A Husband for Maria

Chapter 1

Dr. James T. Calhoun was a physicist. He was probably the brightest of the Scientists that worked at Los Alamos. His insight and under- standing of nuclear fission was a key to the mission of the group of scientists from all over the country. He was a likable man, but not always easy to get along with, because he wouldn't abide those lacking his giant abilities, this included most of his coworkers, but not everybody. There was one person, who understood him completely and her name was Dottie O'Rourke.

Dottie was the daughter of an old cowboy whose ranch was near the big government install- ation at Los Alamos. Dottie had grown up having it hard. Ranch life is tough on women and hell on horses, as the saying goes. Anyway, when Dottie turned sixteen, and her Pa told her that she had to marry one of the ignorant cowboys the he employed, Dottie rebelled. She packed her meager belongings and went to town. Dottie was a big girl, not fat, big. She stood five feet ten inches barefoot, and weighed a hundred and forty pounds. She weighed as much as most of the men and was taller than most of the male specimens that she saw in the little town that was growing up around the base. Dottie worked hard. She was a waitress, from eleven AM until seven PM, in the restaurant, then in the bar from nine until closing time at two AM, slinging hash and drinks fourteen hours a day every day except Sunday.

Dottie would have nothing to do with any of the soldiers or the civilians who frequented the places she worked. That is, until the night that Jim Calhoun walked in.

He took one look at the big girl and decided that she was the one for him. Jim really courted Dottie. He sent cards and little gifts to her, gave her flowers that he had picked himself and the occasional box of candy. One morning, just after she got to the restaurant, he came in. Dottie brought him coffee and a menu, the stood at his table while he contem-plated breakfast. Jim sat there looking at Dottie for a while, then said, "Dottie, are you gonna marry me or not?" Dottie was stunned, unable to speak for several moments, then she asked him, "Jimmy Calhoun, do you have five hundred dollars?" Jim replied, "Yeah Dottie, that and a lot more and if you say yes, it'll all be yours." "Okay Jimmy, I'll marry you, but not for at least six months I want to get to know you a little better first. So you take that five hundred dollars and get us a house. I'm tired of living out of a suitcase.

That Sunday, after church, the two most un- likely people moved their belongings into a little house near the base. It was two weeks before they went to bed with each other, and while their lovemaking was pretty immature for two adults, as neither had much experience, their passion was something else. It was strong and lasting.

In less than a month they were madly in love with each other and had learned to tune the other out when that person talked about some- thing that the other knew absolutely nothing about.

It was only three months later that Dottie told Jimmy one night, after they had made wonderful love in the big four poster, that she was going to have a baby and would he mind if they got married now. Dr. James Calhoun was estatic. He told everybody who would listen and set about changing things into both of their names. The house, his insurance, the car, everything was now theirs, not his or hers, but theirs.

In the way of all good plans, the Government screwed them up. Jim had to go back to Chicago for several months. He told Dottie, "I'll be back in a few months and if it gets too bad for you here, I'll fetch you to Chicago and we'll be married there." "Don't get stupid on me Jim," Dottie told him, "you go on and get your work done and then come back to me. I might be a little bigger than normal, but we'll get married when you get back." Dottie drove Jim to catch the train in Albuquerque and kissed him goodbye as if he'd be back that afternoon.

Jim was very good about writing letters to Dottie, and as she got bigger and bigger, Jim told her how proud he was of her to be having his baby and would be even prouder when their baby was born. Dottie was as big as a house.

The government kept Jimmy in Chicago longer than a couple of months. Dottie was just over eight months along. It was a Wednesday morning, it was hot and Dottie was having a bad time with the heat, when she saw several cars stop in front of their house. The director of the project and that Army General who was in charge for the Military, came to the door. She knew both men, having gone to several functions at the base with Jimmy. But, the look on their faces was distressing.

"Dottie," the Director said sadly, "Jim was killed yesterday in Chicago. He was walking home from the lab, looking at some papers and walked in front of a car. He died instantly and probably felt little pain."

