he thought about his mother putting a band-aid on a scraped knee ; he thought about the time the dog had torn off the back of grandma nellie 's absurd sundress and how he had laughed and how vera had swatted him one and cut his forehead with the stone in her engagement ring ; he thought about his father showing him how to bait a fishing hook and saying , it does n't hurt the worms , johnny at least , i do n't think it does .