BROKEN

The Uniforms

Chapter 3

During the first few weeks of fifth grade, a man came to our class wearing an olive uniform. Mrs. Lee had all of the fifth grade boys line up and go to the auditorium to see a presentation. The sixth grade boys were already there. That was cool with us. It was a rare opportunity that we could get away from all of the dumb ole girls in our class so we were excited regardless of however boring the assembly might be.

The man introduced himself as Bob Rainer. He said that he was the Scoutmaster of Troop 33, which meets at Shiloh Baptist Church. He asked if anyone knew about scouting. Some of the guys raised their hands. I looked around to see who they were- Brian Edward’s, Gary Kelly- they were pretty cool.

Mr. Rainer told us about the founder- a guy named Baden-Powell and something about the organization’s mission. He then showed us a twenty-minute film of scouts doing really cool stuff like hiking, boating and camping. After it was over he asked us to think about scouting, gave us some literature and then we went back to class.

I thought it looked pretty cool. So did Scotty. We decided to talk to our parents about it later that night. When school was over for the day, we jumped on our bikes and raced home.

My Dad was delighted that I was interested in scouting. So was Scotty’s. Our parents filled out some paperwork and mailed it off. A week later we both received a large envelope in the mail with a letter instructing us that our first meeting was at Shiloh Baptist Church at 7:00 Wednesday night.

The day of our first meeting Scotty and I road our bikes to the church and met a lot of kids our age and older. Some of them were from our school and neighborhood. Others were junior high and high school age.

Brian and Doug Edward’s were there. They were a couple of kids from the a few blocks over in our neighborhood that I had always wanted to get to know better. There were three Edward’s brothers: Brian, a year older than me, Mark the squirt, and Doug who was a junior at Oak Hills High School.

There were a couple of things that really interested me in the brothers. From being around them, I knew that they were really cool. They didn’t fight like a lot of brothers. Doug, the oldest of the three, was always doing stuff with Brian and Mark. Unlike other older brothers that I knew, nobody made him and he didn’t push us around or pick on us. All three Edward’s brothers had that brilliant copper colored red hair that is so rare which made them all stand out. Some people liked to tease them about it but they just laughed.

Doug was a senior patrol leader. Scotty and I quickly decided that we liked him. Doug wasn’t mean or bossy with the younger kids like some of the older scouts were. He was very patient; fun to be around and when appropriate he would cut up with us like he was just a bigger kid. He suffered having a dozen fifth and sixth graders hanging on him better than any teenager I had ever seen. Even better, he would talk to you like you weren’t just some dumb kid.

Our Scoutmaster had three sons of whom two were the right age to be in scouting. The Rainer boys were Bob, Jr. 17 and Eric who was my age. Bob Jr., was a the other senior patrol leader and very different than Doug. He was a not very patient nor was he nice to the younger kids. As a result the older boys tended to be in Bob’s patrol, the Badgers and the younger guys were in Doug’s Wolverines.

 


About the same time as scouting started, I became eligible to play tackle football on our elementary school team the Vikings. Scotty and I differed in size by about a foot and 40 pounds at the time and football was the only thing we didn’t share.

The team Coach was delighted to get me. I was our biggest fifth grader at just over 110 pounds and my size and speed made me a naturally dominant linebacker.

My Dad was happier than I had ever seen him at my games. My very first game I had eight tackles with two for a loss. Football was also good for me because it widened my circle of friends.

It so happened that we ended up having a lot of talent on that team. Jeff Dunbar our quarterback was excellent. Jerry Hurst and Bill Palmer were excellent linemen and twins Paul and Kerry Kelly were awesome backs. The Vikings ended up going 7 and 3 my first year. We had the best season in school history and the core of the team would be back the following year.

I really liked football. I was big enough to play and had the athleticism and strength to do well. I think that my Dad got even more excited about it than I did. Every time I made a play, I could count on looking in the stands and see him cheering. Most of the time Scotty and my Mom would be up there too.

Scotty made some new friends too. I felt a little guilty to admit that relieved me a little. Have no doubt that I loved him, but I chaffed under his constant demand for attention. I never let him see it but it was good for us to expand our horizons. Scotty wasn’t anywhere near as mature as I was. It was starting to get on my nerves a little.

