The First Day of School
"I've never let school interfere with my education"-Mark Twain
"Baloo its time to wake up!" said Kit to the sleeping bear.
"Huh, uh what? What time is it?" asked Baloo as he poked his head out from under the blankets.
"It's 6:45 and I have to be at school at 8:00!" said the boy who had just finished dressing. "I can't be late on my first day!"
Baloo snuck back down under the covers and said, "We got over an hour."
"Well you gotta get up and take a shower, plus we gotta eat and walk to school," said Kit who was beginning to get impatient.
"Baloo sat up and said, "Yer really excited about all of this aintcha Lil Britches?"
"Going to school is part of my guardianship…besides regular kids go to school," said the cub.
The big bear slowly rolled out of bed and made his way into the bathroom. He took a shower and brushed his teeth, then headed downstairs. He found Kit sitting in his chair and eating a bowl of cereal. Baloo fixed himself a bowl and leaned against the counter.
"When I was yer age, I couldn't stand going to school," Baloo said.
"Why was that Papa Bear?" asked Kit.
"They don't teacha nuthin about life. It's all numbers and fancy writing, you got to go out into the world and learn stuff," said Baloo.
"Then why am I going to school then?" asked the cub.
Baloo smiled and said, "Cuz you been out in the world Kit, now you gotta be a student. Besides, the judge said you had to go."
Kit laughed, "What if I feel like they aren't teaching me anything?"
Baloo laughed, "Just do what I did in school."
"What was that?" the boy asked.
"Try not to get caught slacking!" said Baloo.
As they made their way toward the school on that early January morning, Kit thought back to the events since Baloo had been granted his guardianship.
Christmas and New Years Eve, 1937-
Christmas had rolled around quick and Kit had spent the holiday with his new friends. He, Baloo, and Wildcat had been tasked by Rebecca to babysit Molly while she went out shopping for gifts. A poor choice of words had nearly ruined Molly's idea of Christmas and Santa Claus and so Baloo had hatched a plan to convince Molly that Santa was real by taking her to the 'North Pole'. The 'North Pole' was actually Louie's and the poor orangutan and his workers had ended up dressing up as Santa and his elves for the benefit of the little girl. Molly threw them all for a loop by asking 'Santa' to make it snow for her mom. The gang had decided to use a whole lot of soap to simulate snow for Molly, but unfortunately Don Karnage and his band of air pirates had decided to show up and ruin things. The wolf had been sulking since his attack on Cape Suzette had been thwarted and his pirates had begged him to let them go and plunder. Karnage had finally given in and by a quirk of fate his targets ended up being the very people who had thwarted him. Baloo had managed to once again stop Karnage and his pirates by dumping his cargo of soap onto his pursuers. Once back at Louie's however, Molly had discovered the ruse and had run off. Kit and his friends had went after her and found her staring up into the sky. Something up in the air had caught her attention. Suddenly, and to the amazement of everyone, snowflakes began to fall on them. Kit figured that the snow must've been caused by some freak weather that had pushed the frozen ice far south into the tropics. Secretly he felt that there was something else responsible for the snowfall and although he wasn't quite sure, he and the others thought that they heard the faint sound of bells…and wasn't that something moving about in the sky? That Christmas Eve the cub went to bed with a mind full of wonder and in the morning he awoke to the smell of a hearty breakfast and the joy of unwrapping presents. This Christmas was one of the most magical times in his young life.
A few days later, Rebecca had invited her employees to her new apartment for a New Year's celebration. Conveniently she had some belongings for them to help her with before the festivities. Baloo, Kit, and Wildcat had helped her finish up unpacking her rather nice apartment and then enjoyed the fireworks from the balcony of her high-rise home. They were all amazed by just how modern the building was and were fascinated by the waterfall which fell from the building. Baloo did however make one cynical comment about Rebecca's new home.
"So this is where all of the money goes," said Baloo.
"What money? I don't see any money around," said a perplexed Wildcat.
Kit laughed, "Wildcat, I think Baloo means that this place costs a lot of money."
"Oh, I get it…I think," said the mechanic.
The five of them plus Rebecca's lawyer friend Erin Fuchs and her fiancé Taylor Foxglove watched the fireworks from the balcony while thousands lined the bay to enjoy the display, courtesy of Shere Khan. The uber-rich tiger had decided to make this year's fireworks show the biggest yet to show the air pirates that Cape Suzette still stood tall. As Kit looked down he could see many damaged buildings and other structures that blemished the city. It's partly my fault. If I had been smarter I could've messed up the lightning gun before Karnage could use it. Kit sighed heavily with this thought then brushed it aside as the clock struck midnight and the fireworks began.
