Boo was taken to Baylor Hospital to begin his months of surgery. As did his transgressor: Lesley Colton. Boo’s injuries were apparent, and the Doctors went right to work on him. Les was another matter. He just stared at the floor with a blank look on his face. He was sedated and went to sleep. Hopefully, when he wakes up, he will be able to communicate. Then they can begin to find out what happened. Mr. Walker went to the hospital to make sure they knew that he would pay all of Boo’s expenses. He brought Mary along to help him with the paperwork that needed to be filled out. Boo was conscious and Mr. Walker informed him that everything was taken care of and to just worry about getting better.
Mary was sent to check on Boo and his progress often. Flowers and Get-Well cards were delivered with every visit. She also bumped into Lesley Colton. He was doing better and was getting transferred to a Veterans Hospital nearby. He seemed like a gentle spirit. Les had come from an environment of fighting for his life. That is what War is. They put young men in the position of killing or being killed. Les realized that this situation in the office was not that dire. His reflexes took over. For that, he was deeply ashamed. Mary recognized that in him and became interested in this wounded soul.
When she asked if she could visit him at his new hospital, he was thrilled. That is how it began. It became an everyday visit. They did not keep him in the hospital that long. He was soon released and found a job close to the Warehouse. They could still see each other every day. That would soon change. Lesley wanted to go to college on the G.I. Bill. The next September he was to enroll in the State Agricultural College. Mary and he had become quite the item. She was going to miss him. He was not going to be that far away, and he had a plan for his life. He did not know it, but Mary planned to be there with him. Marie, her mother, was concerned about her wanting to be with him. He acted out violently; she felt the “justified” label was a stretch.
Mary said, “Didn’t you say a woman should be able to repair her man?”
“Repair? Yes, but not to build a new one.”
As it turned out, Mary got one out of the scratch and dent bin. With a little bit of work, he turned out to be perfect.
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After the killing and suffering of War on a global scale, it turns out there is only one way to regain the innocence lost. That is by having children. To have them, raise them, and love them cleanses the soul. To see a chubby little hand reach for a toy with eyes that sparkle with wonderment. Helps to erase the image of a little war waif with vacant eyes, clinging to a headless doll.
A brilliant barbershop philosopher said: “Americans started fucking their eyes out.” Marriage licenses were flying off the shelf left and right. The sidewalks were crowded with pregnant women waddling everywhere. Opening the door for a woman with shopping bags became an exercise in logistical planning. The “Baby Boom” was in full swing. The cherry on top was someone who thought up “Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody”. A “Chicken in every pot” was replaced by a “Chevy in every garage.”
Mary and Lesley were no different. They were married during his Senior year of college and she was pregnant when he graduated. He got his degree in Vocational Agriculture. This qualified him to teach shop and agriculture and direct the chapter of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) in his school. He got a job teaching school in a tiny little East Texas school district. A schoolteacher’s pay was not that much, but Mary could hold a dollar bill and make it sweat nickels. She was frugal and made their salary provide a good home. As her brother, the pilot would say, “She is wheels up and gaining altitude.”