Tears fell from Dottie's eyes. It was over, the beautiful dream was all over. She was standing there looking at the director when the first savage pain ripped through her big body. Dottie whispered. "Doctor "O" would you be so kind as to take me to the hospital, my baby is coming." The Director waved the doctor into the house and the General rushed to the phone to order an Army ambulance. Dottie was in the hospital within a few minutes and three hours later her son was born. It was June 17, 1942. She named him John Calhoun O'Rourke. By the time she was released from the hospital, she had transferred everything that she and Jim owned plus Jim's insurance, to the child.

The doctor wanted to keep Johnny in the hospital for a few more days since he'd been born premature. Johnny was healthy and could scream loud and long. Dottie was not. She went home and wrote her son a letter, telling him that she loved him but couldn't live without her Jim. Dottie O'Rourke died of a gunshot wound to the head, which the Coroner's jury found to be self inflicted.

John Calhoun O'Rourke was an orphan, he was illegitimate and he was six days old.

Chapter Two

The lawyers from the Army donated their time to set up the trust funds for the orphaned tyke. His parents belongings, their house, his father's insurance and the money that was donated for him came to over three hundred thousand dollars.

The Army General talked to Dottie's father, who told the General that he didn't want no blow by kid that his runaway daughter had. The General almost punched the old man in the face, but, restrained himself and got information from him...who to see about the child. Dottie's brother, Peter O'Rourke and his wife Marjorie were finally located at a ranch near El Paso, Texas. They jumped at the chance to get Dottie's baby. They had just gotten married and Marjorie wasn't pregnant yet.

They were waiting at the airport in El Paso when all that Army brass and the pretty Army Nurse delivered the baby boy to them.

Each year until Johnny was eighteen a letter was supposed to come from a big law firm in Albuquerque with a check for ten thousand dollars.

The money was for Johnny but Margie and and Pete used it properly and wisely. Johnny was the only child that they would ever hold in their arms. They never had any of their own.

Their small ranch grew over the years, the killing work putting wrinkles in Margie's face and bending Peter's back, but they were happy anyway. They had Johnny and each other. By the time Johnny was five, he could ride and by the time he was fifteen he competed, along with Peter in the local rodeos. They had turned into a great calf roping team. The year they won their silver buckles was the year that Johnny's Annuity didn't come. When they contacted the law firm, they learned that the lawyer who had been in charge of Johnny's trust funds had stolen the money. The lawyer went to jail, but the money was gone. Johnny told Pete and Marjorie that it didn't matter, they'd get along okay without it. He was breezing through high school and graduated with honors in June 1959. There was no money for college, so Johnny asked Margie and Peter if he could join the Air Force and see some of the world before he came home for good.

Margie and Pete took Johnny to El Paso where he joined up. The next day they put him on the train to San Antonio and his basic training. They expected him to be gone for a few years and then come home, but it would be eight long years before Johnny got back to Texas for more than a few days. But those years were happy ones for Johnny, Pete and Margie.

Johnny was a very good airman and during his seventh month in the Air Force, he discovered that if he wanted to go to college on his off duty time, the Air Force would pay for most of it. Over the next eighteen months, his First Sergeant saw to it that he got the time to go to school and Johnny completed one full year of university. He also did almost another years worth of correspondence courses that pertained to his job as a mechanic on the big C-130's.

When Johnny got to work one June afternoon, there was a message for him to report to the Squadron Commander. Johnny didn't know what the commander wanted with him, but he knew he had done nothing wrong. After the First Sergeant looked him up and down, from his haircut to his shoeshine, the First Soldier tapped on the Major's door.

"Johnny," the Major began, "there is a program in the Air Force to place young men, with some college and a recommendation from their superiors, into the Air Force Academy. Your boss, the First Sergeant, and I think that you meet the requirements and we'd like to see you make it to Colorado Springs. The war is heating up and we need more Officers."

Johnny was flabbergasted. "Major, I'm not sure I can live up to what you and the Sergeants think I can do, but I will try very hard not to let you all down."

"I know you will, Johnny, now get out of here and see the First Sergeant, he has a few forms for you to fill out." Johnny saluted the Major, turned on his heel and went out into the orderly room with a stunned look on his face.

