The girl’s eyes brightened for a moment, and then she looked aside. “I ain’t pierced.”
“Well, I’m a-gonna pierce ya.” Ma hurried back into the tent. She came back with a cardboard box. Hurriedly she threaded a needle, doubled the thread and tied a series of knots in it. She threaded a second needle and knotted the thread. In the box she found a piece of cork.
“It’ll hurt. It’ll hurt.” Ma stepped to her, put the cork in back of the ear lobe and pushed the needle through the ear, into the cork. The girl twitched. “It sticks. It’ll hurt.”
“No more’n that.”
“Yes, it will.”
“Well, then. Le’s see the other ear first.” She placed the cork and pierced the other ear. “It’ll hurt.”
“Hush!” said Ma. “It’s all done.” Rose of Sharon looked at her in wonder. Ma clipped the needles off and pulled one knot of each thread through the lobes.
“Now,” she said. “Ever’ day we’ll pull one knot, and in a couple weeks it’ll be all well an’ you can wear ’em. Here—they’re your’n now. You can keep ’em.”
Rose of Sharon touched her ears tenderly and looked at the tiny spots of blood on her fingers. “It didn’ hurt. Jus’ stuck a little.”
“You oughta been pierced long ago,” said Ma. She looked at the girl’s face, and she smiled in triumph. “Now get them dishes all done up. Your baby gonna be a good baby. Very near let you have a baby without your ears was pierced. But you’re safe now.”