Mama and Papa both had that look in their eyes that told me somethin' was dreadful wrong. They kept gettin' this look more and more that week, and it was startin' to worry me a little. But when they came swingin' back to our tree that night, I knowed somethin' real bad had happened this time.
Mama had a tears comin' down her face and Papa was lookin' real stern. They told me my brother George had up and done somethin' wrong again, but this time there warn't no gettin' him back. I asked 'em what he done, but they just told me to shut my eyes and sleep for a bit and they were gonna tell me what George done in the morn.
Before I get talkin' about what George done, I should talk about what kind of a highfalutin' monkey that brother o' mine is.
Well, I tell you, he was a sneaky one. He was always a-gettin himself into trouble. He throwed sticks at safari tourists and loved playin' tricks on Mama and Papa. He also liked learnin' 'bout things real good. Mama and Papa always a-called him "Curious George", but that ain't a very creative nickname. I always called him "Gassy Gorge", 'cause he always had gas real bad and gorge sounds like George, sorta.
He didn't like that name so much.
But he liked "Curious George" real good. He said that when he was all growed up, he was gonna be a mad scientist. But then Mama and Papa told him that monkeys couldn't never be mad scientists, 'cause the mad scientists are always a-usin' the monkeys in their ex'per'mnts'.
That made poor George get real sad and he started cryin' considerable bad. So then Mama gived him a good pat on his back and told him that he could grow up and use the humans in his science ex'per'mnts'if he tried hard 'nough. So then George went off and started spyin' on humans all the time. He said he was a-lookin' for a real good one to use in one of them ex'per'mnts' o' his.
So, when I waked up in the morn, Mama and Papa said they was gonna tell me what George done. They said they watched him do it.
"He was sitting in a lower branch of a tree, watching a human eat lunch," Mama said while a tear was a-runnin' down her cheek. "A sandwich, he called it. The human was wearing yellow clothes, and we all know how much George loves yellow, so he-" she started weepin' up a river, and Papa gived her a good, squeezy hug.
"He followed the human, Clementine," he told me. "He followed the human out of the forest, and stole the human's hat while he was at it. Now George is on a ship to America."
I almost didn't believe what my Papa was tellin' me. Why in the heavens would George leave his good ol' family?
"And what's worse," Papa sniffled. "Is that he truly seemed as if he was enjoying himself."
I was startin' to feel real bad for my Mama and Papa and wishin' that George wasn't the im'pul'sve' monkey that he was.
"So we ain't never gonna see him again, is we?" I said real quiet, and I thought I was feelin' my eyes get all teary.
Papa shook his head and reached out his arm and hugged me real good. Then the three of us all cried and wailed and put up a good fit. Mama keeped fussin' 'bout what she was gonna do without her "Curious Georgey-Poo", and how she wished she had told him goodbye and gotten all gushy with him.
They said they didn't know what they was gonna do, but at least they still had their Clementine.