The Big Date

by Stan

  Brother felt less ashamed when he remembered that conversation. But there was something else he recalled. Mama had said, “You shouldn’t worry too much about feeling jealous. But what you should worry about is letting jealous thoughts and feelings persuade you to do bad things.”

  Mama had a real knack for putting things in ways that made sense. And this time was no exception. Brother realized that he was on the verge of letting his jealous thoughts and feelings persuade him to do a bad thing: not tell Bonnie about the paint bomb. He jumped up. He would go straight home and phone Bonnie…

  With a groan, Brother sat back down on the rock and put his head in his hands. If only it were that simple! But there was another part of the dilemma. A part that didn’t seem to have anything to do with knowing the difference between right and wrong. If he didn’t tell Bonnie about the paint bomb, she might never find out how it got there. Ronnie Grizzington III had already made a bunch of enemies. There were a lot of cubs who might play a prank on him: Too-Tall, Cool Carl King, Queenie, Harry McGill, even Ferdy Factual. But if he did tell Bonnie, she would know that he was behind the prank! She’d never believe the truth: that it was all due to a misunderstanding between Too-Tall and him. That would sound like a story he’d made up to get himself off the hook. If he told, Bonnie would never forgive him for going to Too-Tall for help. And neither would anyone else! He’d lose all his friends! And what would his family think of him?

  It was quite a while before Brother remembered to glance at his watch. Dinnertime already! The big date was just a couple of hours away. He still didn’t have a clue about what he was going to do. And, on top of everything, his backside was numb from sitting on that darn rock!

  Stiffly, Brother got up and trudged homeward.

  Chapter 11

  SPLAT!

  Brother hardly ate any dinner that evening. Afterward, he went straight to his and Sister’s room and sat on his bunk bed. He eyed the telephone on the night table. He reached for it, then pulled his hand back. He took a deep breath and reached for it again. Again he pulled his hand back. An image formed in his mind’s eye, an image of Bonnie with red paint all over her face, yelling “I’ll never speak to you again!” at Ronnie Grizzington. He grinned.

  Brother hurried downstairs, where Papa sat in his easy chair reading the latest issue of Fields and Streams and Mama sat on the sofa reading the latest issue of Tree House Beautiful. “I’m going to the Burger Bear,” he announced.

  “All right, son,” said Mama. “But don’t stay out too late.”

  Brother took the front steps at a leisurely pace and headed downtown. But the moment he was out of sight of the tree house, he circled back toward Grizzly Mansion and picked up speed. What am I doing? he thought. I should be calling Bonnie and warning her! Then he pictured Bonnie yelling “I’ll never speak to you again!” at Ronnie Grizzington and walked even faster.

  Within minutes, Brother reached Grizzly Mansion. As usual, the front gate was closed and a guard was in the guardhouse. Brother found a spot out of sight of the guardhouse and climbed the fence. Safely inside, he scurried across the lawn and hid in some bushes near the front porch.

  It wasn’t long before the Grizzington limousine appeared at the front gate. The gate swung open, and the chauffeur drove the limo up the long drive and parked. Ronnie Grizzington waited for the chauffeur to come around and open the rear door for him. Every time Brother had seen him, Ronnie had been wearing a different suit and tie. Tonight was no exception. In his hand was a small gift-wrapped box.

  Ronnie went to the porch and rang the doorbell. Greeves the butler answered. “Good evening, Master Ronald,” he said. “I’ll inform Bonnie that you’ve arrived. Oh, here she is now.”

  Bonnie appeared in her beautiful new dress and stood on the porch with Ronnie. She didn’t look particularly happy or excited. In fact, she looked a bit glum. Ronnie handed her the gift and said, “I bought you a little something.”

  “Oh, you shouldn’t have,” said Bonnie, looking down at the gift in her hand.

  “A girl like you deserves expensive gifts,” said Ronnie. “Go ahead, open it.”

  Bonnie slowly removed the wrapping paper, which Ronnie took from her and crumpled into a ball. She placed her hand on the lid of the box.

  Cowering in the bushes, Brother held his breath. Oh, boy! he thought. Here it comes! But at that instant he heard something unexpected. It was almost like a little voice inside his head telling him to do the right thing. He knew what it was. It was his conscience.

