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. “What gives? 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.
Rocking her, I whisper, “It’s okay, we’re here now,” and look up at Sable as she paces.
Gertie asks, “What do we do? Should we call the police?”
Sable shakes her head. “Lily is coming to my house! My parents will make sure nothing happens to Lily ever again. This is my fault. I knew I couldn’t trust that woman’s promise! But what was I supposed to do? I was only sixteen at the time! She’s supposed to be the grown-up! I’m supposed to believe her when she promises something like that!”
I look at Gertie, both of us realizing this isn’t the first time it’s happened. We weren’t in on it, but Sable and Lily are best friends. They must have kept it secret in hopes it was just the once.
Gertie places a reassuring hand on Sable, stopping the pacing. “We should go. Just in case she comes back.”
I help Lily up, her body a noodle from sadness. Throwing her arm around my shoulder, I whisper, “We must hurry, Lily. Please walk fast!”
She leans on me, not trusting her own legs, her judgment, or her heritage. My mind can’t help but travel back to all the times she mentioned her Mother’s love of booze. The disdain that was in her eyes. Jokes edged in pain. Smile forced. All of our parents know Mrs. Marlow has a problem. It’s why mine accepted that Lily had to visit her in the hospital. And why Tommy needed looking after by someone trustworthy like me.
“Where is Tommy?!” I ask.
Sable answers for her. “He went to live with their father, didn’t you know?”
My silence says I didn’t.
It’s dark outside, the beginning of southern winter. We hurry into the car. Sable turns the key, but the car doesn’t start. We see headlights approach, and Gertie and I twist in the backseat.
“Is it her?”
“I can’t tell.”
We hear Lily say, “It’s her.”
Fear launches into us. We look forward. Lily is craning her head to see past us through the back window, headlights lighting up her damaged face.
“Hurry, Sable!” I urge, heart beating like wild.
She jiggles the key, “I’m trying!“ pulls it out, puts it back in, and turns it again. “Oh please!”
Mrs. Marlow parks behind us, and Lily slinks down. The engine starts, and Sable grabs the wheel, but now we’re all frozen with fear.
Gertie and I watch Mrs. Marlow out of our peripheral vision. The driver’s door opens. She steps out. Walks around the back of her car. Onto the sidewalk. Up the steps. Fumbles with her keys. Drops them. Has trouble picking them up. A slew of curses fill the night.
Sable slowly pulls away from the curb, hands tight
