LILY, Chapter 6
Uncle Val
Chapter 6/ The Girls Meet Uncle Val
The next morning, Lily hardly had time to finish her breakfast when Raven appeared at her front door.
“Hurry up! We have to go over to June Mae’s. We have to comfort her. The poor girl has been under great stress, and we didn’t even notice. No wonder she’s been grouchy. Her parents are getting a divorce!”
This switcheroo left Lily feeling dizzy. The last she knew, June Mae was running home holding her nose after Raven kicked her in the face, and now Raven was worried about her for a totally different reason. Lily felt as if she had skipped a chapter.
Grandma Grace appeared and wanted to know what was going on. Raven was happy to tell her.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hart have been getting in big fights. Big ugly loud fights. For days! And now, Mr. Hart has left them. He has moved in with his brother.”
While Raven talked, Lily started to wonder if she really was a good girl because she did not want to go over to June Mae’s house and comfort her.
Raven took hold of Lily’s hand and squeezed it. “We have to make her feel loved. We’re going to take her to the mall. Come on. My dad is going to drive us.”
Lily pulled her hand loose and demanded to know how did Raven find out all this stuff about June Mae’s parents.
“Last night, I told my dad about my fight with June Mae, and he said we would have to go over to June Mae’s and talk it out because even if June Mae started the fight, violence is not how we solve problems. Violence is never the answer. So, we went over there and knocked on their door, and June Mae opened it, and she was in tears. Oh, Lily, it was just awful.”
Lily decided it was best to keep her thoughts about June Mae in tears to herself.
“June Mae never even told her mom about the fight. She was crying because her dad has moved out. He has abandoned them. No wonder June Mae has been grouchy. She has been under terrible stress, and we didn’t even notice.”
From what little Lily knew about husbands, Mr. Hart was probably cheating on Mrs. Hart, and this was why they were getting into big fights. Lily found it difficult to believe any woman in her right mind would want to have an affair with Mr. Hart, a large man with hardly any hair but, according to Grandma Grace, all men, each and every one of them, was likely to cheat if given the chance. Also, there was never any shortage of women willing to help them cheat. Because women are just as bad as men. Grandma Grace had a low opinion of human beings.
When June Mae got home holding her bloody nose, she found out that, while she was over at Raven’s, her father had packed his stuff and left the house. He was living with his brother, June Mae’s Uncle Val.
“June Mae’s mother has no idea how she is going to pay the rent.” June Mae’s mother worked for a hair salon and probably made great money.
Gramma Grace recommended Mrs. Hart get a good divorce lawyer just as fast as she could.
Lily decided she ought to have some sympathy for June Mae. At least, a little. Her own dad had left her and her mom long ago, and often her mom had trouble paying the rent. Fortunately, her mom had just got a new job, receptionist for a veterinarian. Now that Larry and his pet dander allergies were out of the picture, Lily had great hopes of getting a dog of her own, hopefully a puppy.
Raven said to cheer up June Mae and get their friend’s mind off her parents’ impending divorce, they were going to take June Mae to the mall. “My dad is going to drive us, come on, hurry. Do you have any money? You can buy her a Livestrong bracelet, they only cost one dollar.”
“We have to buy her presents?”
Lily again experienced doubt that she was in fact a good girl, especially when compared to Raven who was practically perfect. She did not want to buy June Mae a bracelet even if it did cost only one dollar. She thought maybe she should suggest that she and Raven could go in together on the bracelet; that way it would only cost each of them fifty cents.
They went over to June Mae’s. June Mae opened the door. She didn’t look as if she had been crying. She looked as if she wanted to punch someone.
Raven acted as if she didn’t notice that June Mae looked angry. She hugged June Mae, an action which made Lily feel a little ill, and said come on her dad the professor was going to take them to the mall. He was going to drop them off and then pick them up two hours later. Thanks to her dad, she even had twenty whole dollars to spend. They could get an Orange Julius and a Cinnabon. “Or, of course, we could go to a movie if you would like that better.”
Lily thought she would rather spend Raven’s dad’s money on a movie; that way, she could just drink root beer and watch the movie and not have to talk to June Mae.
Lily said, “Have you guys seen Over the Hedge? I heard it’s real good. It’s about wild animals. They talk and everything.”
June Mae rolled her eyes.
Raven’s dad Steve drove them to the mall. Raven sat up front with him. Lily had to sit in the back seat with June Mae, who still looked as if she wanted to punch somebody.
Lily tried to look sad. “I guess your dad left you guys, huh?” She edged a little farther away from June Mae, insofar as this was possible when she was wearing a seatbelt.
Raven turned around in her seat and told June Mae, “Know what I’m going to do? I’m going to buy you a Hello Kitty tee!”
Lily tried to imagine June Mae in a Hello Kitty tee. It was not a pretty picture, but June Mae seemed to like the idea. She was cheering up. A little. She was no longer balling her fists.
Lily said, “If we don’t feel like Over the Hedge, we could go to Cars. Have you heard of that one? It just came out. Everyone says it’s really funny. It’s about cars who talk.”
It turned out they did not go to a movie and Raven did not buy June Mae a Hello Kitty tee. She bought June Mae a tee with Zac Efron’s face on it, a tee that was so pricey it used up most of the twenty dollar bill Raven got from her dad.
Raven and June Mae (wearing her new tee) were sitting at a table in the food court, sucking up an Orange Julius. Lily was sitting with them, pretending she wasn’t thirsty, when a heavyset mall security guy approached them.
“I hope you girls aren’t shop lifters. Ha ha ha!” The security guy grinned at them as if he was being really hilarious.
Lily felt shocked. Was this man going to arrest them? Then, June Mae stood up and hugged him.
It turned out the mall security guy was June Mae’s Uncle Val. His job was to wander around the mall looking for troublemakers. He liked to approach kids and threaten them with arrest.
June Mae bragged up her uncle. She said he had arrested lots of shoplifters. “You would be surprised how many. Priests, teachers, lawyers. All kinds.”
Uncle Val told June Mae he figured her dad would come back home eventually. “When he left your mom, he didn’t take his bowling ball, did he? You know what that means. He ain’t leaving you guys for good. He just needs time to settle down, get his bearings. You OK?”
June Mae said she was fine.
When he went away, June Mae said her uncle wasn’t all bad. At Christmas time, he dressed up and pretended to be Santa.
Lily had once had a bad experience with a mall Santa who smelled like beer and pinched her cheek.
After two hours, Raven’s dad Steve showed up and drove them home.
The one good thing about the whole morning, Lily thought, was that she still had her one dollar wadded up in her pocket. She never had to buy June Mae that bracelet.