  Before Bonnie could lift the lid of the box, Brother leapt from the bushes. “Don’t!” he cried. “Don’t open it, Bonnie!”

  Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Bonnie and Ronnie stared at Brother. An angry frown came to Bonnie’s face. “What in the world are you doing here?” she said.

  Brother gave a sheepish grin. He felt his ears start to burn. He knew that meant he was blushing like crazy.

  “He’s obviously spying on us,” said Ronnie. “And it’s also obvious that he doesn’t want you to open the box because he’s jealous. He can’t afford to buy you nice gifts like this!”

  Bonnie glared at both of them. For a moment she wasn’t sure which she disliked more: Brother’s spying or Ronnie’s snobbishness. But it didn’t take her long to decide. The nerve of that Brother Bear!

  She lifted the lid of the box.

  SPLAT!

  It was hard to tell who looked more shocked: Bonnie or Ronnie. But Bonnie was certainly more red-faced.

  “I … I tried, Bonnie,” Brother said weakly. “I tried to warn you…”

  The shock quickly faded from Bonnie’s expression, and fury took its place, made all the more vivid by the bright red paint all over her face. She pointed a finger straight at Brother. “You didn’t tell me not to open that box because you were jealous!” she cried. “You knew it was booby-trapped! Because you booby-trapped it!”

  Brother was at a complete loss for words. He knew that Bonnie would never believe the truth. So he just turned and ran. He ran down the long drive to the front gate and headed for home.

  Chapter 12

  The Big Date

  Back in his room, Brother lay on his bed with his head in his hands. In the war between his good side and his bad side, there had been no winner. He had chickened out when his bad side drew him to the gang’s clubhouse and Too-Tall had offered to help. But when his good side had tried to warn Bonnie about the paint bomb, she had gotten splattered anyway. It seemed as if he couldn’t do anything right—good or bad. And now he was sure to lose all his friends, too!

  Meanwhile, Bonnie and Ronnie were in the back of the Grizzington limo, on their way to the Red Berry. Bonnie had changed from her paint-splattered dress into blue jeans and a jean jacket. It had embarrassed her to get such an expensive gift from Ronnie, and now she didn’t want him to take her to an expensive restaurant, too. She had thought he would refuse to take her to the Red Berry because she was dressed in blue jeans. But as they rode into town, Ronnie said nothing. He seemed far away, as if his mind wasn’t on the date at all.

  Finally, Bonnie couldn’t stand it any longer. “Let’s not go to the Red Berry,” she said. “I’d be embarrassed to go in dressed like this.”

  Ronnie looked at her clothes. “Oh, I see,” he said. “I didn’t notice what you were wearing. But where would we go?”

  “I really feel like a cheeseburger,” said Bonnie. “Let’s go to the Burger Bear.”

  “Cheeseburger?” said Ronnie. “But don’t you want something more than cheese in a bun for dinner?”

  Bonnie stared at her date. “Ronald Grizzington III!” she said. “You’ve never had a cheeseburger, have you? You don’t even know what it is!”

  “To tell the truth,” said Ronnie with a shrug, “I’ve never eaten in a restaurant that serves cheeseburgers.” And then he said something that surprised Bonnie. “But if that’s what you want, let’s go to this Burger Bear place.”

  “You’ll like it,” said Bonnie,
already feeling a little better about the date. “My uncle owns it, you know.”

  So they went to the Burger Bear. Ronnie took off his tie and suit jacket and left them in the limo. He ended up actually enjoying his first cheeseburger and fries. In fact, he loosened up so much that he even said hi to Bonnie’s friends who came by the booth. After a while, someone came by who wasn’t a friend of Bonnie’s. Not exactly an enemy, but not really a friend, either.

  “Hi, big guy,” said Bonnie. “What’s up?”

  “I didn’t think I’d see the two of you around after your little mishap with that paint bomb,” said Too-Tall.

  Ronnie looked up, puzzled. “How did you know about that, big guy?”

  “That’s Mister Big Guy to you!” snarled Too-Tall. “Me and the gang were watchin’ from behind the fence.”