His friends cheered and Erin and Taylor kissed to usher in the New Year.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Baloo yelled at the top of his lungs.
"YEAH, HAPPY 1938!" said Wildcat who quietly added, "Its 1938 right?"
Kit whooped and hollered along with his friends and then made a New Year's resolution to himself: I'm going to do my best to become a 'normal' kid. He had decided that after years of being on his own and being an air pirate, it was time to lead a more 'normal' life. Little did the cub know that becoming a 'normal' kid wasn't going to go as planned.
"Well there it is," Baloo said as he and Kit arrived at the school.
Baloo's voice snapped Kit out of his thoughts and he gazed up at the large U-shaped edifice. "You don't sound too thrilled to be here Papa Bear."
"Trust me Lil Britches, after a few weeks you won't be too thrilled either!" said Baloo.
Kit laughed and said, "Well, let's get this over with!" With that the pair climbed the steps and entered the red and gray brick building.
Baloo remembered the inside of the school, including the principal's office...Especially the principal's office. The big bear gulped unconsciously as he looked at the closed door of the office.
"May I help you gentlemen?" asked a rotund lady hippo.
"Uh yeah," Baloo said as he tore his gaze away from the principal's office door, "I'm here to enroll a new student."
"And your names?" the hippo asked.
"Baloo Bruinwald and I'm enrolling Kit Cloudkicker," Baloo answered.
"Alright, I will inform Mr. Pomeroy," said the hippo who then informed the principal over the phone.
"Pomeroy is the principal?" Baloo said incredulously.
"Is that bad?" asked Kit.
"Well let's just say I hope he doesn't remember the cherry bomb incident," Baloo said.
"Mr. Pomeroy will see you now," said the hippo.
Ed Pomeroy was sitting in his well-lighted and spacious office as he perused the financial section of the Cape Suzette Times, when a large grey bear and a small cub came in. Pomeroy squinted his eyes at the adult bear. There was something awfully familiar about him.
"Please sit down gentlemen," said Pomeroy, "Now Miss Largent at the desk said that one of you is a Bruinwald."
"That'd be me," said Baloo.
Pomeroy focused on Baloo and as he did so, a look of recognition crossed his face, "Been detonating any cherry bombs lately Mister Bruinwald?"
Baloo's mouth dropped and Kit giggled.
"Oh you didn't think that I'd forget that did you?" said the bear principal.
"Actually, I forgot about it until you just mentioned it," Baloo said with a goofy smile.
"You know your little stunt messed up my brand new suit!" said the principal.
"If it makes ya feel any better, I spent two weeks in detention," Baloo said.
"You're lucky I didn't get my way and have you expelled!" said Pomeroy. The principal calmed himself down, straightened out his tie, and continued, "That is all in the past now so we will discuss the enrollment of your son."
"Actually Kit's not my son. I just have guardianship of him," said Baloo.
Pomeroy's eyes widened, What kind of a person would give custody to the likes of Baloo Bruinwald? "Oh, I see. That is very responsible of you to take on such a challenge. I'm sure you'll make a wonderful role model." Did I just say that?
"Now what is your name young man?" asked Pomeroy.
"Kit Cloudkicker," said Kit.
"Cloudkicker, hmmmm interesting name," said the principal.
"Interesting name for and interesting kid!" Baloo added jovially.
"And as for your last name Mr. Bruinwald my wife and I went on a vacation last year and we spent some time in Bearvaria visiting with her relatives. Are you by any chance related to the Von Bruinwald's?"
"Well my grandparents dropped the 'Von' when they came from the old country, but maybe, why?" asked Baloo.
"Oh, it's nothing," said Pomeroy who turned his attention to Kit, "Well I'd like to welcome you to Cape Suzette Elementary school and as Mr. Bruinwald can attest, this school places a high value on education…and discipline. How old are you by the way?"
"Twelve sir," answered Kit.
"Does he have any school records with him?" asked Pomeroy.
"Um, well he was at an orphanage and then, uh well, uh," stammered Baloo.
"I see," said Pomeroy, "Nevertheless, I believe that this boy should be in a class with children his own age so I am going to put you into Mrs. Morrisey's 6th grade class."
"Mrs. Morrisey? She's still teaching?" asked Baloo.
