First mate's log:
December 11, 1973
The Hinkley boys turned out to have stowed away on the ferry, and nobody noticed! They ran away because of that awful Mrs. Payne. I felt bad for them, but also a little hurt that they turned to the Bradys instead of to me. Then again, Mary Ann and I aren't parents yet ourselves. (We still haven't told anyone. She wants to wait until Christmas if we can.)
The Bradys called Ginger and the Professor, who came to get their kids. I think things are going OK now. At least, none of the Hinkleys have called me or Mary Ann lately, and no news is good news.
And Peter is working out as a delivery boy after all. It's been a couple weeks since he's stopped being Bobby's slave, after Peter sort of saved Bobby's life, by letting Bobby out of a closet that Bobby was trapped in, for less than an hour. Anyway, Peter is back at the Pizza Parlor and doing what he can, while still having time for school and his friends.
Peter is pretty happy compared to last month, except about Marcia's latest romance. Most of the time, he doesn't care who she dates, but this boy is different. He's the quarterback for the Blenford High team.
You know I don't follow sports much, although I do go to some of the games, just like I go to school plays. There's a big game coming up on Saturday, on Blenford. So Jerry Rogers is Greg's rival, and Peter thinks Marcia is a Benedict Arnold for dating him. (I know, he played Benedict Arnold once, but he still of course sees Mr. Arnold as a traitor.) Not only is Jerry Greg's opponent, but he's one of the guys who stole the chimp mascot.
The thing is, it can't be that serious, because Marcia and Jerry just met. It was on this island, this afternoon, when Marcia was putting up posters about the big game. He even helped her with the hammer! He was wearing his Blenford High letterman's jacket even when they came into the Pizza Parlor, so it's not like he was covering up who he was.
Peter was out making a delivery while they were here, but he saw them leave when he came back. Then he vented to me about how Jerry must be using Marcia to find out about Greg's football strategy. Mary Ann is skeptical about that accusation, but she is a romantic and she thinks Marcia and Jerry make a cute couple. Again, it's not like they're going steady. Even Marcia doesn't move that fast. Besides, she broke up with Jeff not that long ago, although Mary Ann thinks Jerry could be a rebound.
Carol Brady's diary:
December 12, 1973
You'll never guess who's on Blenford this week. Tank Gates! He's friends with the Baroness. I don't know if they're just friends, since he is her type and she is currently separated from Lord Beasley Waterford. Tank was pretty flirty on the phone with me though, calling me Twinkles, like he did our senior year. (It was both because of my "twinkletoes" as a dancer, and my eyes that he said twinkled like mischievous stars.)
Yes, he knows I'm married, and definitely not separated. I would of course never cheat on Mike, but I have to admit I was flattered by Tank's compliments. I would say he hasn't seen me since we graduated, but he told me I looked very pretty in the news stories of our rescue five and a half years ago.
I didn't tell Mike that part of course. He's jealous enough as it is, which is flattering in its own way. Tank invited me out to dinner, but I countered with an offer for Tank to have dinner here. Not with the children, which would be too chaotic, especially this week, for reasons I'll go into shortly. Mike, Tank, and I would have dinner later in the evening. That way, Mike would see I'm not doing anything behind his back, and at the same time, well, I'd get to see Tank. I wonder how much he's changed since high school, in looks and personality.
Marcia has inherited my attraction to handsome athletes. She's recently started seeing Jerry Rogers, the Blenford High quarterback. Marcia's brothers are furious about it! They see it as a betrayal of her own high school, as if Blenford is an enemy country.
I'm not that worried, especially since she won't be able to see as much of him as she would a boy on this island. I think she's still getting over Jeff, to be honest. But she did say Jerry is pretty dreamy. I haven't met him yet, but she has promised to introduce us before the big football game on Saturday.
December 13, 1973
Peter told me that Bobby saw Jerry Rogers try to steal Greg's football playbook! Jerry was in the family room and Bobby was in the backyard. He looked in the window and saw Jerry picking up the blue notebook that Bobby recognized as the playbook. Jerry didn't actually take it, because Marcia talked to him from the kitchen, over that half-wall the Bradys have.
She didn't see Jerry touch the playbook, which Bobby saw him quickly put back on the table. When Bobby told her and Greg what he saw, Greg instantly believed him, but Marcia didn't. So Greg and Marcia made a deal that he'll leave the playbook on the table again today, since Jerry is coming over to meet Mrs. Brady. (Mr. Brady has a meeting with Mr. Howell this afternoon, so he won't be home then.) If Jerry doesn't steal it, Bobby and Greg will apologize, but if Jerry does, then Marcia will admit she was wrong and she won't see Jerry anymore.
