It's important to realize that the sense of
to wonder being used here is
to consider, to debate with oneself: it means to consider the advantages and disadvantages of something, often before acting on it.
Now this debate with oneself can, and often is, entirely silent; we run through in our minds the pros and cons of a particular action, say. But we can also do it aloud: we can actually say to ourselves, "
if I were to do it, I would be likely to provoke...etc.". When it's done aloud, we are wondering aloud, and that is what Bobby is doing.