"Don 't look like that Johnny," the First Sergeant laughed, "I got a gut feeling that you'll do all right."

Johnny spent the next couple of days filling out forms and being interviewed by a board of Officers, who would recommend him for the pro- gram. Then he was sent to the big SAC base at Omaha to take a flight physical, and a battery of tests, which were actually, College Entrance Exams. Johnny scored exceptionally high on his exams. But why not, he had obviously inherited some of his Father's brains, and he had his Mother's common sense to go with it. Then he came back to his base and waited. He wrote to Margie and Pete, telling them the good news, and they wrote back telling him how glad they were for him and wished him luck.

Johnny finished the spring and summer semesters at the local Junior College, giving him a total of two full years of University and an Associate of Science Degree.

At the end of August, his luck ran out. He was called to the orderly room again. This time the First Sergeant told him that he'd been reassigned to a base in Canada, where he'd be working on Jet Fighter Engines. Johnny sighed, he knew that it had been too good to be true. Three days later he caught a hop out of Nebraska to New Jersey. The next day he boarded a transport plane and five hours later he landed at Goose Bay, Labrador, a base in eastern Canada. It would take a couple of days for his records the catch up with him and his new boss told him to hang around the barracks and stay out of sight until they came, then he could put him to work. He gave Johnny some manuals to study to get a jump on his training on the fighters.

The second week Johnny was there he went into the Orderly Room and inquired if his records had caught up yet. The clerk told him to be patient, they might take as much as a month. Johnny wandered back to the room he had been assigned and took out the manuals he had been given. It wasn't long before the manuals blurred in front of his eyes and he dropped off to sleep.

Johnny slept in rather late next day, but around ten AM there was a persistant knocking on his door. Johnny opened the door to find the orderly room clerk, grinning at him as if he'd really enjoyed waking a guy that had only been asleep a short while. Since Johnny had been asleep all night, he thanked the clerk for awakening him. That really screwed up the clerks joy, so he told Johnny to report to the First Sergeant.

Johnny grabbed a quick shower and ran down to the First Sergeant's office. He reported properly to the First Shirt, noticing a young woman with a brief case on her lap.

"Airman O'Rourke, this is Mrs. Carol Butterman, she's been looking for you." The First Sergeant explained. The woman put out her hand to him. "Hello Johnny, I'm Carol Butterman, My husband and I have spent years looking for you. After you left Los Alamos, no one knew, or wouldn't tell where you were sent. We found your Uncle Peter and Aunt Margie eight days ago. I have two things for you Johnny, a story and a check.

"Your Grandfather, owned a ranch near Los Alamos, New Mexico during World War Two. Your Mother, Dottie left the ranch whe she was young, which probably saved her from an untimely death, at least a lingering death. The project that came out of the lab at Los Alamos was activated early one morning and it lit up the whole valley when it was exploded. Your Grandfather happened to be looking at the point of the explosion and was blinded in an instant. His eyes were literally burned out. The ranch was only eight miles from the blast site and for days after that they were pelted with radio-active material. Your Grandfather and a lot of other ranchers died as an aftermath of that first blast. When the Government noticed that the air to the northeast of the blast site, was filled with carrion type birds, they invest-igated and found every living thing dead. The government immediately took possession of the land and closed every road and entrance into the area. When the people who were outside the blast area and killing zone returned they found that they couldn't enter, even some returning mililtary people. Some of the descendants of the origional ranchers filed a lawsuit against the Government and won their case. I have a check her for you."

'How much." Johnny asked, hoping for a couple hundred dollars. "The amount, Johnny, is eight million, six hundred thousand dollars, after taxes, which have already been paid, and after our fees and the cost of finding you for delivery!"

She handed Johnny the check and had him sign the appropiate release forms. Carol then took her leave of him and thanked the First Sergeant for the use of his office. She left the base and caught the first flight out.

After Carol's departure, Johnny sat in the chair staring, first at the check and then at the grinning First Sergeant. What in the name of heaven was he going to do with that much money? Finally he realized that he had better put it into a safe place so he went to the base bank and deposited the check. To say that Johnny was a celebrity was an understatement. Johnny left the bank and went back to the barracks, intending to get back into the manuals on the fighter engine again. As he walked into the barracks, his First Sergeant called out to him.

