Jeremy's Sliver

Jeremy felt a prick on his finger, the one next to his thumb. He stared at the redness surrounding the hair-thin bit of wood sunk into the fleshy pad of his fingertip. It hurt, and he tried to pull it out with his fingers, but couldn’t get hold of the tiny end.

“I’ll get it out.” Missy left the TV room where they were building a small house out of wooden popsicle sticks and returned with a large pair of black scissors and a large needle. 

“Why’d you bring those and not the tweezers?” 

“I couldn’t find them.”

“Don’t touch me with those scissors.” He held up his hands and backed away from his sister.

“Don’t be a fraidy cat.”

“I’m not a fraidy cat.”

“How come your friends called you scaredy cat after school today?”

“They did not.”

“They did too. I heard them.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Mikey’s sister Jazmine told me they called you scaredy cat because you were afraid to climb the big maple tree during recess.” She giggled.

“I just didn’t feel like climbing it. And they’re not my friends.” 

“You and Mikey and Ray have been best friends since you were four years old and now you’re almost eight. That makes four years, which is half your life.” 

“They’re stupid. I don’t like them.”

“You’re just saying that. If you weren’t afraid, you’d let me take the sliver out for you.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“You’re a scaredy cat.”

“No, I’m not. You don’t know how to do it right.”

“It’s hardly brain surgery.” 

“But it’s finger surgery. And I’m not a fraidy cat.” 

“No, it’s just first aid. I’ve seen mom and dad do it and they’re not surgeons. They’re not even doctors.”

“It is if you use scissors to cut my finger open.”

“I’m not going to cut your finger open, silly.” 

Missy grabbed at Jeremy’s finger, but he yanked it away and put it behind his back.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Come on, I’ll be very gentle.”

“Okay,” Jeremy carefully held out his hand. “Promise you won’t hurt me.”

“I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Jeremy followed the scissors in Missy’s hand as she opened them up and stuck the point into the area of skin around the sliver.

“That hurts!”

“Does not. I haven’t even cut out the sliver yet.”

“You’re not supposed to cut it out. You’re just supposed to grab the end and pull it out.”

“I know that, but the end is just under your skin, so I have to poke through the skin so I can get hold of the end and pull it out.”

“That will hurt.”

“The longer you leave the sliver in, the more it will hurt, because the skin will grow over the sliver until you won’t be able to get it out, and then you’ll have to go to the hospital and have an operation.” 

“You’re just trying to scare me.”

“No, I’m not. I’m trying to help you, but you’re just a scaredy cat.”

“I’m going to ask Mommy to do it. She’ll be gentle.”

“Mom is having her book club. You know she doesn’t like to be bothered when she has all those people over, unless we’re having a real emergency.”

“This is a real emergency.”

“No, it’s not. You’re not bleeding to death and you haven’t broken your arm or leg or even your nose, so it’s not an emergency.”

“But you said the skin would grow over the sliver and then I’d have to go to the hospital and get it operated out. If I need an operation, it’s an emergency.”

“Just let me get it out. I’ll be gentle.”

“Mommy can do it better and it won’t hurt. The book club people won’t mind.”

“Yes, they will. You know what happened last week, when you interrupted Mom’s book club.”

“But that was because I couldn’t find the milk in the fridge, and Mommy said it was right there in front of my eyes, but it wasn’t before, when I looked, but Mommy didn’t believe me.”

A sneaky, closed-mouth smile crossed Missy’s face.

Jeremy pointed his finger. “You moved the milk, didn’t you?”

A suffocated laugh escaped through Missy’s clamped lips.

“No, I didn’t. Go bother Mom in her meeting, but don’t blame me if she gets mad at you.”

“She wasn’t mad. Not really. And I’m going to tell her you hid the milk last time.”

“You can’t prove I did.”

“You’re admitting you did it.”

“No, I’m not. You just want to go to Mom, because you’re a fraidy cat.”

“No, I’m not.” Jeremy held out his hand. “Okay, I’ll let you take the sliver out.” 

“Hold still, this will prick a bit.”

“You promised it wouldn’t hurt. You lied. You lied about hiding the milk and you’re lying about this.” Jeremy pulled his hand away.

“I said it will prick. And I didn’t lie about the milk. I never told you if I hid or didn’t hide the milk. So I didn’t lie.”

“But you did it.”

“So what if I did? See, I’m not saying I did it.”

“Mommy uses tweezers, not scissors.”

“I know, but I told you I couldn’t find the tweezers. But see the ends of the scissors work just like tweezers.” 

“I don’t believe you didn’t find the tweezers. I think you hid them, like you hid the milk.”

“No, I didn’t. Why would I do that? I’m just trying to help you. Are you going to keep being a fraidy cat like everyone says you are?”

“No, stop saying that.” Jeremy held out his hand and closed his eyes. “I’m ready. Do it quick.”

“I can’t do it too quickly, or I might have an accident and cut your finger.”

“Just get it out.” 

Missy grabbed hold of Jeremy’s reddened finger and poked the point of the scissors into the painful spot.  

I’m not a scaredy cat, Jeremy repeated silently to himself, as he felt the scissor point push into his skin, and bit his lip to stop himself from crying out.

“Are you almost done?” 

“I just need to poke a little more. The scissors aren’t going through the skin.”

Jeremy pulled his hand away. “I don’t care if you call me a fraidy cat. I’m going to get Mommy to do it.” He ran past his sister, but his Mom stopped him in the doorway. 

“I thought I heard one of you calling me?” She looked at Jeremy’s reddened finger.

“Oh, you poor thing. That must hurt. I’ll get my tweezers and pull it out.”

She returned after a moment with the tweezers. 

“Missy said the tweezers were missing, and she was going to use the big black scissors to get the sliver out.”

 “No, they were right where they always are, in the cabinet over the bathroom sink on the first shelf.” She held Jeremy’s hand, and he felt a prick and then a pinch in his finger, and then she pulled the sliver out with the tweezers and held it up for him to see.

His finger felt immediately better. 

“There it is.” She kissed his finger. “All better now.”

“Yes. Thank you Mommy.”

“Why didn’t you get me right away?”

“I didn’t want to be a fraidy cat.”

“You’re Mommy’s brave boy. You didn’t cry when I took the sliver out.” She turned to his sister. “Missy, what are you holding behind your back?” 

Missy slowly took out the large pair of scissors. “I don’t know how to use tweezers. I only know how to use scissors.”

Their mom sighed. “I want to think you were only trying to help your little brother.”

Missy hung her head.

“Jeremy, I’m glad you didn’t let your sister near you with those scissors.”

 “I understand, Mommy. It’s not always bad to be afraid.”