“You mean somebody will read my letters?”
“Afraid so. But you won’t let that stop you, will you?”
I shake my head. “Nothing could stop me.”
Jeralds smiles, picks up his knife and slices the mangled cherry pie. “Grab one of those plates, would you?”
23
JERALD
T hunderstorms in Georgia come fast, we’re no strangers to them. When the clouds turn gun-metal grey, May and I pack up right quick. While I fold the blanket, she holds the basket. Relieving her of it as soon as I can, I take her hand, blanket under my other arm so we can make a run for it.
Lightning strikes a tree up ahead, splitting it down the center. May screams.
I yell, “You alright?”
Over a cacophonous thunder-crack, she shouts back, “Never seen one hit that close!”
“Me neither!”
We get to my car, and I can’t believe it, but I left the top down.
My hair is plastered to my face.
She’s still wearing my hat, raindrops cascading from the brim.
Her smile, in spite of all of this, is still there, and she is absolutely beautiful.
I drop the basket and the blanket, take her face in my hands, and kiss her with all my might. This is like no kiss I’ve ever given.
My heart is in it.
I never knew it was absent until it showed up and smacked me in the head when I met May.
A fresh roar of thunder breaks us apart, and I realize that she lost my hat mid-kiss. She’s gazing at me, smile growing before she asks, “Care to swim home?”
“Thought we might float in this.” I jog my chin to the car.
May laughs, eyelashes fluttering to help her see. Heck, every part of her is dripping now. So I should be getting her home.
I lift her up and plunk her on the seat, not bothering with the door. Snatching the basket and blanket first, I plant them in the back, and grab my hat last, clapping it on my head while May grins at me like there’s no rush. I leap over and slide into the driver seat.
She yells, “All aboard!” snatches my hat and puts it on her head. “Didn’t you hear me say I’m keeping this?”
I laugh, dig out my keys, and holler, “Hot dog!” as the engine starts.
The car lurches, but the tires gain no traction. I look over my shoulder and try again. “Uh oh!” Jumping out I call to her, “Get behind the wheel!”
May scrambles to my seat, holds on and looks to me for direction.
“Okay! Hit the gas!”
“Which one is the gas?”
“The pedal on the right!”
She puts her weight on it, tires fighting the mud. I use every ounce of muscle I’ve got to push while the rain pelts me like it’s got a vendetta.
I can hear May’s voice, but can’t make out a word. One more shove and the tires break free.
She screams, “Jerald, help!”
I cup my hands to shout, “Take your foot off the gas! Keep the wheel straight!” I sprint after her, and the vehicle slows enough for me to grab on, climb over the back, slipping and sliding as I hop into the passenger seat, leaning to take the wheel. “Atta girl!”
With more direction, together we manage to stop the car.
Laughing the whole time, May and I jump out, run around, nearly bang into each other, and hop back into our rightful seats.
As I steer toward the center of the road, May asks, “Will you teach me how to drive someday?”
“Think I just did!”
“For real, sometime?”
I look over and hold her gaze. “That’s a promise.”
“Haven’t seen a thunderstorm like this in a while!”
“Guess we got lucky!”
Arriving back in town I glance to her, “I couldn’t hear you back there, when I was pushing us out of the mud. What were you saying right before we got free?”
“I was praying.”
“That hat sure does look better on you than it does on me.”
She lays her hand on the top, pressing it so it covers her eyes, leaving only that smile.
At her house I shut off the motor. “Guess I should’ve put the top up. What is your dad going to think?”
She shrugs like a champ. “Can’t be surprised I’m soaked, what with my going steady with a Navy man. Water comes with the territory!”
I get serious. “Are we going steady, May?”
“Well aren’t we?” She gives me a wink, and starts to open her door.
It’s me who winks.
She sure picked that up fast, I think to myself, approving wholeheartedly.
“Oh no you don’t!” I hop out, and see Mr. Kearns waiting for us again, sheets of rain between us. Tipping my dripping head with respect, I stroll around to her door.
Like the sun is shining we stroll up the path together. No hurry at all.
Her Father breaks out in a smile that shows he and I are going to get along just fine.
Her Mother appears. “May Eloise! You get in here before you catch your death!”
“Yes, Mother.” May turns to me. “I had a lovely time.” She walks inside and Fred Kearns shuts the door, his smile intact.
At home, my folks are waiting, too, on account of the storm forcing everyone inside with little to do but wonder about my love life.
Pops is so appalled at the state of his prized possession that he walks outside in the rain. “Why didn’t you put up the top? Have you lost your mind?”
I jump out and grin. “I think I have lost it! But do me a favor and don’t tell me where it is.”
Hank runs out in socked feet. “There aren’t enough towels to soak this up!”
The Lincoln is drenched, and it’s still raining, so Hank and I manage to get the top up while Pops waits, soaked to the bone, with his fists on his hips.
Ma is much more sensible, dry and protected inside the door. She’s dressed in a cream blouse and high-waisted slacks, arms crossed as she yells, “Must you bring the ocean with you, Jerald? You’ll be seeing it again tomorrow.”