I was very happy to see him hit it off with the younger two Edward’s brothers. Doug came with the package and was happy to do stuff with them. When I had time I would even tag along with them to go to movies or the mall.

These were for all of us the happiest of times. Our teams were winning, we were getting along, and we were even becoming popular. In the spring Scotty went out for soccer and I ran track. We got some weights and made a little gym in my back yard where Scotty and I and usually a few other boys would work out a few times a week.

We were having a lot of fun in scouting. Scotty and I went on a number of camp outs and became really tight with Brian and Doug Edwards. We also got to know Clay and Mark Hudson who were actually cousins rather than brothers. Clay was an excellent musician and always had a guitar. Mark was also musically gifted and played a number of different instruments. On many of the campouts we would stay up late by the campfire singing songs.

When sixth grade started I got my first crush. I loved Scotty but we were like brothers. Doug Edwards on the other hand, wow! He was so cool. He was friendly, patient, smart, kind, so much fun to be around and so good looking. Whenever I was around him I got giddy and goofy with jelly in my knees. He was tall, lean and handsome with freckles, red hair and porcelain skin. I know that I must have been really annoying to him for a while following him around like a puppy but he never showed it. To him I was just another one of his little brothers, he treated me that way and I adored him for it.

The summer between fifth and sixth grade was so much fun. Scotty and I looked like wild Indians with golden tans and sun-bleached hair. We were constantly doing something with each other or the Edwards brothers. It didn’t matter what we were doing; the fun of it was doing it together. It didn’t matter if we were cutting grass or playing ball, fishing or shelling butterbeans: we existed in the purest kind of joy. Friends, fellowship and fun.

 



 Football season started that fall and we had an excellent team. I was up to 130 pounds and was a lot stronger. I got my first ever interception the season opener. I quickly discovered that it was a lot more fun to tackle people that it was to be tackled. Ouch! We ended up clobbering Byrum 38-12.

The next four games in a row were blowouts. None of the teams got within 20 points of us. We faced our biggest challenge in game 5 against the Natchez Raiders and they were as tough as advertised.

The game was brutal. Neither side could move the ball. In the last half of the fourth quarter Natchez lead 6-0. Coach had us in a split 4 defense. He sent in Kevin Kelly from the sidelines with my play: split-4 zone gap. We came up to the line and we linebackers moved around trying to confuse the blocking assignments. On the snap of the ball I smacked the tight end and went rampaging into the backfield. The Raiders were running a reverse right at me! I hit the quarterback as he was handing off the ball to their split end. I was just in time to cause a fumble deep in their backfield that bounced and rolled backwards. Time seemed to go into slow motion as everyone went into a mad scramble to cover the fumble. At least four people touched the loose football before Kerry Kelly finally covered it on the Raider 7yard line.

That play took the starch out of the Raiders. Our offense scored two plays later when Jeff Dunbar pitched the ball to Paul Kelly on a sweep off the left side. The next play we scored a two-point conversion and took the lead 8-6 for the first time in the game with four minutes left to play.

On the kickoff the Raiders returned the ball to the 35 and our defense went into shutdown mode. The Raiders had to pass and we blitzed with everything we had. We sacked their QB for a loss of seven yards on the first play. The next play their quarterback threw up a duck that Randy Austin picked off and ran back to their 25-yard line. In the closing minutes of the game we ground out another touchdown to win 16-6 cinching ourselves a playoff spot.

My Dad was so proud that he was floating. He and my Mom took me out to a steak house after the game. He told me that play that I forced a fumble on had won the game for us. He hugged me and ruffled my hair. I couldn’t have been happier if I had just won the super bowl. That’s the kind of feeling or high that I would wish that every kid might experience at least once.

I had another such moment the very next week. I blocked a punt and we got the ball inside the twenty. It wasn’t as decisive as the play against Natchez the week before, but it was early in the game and killed our opponent’s momentum. We won running away.

