Erica Mena is taking charge of her life and wants to get a brand-new tattoo. She goes to Ryan Henry to get “strong” tattooed on her hip. “I haven’t always had the best tattoo experiences, to say the least,” she tells him in our EXCLUSIVE preview of the Feb. 13 episode of Black Ink Crew: Chicago. However, she lets Ryan have full creative reign over the script. Erica admits that this tattoo is “going to be a reminder that, even though this relationship that I thought would be my forever [didn’t work out] doesn’t mean I’m weak. It’s actually made me stronger.”
Erica’s thoughts about a past relationship has Ryan thinking about dating. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or probably just because I’m busy, but the idea of dating and trying to date again just ain’t on my plate right now,” he says. “I’m so focused on bettering me and myself, I ain’t got time for none of that sh*t.” He knows he could start dating again if he wanted to, but he’s got other priorities at the moment.
Ryan just wants to work on himself at the moment, and we don’t blame him! Juggling work and kids and dating is a lot. Ryan finishes up Erica’s tattoo, and she says it’s “beautiful as f**k.” She’s absolutely in love with Ryan’s work. “This is, like, perfect,” she notes. Well, when you go to Ryan, you get the best work! Black Ink Crew: Chicago airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on VH1.