“I too was on watch. I heard you scurrying about thinking you were being quiet.”
“You weren’t awoken by a nightmare?”
“Hardly!”
“Mother!”
She laughs and takes hold of my face, “May, haven’t you learned yet how much I love you? How much I want what’s best? All those months while you awaited his letters, I waited with you and felt such relief to know that Jerald shared your love.” Taking my hands she squeezes them, tears of happiness in her eyes. “When I heard you tiptoeing downstairs I wanted to open the door!”
I throw my arms around her and Mrs. Cocker claps her hands. “We are geniuses!” We look toward the door. “By the sound of that knock, that’s Jerald with your suitcase. Don’t tell him what we told you. Let him stew in this for a night. Two boys sneaking off without telling me! I think not!”
She hurries to the door while I sit on the chaise lounge chair, wiping my eyes. Mother stands beside me, making her face severe again for the benefit of the ruse.
“Jerald, there you are!” Mrs. Cocker takes the suitcase as he scans the room for me, curious how I’m handling their reproach. We lock eyes, and I give away nothing. “Off with you now! We shall see you tomorrow!” She caves a little. “Oh, stop looking so glum. Here!” Digging in her handbag, she hurries back to hand him something. “It was your great-grandmother’s. Now go!” She slams the door on his surprised face. “Frances, you know what I brought in my suitcase? Sherry! Let’s celebrate!”
51
JERALD
“We have to stop meeting like this,” I tell Gibbons as I open the door the next morning, rubbing sleep from my eyes. “You have news?”
“You’re to be at Piedmont Park in an hour.”
“What time is it?”
“Nine-thirty.”
My eyes widen. “Inner clock hasn’t quite adjusted, I guess.”
“Took me a month.” He starts to walk away.
“Chief!”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry about all of this. You being in the middle and all.”
A smile lights up his otherwise weary face. “You’re the first person to call me Chief in years. I forgot how much I like the sound.” Dipping his chin as goodbye, he strolls away at a slower pace than he had back in the day, but his back is still straight. Time won’t take that from him.
Piedmont Park… didn’t May say something about that?
In my best suit, I walk to where I left the car, pausing to find Pops and Mr. Kearns waiting by it. “You knew I’d be punctual.”
“Indeed.” Pops glances to his glowering friend. “Fred and I will ride with you, since you don’t know where to go.”
“I thought it was Piedmont Park.”
“Do you have any idea how vast that park is?”
“No.”
“I’ll drive.”
“Mr. Kearns,” I begin, facing his wrath head on. “As I told your wife last night, I love May very much. From the bottom of my heart, I always intended to marry her.”
His eyes flicker and fall. “She deserved better than this.”
“Say now, my boy is as fine as they come!”
“Raymond, I meant the hotel.”
I stare at him as Pops says, “Come again?”
Mr. Kearns points to the hotel. “Why not the Georgian Terrace?! My daughter deserves the damn Terrace!”
Pops is stunned.
I clarify, “Sir, am I to understand it’s not me you object to?”
Mr. Kearns exhales loudly, nostrils losing their immense width. “I think you are a fine candidate for her hand. I just wish…” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he stares at the pavement. “I just wish my baby hadn’t grown up so fast. I knew this was coming. I didn’t know how fast!”
Cars and pedestrians pass our silent trio without a second glance. They don’t know that family is being formed at this very moment.
I extend my hand, “Mr. Kearns, I promise to give May the Georgian Terraces of the world from now on. You’re right. She deserves that and more. Your daughter lifts my soul, sir. I will be the best husband for her. No other could do a finer job, you’ll see.”
His lips tighten with acceptance, eyes shining as he takes my hand and pumps it once.
“Hallelujah!” Pops explodes, “Let’s have a wedding!”
As he heads for the driver’s side, and we for the passenger’s, I ask, “What about your car?”
“Your mother has it! As soon as I gave her the license, she ran off saying something about a hairdresser!”
We climb in and get situated, both of them slamming their doors with a sense of purpose while I sit in back. “Pops, you mean the marriage license? You picked it up this morning?”
“Last night!”
“Last night?”
“That’s right!” Focusing on driving, he leans to look for oncoming traffic. Pulling away from the curb, he says, “Edmund and I go way back. We had a bit of whiskey with him at his home.”
“Perhaps too much,” Mr. Kearns says with an amused undertone. “My aspirin isn’t working.”
“Indeed!” Pops chuckles, honking his horn at a driver. “City folk shouldn’t own cars! Edmund’s taste in cigars is profound. And he was good enough to put us up for the night in a couple of his guest rooms with en suite baths!”
“Wait. You didn’t stay at the hotel?”
“There was one bed!”
“Oh.”
“I don’t know what your mother was thinking!”
Off a dirt road in the park the three of us walk with quick strides until we come to a lake nestled in young trees. Ducks glide through the water, calm wakes in no hurry behind them. We stop in the center of a bridge with Pops announcing, “This is the place!”