Much to my delight I got a nickname! The guys on the team started calling me the Beast after my favorite X-man. That fired me up like nothing else could. They would start calling “Beast, Beast” and I’d go crazy. It would really psyche the other team when this big guy started jumping around and moving all over. Half the time they would jump off sides or forget their blocking assignments.

The last few games of the season we were unstoppable. It was a smooth ride to 10-0 and a new school record that still stands. At our sports banquet that December I was named defensive most valuable player. The guys started talking about next year. Sure we would be at Oak Hills High School but we were just entirely too good to split up.

 



As football wound down, I got more involved with scouting. After the season my Scoutmaster, Mr. Rainer, called me into his office for a conference.

I had always liked Mr. Rainer. I respected him. He carried himself like a marine and was still in the reserves. He talked to me for a while. He said that I had grown up a lot over the fall. I was becoming a leader and that I had earned the respect of my squad. He promoted me in rank and assigned me the position of assistant patrol leader under Doug Edwards.

Then he asked me a question that I found a little weird, “Why do you hang out with Scotty?”

I replied without thinking, “He’s like my little brother. He’s lived across the street from me since before second grade. He’s always been kinda little and other people push him around. I don’t like that.”

He looked thoughtful and asked; “Do you feel sorry for him?”

I had to laugh at that, “Sorry for Scotty? No way. He gets on my nerves sometimes but we’ve been friends so long I don’t even think about it.”

Mr. Rainer nodded knowingly. “You show a lot of patience with Scotty. I admire you for that. You’re a good-natured kid and that’s what made me think that you might be the right guy to help me with something. Next week we’re going to get a new kid called Nick Turner. Ever heard of him?”

I shook my head.

Rainer continued, “I didn’t think you would have. He goes to another school. Nick’s got problems. He’s what they call developmentally delayed. It’s not like he’s retarded or stupid. He’s just way behind other kids his age. He’s real small for his age and fairly timid. I thought that if I put him in the Wolverines with you and Danny that you guys might look after him and make him feel welcome.”

“No problem.”

 



The week went by fast. In my new duty as Assistant Patrol Leader, I was supposed to show up thirty minutes early. A few minutes later Doug Edwards cruised into the lot on his bike and gave me a high-5. “What’s up Beast?”

I said, “I hear we’ve got cherries tonight.” At a year and a half, I was a salty veteran.

Doug parked his bike and got the keys out to open up asking, “Anybody we know?”

“I don’t think so. Did Rainer talk to you about any of them?”

“Just one. Looks like we might be doing some baby-sitting.” Doug opened up the doors and we went inside to set up chairs.

“Wonderful”, I grumped.

It took us about 10 minutes to get things ready. Rainer and his boys Bob and Eric showed up and pitched in.

Mrs. Turner and Nick showed up as the other scouts began to trickle in. We clumped around her and our new recruit as introductions were made.

My first impression of Nick Turner was one of shock. He was supposed to be 11 but he looked more like he was 7 or 8. He couldn’t have been any more than 60 pounds soaking wet. He was painfully shy and sort of hid behind his Mom. Doug and I both did our best to make him feel at ease but I think that all of the big people intimidated him. When Mrs. Turner retired from the meeting place, it was obvious that Nick wanted to go with her.

Doug and I looked at each other not quite sure what to do.

I said, “Well Nick, you’re with us tonight. Let’s take a seat over here. What do you like to do?”

Nick sighed. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m not a ‘tard. I’m just little and my hands and legs don’t work so well.”

Nick sat between Doug and me and Doug took the lead, “Nick, we don’t care how tall you are. Everybody here is somebody and I make sure that everyone in my patrol is respected. Do you get picked on?”

The little kid between us looked down at the floor.

It pissed me off that people were like that. My voice cracked when I said, “It won’t happen here.” I put my hand on his shoulder. My voice cracking like that made everybody around us laugh. Darned inconvenient that puberty stuff can be sometimes.

I introduced him to Scotty who was delighted to no longer be the smallest kid in the room. Before the meeting was over, I had to make them hush.

Nick and Scotty were pals from the git-go. When Mrs. Turner came by to pick him up Doug asked her if Nick might like to go to the movies with us on Saturday. We were going to see the way cool disaster movie Earthquake.

And just like that, Nick became a Wolverine.