Trading Spaces

TaleSpin and its characters are the property of Disney. All other characters are mine and cannot be used without permission.

Cape Suzette
June 1938
Early Afternoon

The sun was shining brightly overhead, showering its warmth onto the tropical city of Cape Suzette. A golden Conwing L-16 flew through the massive cliffs that surrounded the western edge of the city and splashed down for a perfect landing in front of a small brown building. The cargo plane’s fuselage barely brushed against the dock jutting out into the clear azure waters of the harbor before its twin Superflight 100 engines stopped. Baloo von Bruinwald and his son Kit, a large grey bear and a small brown cub respectively, stepped from the cockpit and walked up the dock towards Higher for Hire.

Thirteen-year-old Kit never got tired of this: coming home after a cargo run. The word ‘home’ had taken on a more special meaning a fortnight ago upon the eagerly welcomed nuptials of his ‘sort of’ father Baloo and his boss Rebecca Cunningham. The unpainted wooden building on the harbor’s edge, the headquarters for his parents’ cargo service, had then truly become Kit’s home. A home with a dad, a mom, and a little sister. They became a family, just as Kit dreamed they would be ever since that first night when Rebecca and her daughter Molly stayed at Higher for Hire. Smiling to himself, the former orphan slipped his paw into his father’s larger one.

Baloo gently squeezed Kit’s hand, joking, “Sure do like those flowers yer sportin’, Li’l Britches. Orange is definitely yer color. Brings out the twinkle in yer eyes.” He winked at his son. “An’ I know ya liked it when that girl kissed ya. She was pretty cute. Alo-ho-ho-ha!”

Higher for Hire’s flight crew had recently been to Hawaee. At the airport, they had been greeted by two young, attractive females who placed leis around their necks and kissed them on the cheek. It was the typical Hawaeean greeting given to all visitors.

“So was yours.” Kit had enjoyed the Hawaeean way of saying hello, being at the age where he was beginning to notice girls. Playfully punching the big bear’s ample stomach, the cub teased back, “You better not tell Rebecca about those girls. She might get jealous.”

The big bear guffawed and tousled Kit’s hair through his blue and red baseball cap. “It might be fun ta see your mama jealous.”

Kit glanced at his wristwatch as they passed through the door into the office/living room. He groaned inwardly. As usual, they were late. He knew that they shouldn’t have stopped at Louie’s on the way home. But Baloo had insisted on it, not having been there for a couple of weeks. Once Baloo stepped foot inside of Louie’s it was difficult - to say the least - to get him to leave, especially when the simian orchestra was practicing their mambo tunes.

“Don’t worry, kid. I know how ta get around Becky.”

“You hope,” Kit murmured. However, the young navigator knew they were in trouble when Rebecca, a petite brown bearess, stood up behind her desk, a scowl etched across her face.

“Hey, honey!” the big bear called jovially.

“Where have you been?” she demanded loudly.

“Brought ya a souvenir.” Baloo draped a pink and white flowered lei around her neck before kissing her. Noticing her frown, he asked, “What’s wrong, Becky?”

She tore the lei from her neck and scornfully tossed it on her desk. “You’re late, Baloo! That’s what’s wrong! Where were you two?”

“Hawaee, deliverin’ yer little cocktail umbrellas,” Baloo answered with a jaunty smile. He winked at Kit.

Rebecca arched an eyebrow, hands on her hips. “Exactly what did that wink mean?”

Baloo looked at Kit. Kit looked at Baloo and shrugged. The goofy grin faded from Baloo’s face.

“Nuthin’, Becky. Got somethin’ in my eye.”

“I’m sure,” she scoffed. Rebecca glared at both of them, but mainly at Baloo. “It doesn’t take that long to get to Hawaee and back. The truth, Baloo. You promised me on our wedding day that you’d tell me the truth and nothing but the truth.”

“Didn’t know we was in court,” the big bear grumbled under his breath.

“Well?” That one word spoke volumes. She tapped her foot impatiently and a little wearily. Rebecca hated the fact that Baloo constantly put her in this position; she hated nagging him for not sticking to the schedule. She had hoped that his habits along that line would improve after they were married. Apparently, she was mistaken, because here she was, hashing out the same old argument. Some days, the bearess wanted to crawl back to bed and start over. This was one of those days.

“We went to Louie’s,” Kit finally confessed.

“Go to your room, young man!” Rebecca pointed towards the stairs.

“Huh?” the boy squeaked. “But...”

“No backtalk! Go!” the bearess ordered.

Kit went without another word.

“Don’t scream at him, Becky.”

“I’m not screaming!” she yelled. Her voice crescendoed in pitch and volume. “Thisis screaming! Do you realize that you have another delivery to make today, buster? Now, it’ll be late, because you were late getting back from this one!”

