Page 86 of Cocky Origins: May and Jerald Cocker

“Afraid not, no.”

“What’s it about? Or is that too personal a question to ask?”

I whistle an uneven tune as I think a minute. He goes back to his numbers but I know his mind is half occupied with curiosity.

“Jerald?” May calls, and I step out to get a better view of her walking up the hallway, hair brushed and everything in place again. She looks cute as a button. “Who was it?”

“My father. And Ma made sure she was heard, too.”

“Oh no! What do they want?”

“What do you think they want?”

May stares at me. Her mouth twists to the side and she blinks at the options. “We’d better get married soon, then.”

I hear the fountain pen drop, and close my eyes.

We look at Walter’s disapproval.

May whispers, “Uh oh.”

“Private Cocker, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Now, listen, it’s not what you think.”

May interjects, “We came here to get married!”

“That’s right, it’s not like this is our second choice or anything like that.”

“It’s the sole reason we came to Atlanta!”

I touch her back. “I was in Norfolk.”

“So was I! It was my first plane ride! See, you can’t make that up!” She pauses. “Well, you could, but I’m not! I went with his folks to pick him up the moment he landed, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, that was just on Saturday.”

“Jerald has been away for a year and we’ve been waiting until he returned so we could get married but then…”

“We didn’t want to wait.”

“That’s right!” She looks at me.

Walter is watching us, unsure. I don’t want him to kick us out, or call the police, or…who knows what a man would do when he believes he’s been made a fool of?

I hold out my open palm. “You know how it is, don’t you, Officer Gibbons? Coming back from war and realizing what really matters? May and I are in love, the real kind. The lifelong kind! I brought her to Atlanta to elope so we didn’t have to wait months to be together. We’d already done that. Time is too precious to waste, that’s what I learned. Didn’t you? When you were at sea and days stretched into years? It’s time to build a home together. A family!”

He sighs, removes his glasses and taps them on the ledger, staring into his thoughts. “I had a girl. Her name was Patty. She waited for me as long as she could, I imagine. I’d like to think so, anyhow. When I got back she’d moved away with some fella. Her mother told me what a good match they were, and that I should be happy for her. I tried to be, because I loved her so much, and I suppose I was for a while. Later on, that feeling faded and I just missed her. Couldn’t do anything about it, but I missed her just the same.” Returning to present day, he looks at us. “Well, I suppose you’ll need a license.”

48

JERALD

The phone rings.

I point at it, and Walter nods. Chances are it’s not a customer. In fact, we’re all surprised it’s taken this long for Pops to call back, though none of us needs to say it.

Leaning her hip on the counter, May’s blue eyes are big with worry as I answer, “Hello?”

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