Time frame: Keith and Ellis are 16
POV: Ellis
Main event: Keith gets a drill bit stuck in his ear.
Did I ever tell you about the time that Keith got a drill bit stuck in his ear?
Well, he didn't really stick it in there, but I'll get to that part. When we were both sixteen, Keith went to a guy we both know and got his tongue pierced, even though I told him that if his dad seen it he would get real mad. Keith's dad, like I said, was "old-fashioned" and he swore up and down that any man that got his tongue pierced did it to…satisfy other guys to say it as best I can.
Now even though Keith was datin this really gorgeous half-black half-Chinese girl at the time –which Keith's dad also had some negative shit to say about- he found out about the tongue ring two days later and beat my buddy's ass bad. There wasn't nothin I could do to stop it either because I wasn't there. Usually I'm able to stem his rage attacks a little by distractin him with somethin else.
Keith called me all urgent on the phone and told me he was walkin up the street and to come get him in my truck. So I did. He had blood all down one side of his shirt, but otherwise he was just banged up. I asked what happened and he turned his head to show me a big ass drill bit stuck in the cartilage of his ear.
So, we did the natural thing, went to my mom when she got home from work to have her take it out. Now, we coulda gone when she was at work, being that she worked at the damn hospital but if we did that, she would have had to report it. So mom doctored him up and we had a laugh about it later. I was like, "Hey buddy, it's not all bad. At least I talked ya out of gettin your guy parts pierced. That woulda hurt worse, right?"
He said, "You didn't talk me out of it, El. The guy at the shop said it was just too damn huge and he didn't have a needle that could withstand the sheer girth of my hog."
That's true…the guy did actually say that. Keith is a complete freak. I still sometimes wake up with the image of him and the shop guy…measurin stuff and it makes me scream until I realize I'm awake and safe.
Note: I'm also contemplating doing another version of "Did I Ever Tell You" Yay or Nay on whether any of you are interested in DIETY from Nick's perspective, cataloging some of the god-awful and sometimes funny moments of his life?