With a giant metal spider perched in the front yard and musty couches scattered on the porch, the Campbell Club, wedged in-between the manicured lawns of nearby sororities, is a hard place to miss.

It’s mid-afternoon on a beautiful, sunny spring day. Light streams in through the windows, illuminating the sun catchers on the ceiling, creating dazzling color. These glowing circles could put anyone in a momentary trance. Terry Brown is hard at work in her studio, working meticulously on a custom design.

The first mafia tattoo he ever saw: a cross inked on a man’s chest. He didn’t understand what it meant or why it was important. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, however, he would come to understand the meanings of these symbols that are central to Russian mafia culture.