Pops grumbles, “It’s not funny, Frances,” following us inside and slamming the door.
24
MAY
I t’s Monday and I can’t sit still. “I can’t call him, Mother, can I?”
“I should say not!” She separates laundry as if the subject is over.
“If you have to be at the airport at two o’clock, what time must you leave?”
“May Eloise, now you stop thinking about that boy. I can’t believe I allowed you to stay home from school. If he wants to call you, he’ll call. Don’t be a ninny. And stop picking at my wallpaper!”
I drop my hand and sigh, looking from the window to the phone and back again. “I feel like if that doesn’t ring I’ll bust!”
“Yes well, you won’t.”
How is it only two minutes since I last looked at the clock?
Matthew and Margaret run down the stairs, but this time get away with it. Perhaps even Mother is feeling anxious for me. I caught her looking at the clock, too, without reason for it.
“Do you like him?”
She shrugs, “Can’t say I know him very well.”
“Do you?”
On a sigh she picks up detergent. “I like his parents. Mrs. Cocker is very kind. And Mr. Cocker couldn’t be more charming. Although I suppose that’s a necessary trait for a politician. Still, I felt they were genuine. But Jerald, well, him I’m not quite sure of.”
I slide onto the chair, my arm on the back of it, posture slouched with disappointment. “Why?”
“He’s much too handsome, May.”
I laugh from surprise. “Is that all?”
“That’s a lot. He’ll be overseas for who knows how long. And I’m not sure if you understand young men, or even young women for that matter.”
“Is it really too hard to believe he could love me? The way Father loves you?”
“I just think it’s easier to love a man who won’t have w
omen chasing his coattails is all. You’ll have a lot less to worry about.”
The chair rocks as I jump up. “You know what I think? Worrying about a thing doesn’t stop it from happening. In fact it probably makes it happen. And if it doesn’t, well then it was just time wasted, now wasn’t it? Someone’s going to marry him someday, and I hope that someone is me.”
“Where are you going,” Mother calls out.
I swing open the front door. “For a bike ride!”
“May Eloise! Don’t you go riding by that boy’s house!”
“I won’t!”
“I mean it!”
“I said I won’t, didn’t I?!”
It is tempting, but I do have pride. Never chase boys, that’s a rule. I simply cannot wait around for one, neither.
Climbing on my bike, I pedal to the library, praying the whole way.
God, if Jerald Cocker and I would be happy together for a long long long time, please tell him where I am. That will be my sign, and I’ll know that you approve. I need your help, because I’m not sure I trust myself right now!
Abandoning the bicycle outside, I hurry to my special place in the far corner of the library where my favorite books are. Snatching Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown from the highest shelf, I skim a little to where it gets good, and lower myself to the footstool. It takes some time, but I do find a respite from thinking about him, my thoughts transported into the wonderful imagination of author Maud Hart Lovelace.
25
JERALD
“M a, did you have to invite our entire extended family?” I ask, as our cook places more hors d’oeuvres on Ma’s best silver platters.
“It’s a special occasion, so yes. Now stop hiding in the kitchen!” She shoos me along, and I am forced to hear the well wishes of family members so distant I don’t recall their names. I excuse myself, and make a beeline for the telephone. The operator connects me to the Kearns residence in a jiffy, and May’s Mother answers, “Hello?”
“Mrs. Kearns? Good morning. It’s Jerald Cocker. Might I have a word with May?”
“I’m sorry, but she’s not here.”
I wince, stricken with the realization, “Today is a school day. How could I have forgotten that?” To myself I mutter, “How am I going to say goodbye?”
Silence on the other end of the line, and then, “Actually, May stayed out of school today. She wasn’t feeling well.”
“Good! I mean, I’m sorry to hear that. Excuse me, but then where is she?” I pause, horrified. “She’s not in the hospital!”
“She took a bike ride.”
“A bike ride?” I frown, more confused than ever. “I see. Okay, thank you. Would you happen to know where?”
“I do not.”
“When she’s coming back?”
“That I’m not sure of either.”
Rubbing my face, I turn to the wall, voice earnest. “Mrs. Kearns, is she there and not taking my phone call? I’ll drive right over.”
I hear a frustrated sigh and then, “Jerald, I can honestly say that right now I wish she were here. But unfortunately that is not the case. I do not know her whereabouts. Trust me when I tell you that if I did, I would share the information. But as it stands… well I just don’t know what to do! Why don’t you go find her!”
I blink at the meaning behind her words. It seems she’s giving her permission. “Thank you ma’am. Thank you!”
Hanging up, I make my way through the crowd. “Excuse me. Excuse me! Pops! Where are you?”
“Here, Jerald! What’s the matter?” I find him sitting in the drawing room with his second cousin twice removed, and her husband.
“Can I borrow your car?”
“After what you did to my Lincoln yesterday, I should say not!” He rises and stamps his cigar in an ashtray. “We need that car to get you to the airport!”