"But that means that Blenford High can win by cheating!"
Peter actually laughed at my objection. He explained that he and Bobby helped Greg make a phony playbook for Jerry to steal. If Jerry doesn't take it, then, yeah, all three Brady brothers will apologize to Marcia. But if Jerry does take it, it won't help Blenford High any, and in fact they might play worse than they would've otherwise.
Since the plan was already in motion by the time Peter told me, there was nothing I could do to stop it. But I think most likely Mrs. Brady will have a lot of motherly questions for Jerry and he'll just never get a chance to steal the playbook, even if he wants to.
December 14, 1973
Well, we had Tank over for dinner last night, and it did not go at all how I imagined. He is still very fit and handsome. However, I don't know if he's changed or I have, but he came across as very conceited and overbearing. Also, he's still living in his high school glory days, seeing his football career then as the highlight of his life. He did turn pro for a few years, as I'd heard from mutual friends, but then he injured his knee and had to quit. He's been a car salesman ever since, and he's thinking about opening a lot on Blenford.
(He didn't say anything about the baroness, and I wasn't about to ask. I am curious of course. Maybe Ginger has heard some gossip about it, since she lives on Blenford and works for BITV.)
Tank wasn't the slightest bit curious about me and what I've been up to, even though you know, Dear Diary, I've had a few adventures since we last met. Even everyday life with Mike, six kids, and Alice is never dull. And I've got my interest in many kinds of art, including theatrical. It made me more grateful than ever that I'm with Mike now. And Mike would never have burped loudly and said, "That was some tasty grub," after a meal, let alone started bragging about restaurants he's been to all over the world.
Jerry Rogers was apparently much more charming, but I'll probably never know. I was upstairs, talking to Alice about Christmas plans, when Marcia brought Jerry home again. By the time I went down to the family room, Jerry was gone! Marcia said he disappointed her and she's never going to go out with him again. I asked if he got fresh with her, but she said it was nothing like that. She just didn't want to talk about it.
I hope she'll open up with me later, as she finally did about Jeff. I wonder if she really should've just taken a longer break before dating again, but at least she was sensible enough to not get involved in another unhappy romance for very long. And, yes, I can't help wondering if I ignored Tank's flaws when I wasn't much older than Marcia.
December 15, 1973
I went to the big high school football game over on Blenford, with the Skipper, who got his crew to run the ferry without him for a few hours. Greg's team won! Peter told me what happened with the phony playbook. Jerry did steal it and Marcia admitted she was wrong. But Mr. Brady found out about it and said that it would be better for Greg's team to win honestly, and the rest of the Blenford team shouldn't have to suffer just because of Jerry.
So Greg called Jerry to tell him that the playbook was a fake, but Jerry pretended Greg was unfairly accusing him. And Jerry probably figured Greg was trying to get back at him, like with the mascot-stealing. At least Greg tried to do the right thing, and he did confess to his coach what he did. Then Greg's coach told Jerry's coach, who took Jerry out of the game and off the team. So our team's win was fair and honest.
I do feel bad for Marcia though, since she's not having much luck with guys lately.
The Skipper enjoyed the game of course, and it was fun hanging out with him again. I kept wanting to tell him I'm going to be a father, and I want him to be the godfather, but I did promise Mary Ann to keep her secret a little longer.
December 16, 1973
Well, it turns out that Jerry was just using poor Marcia in order to steal Greg's football playbook! So the boys were right. But instead of talking to me or their father about it, they made a phony playbook for Jerry to swipe. Marcia didn't know it would be a fake, and she thought Jerry stole the real one. Then Mike overheard the boys talking about putting one over on Jerry, so he gave them a talking-to. Greg called and confessed to Jerry, who didn't believe him, but both Greg's coach and Jerry's did. So Jerry couldn't play in the game, which our team won.
Alice was so funny and sweet. She said she didn't want to go to the game because she had a date with Sam. Actually, she stayed home and baked two cakes, one for if the team won, and the other if they lost! Yes, we ate both cakes, among the nine of us, no one dieting right now.
I saw Tank at the game and was shocked when he admitted he bet on the Blenford team, because he'd heard a rumor about them having our team's playbook! So he's not just self-centered and crude, but he's unethical! I am very lucky I didn't get married to him straight out of high school but instead waited until I met a good, decent man like Tim Martin. And of course Mike is the finest man I've ever met. (In looks as well as character.)