Orleans and was advised to obtain Lee's release from the court's jurisdiction before she left.242 On the following day, she called the probation officer, who was away on vacation, and was advised by his office again not to take Lee out of the jurisdiction without the court's consent.243 The same advice was repeated to her by the Big Brothers caseworker on January 6.244 Through all these contacts, Mrs. Oswald had evidenced reluctance to bring Lee into court, prompted probably by fear that he would be retained in some sort of custody as he had been at the time of the commitment to Youth House.245 Without further communication to the court, Mrs. Oswald and Lee returned to New Orleans sometime before January 10.246 On March 11, the court dismissed the case.247

In New Orleans, Lee and his mother stayed with the Murrets at 757 French Street while they looked for an apartment.248 Lee enrolled in the eighth grade at Beauregard Junior High School on January 13 249 and completed the school year without apparent difficulty.250 He entered the ninth grade in September and again received mediocre but acceptable marks.251 In October 1954, Lee took a series of achievement tests, on which he did well in reading and vocabulary, badly in mathematics.252 At the end of the school year, on June 2, 1955, he filled out a "personal history." He indicated that the subjects which he liked best were civics, science, and mathematics; those he liked least were English and art. His vocational preferences were listed as biology and mechanical drawing; his plans after high school, however, were noted as "military service" and "undecided." He said that reading and outdoor sports were his recreational activities and that he liked football in particular. In response to the question whether he had "any close friends in this school," he wrote,"no." 253

Lee is remembered by those who knew him in New Orleans as a quiet., solitary boy who made few friends.254 He was briefly a member of the Civil Air Patrol,255 and considered joining an organization of high school students interested in astronomy; 256 occasionally, he played pool or darts with his friend, Edward Voebel.257 Beyond this, he seems to have had few contacts with other people. He read a lot, starting at some point to read Communist literature which he found at the public library; 258 he walked or rode a bicycle, sometimes visiting a museum.259 Except in his relations with his mother, he was not unusually argumentative or belligerent, but he seems not to have avoided fights if they came; they did come fairly frequently, perhaps in part because of his aloofness from his fellows and the traces of a northern accent in his speech.260 His only close friendship, with Voebel, arose when Voebel helped him tend his wounds after a right.261 Friends of Mrs. Oswald thought that he was demanding and insolent toward her and that she had no control over him.262

While Lee was in the eighth and ninth grades, Mrs. Oswald worked first at Burt's Shoestore 263 and then at the Dolly Shoe Co.264 One of her employers at Dolly, where she worked as a cashier and salesclerk, remembered her as a pleasant person and a good worker.265 At her request, the company hired Lee to work part time; he worked there,