Author's Note: Sorry this didn't get posted earlier, upon finishing chapter 3, I started to grow tired, and slept longer than I planned. No matter, I'm awake now, so let's get on, with the next chapter!
Chapter 4, Borrowing Behaviors
The following day, Angelica went to preschool, with the Captain Squash Game Master in her backpack. However, upon arriving at school, she opened her backpack to get some crayons out of the bottom of her bag, when she knocked the game master out on to the hard floor of the classroom, face down. When she picked it up, she turned it over, to notice the screen was cracked.
"Oh no!" Angelica said to herself, upon seeing the cracked screen.
"Ok children, it's time to take your seats in circle and get ready for share time." Said Miss Weemer, as Angelica, carrying the Captain Squash game master, went and took a seat in the circle.
"So class, who has something to share with us this morning?" Miss Weemer asked.
"I think Angelica does Miss Weemer." Said Harold, as he eyed Angelica with the broken Captain Squash toy.
"Oh Harold." Angelica muttered under her breath.
"Angelica, do you want to share with us your toy?" Miss Weemer asked.
Before Angelica could say anything, Harold came up in front of her.
"Oh wow Angelica, I didn't know you liked Captain Squash." Said Harold.
"I don't, hairball, and besides, this toy gotted broked!" Angelica screamed.
"Let me see." Said Harold, as he snatched the toy out of Angelica's hand, and examined it.
"Hmmm, I see something written on the back here, but can't make it out." Said Harold, as he took the toy up to Miss Weemer's desk.
"Hey Miss Weemer, what does this say?" Harold asked, as he showed the toy to the teacher. Miss Weemer studied it.
"Hmmm, it looks like somebody hand wrote the name, Bobby Generic on the back of the toy here." Said Miss Weemer, as she mispronounced Bobby's last name.
"It's Gen-er-ic." Angelica hissed.
At that point, Susie walked up to Angelica.
"Angelica? Did you take Bobby's Captain Squash toy without asking?" Susie asked.
"Uh, no! I, uh, got it at the toy store!" Angelica lied.
"Angelica, tell the truth, you took this toy from Bobby, didn't you." Said Susie.
"Uh, not exactly. I took it from those dumb babies when they weren't looking." Said Angelica.
"You mean to tell me, that the babies were borrowing it from Bobby, and you stole it from them, just so you'd have something new to show off at share day?" Susie asked, getting more annoyed by the second.
"Uh huh?" Angelica replied.
"Angelica, you've really messed things up this time, and now Bobby is going to be mad at the babies for nothing. It's time you fix it." Said Susie.
"But I can't fix it, the screen is cracked." Cried Angelica.
"I can fix it, my uncle is visiting from out of town, and he fixes computers and stuff like that." Said Harold.
"Well then hairball, you can fix it then." Said Angelica.
"Angelica that's not very nice. Besides, it's not Harold's responsibility to return this toy to Bobby, it's yours." Said Susie.
"What do you care." Said Angelica.
"Where does this Bobby Generic kid live anyway?" Harold asked.
"Oh, he's my next door neighbor." Susie replied.
"Ok kids, time for snack." Miss Weemer called from the tables with cookies and juice laid out. Harold went and put the Captain Squash game master into his backpack for safe keeping, and joined Angelica and Susie at the table for snack time.
After school, everyone headed for home, including Harold, who showed the broken game master to his uncle William, who was visiting from out of town.
"Can you fix it uncle William?" Harold asked.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry Harold, I'm afraid I can't fix it. The screen is too cracked, and I don't have the right tools or equipment to fix it here." Said uncle William.
Harold shrugged.
"But I'm sure your friend Bobby will understand it was an accident." Added uncle William.
"I don't even know the guy, I only know of him from Angelica and Susie, who know him as he lives next door to Susie." Said Harold.
"Well, you know what you need to do, don't you?" Uncle William asked.
