My Friend Bobby | Page 5

to go hide under the hay so mommy couldn't see him. But the
panda was so big his whole top and his little pink nose stuck out of the
hay. Mommy came in and looked around the barn and said you've been
out here for a long time, what have you been doing? I said nothing, and
Bobby said nothing too, only in think-talk. And mommy said you are
too, you've been doing something naughty, and I said no mommy we

haven't done anything, and then the panda sneezed and I looked at him
and he looked so funny with his nose sticking out of the hay that I
laughed out loud.
Mommy looked angry and said well what's so funny, what are you
laughing at? I said nothing, because I knew mommy couldn't see the
panda, but I couldn't stop laughing because he looked so funny sticking
out of the hay. Then mommy got mad and grabbed my ear and shook
me until it hurt and said you naughty boy, don't you lie to me, what
have you been doing out here? She hurt me so much I started to cry and
then Bobby snarled at mommy loud and low and curled his lips back
over his teeth and snarled some more. And mommy got real white in
the face and let go of me and she said get out of here you nasty dog and
Bobby snarled louder and then snapped at her. She screamed and she
said Jimmy you come in the house this minute and leave that nasty dog
outdoors and I said I won't come, I hate you.
Then mommy said Jimmy! You wicked, ugly little monster, and I said I
don't care, when I get big I'm going to hurt you and throw you in the
wood shed and lock you in until you die and make you eat coconut
pudding and Bobby hates you too. And mommy looked terrible and I
could feel how much she was afraid of me and I said you just wait, I'll
hurt you bad when I get big, and then she turned and ran back to the
house. And Bobby wagged his tail and said don't worry, I won't let her
hurt you any more and I said Bobby you shouldn't have snapped at her
because daddy won't like me when he comes home but Bobby said I
like you and I won't let anything ever hurt you. I'll always take care of
you no matter what. And I said promise? No matter what? And Bobby
said I promise. And then we told Bobby the panda to come out but it
wasn't much fun playing any more.
After a little while mommy called me and said lunch was ready. She
was still white and I said can Bobby come too and she said of course
Bobby can come, Bobby's a nice dog, so we went in to eat lunch.
Mommy was talking real fast about what fun it was to play in the barn
and was I sure I wasn't too cold because it was below zero outside and
the radio said a snowstorm was coming, but she didn't say anything

about Bobby and me being out in the barn. She was talking so fast I
couldn't hear what she was thinking except for little bits while she set
my lunch on the table and then she set a bowl of food on the floor for
Bobby even though it wasn't Bobby's time to eat and said nice Bobby
here's your dinner. Bobby came over and sniffed the bowl and then he
looked up at me and said it smells funny and mommy said nice Bobby,
it's good hamburger just the way you like it--
And then for just a second I saw what she was thinking and it was
terrible because she was thinking that Bobby would soon be dead, and I
remembered daddy saying a long time ago that somebody fed bad
things to the Bennet's dog and the dog died and I said don't eat it,
Bobby, and Bobby snarled at the dish. And then mommy said you tell
the dog to eat it and I said no you're bad and you want to hurt Bobby,
and then I picked up the dish and threw it at mommy. It missed and
smashed on the wall and she screamed and turned and ran out into the
other room. She was screaming for daddy and saying I can't stand it,
he's a monster, a murderous little monster and we've got to get out of
here before he kills us all, he knows what we're thinking, he's horrible,
and then she was on the telephone, and she couldn't make the words
come out right when she tried to talk.