Zero is a local bamboo tattoo artist. He has a dog, a hammock, a chopper and a cowboy hat. His shop is across the street from where I live. We took our seats at his bar. A few days back he'd explained to me the reason he'd opened the bar in his shop. 

"My friends come to island, to my shop, and say, Zero, come for beer. And then I'd have to close for the day. Bad for business. So I open bar. My friends come to island, to the shop, I sell them beer, I drink with them, and I can always keep on working while I'm drinking and after I'm drunk."

He poured me my drink as I sketched out a design to him.

"So like a ship's eye in the middle, see, circled by two Naga snakes - like this, their tails cross at the top, their bodies cross at the bottom, their heads hold up the eye's corners. See? What do you think?" He looked at it and squinted, and looked at me - he tried to understand whether I was tasteless, stupid or drunk. Finally, he shook his head vigorously and said:

"Mai dee. No good. This is not good tattoo. Do not do this. Please!" 

I should probably have bought him a couple of beers first - but then, the trail's always easy to see when you're looking back.