“Not yet.”
“What do you mean, not yet?” He pulls his pocket watch from a small compartment inside his suit. “By golly, we do! This is not a flight you want to miss.”
“I know that, sir, but I need to find May.”
He stares at me. “Isn’t she in school?”
“No, and I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to her yesterday. What with the dinner last night, then packing, and today this party before I even got the sleep out of my eyes, my head got scrambled. I thought I had more time. I have to find her!”
Hank strolls in, “Say Jerald, much as I hate to say it, I believe we better go.”
“That’s what I told him, but your brother wants to find that girl and say goodbye to her.”
“Why don’t you just give her a call?”
Frustrated, I head for my room and call back. “I’ll get my suitcase! Hank, you find Ma. Pop, start the car!”
Jumping the stairs two at a time, I hear my brother shouting for her. Good thing I packed last night. If the Navy has taught me one thing, it’s discipline.
I practically fly down the stairs, feet not touching the last two. “Operator? Operator! Put me through to the Kearns residence again, please! Mrs. Kearns? It’s Jerald again! What are May’s favorite places to go?”
26
MAY
A ruckus makes me look up from the page.
From where I sit, tall bookshelves block my view of the librarians desk, and also the front door.
It’s why I like this nook.
But there’s a special kind of silence you can’t find outside of a library, and running shoes plus urgent voices don’t suit.
“You can’t run in here!”
“Excuse me, have you seen a pretty girl with blonde hair come in? About yay high?”
My heart leaps, but my feet are moving like they’re stuck in molasses.
It’s him!
“Do you mean May?”
“Yes! May! May, it’s me! Where are you?!”
“No shouting allowed!”
The sight of Jerald running in his Navy blues dress uniform, white cap and all, undoes me as I step into view. “May! There you are!!”
He slides on his knees, coming to a full stop in front of me. “May, will you wait for me?”
With happiness I laugh, “Nice trick.”
“You like that?” He rises and takes my face in his hands. “Will you wait for me? And write to me?”
“Yes yes yes!”
The librarian gasps as he kisses me. It’s quick, but passionate, my breath stolen from me before he buries his face in my hair and we embrace as he whispers, “I’m so glad I found you. They’re waiting outside. I have to go.”
Taking my hand, we run out. I shout to the librarian, “I need to check out this book!” and toss it on her desk as we pass. It slides and she catches it before it falls off, her eyes wide.
The Cocker family waits in a car I don’t recognize. Jerald smiles, “Our convertible is still drying out!”
“Hi May!” Hank waves.
His father says from the passenger seat, “We really must be going!”
“It’s nice to see you May,” Mrs. Cocker says from behind the wheel, to hurry us more politely, “Give my regards to your family, will you?”
I laugh, and wave to them before looking up at his handsome face. “Where do I send your letters?”
“Hank’ll show you.” He runs a hand down my cheek, gazing into my eyes. “Did you look up the word effusive?”
“You showed me what it meant, with your mother’s compliments!”
“Doesn’t count.”
“I forgot.”
“Next time we see each other, that answer had better be different.” He kisses me, just a soft pressing of our lips together before he tips his sailor’s hat and strolls to the car.
I call out, my voice cracking, “Jerald!”
Turning around he smiles, “Yeah?”
“Give him hell!!!”
He winks, “Come on now, May, Language!”
I walk to the edge of the sidewalk and watch until their car becomes a speck and disappears.
He found me.
27
MAY
DECEMBER 1944
T he school bell unleashes nearly four-hundred girls, grades seventh through twelfth.
The four of us walk down the hall, comfortably holding our books on our hips, except Sable who is hugging hers to her chest.
Gertie announces, “I’ve been thinking I might want to be a teacher. My Father said the war has shone a light on education” One of the Sisters passes and Gertie goes quiet until we have more distance. “He said millions of potential recruits were turned away because they didn’t know how to read or write!”
Lily gasps, “No fooling?”
“No fooling! And to top it off, because so many jobs became available with men enlisting, teachers are leaving their positions for better paying jobs. There simply are not enough to go around now. It’s a darn shame, he said, but it does leave opportunity for me, don’t you think?” We nod and she asks, “I might be able to work anywhere I choose since they’re so hard up. Say, would any of you girls fancy being a teacher after graduation?”
“Not I,” Lily says. “I don’t have the patience for it.”
Outside we stroll together down the path under shady oak trees which surround the red brick of our school, and Sable says, “I’m thinking of going into the sciences. Research and all that. Ever since I was accepted to Vassar, it’s been on my mind.”
“I could see you in a lab coat.”
She looks at Lily. “Could you, really?”
“Well sure, why not? You’re the smartest of us.”
Gertie asks, “What about you, May?”
“I might like to be a pilot.” The girls react, and I smile, “It’s true!”
“Where are you going to do that?”
“I haven’t discovered where, yet. But I might just join those women who fly bullets around. You remember the ones! The WASPS!”
May Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 24) Page 9