Harold nodded, and went and emptied his piggy bank of pennies and dollar bills, stuffing them into his pockets.
"As soon as your mother gets home from work, I'll have her drive you over to Bobby's so you can return the game master and apologize." Said uncle William.
Harold knew Angelica might be mad at him for going as far as to return the broken toy to Bobby, as he figured she only wanted him to take it so she wouldn't get in trouble for breaking it, but deep down, Harold knew that was wrong, so decided to go with his uncle's advice, and do the right thing.
Meanwhile, the toddlers were all over at Bobby's house playing, when he arrived home from school.
"Hey guys, having fun? And Tommy, still enjoying the Captain Squash game master?" Bobby asked, as he approached Tommy building a block tower in his living room.
"Uh Bobby, about your Captain Squash toy, we got some bad news." Said Tommy disappointingly.
"What's wrong?" Bobby asked.
But before Tommy could answer him, the doorbell rang. Martha went to answer the door and Bobby followed behind her to see who it was. Upon her opening the door, a little boy of around four-years-old with orange reddish hair was standing there.
"Uh, is this the home of Bobby Generic?" Harold asked.
"Yes it is, who are you?" Martha asked.
"My name is Harold, and I have something that belongs to Bobby." Said Harold, as he walked inside the entry hall.
"Well come on in. Bobby, somebody is here to see you…" Martha called, when she turned to see that Bobby was right behind her.
"Hi Harold, what's going on?" Bobby asked, as he approached Harold.
"Here, it's your Captain Squash toy, only it's broken." Said Harold, as he handed the toy over to Bobby.
"Oh no, the screen is cracked, what happened?" Bobby asked.
"I'm not gonna lie. Angelica brought this toy to preschool today and broke it. Then, using me as her assistant, she left me in charge of the toy, hoping I'd get it fixed or destroy it so she wouldn't have to admit she did something stupid. But I couldn't just hide the toy, I felt I'd better return it to its rightful owner." Said Harold.
"Well thank you for bringing it back." Bobby replied.
"You're welcome Bobby. Oh, and here's some money. It's not much, but maybe you can use it towards getting a new Captain Squash game master." Said Harold, as he removed a handful of pennies from his pocket, along with a wod of dollar bills, and placed them into Bobby's empty hand, that wasn't holding the game master at this point.
"Thanks!" Said Bobby excitedly, as he pocketed the money.
"No problem. Hope that helps. Well, I'd better be going, but it was nice to finally meet you Bobby." Said Harold with a grin, as he headed out the door.
"Harold, that was very nice of you to bring Bobby's toy back to him, and you seem like a really nice boy. Maybe you and Bobby could arrange to have a playdate next week ya know." Said Martha.
"Sounds like fun! Well, see ya." Said Harold, as he skipped down the sidewalk towards his mom's car that was ideling in the street.
After Martha and Bobby saw Harold's mom's car drive away and closed the door, Bobby turned to see the toddlers had all come up behind him, disappointed looks still on their faces.
"I knew Angelica had to have taked the toy, and we're really sorry." Said Tommy.
"I'm not mad at you. You didn't mean to get my toy lost and broken. I am pretty mad at Angelica, and I'll deal with her the next time I see her." Said Bobby.
It then hit Bobby what had happened. He got back a toy he let a friend borrow, and while he was sad it was broken, he was glad to learn what happened to it, and that somebody was nice enough to return it to him, even if it was broken. He now saw the deeper meaning of the lesson here. Maybe while Angelica said he shouldn't return the library book, perhaps deep down, she wants him to do the right thing, but won't admit to it.
"Wait a minute guys, I think I see what's going on here." Said Bobby.
"You do?" Zack asked.
"Yeah! I need to return that library book, even if it does cause me to have to go live in outer space, it's the right thing to do." Said Bobby.
"Well, if you've gots to go to outside space, you can always play with my toy rocket, should you find it." Said Chuckie.
"Toy rocket?" Bobby and Zack asked out of confusion.