"Yes and I am sure she remembers you," said the principal with an unfriendly smile. Now you will go and see my secretary and she will ensure that you make it to your class."
"Yes Mr. Pomeroy," said Kit who got up to leave the office with Baloo.
As soon as Kit walked out, Pomeroy spoke, "Mr. Bruinwald?"
Baloo froze in his tracks and then turned to face the blue suit wearing bear, "Yes?"
"I hope for the boy's sake that he will be a much better student than you were," said Pomeroy.
Kit walked out of the principal's office and spoke to the hippo about his being assigned to Mrs. Morrisey's class. The secretary called the teacher and explained that she had a new student for her.
"Mrs. Morrisey says for you to go right on over," said the hippo who gave Kit the room number and directions to the class.
Baloo walked out and nudged Kit, "I think I'm gonna go. After dealing with Pomeroy, Rebecca will be a piece of cake."
Kit laughed, "Have fun with her and wish me luck!"
"Aw you won't need luck," said Baloo who patted Kit on the shoulder and headed out the door.
As Kit walked out of the administration room he noticed a purple overall wearing hyena boy of about his age sitting on a couch with his mother. He and the hyena briefly made eye contact before he left the room. As he walked into the hall he heard the hippo secretary say to the mother and son hyenas that the principal would see them.
Baloo walked into Higher for Hire and sat down in his favorite chair. He grabbed the newspaper and propped his feet up on a stool.
"So how did it go?" asked Rebecca who was sitting behind her desk.
"For me or for Kit?" asked the pilot.
"For Kit," she said.
"You'll have to ask him when he gets back, but I think he'll be OK," answered Baloo.
"How did you like going to your old school?" Rebecca asked.
"Everything went fine until I found out that the principal used to be my teacher," said the bear.
"I take it he remembered you then?" she asked.
"Lets just say I made a lasting impression on him," said Baloo with a smile.
"Now class, I'd let you all to give a warm welcome to our newest student…Kit Cloudkicker," Mrs. Morrisey said .
Kit watched as all of his new classmates gave him welcoming 'Hi's' and 'Hello's'. It was a small class that was made up of just seven other kids including: a girl fox, a girl cat, a boy elephant, a boy bird, a girl bird, a boy woodchuck, and a boy pig.
"Hi," Kit said as he tried to mask his slight case of nervousness which was something that he wasn't used to at all.
"As you can see we are a small class, but I find that with this system it is easier to teach students and lead them to academic success," said the purple dress wearing teacher.
"How many other 6 graders are there ," asked Kit.
"Oh, we have about 70 total," she answered.
Kit took his seat next to the woodchuck and opened up the math text book that had been set there for him. Cripes! Why did it have to be math?
"Now class, who would like to come up here and answer this question?" the teacher asked as she wrote 6 X 7 +2 =.
"Let the new kid answer it!" shouted the woodchuck.
Oh great! Kit thought as he groaned inwardly.
"That is a good idea for Kit to break the ice Gordon. Kit come up here and show us how to solve this equation," said the teacher.
"Uh, OK…" said Kit as he stood and walked to the blackboard. He picked up the chalk and turned to face the other students. Each one was staring at him. He gulped and turned back toward the board and looked at the problem. He focused on the numbers and all of a sudden it seemed as if the numbers expanded in size and took on three dimensions. The numbers seemed to detach themselves from the board and float up to his face where they positioned themselves right in front of his nose.
"Do you understand the problem?" the teacher asked .
Kit turned to her, smiled awkwardly, and said, "I got it." He didn't sound too convincing.
Baloo had one small flight scheduled for a delivery of crates of mayonnaise, mustard, other condiments, and supplies that were to be taken to a hotel in Bambezi. It was a three hour round trip and he figured that he'd be back in time to welcome Kit back from his first day of school. The bear looked over at the empty chair next to him and felt a pang of loneliness. This was the first time that he hadn't had Kit with him on a flight since he met him, notwithstanding the few days that Kit had seemingly rejoined the air pirates. It was funny to him how he had been so used to flying the Sea Duck alone for so long and that it had never bothered him, but now that Kit was his navigator, it seemed odd to have to fly without him. The plane seemed empty without the boy. Baloo sighed, pulled an orange soda from his consul, and took a drink. He looked at his watch and saw that he had about 45 minutes until he landed. That meant that he'd have the cargo offloaded in about 20 minutes after landing and an hour and a half until he made it back to Cape Suzette. That added up to over two and a half hours until he got home. He couldn't wait until he heard how Kit's first day at school went.
