For Connie Allenby, tattoos are like painted memories. "They're usually about things that mean something to me," she said while an artist at Chicago Custom Tattoo etched her latest tattoo on her back Saturday night.

"Like this one is about one of my best friends."Last night, Allenby was sitting in the same spot, getting a tattoo about her daughter as a celebration of her 32nd birthday.

Her friend Jeanne Fisher was with her. "She was like, '2011 is going to be our year. Things are going to get better for us," Allenby sobbed. After about 15 minutes, Fisher went to a nearby pizza restaurant. As she crossed 66th Street on her way back to Chicago Custom Tattoo, police say Fisher was struck by an SUV that never stopped.

"She was just lying there, broken and bloody," Allenby cried. Investigators say Fisher was legally intoxicated at the time. Allenby says it doesn't matter, her best friend didn't deserve to die.

"She meant a lot to a lot of people and they just left her there like she was nothing."This latest memory is the opposite of skin-deep, which is why it's now forever etched on Allenby's body. Allenby bought Fisher her first tattoo on her birthday two years ago. "And her birthday is on Tuesday," Allenby said. Fisher would've been 51.

The tattoo Allenby bought her two years ago was a blue moon with hazy clouds. Now, the same image permanently rests on Allenby's left shoulder blade. "She'll always be with me."The suspected vehicle is an SUV, probably a Ford with damage to its front right side. It is likely missing its right side mirror and casing.