"Yeah, one time, Chuckie sent his toy rocket to the moon, and we went to get it back, but he dropped it on the way home." Said Tommy.
"Well, if I must go to space for breaking my library book and returning it late, causing my library card to get taken away, then I'll find that toy rocket and use it to remember you guys by." Said Bobby.
Just then, Kimi walked into the entry hall carrying the Captain Squash book she found under the couch, and Phil and Lil came up behind her.
"Here's the book Bobby." Said Kimi, handing it to him.
"And if a spaceship should land in Tommy's driveway again, we'll be sure to come visit you." Said Phil.
"Thanks." Said Bobby.
"Oh, so I see you're finally going to take your book back now, huh Bobby?" Martha asked, as she walked into the entry hall to see Bobby with the book in his hand.
"Yes mom, I am, because it's the right thing to do." Said Bobby.
"And I believe Tommy has a book to return too, so let's head to the library and take care of this now." Said Martha, as she loaded up Tommy and Bobby into the car, while the other kids stayed behind to play at Bobby's till they got back.
"Wow you guys, who knew that Angelica's toy breaking abilities would get Bobby to make the right decision." Said Zack, as he sat down with his latest Super Why book he checked out at the library, which he was now up to volume three, the spelling book.
"Yeah!" Said Kimi.
At the library, Bobby, Tommy and Martha all stopped outside at the book return bin, so Tommy could return his latest Reptar book he had checked out.
"Wanna throw it in the bin Tommy?" Martha asked, as Tommy smiled, and reached up to the opening of the bin, where he placed Reptar Versus the Giant Cockroaches, into the bin.
"I'm next." Said Bobby, as he went up to the bin to toss in his broken Captain Squash book, when Martha stopped him.
"Oh no no little manzy, you need to go talk to the librarian now." Said Martha, as she led Bobby and Tommy inside of the library, and marched up to the librarian's desk.
"May I help you?" Mrs. Patterson asked, upon seeing Martha walk in with Tommy and Bobby.
"Yes, I'm Bobby's mother, and I believe Bobby has something to tell you." Said Martha, as she turned her gaze towards her son, then back at the librarian again.
"Uh yes. Uh, Tommy here enjoyed his latest book, Reptar versus the Giant Cockroaches, and this time, he got the whole book read to him, because he had his grandma Lulu read it to him this time, not his grandpa Lou, who always falls asleep in the middle of reading a book to him." Explained Bobby.
"Well that's nice, and I'm guessing Tommy just dropped his book off." Said Mrs. Patterson.
"Bobby, isn't there something else you want to talk to Mrs. Patterson about?" Martha asked.
Bobby nodded.
"Bobby? You know what you need to do, and while you take care of it, I'm gonna take Tommy to pick out a new book." Said Martha, as she led Tommy to the children's section, while Bobby turned towards the librarian, let out a huge sigh, and handed the book over.
Mrs. Patterson tried to open the book, only to find that it was glued shut, so she pulled with all of her might, causing the book to rip in half.
"What did you do Bobby?" Mrs. Patterson asked.
"I'm really sorry Mrs. Patterson. I was reading my library book outside, when I accidentally left it out in the yard, and my dog Roger, chewed it up and buried it. My friends and I tried to fix the book, but we had no luck, so I hid it, worried that if I brought it back broken, you would take my library card away, and I'd have to go live in outer space forever, because my library card is my ticket to the world, so without it, I can't stay in the world anymore." Said Bobby.
"Oh Bobby, you are so silly! You won't have to go live in outer space because you don't have a library card anymore, and I do thank you for telling me what happened, but this book is damaged, and it is also overdue. So I'm sorry to say, but it is going to cost you a fine." Said Mrs. Patterson.
"A fine? But I'm not fine, I'm upset!" Said Bobby.
"Oh no Bobby, not that kind of fine, I mean you have to pay for the damage of the book." Said Mrs. Patterson.