  “You were?” said Bonnie. “Did Brother tell you he booby-trapped the gift?”

  “Nah,” said Too-Tall. “’Cause he didn’t booby-trap it. Me and the gang did. And I told him about it.” Too-Tall went on to tell them all about the big misunderstanding.

  “So Brother didn’t really want you to plant the paint bomb?” said Bonnie when Too-Tall had finished.

  “That’s right,” said Too-Tall. “And don’t you forget it. That was one of the best paint-bomb pranks we’ve ever pulled. And I won’t let some little wimp like Brother Bear steal the credit for it. So when you start spreadin’ the story all over town, get it right!” And, with that, Too-Tall stalked back to the gang’s booth.

  Of course, Bonnie was overjoyed to hear that Brother hadn’t planted the paint bomb. Now she felt sorry for him. For two reasons: one, because he’d felt so jealous that he’d thought about asking Too-Tall for help, and two, because she had falsely accused him of planting the paint bomb.

  Too-Tall’s news put a big damper on the big date. Bonnie hadn’t really wanted to go through with it in the first place, and now all she wanted to do was talk to Brother and apologize for yelling at him. There was only one thing keeping her from calling off the rest of the date. She didn’t want to hurt Ronnie’s feelings, especially now that he was loosening up a little and not being so stuck-up.

  By the time their limo reached the movie theater, Bonnie couldn’t stand it any longer. It couldn’t be helped if Ronnie’s feelings were hurt. She blurted out that she hadn’t wanted to go on the date, that her aunt and uncle had pushed her into it because of the squire’s business relationship with Ronnie’s father.

  Ronnie looked at her with amazement. He seemed stunned. For a moment Bonnie was afraid he might cry.

  But he didn’t. Not only did Ronnie not cry, he actually smiled. Then he threw his head back and laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” said Bonnie. “I thought you’d be upset.”

  “You don’t understand!” cried Ronnie. “We’re in the same boat!”

  “Well,” said Bonnie, “I can see that we’re in the same limo, but—”

  “No, really!” said Ronnie. “I only asked you out because my parents told me to! And they pushed me into it for exactly the same reason that your aunt and uncle pushed you into it!”

  “But why didn’t you say so earlier?” asked Bonnie.

  “Because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings!” said Ronnie.

  Now it was Bonnie’s turn to throw her head back and laugh. Ronnie joined in again, and the two cubs laughed until they cried.

  The window between the driver’s seat and the passengers’ compartment lowered. “Is everything all right, Master Ronald?” asked the chauffeur.

  “Everything’s fine, James,” said Ronnie, wiping away tears.

  “But aren’t you going to the cinema?” asked James.

  Ronnie looked up at the theater marquee, which read: NOW SHOWING: FIELD OF SCREAMS. “What’s the movie?” he asked Bonnie.

  “It’s a horror movie,” she said. “I saw the coming attractions last week. It’s about dead baseball players who come back as ghosts. There’s one scene where they chase a farmer through a cornfield with baseball bats.”

  Ronnie shuddered. “Sounds scary,” he said. “You know, I don’t really like horror movies.”

  “Me neither,” said Bonnie. “Why don’t we just go home?”

  Ronnie agreed and told James to head for Grizzly Mansion. On the way, he turned to Bonnie and said, “I really do like you, Bonnie. I hope we can still be friends.”

  “I think we can,” said Bonnie. “But only if you’re nicer to my other friends. Until tonight, you’ve acted pretty stuck-up toward them.”

  Ronnie apologized. He explained that his parents had always discouraged him from associating with what they called “ordinary” cubs. If he was seen being nice to “ordinary” cubs, he thought, his parents might hear about it and be disappointed.

  “Well,” said Bonnie, “if you ask me, it’s time you started disappointing your parents a little. Just like I should disappoint my aunt and uncle once in a while.”

  “Ever since we left the Burger Bear,” Ronnie admitted, “I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing. I know! My first act of independence will be to invite you and your friends to Grizzington Mansion for a croquet party!”

  “Better make that a croquet and volleyball party,” suggested Bonnie.

  “Deal,” said Ronnie.

  And they shook hands on it.