“Where are they?” I ask, looking for May.
“They’ll be here.”
Mr. Kearns glances to the sky. “Clouds are coming.”
“Ray!” We see a priest coming from the other direction, hurrying to join us. “I’m here, Ray!”
Pops walks to meet him, arms outstretched for an eager shake. “Father Michael! Glad you could make it!”
“Wouldn’t miss the opportunity, Ray! Honored you called.”
“Jerald, Fred, this is Father Michael! We went to Yale together, before he up and joined the seminary!”
“Those were good times, Ray, good times I hold onto!”
“Indeed!”
“Nice to meet you, Father. I’m Fred Kearns, father of the bride.”
“Very nice to meet you. Ray tells me you’re a church-goer!”
“We go every Sunday.”
“Where do you call home?”
Pops interjects, “They’re in Albany with me!”
“Ah, well, that’s a shame,” Father Michael sighs. “I’ve been hoping to get Ray up to Atlanta! Thought you might help me with that! Oh, I see Frances now! She hasn’t aged a day!”
Pops smirks, “Yes, tell her that, will you?”
Ma yells as she leads the way, “Raymond! Fred! Jerald! I’m so happy to see you’re not a bloodied mess!” Mrs. Kearns is behind her.
Everyone present is dressed in their finest.
Especially May.
A huge grin spreads on my face as I recognize the blue taffeta from the night I met her. Only now she’s wearing a matching veil over her eyes, the heels I took off night before last hurrying toward me and our future.
As Ma greets Father Michael and dominates the conversation, I walk to May.
“That you in there?”
Her smile shines through, and this gauzy thing can’t hide those blue eyes from me. “Hi.”
“I know this dress.”
“From?”
“And I’m just wondering…”
“Yes?”
“Are you going to faint again?”
She laughs, the sound heaven to my ears. “I missed you last night.”
I give her a wink, “Don’t worry. Won’t happen again.”
52
MAY
“M ay! Jerald!” Mrs. Cocker waves us over. “Stand here!”
“Now Frances, let Father Michael take over now.”
“I was just...”
“—and you’re doing a brilliant job at it!”
While they argue, I’m staring at my father. He walks to me with sadness in his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I just love him so much.”
“You’re all grown up.”
“Mr. Kearns?”
He looks at Jerald standing by my side. “Yes?”
Everyone quiets, Mother and Mrs. Cocker extremely curious now. They step to where they can see better as Jerald clears his throat.
“I’d like permission to marry your daughter, sir.”
Father breathes in the respect, nods, and looks at me as he says, “You have it, Jerald. You have it.”
Tears jumps to my eyes, and I throw my arms around him, “Thank you!”
He hugs me tight. “I’ll always be here for you, kiddo, if you ever need anything, I’ll aways be your father. I love you so much!”
I squeeze him. “I love you, too, Daddy!”
Jerald and I stand in front of the priest who, with circumstances as they are, and the weather just so, conducts a truncated ceremony. Mother sniffles the entire time, especially when he says,
“May, repeat after me…”
I face Jerald, saying my vows exactly as Father Michael gives them:
“I, May Eloise Kearns, take thee, Jerald Daniel Cocker to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge myself to thee.”
“Jerald, repeat after me.”
He applies gentle pressure on my hands, eyes brimming with love.
The priest’s voice disappears and all I hear is…
"I, Jerald Daniel Cocker, take thee, May Eloise Kearns, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge myself to thee.” He adds without asking permission, “In this world and in the next.”
Lightning illuminates the sky. We all look up, and Father Michael raises his voice over thunder to say, “By virtue of the authority vested in me under the laws of the State of Georgia, I now pronounce you man and wife.” A fresh crack of thunder. “You may kiss the bride!”
As Jerald lifts my veil, raindrops mingle with the drops on my cheeks. We kiss, thunder as our choir, our parents shouting that we’d all better get back to the cars, and quick. They run off and leave us here, happy in the rain.
“Just like my dream, only this time I’m able to get to you.” Jerald pulls the ring his mother gave him last night from his pocket. “Guess Father Michael forgot something.” He slides a delicate diamond into place, and we kiss in the torrential downpour, his hands on my cheeks, mine gripping his back, our future sealed with love.
53
MAY
SATURDAY’S PARTY…AS PLANNED
“Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear May…Happy Birthday to you!”
I clap as they cheer and raise my voice to confess, “I don’t know what to wish for! Look at all of you!” My gaze travels over Father with his arm around Mother. Her girlfriends we’ve helped out are here with their husbands, kids we’ve watched over hoping for generous slices of cake. Father’s friends from his factory and their wives joined the party, too, since it’s doubling as a reception celebration now. There’s Mr. and Mrs. Cocker beaming at me, and even some of Jerald’s extended family I only just met tonight who we didn’t know were coming.
My eyes warm as they fall on dear Gertie. Sable standing near but not close to Marvin. Darren beside Peter who’s holding Lily’s hand as she cups her mouth and shouts, “May Cocker, the girl who has everything!”