Remembering what Harold had given him, he pulled the dollar bills and pennies out of his pocket and handed them over to the librarian.
"I was gonna use this towards a new Captain Squash Game Master, but this is more important." Bobby thought to himself, as he handed the money over to Mrs. Patterson.
"Thank you Bobby, this is very much appreciated." Said Mrs. Patterson, as she took the money from him.
"You're welcome." Said Bobby, as he pulled out his library card to hand over to her.
"I won't be needing that." Said Mrs. Patterson, as she handed the library card back to him.
"But I thought you had to take my library card too." Said Bobby.
"I'll let you off with a warning this time, but if you do this too many more times, I will have to ban your library card, so I hope this taught you a lesson." Said Mrs. Patterson.
"Oh it did." Said Bobby with a grin, as Martha and Tommy, now with a new book, came back to the counter.
"So, have we found a new book to check out for this week Tommy?" Mrs. Patterson asked.
"We sure did." Martha replied, as Tommy held up the book to show Bobby.
"Oh wow! Uncle the Carb Uncle, by Dr. Bruice!" Exclaimed Bobby.
"He use to love that book." Said Martha, as Tommy handed over his library card and the book to be checked out.
"I can read it to him too, cuz I know the whole book by heart!" Said Bobby.
"Wow, that's great!" Said Mrs. Patterson.
"Let Tommy's mother know it's due back in one week." Said Mrs. Patterson, as she handed the library card and book to Martha, who handed them to Tommy.
"We will." Said Martha.
After that, Bobby sat down on the floor and read the book to Tommy. As soon as he was finished, Mrs. Patterson couldn't help but notice what a lovely job he did of reading the book.
"You know Bobby, I have a great idea for you to help you finish paying for the damage you did to that Captain Squash book, and to show what a caring citizen you can be, not to mention, it will help you to improve even more on your reading out loud abilities." Said Mrs. Patterson.
"Oh? What?" Bobby asked.
"How would you like to come in everyday next week after school, and read a book to the children at our after school story hour?" Mrs. Patterson asked.
"I'd love to!" Bobby said excitedly.
"Well then it's settled then." Said Mrs. Patterson, as Bobby, Tommy and Martha left the library.
Back at Bobby's house…
"Well guys, I got the broken Captain Squash book back to the library, and I didn't have to go live in outer space. I just need to be more careful from now on." Said Bobby.
"That's great!" Said Kimi.
"Hey, can I finish reading to you guys? I only have one more page in my book." Said Zack.
"Oh, sure, sorry we interrupted you." Said Tommy, as he sat down on the floor and listened to what Zack had to read.
"Zebra, z, e, b, r, a." Read aloud Zack from the book, as he closed it.
The toddlers and Bobby clapped for him.
"Wow Zack, you're the bestest reader ever!" Said Lil.
"Yeah! I bet you're the onliest baby in the whole wild world who can read." Said Kimi.
"Thanks! And now, I'm ready for volume four of the Super Why book series, the power to read with Super Why, which is a big book of fairy tales, all of the fairy tales they go into on the TV series! And I can't wait till I learn to talk to growed ups so I can read to them too." Said Zack with a smile, as he stood up and grinned at his friends.
"Yay!" Said all of the toddlers and Bobby in unison.
"And next week, I get to read to everybody at the library, and my mom says you all can come with me!" Said Bobby.
"Wow Bobby, that sounds great!" Said Tommy.
"And maybe me and Lil can get our firstest library cards nextest week." Said Phil.
"No I'm gonna get my library card firstest." Argued Lil.
"No me!" Argued Phil.
"No me!" Argued Lil.
"Me!" Argued Phil.
"Me!" Argued Lill.
The arguing continued, and got so loud, that it could be heard from outside Bobby's house.
The End
And as usual, the epilogue with Bobby and Howie to wrap up this story, will be featured, in the next chapter, so please, do stay tuned!