Kit sat in the cafeteria and ate his lunch on the end of a crowded table. He hadn't really talked to any of the other kids yet on account that they all seemed to be preoccupied with other kids. I guess it just takes time to get to know these kids, He thought. Then he caught sight of a familiar looking kid. It was the hyena boy that he had seen earlier as he left the administration office. The skinny hyena took a seat on the opposite side and corner of where Kit was sitting. He watched as the hyena twirled his fork in his spaghetti and then slurped it up. The hyena didn't seem to mind that no one was talking to him, as a matter of fact, the hyena seemed like he could care less about not being noticed. The hyena looked around a little and smirked at the throng of students then he turned his gaze in Kit's direction. Kit and the boy made eye contact for a brief moment. The hyena gave a slight nod at Kit and then went back to twirling his pasta.
Kit turned his thoughts back to his class. He grimaced at the memory of his incorrect answer. He wrote 15 and was corrected by the girl fox who spoke up.
"He answered it wrong, the new boy answered it wrong!" said the girl fox.
Gee thanks a lot! Kt thought.
"Kit do you know what you did wrong?" asked the teacher.
"Um, no," he answered.
"It looks like you added the numbers instead of multiplying and then adding. The answer is supposed to be 44," said Mrs. Morrisey.
"Oh, yeah I see," he said.
"You may sit back down Kit, we'll have more problems for you to practice on in preparation for the upcoming test," she said.
Thinking of the episode in the class made Kit pretty apprehensive about being in school. Is every day here going to be like this?
"Whattya mean this isn't everything you ordered?" asked Baloo a little too loudly. He had just arrived at the Marmontiat Regency Hotel and was about to complete his delivery, but was stopped by a discrepancy in the order.
"Sir, there are supposed to be 12 crates of condiments and other foodstuffs. There are only 10 present," said a snooty twenty-something otter in a suit.
"Look yer gonna have to take this up with my boss," Baloo said.
"When I spoke with Ms. Cunningham I specifically stated that there were to be 12 crates delivered to the hotel," said the otter.
"Well I don't know what to say, maybe the delivery boys messed up your order," answered Baloo.
"I was told that all the crates were present," said the otter in his stuck up voice.
"Like I said, yer gonna have to take it up with her," said Baloo who was getting impatient.
"I was assured by your boss that my order would be delivered. That has not happened," said the otter.
"Whatcha want me to do about it?" asked Baloo.
"I would like for you to deliver 12 crates for me. You are capable of doing that hmmm?" asked the otter who looked at Baloo with barely concealed disdain.
"Let me get this straight: You want me to fly all the way back to Cape Suzette, track down 2 missing crates, do a U-Turn, and fly back here?" asked Baloo.
"I do not care how you do it, although I am sure that your boss would be disappointed to lose our business," answered the otter.
Baloo felt like saying something to the stuck up otter, something about shoving something up somewhere, but he thought better of it. "OK, look I'll call up my boss and get this fixed."
"I certainly hope so," replied the otter.
"Uh, you got a phone I could use?" asked Baloo.
"Our phones are for our guests," said the otter with disdain.
That did it: "Look I just made a flight out here to deliver what I was supposed to give you and then you got this snotty attitude. I'm just the delivery guy. Now I am nice enough to get a hold of my boss for you so the least you can do is let me use a phone, but then you had to go and act all holier than thou!"
The otter stood there flabbergasted at Baloo's outburst and tried to say something but was cut off by the rest of Baloo's tirade.
"And all because yer some head honcho at some ritzy hotel doesn't mean that yer entitled to talk down to people. Yer lucky Higher for Hire took this job otherwise someone else would have made you pay a lot more for yer cargo pal!" Said Baloo.
The scene at the hotel's pier had by now attracted quite a few onlookers who viewed the spat with interest. Some of them murmured amongst themselves that the large pilot was being confrontational while others lauded him for chewing out the snooty little otter.
Presently a well-dressed duck came out of the glass door entry way and made his way to the pier, walked through the crowd, and stood next to Baloo and the otter.
"What seems to be the problem gentlemen?" asked the duck.
Baloo turned his head to the duck and said, "This guy," Baloo pointed a finger at the otter, "Wants me to go all the way back to Cape Suzette and get two apparently missing crates that we never got, then fly all the way back here. I told him I'd call my boss, but he decided to act all snotty and say that the phones are only for customers!"
"Is this true Horace?" asked the duck.
"Horace? Your name is Horace?" Baloo said as he barely kept from laughing.