I laugh, shaking my head, overwhelmed as I turn to my husband and confess to them all, “I already got my wish.”
They whoop and holler as he kisses me, pulling back to smirk at the crowd, “Alright now, calm down. It’s just a kiss that’s legal. Not that exciting.”
“Oh, I’ve got one!” I take a deep breath, bend over and blow as hard as I can. The candles fight back, so I cheat and blow once more as friends and family either object or cheer, depending on who you’re looking at.
The final flame turns to smoke and Sable shouts, “What’d you wish for?”
“If I tell you it won’t come true!”
“Looks like it might not anyhow, with how you had to try again!”
“Sable!”
“What?”
Lily rolls her eyes, muttering, “Do you really need her to explain it to you?”
“Explain what?”
“Forget it.”
Mother announces, “I’ll cut the cake for everyone,” lifting her masterpiece and privately asking me, “What did you wish for?”
“I’m not telling!”
“Fine, be that way!” She heads off and I turn to Jerald, seeing the look in his eyes, too.
“I said I’m not telling. And you’re included!”
“But I’m your husband.”
“Oh I know!”
As the older folks and young children occupy each other, discussing cake, coffee, and what games we should play next, our friends join us away from the crowd.
Gertie lifts my left hand. “It’s just the prettiest ring I ever saw, May!”
Sable leans in to whisper, “I still can’t believe you eloped!”
“Shhh,” I remind her. “Not everyone here knows that!”
Peter grins, “That’s right. Her father’s factory buddies think this whole thing was planned!’
“And we’re keeping it that way,” Jerald warns him.
“I’m not giving it away!”
“Maybe pipe down?”
“Alright, alright!” Peter throws his hands up, a charming smile dazzling Lily who’s hanging on his every word.
Darren asks, “You tell ‘em?”
“Not yet,” Peter says, turning to the circle.
Gertie’s eyebrows fly up with interest, hands clasped behind her dress so she won’t bite them.
Sable pushes her glasses higher.
Marvin watches her do it.
Jerald’s resting one hand on my back, the other sliding into his pants pocket.
And I’m tilting my head, waiting for the news, feeling like it’s all coming to an end. Or a beginning. I guess those travel in pairs.
We’ve all graduated and it’s time to start our lives.
Sable starts at Vassar during second semester. She postponed a bit with the war ending, and her desire to make sure Lily had a home.
Marvin is hoping to follow but she insists that’s not her plan. I think that’s his only aspiration.
Darren’s taking over his father’s car dealership in about ten years. Until then, he’ll work and learn the business, and meet as many lady customers as he can manage.
Gertie, too, is leaving to become a teacher, as she got accepted into a small university in Ohio where she grew up. I know she hopes Hank will return soon, and when he does, she’ll show him what winter is really like. I told her I’m not sure he’ll think that’s a good thing, and she said he’d expressed interest. The debate was over, that was plain.
Keeping my volume just for our circle of friends I interrupt, “Everybody, since it’s my birthday, I’d like to announce our news, first.”
They look at me, and Peter says, “Sure May, you go on ahead.”
I look at Jerald, “Do you want to tell it?”
He kisses me, and turns to tell them, “We’re moving.”
“Where to?”
“Atlanta.”
Everyone reacts in their own ways, and Gertie smiles, �
�Atlanta, really? The big city! I’ll come visit you and we can go shopping!”
Peter laughs, “Okay, okay, but we’ve got you beat! We’re moving to New York!”
Nobody expected that!
Especially Sable. “You are? Why didn’t you tell me? What part? I’m Upstate!”
“We’ll be in Manhattan. I’ve been offered a job!”
More reactions all around.
I’m so happy for them. Jerald and I both are.
He squeezes my waist as he asks, “When are you guys heading up?”
“Soon. Real soon.” Peter smiles at Lily.
The look in her eyes as she scans the group quiets every single one of us. Sable looks over the top of her glasses to demand, “Lily Marie Marlow, what have you got cooking in that devilish mind of yours?!”
None of us notices that the entire party has silenced.
Mother is holding two plates of cake.
“You’re going to have to call me Lily Marie Tuck soon. I’m pregnant!”
The whole room gasps.
Mother drops the plates, crash echoing.
For years.
The End.
And an unplanned beginning.
T urn the page for:
A Note from me
Glossary of slang words
Links to Cocker Brothers Books
For free Bonus Scenes visit:
www.AuthorFaleenaHopkins.com
Did you enjoy their story? If you’d like to share a review on May and Jerald Cocker’s page on Amazon, that would be wonderful.
GLOSSARY
1940’S WORDS & PHRASES
Y ou might know or could guess many of these, but I’m covering as many as I can think of, whatever might be fun for you. And yep, there were TV shows in the 1940’s, though the radio was still more common. A Congressman like Ray definitely was one of the first to own a television set.
May Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 24) Page 18