Nose to nose with his wife, his fists clenched, Baloo retorted angrily, “Hey, lady, flyin’ is hard work. It’s no crime to unwind at Louie’s every once in a while!”

“Maybe I should make it a criminal offence! Then I could have you arrested and thrown in jail!”

“Oh, yeah? I bet you’d like to throw away the key while you were at it, Re-bec-ca!” Baloo spat out every syllable of her name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“That might not be a bad idea!”

Upstairs, Kit could hear their argument even with the door shut. Guess the honeymoon’s over, he thought glumly. He perched on the edge of his bed and stared without seeing at a throw rug. Married two weeks and already they’re back to fighting like cats and dogs. It was sure nice while it lasted. Too bad it couldn’t have lasted longer, like fifty years.

Seven-year-old Molly crept into the boy’s room, doll Lucy in hand, and joined Kit on the bed. “Are Mommy and Daddy gonna get a divorce?” she whispered.

Kit draped his lei around her neck before putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Nah. They would never do that. They love each other too much.”

Fingering the velvety blossoms, the girl asked, “How come they fight, Kit?”

“Because they care about each other.”

Wrinkling up her forehead, Molly shot her brother an incredulous look. “Weird way to show it.”

Kit shrugged. “I know, but it’s true.”

Downstairs, Baloo bellowed, “The problem with you, Becky, is that you don’t know the first thing about what I do!”

“And you don’t know anything about what I do!”

“I don’t care what ya do! I’m leavin’!”

“Fine!” Rebecca yelled.

Baloo slammed the door, then stuck his head back in, shouting, “Fine!” to get the last word. He slammed the door again, causing the cubs to wince. They heard the Sea Duck roar off.

In response to Molly’s tear-filled eyes, Kit said, “Don’t worry, little sis. He’ll be back.”

After a short while, Kit tiptoed to the banister and peered down at the office/living room below. Rebecca had her head down on the desk. Motioning to his sister that it was all clear, the cubs descended the stairs. They stood beside their mother’s desk.

“Mind if I take Molly to get some Frosty Pep, Rebecca?” Kit asked politely. Anything to get Molly’s mind off the fighting.

“What, Kit?” the bearess asked, raising her head and brushing tears from her eyes.

“Can I take Molly to get some Frosty Pep?” he reiterated.

“Sure. Sure. Where’s my purse?” She rummaged around in the bottom left desk drawer.

“It’s okay, Miz..um, Rebecca. I’ve got some money.”

Taking out her wallet, Rebecca placed two dollars in his paw. “There you go, and you can keep the change.” She sniffled and gave a watery smile to her children. “Kit...”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, sweetie. Remember, you’re only allowed to go to the ice cream stand. Come right back and don’t talk to strangers.”

“Come on, Kit; we can take the Danger Mobile!” Molly pulled on her brother’s paw.

“We won’t, Rebecca. We’ll be careful.” Kit flashed Rebecca a small smile before heading outside. He kind of liked being mothered by her; it was a novel experience.

Molly climbed in her red wagon - the Danger Mobile - that was parked beside Higher for Hire. The boy towed his sister three blocks to a small ice cream stand, purchasing a Frosty Pep cone for Molly and a grape slushy for himself. On the way back home, the little girl suggested, “I wanna trade places, Kit. I’ll pull you now.”

“Okay, if you want to,” Kit agreed dubiously. He sat cross-legged in the wagon and held both the ice cream cone and his slushy cup.

Molly tugged and strained against the handle with all her might, but the wagon wouldn’t budge. Panting, she admitted, “You’re too heavy. Guess we’ll have to trade back.”

“That’s it!” Kit shouted as Molly once again climbed into the wagon.

“What’s it?” Molly licked her melting ice cream.

“What if Baloo and Rebecca switched places for a day, and they each experienced what the other one goes through? Maybe then Miz...er, Rebecca wouldn’t get so angry when Baloo was late, and Papa Bear wouldn’t take everything Rebecca does in the office for granted.”

“Kit, do you have any money left?”

“Yeah, why?” He touched the dollar and change jingling in his pocket.

“Can I get more Frosty Pep? Please? I’ll be real good,” Molly wheedled.

The boy laughed. “Sorry, sis. Rebecca’s rules - only one Frosty Pep per day.”

“Aww...” Molly groaned, scrunching up her nose in disappointment.

“I’ll play hide-and-seek with you when we get home.”

“Okay! You think up the bestest ideas, Kit.”

That statement caused a broad grin to spread across the boy’s face as he pulled the rumbling wagon over the bumpy sidewalk.

Twilight

It was growing dark.

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