My nephew Bo was like any other little boy growing up. Of course he did have the disadvantage of being raised in Alabama instead of Missouri but he seems to have overcome that as he has grown into a man.
He grew up with his own set of heroes. A lot of these heroes he took in from books that my sister would read to him or make him read. Other heroes came from sporting icons or television characters. This is the story of one of his television character heroes.
Bo was and is a fine looking boy. He has a set of dimples on him that are so deep you would almost swear they used some ice tongs instead of forceps on him when he was born. These dimples are ever present on him even when he isn't smiling a very big smile. His eye are dark and have a sparkle to them. He was a good sized kid that protected his older sister when ever she needed his protection or to be more precise when ever he felt like she needed his protection.
Bo grew up with a larger than life imagination. He was and is very intelligent and sensitive. He is also very trusting. Still to this day if I try hard enough I can feed him a story where he is not sure whether to believe me or not. He doesn't take things too seriously unless it is warranted.
One of his favorite television shows when he was about five years old was The Incredible Hulk. I don't think that my sister was too high on comic books seeing as she was an English/Literature teacher so Bo had to get his super heroes from the television or movie screen. The Incredible Hulk was a short lived television series that played weekly and Bo never missed an episode as far as I know. It was based on the story of this ordinary man who had gotten his genes chemically changed somehow. I can't go into details on the Hulk because I never really got into him. This ordinary man would change much the same way Dr. Jeckle changed into Mr. Hyde. If the hulk saw an injustice or if he was treated badly he would undergo a metamorphosis that would double his size, turn him green and give him super human strength. While he was in the guise of the Hulk he would right the wrong than slowly turn back into the ordinary man that he started out to be. This is all supposition on my part based on knowledge given to me about the Hulk from five year old Bo.
For a period of a couple of years if you angered Bo he would take on an imaginary Hulk like persona. He would drop like a rock to the floor and curl up in a ball hiding his face under his arms. He would lie there very still for a few minutes and then you would be able to spot a little movement.
He would slowly begin to unfold his body. There would come a very quiet yet distinct growl from deep inside of him. He would then raise his face and his eyebrows would be knotted together and his forehead wrinkled up as he tried to look mean, angry and scary. Sadly even though he tried hard to look mean and scary he never quite pulled it off. He was just too cute to come off like that.
He would then grit his teeth tightly together and the growl would get a little louder. It was here that he began to arise from the depths of the floor as he slowly moved onto his knees. His hands would stretch out the fingers to look like claws as he moved his arms slowly over his head. The growl would again intensify and soon he was standing up right with his arms fully extended above his head. His eyes would be flashing, his forehead all wrinkled up and in an attempt to be as big as he could be he would wind up standing on his tiptoes. Then he would look at you and let out a big roar and lunge at you slightly.
It was really difficult to be scared instead of laughing at him. If you did laugh at him it would be certain that the "Hulk" would attack you. Bo would come walking like a robot from a bad fifties movie towards you, growling and roaring with his hands reaching out towards you. Now that I think about it he looked more like a zombie than the Incredible Hulk. He would then attack you and it was your responsibility to succumb to the ferocious attack of the Hulk.
After he finished giving you a short beating and business was taken care of he would slowly sink back into the floor and curl back up into a ball reversing the earlier metamorphosis that had taken place and he was sweet little Bo again and he would swear he didn't know what had just happened to him.
When Bo grew up and had a couple of boys of his own the Hulk television series was long gone. They were not even showing it in syndication. Then an event happened that would revive the hulk. Hollywood came out with a movie about the Incredible Hulk. Of course Bo absolutely had to take his boys to see it and his older son began to follow in his father's footsteps. Hayden would recreate the Hulk almost esactly as his father had done.
The really good part about the movie being released though was the toys that were spawned by the movie. Toys that a young Bo did not have at his disposal. I took it upon myself to be sure that Hayden had as full of a hulk experience as he could have. I bought Hayden a pair of Hulk arms. The idea was that you would slide your arms into this massive green muscle ridden arms and when you would hit something or somebody it would make noises to make the sensation more of an experience.
Hayden received his Hulk arms and enjoyed them for a little bit. He enjoyed them until his Uncle Shawne came over and Bo took one arm while Shawne took the other and the two thirty year old Hulks began to fight amongst themselves while Hayden sat by watching. From the reports I got of the incident Hayden did not mind. He enjoyed watching his dad and uncle play and have a good time. Of course Hayden was not going to let them keep the arms too long and he quickly regained them and began attacking everyone in the house. I really wish I had been there to see it on the first few days of Hulkdom in Alabama.
Bo is yet another proof that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He grew up a hulk and now his boys are hulks. Conner, his youngest, can be Hulk like without even trying sometimes.
So that is the story about how my niece Kristi married one hulk and gave birth to two more.
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