The parlour wasn't exemplary: the tattooist should have asked my age and turned me away, and I certainly wouldn't be so impulsive now. On the train home, we peeled off our dressings to admire and compare. We bought books, clothes and tattoos: I got a star on my back, he got something similar, but not matching, on his upper arm.
![crazy beautiful tattoos crazy beautiful tattoos](https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Moby-Crazy-Tattoo-Slide.jpg)
I took my £300 and went to Manchester with my best friend. At the end of the year, the fund had been underspent and what was left was divided between the students who'd already received an allowance from it. At the beginning of the year, I was given a cheque for £50 and told to spend it on books. My college had a small fund for students in dire financial circumstances. I was out on my own for the first time, throwing myself headlong into making my mark, and letting the world mark me. So I went and had my first tattoo done when I was 16.
CRAZY BEAUTIFUL TATTOOS SKIN
Modesty in all things was required, especially for girls, and a flash of colour on the skin was a desecration of a holy vessel made in God's image. I was raised in a religious household where tattoos were verboten the body was a temple and women even hesitated over piercing their ears. My grandad died over 15 years ago and I'd have to look at a photograph to remember the details of his face, but I can always remember that tattoo. She would purse her lips in pretend disapproval. Now and again, he'd wink and say it was a picture of my granny. The shading that was supposed to indicate the flirty curl of the woman's toes had become a faded, bluish blur. I used to ask him to roll up his shirtsleeve and I would use my finger to follow the outline of a woman cheekily reclining in a margarita glass. He had it done in Scotland during his national service in the 50s, so the tattoo must have been more than 30 years old when I became fascinated by it.
![crazy beautiful tattoos crazy beautiful tattoos](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1b/53/e5/1b53e5e25ff1a3eeb1d82189935fc101.jpg)
![crazy beautiful tattoos crazy beautiful tattoos](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/fb/6e/69/fb6e695f1290ba9ca8a896a615277546--tattoo-henna-henna-art.jpg)
T he first tattoo I ever saw belonged to my grandad.