The otter flushed with embarrassment and said to the duck, "Sir, this…person, is a crude speaking and loudmouthed disrespectful man who is making a scene."
"Yer his boss?" asked Baloo.
The duck looked to Baloo and said, "I am Thomas Drakeford, the hotel's manager. I was told that there was a scene taking place between my new intern and a cargo pilot."
"Yer an intern?" Baloo said. He looked closely and realized that the otter was trembling.
"Yes Horace is working here as part of his Hospitality and Tourism Management major requirement," said Mr. Drakeford .
"You mean this guy isn't an actual employee?" asked Baloo.
"Oh of course not, Horace is actually a student at the University of Cape Suzette," Drakeford said.
"Well maybe he ought to go back to school and study up on the hospitality part," Baloo said smugly.
Drakeford laughed at Baloo's remark and said, "Lets go to the office and see if we can sort this out Mister…?"
"Its Baloo," Baloo said.
"Lets see if we can sort this out Mister Baloo," said Drakeford with a friendly smile.
Kit bounded down the steps of the school, turned left on the sidewalk, and began to head back to Higher for Hire. He hadn't made it 10 feet before a commotion caught his attention. He stopped and turned to look at the ruckus. He spotted a tall tiger who was talking down to a smaller figure in a pair of purple overalls: the hyena.
"Listen up you pint-sized little pipsqueak! You better watch out for me! I don't like little wimp comic book readin' losers like you!" said the tiger who held a comic book up out of the reach of the hyena.
The places may change, but the bullies stay the same, thought Kit who recalled his dealings with a host of bullies in his short life.
"Gimme back my book!" yelled the hyena in a high pitched voice.
"What are you gonna do about it loser?" taunted the tiger.
The hyena's response surprised the crowd of kids and caught the bullying tiger by the tail…literally.
The scrawny hyena had noticed that the tip of the tiger's tail was lying on the ground in between the tiger's feet. He stamped his foot onto the tail with all of his might.
"YEEOOOOOOW!" screamed the tiger who reached down to grab his stinging tail. As he bent down the hyena snatched the comic, looked the tiger in the eye, and spoke; "This is what I'm gonna do about it!"
Kit watched as the hyena shoved the hunched over tiger down on the ground. The entire crowd of kids laughed at the fallen bully who screamed in rage, "I'M GONNA GET YOU!"
The hyena stuck out his tongue and then took off sprinting toward the sidewalk. The kid ran for all he was worth as the tiger got up and chased after him with a black panther in tow. The three kids headed right in Kit's direction. Kit jumped out of the way and watched the hyena sprint passed him. The hyena said something as he passed Kit, it sounded like, 's'cuse me'.
No sooner had the hyena ran by him that the tiger and his panther friend ran by him. When Kit jumped out of the hyena's path he had inadvertently stepped into the path of the two pursuers. The tiger managed to jump out of the way but the panther wasn't as agile. He collided into Kit and the two of them went sprawling.
"Tryin to trip me while your buddy makes a run for it? Huh you little twerp!" snapped the panther who jumped on his feet and headed after his friend. "I'll see you in school!" the panther called over his shoulder as he ran.
Kit sat up and watched as the three kids disappeared around a corner. "What a great way to end my first day at school," he said bitterly.
"Yer never gonna believe what happened to me today Rebecca!" said Baloo as he walked into Higher for Hire.
"Let me guess, you had to dump the cargo because air pirates were after you and then you had to make an emergency stop-over at Louie's right?" asked Rebecca who was busy doing paperwork.
"Ha-ha," Baloo said sarcastically, "Actually there was this mix-up at the hotel and this intern started carrying on about their being 12 crates instead of the 10 we delivered."
"Well did you explain to him that there were only 10 crates?" Rebecca said dismissively.
"Yeah but the snotty kid didn't buy it and he got all uppity and made a scene," said Baloo.
"A scene? Don't tell me that we lost a customer because of a scene Baloo!"snapped Rebecca.
"Now wait a minute Beckers, I didn't cause any scene, the hotel intern did. Besides, his boss came out and we checked the order sheet and there was an error on the hotel's part and because of the mix-up the intern got chewed out and I got the manager to give us 4 more orders this month!" Baloo said with satisfaction.
Rebecca's eyes lit up. She had only managed the one drop off to the hotel and wasn't sure if they'd get more, but now Baloo had managed to get more business for her company. She was so ecstatic that she didn't let Baloo's use of 'Beckers' bother her.
