My dearest friend, Johji, had just received a bit of fearfully disheartening news – all week long, rumors had been abound that his boyfriend of four weeks, Nicholas, was sincerely considering a brake up, and in the typical ironic fashion, Johji was seemingly the only person still oblivious to the situation. After I took it upon myself to inform him of these whispers from the grapevine, we agreed to meet at our favorite coffee shop in the mall the following day as a means of bolstering his spirits. Once we arrived, however, neither of us was much in the mood for a cup of Joe, so we set off for Spencer's Gifts, a quaint novelty shop where his soon to be sister-in-law, Danielle, is employed. After fumbling through racks and rows of intimate lubricant, spiked dildos and edible panties, it became evident that today was Danielle's day off, as she was nowhere to be found. So, we slinked off toward the glass cabinet where Spencer's stock of body jewelry is kept – Johji has long harbored an aspiration to become a piercer, and I suppose, somehow, the prospect of purchasing a new piece of jewelry has a way of brightening his mood.
At A Glance Author Emily Contact Emily@bme.anon When A week ago Artist My best friend, Johji Studio A mall parking lot Location Columbia, SC
It was then that he said, "I'll pierce your cartilage for you if you want ..."
He knew that my parents had promised to take me down to our local piercing parlor for my birthday the pervious summer and pay to have my cartilage & lip done. Instead, my mother had ended up handing me forty dollars and dropping me at the mall with my then girlfriend, Shawna. By the end of the day, most of my cash and energy had been spent pleasing her, and just a month or so later, I was to learn of her infidelities with a dwarfish, greasy boy named "Pixie." It'd been rather a melancholy birthday experience, indeed.
I eagerly responded, "Could you really?"
We surveyed the selection of jewelry for a few minutes and came across an appropriate choice – two stainless steel, 16-gauge barbells. We had a shop girl remove them from the display case for us. I was disappointed to find that the barbells were near $11, and together our spare change amounted to just four. But, Johji simply asked me to hand him my money, and he bounced away toward the register. As it turns out, he coerced the kids waiting before him into spotting us the extra cash and soon returned, jewelry in hand. Johji was determined to make this work. I love that kid.
We had intended to pierce me with a meager 22-gauge safety pin removed from Johji's bondage pants, but once we arrived in the parking lot, we happened upon our spunky friend, Sarah. She was bobbing up and down with excitement. "Guys, I'm about to pierce my tongue!"
"With what?," asked Johji. She loosened her clinched fist, revealing a hollow point 14-gauge needle. Ah, too big for our purpose! Fortunately, Sarah is very much like Marry Poppins in that she carries a magical purse every place she goes. She fished her hand inside and eventually resurfaced with an 18-gauge sewing needle. Good enough.
I sat down and began mentally preparing myself for the pain as Johji ran the sewing needle through a flame in order to cleanse it. Once finished, he knelt beside me and we began to discuss placement. A "scene" girl sitting across from us began to squeal about how unsafe self-piercing is and how she hoped I got an infection, developed cauliflower and had my ears rot off. Right. Whatever. I'd come this far, and I wasn't about to back out.
We soon found a position for the barbells I was happy with. I closed my eyes, gripped Sarah's hands tight, and waited in distress for the ordeal to be done with ... I know good and well cartilage is not at all the most painful thing to pierce ... But, forcing a sewing needle through something with the consistency of cardboard isn't particularly pleasant, either. Johji had some difficulty getting the needle to "pop" through my last layer of skin, but the most uncomfortable part of the procedure was pulling the needle back out. Three minutes later, he finished fastening the ball on my second barbell. We were done.
Of course, the scene girl had stayed to witness my piercing, and, disappointed that I didn't bleed a single bead of blood, let alone end up horribly disfigured, she felt compelled to say something else, and started moaning to her friends. "What a weirdo! She didn't even flinch!" I ignored her and turned to Sarah.
"Does it look alright?"
"It looks really good on you ... did it hurt, though?"
"Like a bitch."
It's now been about five days, and the three of us (Sarah, Johji & myself) have agreed to meet back at the mall this Saturday to pierce my lip in time for Halloween. XD I'm really quite pleased with the way my cartilage has turned out. The barbells are perfectly positioned, even with one another, and healing well.
I know there are certainly more risks involved in "basement piercing,", so I'm not encouraging anyone out there to do the same. But, I'll always remember holding Sarah's hands in a parking lot as Johji forced a sewing needle through my ears. Afterward, we went to Brewster's for ice cream, and we've decided to make that our traditional celebration every time one of us gets a new mod. I'd never trade that memory for one of sitting in a piercing parlor, my pocket sixty bucks lighter, as some stranger pokes holes through me.