it. The man later tells Andy (who was reimbursing the $50 after he found an ad describing the wallet in the paper) that he met Opie at the courthouse and told him about the wallet. Andy naturally assumes that Opie spent all the money anyway and confronts his son. Opie tells his father that he decided to give back the $50, since he realizes that he couldn't be happy with the money because it wasn't truly 'his' to spend. When not visiting his father at the courthouse, Opie would sometimes get into jams. Some of his juvenile misdeeds include: trespassing in a neighbor's barn, selling Miracle Salve to the citizens of Mayberry; accidentally destroying Aunt Bee's prize rose; concealing an abandoned baby in his clubhouse; tricking Goober Pyle into thinking a shaggy dog can speak, and starting his own tell-all community newspaper. Much of the humor in the Andy/Opie relationship comes not from Opie being portrayed as insolent, but because of the respect he has for Andy. For all his boyish misgivings, Opie is always honest and truthful with his father, sometimes to his own detriment. In one episode, Opie describes a utility worker named Mr. McBeevee he met in the woods. Andy thinks it is an imaginary friend and tries to convince Opie of it; but, Mr. McBeevee is real and Opie maintains his story despite facing certain discipline from Andy. In another episode, a runaway boy tells Opie not to disclose his whereabouts. Having previously learned the value of confidentiality from Andy, Opie refuses to tell his father where the boy is rather than lie, or break a confidence, much to Andy's chagrin. Friends, girlfriends and jobs When Opie is "almost 12" he runs away from Mayberry by boarding a jet airplane in Raleigh under false pretenses, and flies to California to see Gomer Pyle and join the Marines in a 1966 episode of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. Opie's mother and half-brother In the backdoor pilot episode from The Danny Thomas Show, viewers learn Andy lost Opie's mother when the boy was "the least little speck of a baby." Opie, whose turtle died when someone stepped on it, asked "Who stepped on Ma?" Andy was referred to as a widower several times in the show which would indicate that Opie's mother died and that she did not leave Andy and Opie. On a Mayberry RFD episode, viewers learn that