"You got us more business?" she said with genuine surprise, "Wow you really surprised me Baloo."
"You shouldn't doubt me Rebecca, I've been in this business long enough to know how to deal with people," said Baloo.
She knew he was right. Even thought she had a business management degree she lacked Baloo's experience. It was true that the pilot had little self-motivation and had allowed his bills go unpaid, but he had a knack for getting things done when the need came up. She hated to admit but she really needed him around.
"Do I get a 'thank you'?" asked the pilot.
Rebecca smiled, "Thank you Baloo, I really mean it."
Baloo looked at the smile on his boss' face and could tell that she was indeed thankful. Rebecca wasn't a bad person. As a matter of fact, Baloo liked her as a person and, dare he admit it, a friend. Of course she still needed some better people skills especially when it came to her bossiness.
A little while later Kit came home. "I'm back!" Kit said as he walked into Higher for Hire. The cub had recovered from his collision with the panther and had made his way back to the wooden building, but not before he picked up the latest issue of Flyboy and an orange soda from the corner store. He unslung his backpack and sat down on a chair.
"How was your first day of school Kit?" asked Rebecca.
"It was…interesting Miz Cunningham," answered the cub who then spun around to face his boss, "Where's Baloo?"
"He's outside with Wildcat. So got any homework?" she asked.
"Nope! That was the one good thing today," he said.
"So nothing else good happened?" Rebecca asked, suddenly concerned that the boy had had a bad first day.
Kit saw the concern in Rebecca's eyes and realized that she may have misinterpreted what he had said. "I mean that the day was just a typical school day like the ones that I remembered, that's all."
"Oh OK, so make any new friends?" she asked kindly.
Kit felt himself blush, "Uh not exactly…but it's just Monday!" he added cheerfully.
Rebecca was relieved by his answer. She had begun to worry that he had had a rough day and had been treated poorly as a new student. She knew that kids could be cruel to each other and she couldn't begin to even imagine how Kit's life had been when he was in the orphanage. She shuddered when she thought of how he had lived on his own and then with Don Karnage and his merry band of brutes. She knew he hadn't had much of a childhood and so she wanted him to have a good school career. She looked warmly at the young cub and smiled as he sat there in his worn green sweater and red and blue ball cap. She noticed that he had a comic book with him.
"Well that's great that you sound optimistic about school. I guess I better let you get to your comic," she said.
The door opened and Wildcat and Baloo walked in. Both were covered in soot.
"What happened to you two?" said Rebecca in alarm.
"Aw its nothing boss, the Sea Duck just has a little cold. The engine coughed on us," Wildcat said as he put his hands around his neck, "The engine was saying, 'Please help me, I'm all clogged up! Cough Cough! I got a blockage!"
"Yeah, the port engine was clogged. I think it was from all that soot that was coming outta that volcano I passed on the way back," said Baloo who pulled out an ice cream cone from the freezer.
"You took the plane over a volcano?" Rebecca said in amazement, "That's crazy! Why didn't you go around?"
"Cuz it was quicker to go over it. Besides I've done it a million times!" said the bear.
"Oh great, I can just see the insurance going up!" Rebecca said.
"You know what yer problem is Rebecca? Yer too serious all the time, you need to relax and stop worrying…I'm an expert!" Baloo said.
You're an expert? So that's why your business was failing, she thought.
"So how was the first day of school Kit?" Baloo asked as he finished off the ice crème cone.
"It wasn't bad except for the math problem…and the kid who ran into me," said the boy.
"What happened with the math?" asked the pilot.
"Mrs. Morrisey had me get up and do a problem on the board, and well, uh I didn't do so hot," Kit said.
"I never did get those fancy numbers. I was always better at recess," said Baloo.
"Well luckily I don't have any homework!" said the cub.
"No one should have to do homework," Baloo said. He leaned closer to Kit and continued, "Let me tell you what you need to know to be successful Kit: A school can teach you fancy things but it can't teach you how to live life and get by in the world. I didn't need all that fancy education and look where I'm at today."
Rebecca rolled her eyes at Baloo but Kit just smiled. The pilot was right, after all he had learned a lot by living on the streets and no school could really teach him what life was like. He had experience. Maybe this school thing wasn't for him. He'd have to go because the judge said he had to, but was it really that important? Was school all it was cracked up to be? Probably not, besides if Baloo can make it in life without obsessing over school then so can I! Too bad the cub's sharing of Baloo's school outlook would come back to bite him in the tail.