  Chapter 13

  The Bear of Last Resort

  As happy as Bonnie was to learn that Brother hadn’t planted the paint bomb, Brother was even happier to get a phone call from Bonnie. And his joy knew no bounds when Bonnie said that Too-Tall had told her all about the big misunderstanding. She apologized for accusing him of planting the paint bomb.

  “That’s okay, Bonnie,” said Brother. “You had a right to be angry. After all, I was spying on you.”

  “I’ll admit spying was bad,” said Bonnie. “But you did try to warn me at the last minute.”

  “I never should have gone to Too-Tall’s clubhouse with a big problem on my mind,” said Brother. “If I hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”

  “Well, at least it sounds like you learned your lesson,” said Bonnie.

  “You bet!” said Brother quickly. Then, a bit sheepishly, he added, “Just remind me what the lesson is.”

  “When you have a problem,” said Bonnie, “Too-Tall is the last bear you should go to with it.”

  “Sort of the bear of last resort?” joked Brother.

  “Actually, the bear of no resort!” said Bonnie. “By the way, Ronnie Grizzington is having a croquet and volleyball party at Grizzington Mansion on Sunday afternoon.”

  Brother’s heart sank. Uh-oh, he thought. Here we go again. “Gee,” he said softly. “That’s great.”

  “Don’t sound so depressed,” said Bonnie. “You’re invited, too! And so are all our friends!”

  “No kidding?” cried Brother. “Awesome!”

  Chapter 14

  Party Payback

  Grizzington Mansion was almost as big as Grizzly Mansion, and the front lawn had more than enough room for both a croquet lawn and a volleyball court. Most of the invited cubs had never played croquet, and Ronnie patiently showed everyone the ins and outs of his favorite game. He was especially nice to Brother, who hadn’t been sure how welcome he would be at Grizzington Mansion.

  After croquet, they played volleyball and worked up quite a sweat. A maid brought out a tray filled with glasses of lemonade and served the cubs as they rested. A butler followed with another tray. On it was a gift-wrapped box. Ronnie took the box and handed it to Brother. “Just to show you there are no hard feelings,” he said, “I bought you a new volleyball.”

  Brother didn’t know what to say except, “Gee, thanks, Ronnie.” He had been wanting a new volleyball for months, but had kept spending too much of his allowance on milk shakes at the Burger Bear.

  “Go ahead,” said Ronnie. “Open it.”

  Eagerly, Brother tore off the wrapping paper and lifted the lid off the cardboard
box.

  SPLAT!

  The rest of the cubs fell down laughing as Ronnie handed Brother a rag to wipe his paint-splattered face with.

  “That,” said Ronnie, “was for ruining the diamond earrings I bought with my hard-unearned money. If you’d warned us sooner, they could have been saved. Now we’re even.” He said it in a friendly, joking way, not a mean way. And then he grinned.

  Brother couldn’t help grinning, too. After all, it was funny. Together the two cubs burst into laughter. They laughed loud and long.

  “Hey, Ronnie,” said Barry Bruin. “Did you rig that paint bomb yourself?”

  “Actually, no,” said Ronnie. “Too-Tall’s friend—that Skuzz fellow—did it for me.”

  “How much did you have to pay him?” asked Cousin Fred.

  “Nothing,” said Ronnie. “Yesterday, I had James drive me out to Parts R Us. I walked around back to the gang’s clubhouse and had a little talk with Too-Tall.”

  That raised quite a few eyebrows. “And you lived to tell the tale?” said Babs Bruno.

  “Too-Tall was quite nice to me after I informed him I’d decided not to tell Chief Bruno about the paint bomb if he’d help me ‘get’ Brother,” said Ronnie.

  “That’s still kind of surprising,” said Queenie. “The big guy doesn’t like to be pushed around.”

  “Oh, he made that quite clear,” said Ronnie. “What saved me was that I went alone, without any bodyguards. He said it took a lot of courage. Actually, ‘guts’ is the word he used, I believe. He even shook my hand.”

  “Wow!” said Bonnie. “You’ve loosened up even more than I thought, Ronnie. But if you’re already friends with Too-Tall, why didn’t you invite him and the gang to the party? I’m sure they would have enjoyed watching Brother get splattered.”