The 3rd Experiment

Chapter 1

|Brooklyn, New York|
|Sunday, September 20, 1936|

"Bucky! Wake up, you need to braid Lily's hair for church."

"Do we have to go to church today?" He sounds half awake and I watch as he rubs his eyes and throws his blankets to the end of his bed.

"It's just one day, and it might get mom out of bed. Come on, get up. Will, Eve, and Lily got up before you today."

"Okay, okay, just give me another minute."

I leave his room, the door still ajar, and wander to the kitchen and set out a biscuit for everyone.

"Where's Bucky?" Lily asks me, sitting down in front of her plate.

"He's just uh... getting ready," I say, setting out one last plate and some butter.

"Will! Eve! Come get some breakfast!" I yell, walking down the hallway to Mom's room.

"Hey, Mom, we're almost ready for church, are you coming with us today?" I ask, stepping quietly around the bed, and picking up some glasses and plates. She's been in bed for the last couple of months and I don't know when it went from her drinking to this depression, or sickness, or whatever this is.

"Where's your father?" She mumbles through the blankets

"He's in his study, he slept on the couch last night."

"You all go without me." She turns around in bed, leaving me staring at her back. I fix the blankets so her back doesn't get cold and I carry her week-old dishes away. I sigh and leave the room, shutting the door quietly behind me.

When I walk into the kitchen, everyone is at the table eating and Bucky is behind Lily, braiding her hair, finally.

We all scarf down the biscuits and I flatten out the girls' dresses before we leave the house.

"How'd she look this morning?" Bucky asks, moving to the back of the group once we've left the house.

"Not good, Buck. Dad slept on the couch last night and their room was a mess."

"Why do we still go to church? If she's not even going to get up to feed us? You're doing all of the work."

"I just don't want her to see us losing faith"

"In her or in God?" He asks

"I'm just worried it would make things worse," I say, ignoring his comment and stopping at Steve's porch.

He steps out almost immediately, locking the door behind him and coming down the steps to meet up with our family.

He taps Will on the shoulder and smiles at the girls before he jokingly shakes mine and Bucky's hands.

"Hey, where's Winifred?" He asks politely.

"Still in bed," I say with a sigh.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Steve says with a lighthearted tone.

We walk the rest of the way laughing about some inside joke and listening to the kids talk about the random stuff they hear at school. As soon as we sit down, Pastor Tommy comes by to shake hands. He only ever shakes the boys' hands, and today, he greets us with our parents' names instead of ours.

"We're missing, George and Wini today, send them my prayers."

I smile up at him politely and nod my head in acknowledgment when Bucky mumbles something into my ear.

"Douchebag."

"Buck!" I say, choking back a giggle, watching the other families sit down in the pews near us.

Eventually, I hear the first couple of notes of Carl Boberg's How Great Thou Art being played on the organ behind Pastor Tommy. I sigh, trying to get comfortable for his hour-long speech on Jesus' path for each and every one of us. Thankfully I only had to shush the kids two times during the whole sermon.

I turn to Bucky halfway through the last prayer and roll my eyes at him jokingly. Just as I do that, he leans back to reveal Steve deep in thought, hands clasped in his lap. Bucky and I smile at him admirably and go back to pretending to pray.

"Okay guys, get up, we gotta drop Steve back off and go home," I say, gesturing to my brother and sisters.

"Yes!" I hear Lily say, eager to get out of the church, and I just chuckle in response.

"So how come you guys still come to church?" I know you only did it for your parents when they came." Steve asks me quietly

"What do you mean?" I ask, starting to turn red

"Come on, I know you don't believe in all of this the way I do." He says and I let out a small chuckle.

"I just don't want Mom to think we're giving up on her"

"Like she's even sober enough to notice." Bucky interrupts

"Buck, they can hear you." I point out, looking at the kids

"He's got a point, Raya," Steve says

"Yes I know but then what about them?" I point to Will, Eve, and Lily.

"They must know somethings wrong," Steve suggests

"But do they need to know how serious it is?" I say just as we get to Steve's porch. He turns to me and pulls me into a hug, not knowing how else to respond or help. He lets go and smiles at me before walking to his door.

"Thanks for walking with me... again." He calls out to us, unlocking the door and greeting his mom.

I walk up to Will and put my arm around his shoulder which is as close to a hug as he'll let me get. I feel a hand come up and grab mine and I look down to see Lily walking just beside me. Then I hear Bucky scoop Eve up from behind and he carries her up the driveway.

"You're getting heavy!" He says, doing curls with her in his arms

"Hey! I'm only 12 years old!" She calls back.

Everyone runs into the house and goes straight to their rooms and Bucky and I stand in the living room, not sure what to do now.

"I think we need to talk to dad about mom."

"But they've hardly spoken to each other as it is."

"They just need to have another kid. It worked the last five times." Bucky jokes.
I grin at him and set my bag down, heading to the study.

I knock on the door three times and hear dad sigh and call me in. He sits down in his chair, leaning back as though he hasn't rested all night and I just sit down in the chair opposite his.

"You know, the trouble in Europe is escalating.  The Chancellor of Germany is proving to be a highly opinionated ass. If they don't calm him down, the U.S. may have to get involved." He mutters through his fist.

"Dad, mom's not doing too good."

"Well, what is your mother compared to the fate of our country!" He snaps back.

"Dad, she's-"

"She's fine. She'll be fine. Right now, staying afloat is more important. Don't you enjoy having all of  the things you do?"

"Yeah, yes I do."

"Then leave me alone so I can work." I get up, feeling a hole in my stomach, and walk to the
door.

"Pastor Tommy says hello," I say, closing the door on my way out.