Page 65 of Cocky Origins: May and Jerald Cocker

Mrs. Cocker waves her glove, “I’m going to let myself be content that at least one of my boys is coming home! This is a day I’ve been waiting for!”

I stare out the window as we leave Albany behind us, thinking, Me too, oh, me too!

37

JERALD

Returning home on a battleship isn’t a bad way to travel, no sir.

The moment land came into view, every available spot to stand or sit was claimed by a sailor or a soldier.

We traveled back to America on cots crammed like sardines as far as the eye could see. We ate in shifts. This morning we passed around countless basins of soap and water to bathe as best we could, changing into our dress uniforms, carting our bags outside to watch Norfolk’s landing dock grow large with each passing second.

I ask David, fellow planesman, a man I steered beside ever since I joined my last crew, “Isn’t that a sight for sore eyes?”

“I’ll say! Can’t wait to see Noreen and the girls! They must be so big by now! How ‘bout you?”

“My folks’ll be there, but I’ll have to wait to see May.”

“That’s a shame!”

“Can’t be helped.” I squint at the sun. “If she were my wife, she’d be there, yessiree.”

“Be your Mrs. soon, the way you talk about her!”

“If she’s still waiting for me,” I frown, staring at the dock where hundreds if not thousands are waiting for our ship. “There’s something about May’s eyes a man could get lost in and never want to be found.”

David claps a hand on my shoulder as the serviceman go wild. Civilians cheer from the dock, raising their hats, shouting hurrah. It’s a sight a sailor won’t soon forget.

We disembark single file, saluting the line of officers with gleams in our eyes. One after the other we break off to find our families and hug them tight. It’s absolute chaos, and I’m grinning the whole while, searching for my folks.

I hear Ma’s voice shouting, “Jerald! Jerald!” and I follow the sound to her joyous face. She’s just behind Pops who waves like a man, two short whacks of the air.

I make my way through the dense crowd with a smile that freezes. “May?!”

She bounces to see me, blue eyes brimming with happiness. “Jerald!!”

“Holy cow!” I push my way through. “I can’t believe you’re really here! Did you get my letters?”

She laughs through happy tears, “Every one! At least, I think so! I’ve counted one-hundred and twenty-one, is that right?”

“Sounds it! Damn, it’s good to see you!”

She throws back to me the very last thing I said to her almost a year ago, “Come now, Jerald, Language!”

Laughing, I lift her up, squeezing her tight as I look to ask Ma, “This your idea?”

Setting May down, I hug my mother as she chides me for not hugging her first.

“My apologies. Guess I forgot myself. Pops!” My Father and I clap each other’s backs.

“Sure is good to see you, son.”

“You look like your old self again — fit as a fiddle! Wow, it’s great to see you all!”

“What do you have to do next? Are you free to go?”

“Listen, I have my locker, and there are forms that need to account for my arrival and all that.” I look at May. “And maybe some letters to pick up?”

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