We continue on the journey of Tom Lee and his adventures as a boy
It was during World War two and Tom lived a block over from where the bottle mishap occurred in the last story. There were long barrack type houses behind where he lived. A couple named Gray lived in one. Tom said he will never forget these people. She was a very huge lady and loud mouthed sometimes.
In Bruni, where he lived you could hear a mile away sometimes and this lady was married to an old man. Gosh, he must of been in his seventies at the time. A little stoop shouldered old man very quiet and timid. Now Mrs. Gray made him live in a upstairs apartment behind the barrack type houses. Tom use to be in his back yard and would hear her fussing and he never knew what she did it for.
He would watch the old man climb the stairs before dark every evening
and retire and would not see him until early the next morning .
Tom did not know much about Mrs. Gray except that his Mom did not like her and told all the kids to stay away from her and they did.
Later years his Mom told him why. She said the old woman was a communist and was writing and sending out lots of mail. I guess in a small town back then she was dumb enough to think no one was smarter than she was.
Well after about a year she came to the back door and told Tom that she needed his Mom's help really bad. So Tom went and got his Mom. He said he will never forget this as she said 'Mrs. Lee I need you to come help me check on my husband.'
So his Mom told Tom for him and his little sister to stay in the house or she would bust their butt. She reminded him of the scare he had helped give the town a few days earlier so Tom knew he better listen to her.
Tom's mother came running back to the house and got him and his sister and they walked to the Phone house so she could make a call.
While she was talking in that box on the wall Tom was with the large Lady that ran the switch board. He was really trying to figure it out but he heard her talking to the Sheriff in Laredo that there was a death. He was young enough that he really did not pay much attention as he was to curious about how the phone worked.
His Mom got off the phone and told the lady to call his grandmother and tell her to come get the kids so away they went
After what seem like a few days to Tom but you know it wasnt, Mrs. Gray and his momma looked at the old man. He had been beat in the head and stabbed many times with an ice pick. Now, that old Lady convinced the law that he committed suicide and that was the way it was. Can you imagine that ?
After a while some trucks came and got the old woman and all her things and moved her. Tom found out many years later she went to Port Aransas. This was the first that Tom had ever heard of the FBI. They came and took somethings away and closed the house up.
A few days later after the smoke cleared Tom and the Maxwell boys wanted to play hide and seek so they paired off. Yep some young boys just looking to get into trouble.
Earnest and Tom were to look for the preachers son and a couple of the other Maxwell boys. One of them hollered ready so off they went looking.
Tom had sneaked a peek and saw Roy Earl Maxwell run up the stairs to the old mans apartment. Heck, they had all been in there to see if there was a ghost or anything. Under the apartment was a storage room and on the upper floor was an empty room with a closet that was vacant. Lands, they knew Roy had went in there but what had happened to him. Then they all started getting scared and figured a ghost had got him.
They all started out the door and were amazed and wondering what they were going to tell the folks about a missing boy.
As they got to the door Tom was the first to go out but about that time they heard a real loud groan and it raised the hair on all their heads.
The Maxwell boys all ran over Tom and almost knocked him off the stairs. Then they heard Roy hollering for help and this unnerved all of them.
They started to run off and get the men folks but knew their butts were in trouble again.
Well since it was Earnest's younger brother that was missing he asked him where are you ? He said downstairs
They went back in the room and looked in the closet. He had hid in the closet but the floor was rotten and he had fell through it.
It had knocked him out .
Tom told them that he knew he was in for it but he would go get his Momma and he did.
His Mom came and so did the boys mother whose name is Attie Maxwell. Lands, they were trying to tell them what happened and the women got to laughing until tears were running down their faces.
In the meantime they were trying to figure how to get the door open to get Roy out.
Finally they did manage to get him out of there.
Tom recalls they never got spanked for this adventure. I imagine the parents figured they had the heck scared out of them and maybe they would behave for a while.
Of course we all know that Tom can't stay out of trouble. Check back for more adventures from Tom, as there are sure to be some