"Mr. O'Rourke, a moment of your time please. You are going home son, we just got a Priorty Message for you to report immediately to the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, in preperation for entry into the class starting in September 1961. Congratulations Johnny." Johnny gave a yell and hauled it upstairs to pack. After he was packed and the First Sergeant had given him his orders, he gave in to temptation and phoned and Air Charter Service. He asked for a Jet Charter to El Paso, Texas. Why not? He had the money.

Chapter Three

The next two years went swiftly for Johnny and he graduated third in his class. Since Johnny already had two years of University in his major, he was assigned to the class graduating in 1963. The Viet Nam War had shortened the time for people who already had University credits. He went through flight basic and advanced while he was at the Academy as well as jet training in the little jet hot rod the Air Force called the T-38 'TALON'. Johnny was sure he would go on to fly the hot fighters or maybe the big bombers, but on graduation day he got orders to begin training on the C-130 'Hercules' transport.

The General commanding the Academy questioned the orders assigning the number three graduate to Hercules training, but Johnny explained that he had really loved working on the big, slab sided, bird and he really would love to fly it. Johnny didn't care, hell it was flying and that was all he cared about. After twenty grueling weeks Johnny got his wings and graduated from the course as a fully qualified 'Herc Driver'. He was assigned to Hamilton AFB, California.

Johnny left Denver in the little Mercedes 400SL convertible he had bought during his first summer at the Academy. It had been a wreck and he had spent his free time and a lot of bucks to restore it to its origional, pristine condition. He drove straight through to San Rafeal where he checked into a motel and called a Realtor. Then he went to bed and slept for fifteen hours. At ten the following morning, the Realtor stopped by the motel and picked Johnny up. First they went to his office and looked at pictures of homes listed by the Real Estate Board. When Johnny told him that he was a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force, the Realtor started showing him homes in the lower price range.

"None of these will do, " Johnny said, "I need about four acres and three or four thousand square feet." The poor Realtor thought that he had died and gone to Heaven.

The home that Johnny finally decided on was on three acres and had thirty five hundred square feet. He also bought two acres directly across the street for an investment. Johnny wrote the Realtor a check and told him to call him when he could move in. Two weeks later the Realtor arrived at his motel and presented Johnny with the deeds and the keys. Johnny called for his phone installation and all the rest of his utilities. After taking care of that chore, he walked into an interior decorators shop that had one person there, the owner. She was an older lady, probably about fifty five or so, but when Johnny told her what he wanted, she immediately went to work. He gave her free rein on the rest of the house, but he had his den decorated his way, and the master bedroom done in such a way that it would appeal to either a man or a woman.

He was twenty six years old, he could fly, he had a perfectly restored, 1962 Mercedes con- vertible, he had a house and lots of money. What he wanted was a family of his own. He looked around in the singles bars, and decided that what he needed to do was to go to work.

The next day he reported in and started flying. He was flying all over the world and loving it. He began to rethink his idea about a family for now. He'd just fly and play some baseball in his spare time.

On April 20, 1964, Johnny drove over to the University of California, Berkeley, for a baseball game with the U.C. Berkeley freshman team.

Johnny played third base and during last couple of innings, he noticed a young woman sitting on the third row of bleachers. She was beautiful, and she seemed to be in some sort of trouble, as she stared at Johnny without seeing him.

The score was Hamilton 4, Cal 2 and it was the last inning. The first man at bat hit a home run and now it was 4 to 3. Jimmy Meyers struck out the next two batters on six pitches, but the next guy sent a short fly ball into right field that fell in for a hit. The last guy to bat was a big man with strong wrists that were made for swinging a baseball bat. Johnny knew that this guy usually sent line drives down the left field line. One more line drive would win the game for Cal. Jimmy delivered one up and inside on him and he swung the bat. The bat connected with a loud crack, sending it in a screaming line straight at Johnny, but about ten feet in the air. Johnny, at six foot three, leaped into the air and snagged the ball, ending the game.