered.

"What? What do you mean you didn't pass this year?" questioned Mrs. D'Souza hesitantly.

"I didn't pass..." she replied.

Mrs. D'Souza didn't know what to say, she just walked out of the room...disappointed.