Page 51 of Cocky Origins: May and Jerald Cocker

“You’re awful quiet today.”

“Am I? I just miss him, I guess. That mock air raid we had today felt different than the others somehow. I was curled under my desk and I thought of him at sea, in a submarine with the Germans hidden in dark waters.”

“May! You can’t think like that. You’ll scare yourself!”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? And isn’t he scared, way deep down even if he doesn’t know it? What must it be like to steer a submarine when you don’t know what’s hidden waiting for you half the time. Did you know that they invented sonar radar to tell when another boat is nearby? It sends out a signal that pings over and over. And when the ping returns, depending on how fast and all, that’s how they know if they’re not alone. Doesn’t that sound dreadful?” The look on Gertie’s face! When she doesn’t say anything, I nod, “I thought so, too.”

After a couple steps, she finds her voice. “Let’s get two scoops this time.”

I loop my arm through hers. “Good idea.”

28

MAY

We’re wearing high-waisted slacks to bowl in, our button-up blouses with fashionable shoulder pads, and our hair is curled. Sable’s pulled hers into a ponytail. Gertie’s sitting in back, and since we’re going to pick up Lily, I’m temporarily in her place in the front passenger seat.

“Marvin is nice. I wasn’t claiming him not to be, but I’m not sure if he’s smart enough for me.” Sable frowns while craning her neck to assist in parking perfectly parallel to the sidewalk outside of Lily’s home. “I know that makes me sound terrible.”

Impressed with her driving skills, I’m poking my head out the window. “Oh, I don’t know. If you think about it, you’ll be awfully stimulated by science. Just imagine yourself cooped up in a lab all day long. What would you want to return home to?” I turn in my seat and look at her. “An egghead?”

“Remember, you’re talking to an egghead.”

“That’s exactly my point. Would it be more fun to have someone different from you, or someone who talks about exactly the same things you think about all day long?”

Her mouth twists, and after several moments, she still hasn’t made up her mind. “Go on and get her. We’ll wait.”

I hop on out, walk up the steps and give the door three raps.“Hi dee ho!” Nobody answers, and I look back and call to the girls, “What’s the time?”

Sable leans to see me through the window I left open, “Knock again!”

Gertie yells from the backseat, “Yes, May! Try louder!”

I give it a shot, but still don’t hear anything. After a moment I shrug both shoulders to the girls. “Whatgives? Could she have gone to the bowling alley without us?”

“It’s just like her to change things and not tell me. I specifically told her what time I would pick her up!”

I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear Lily’s shaky and very distant voice call from inside, “M-ay-ay-ay?”

I wave the girls up, and slowly turn the doorknob, hurried car doors opening and shutting behind me. They run up the steps, and I leave the door open for them, calling from inside the foyer, “Lily?”

There isn’t a light on in the house.

“Lily?”

“Upstairs.”

Gertie, Sable, and I exchange a look, and I lead them, our footsteps creaking the whole way. We turn the corner and see her door is open just a crack. It’s dark inside. I push it open and discover our beautiful and courageous friend in a ball on the floor by her dresser, with a black eye, cut lip, and bruised arms, tears streaming down her cheeks.

We race forward. “Lily!!”

I drop to my knees, horrified. Bloodshot eyes look at me as she whispers,“Is she gone?”

Furious, Sable demands, “Your Mother did this?”

Lily nods, and Gertie moans, “Oh no!”

She curls into my hug. “I hate her bottles so I hid them. And I wouldn’t tell her where. She got so mad! I should’ve told her where I put them. I didn’t know how mad she would get. But then…” She stops and sobs, shoulders shaking in my arms.

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