As soon as we walked into the hall, I knew we were going to get screwed over by Kyle, his goons and his mom. The entire hall was dead quiet. It was tense. I could physically feel some sort of pressure in the room slowly crushing me. This was worse than any anxiety attack I ever had. I was breaking out into a sweat.

We all fell into our lines. Sawyer was in the line right next to me. The other guys were scattered. Kyle ran us though the typical meeting routine; the Pledge of Allegiance, the scout oath and then the scout law:

We recited in unison:

My blood started to boil. These leaders and parents were anything but the things they were proclaiming themselves to be.

“Fucking Bullshit” I muttered under my breath. I was pissed. I was also hurt. I couldn’t believe Burnside just blew me off. He said he would come. Seriously, can i just get one freaking break?

Sawyer heard me and started to snicker. But he wasn’t trying to hide it.

“Quiet in back!” Kyle yelled.

I looked over at Sawyer and he was as calm as can be. How is he not freaking out right now?

Kyle started the meeting.

“Here it comes.” I thought. He’s going to make sure we never get to be together. And he’s going to do it out of spite. This asshole this leadership is power to be an asshole.

“When I call your name, you will report to your new patrol. I’ve placed signs in each corner of the room where your new patrol will gather.”

“Piss off, Dickhead.” I though to myself. Why am I putting up with this? Maybe I should walk. If I walked, I spare myself the humiliation of Kyle and his goons separating us. Why give them the satisfaction? Sawyer and the guys will be pissed. but I’ll have to think of a way to make it up to them. I turned to Sawyer to tell him I was leaving.

Just then I heard it. A low rumble coming up the street. I thought it was just traffic. Or maybe it was a large truck. Maybe it was the garbage service coming to empty the school dumpster. But it kept getting louder. This wasn’t a truck on the street. This loud noise was heading our way. It was pulling into our parking lot. I looked around to see if anybody else was hearing this. Everybody heard it and was just as confused as I was.

“Eyes front!” Kyle yelled.

I looked over at Sayer and he was just standing there at attention. Smirking. Standing at attention waiting for something to happen. He knew chaos was coming. He looked over at me side eyed.

“Told ya.” He smirked.

I didn’t get it. Until the noise got louder. It was right outside our door. Then it hit me. That’s not a truck making that noise. It was a motorcycle! And I’ve heard that bike before. I’ve ridden that bike! The engine noise idled. Then it started to die down. Then it revved! it revved louder than any machine I have ever heard. The sound of that engine revving consumed the entire hall! It was loud, and grungy like a heavy metal album. No, like the most powerful electric guitar I’ve ever heard. It sounds and felt like the first time I’ve ver heard a Sex Pistols album. The last rev got so loud it even drowned out Kyle’s whiny voice. And I loved it.

“Eyes front!” he yelled.

The engine of the bike revved two more time. He was grabbing our attention. Then the engine cut out. Without the noise of the bike engine, the room suddenly fell dead silent. Kyle’s mom went to the door and tried to close it. But she was stopped. A big dirty tattooed hand reached in and stopped the door from closing just in in time. I can’t believe that big steel door didn’t slam shit on his hand. It should have broken every bone in his hands. But he stopped it dead in its tracks.

Sawyer looked over at me again.

“Told ya.” He said again.

“You knew he was coming all along?”

“Remember all of those YouTube clips I sent you of your dad’s band? Did you watch them?”

“I don’t get it. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Did you read the interview I sent you?” Sawyer looked at me side eyed.

“No.” I admitted

“What the…???? Why is he doing this? I was confused.

“He’s pulling our asses out of the fire. Nobody is going to fuck with us after this.”

Sawyer was right.  Burnside was making an entrance none of us would forget. The entire hall was in silence, kind of in shock staring at this leather clad mad man standing in their doorway.

Burnside stepped into the hall and started walking towards the Scoutmaster’s office. He was clearly intimidating everyone in the room. But I knew he wasn’t trying to be intimidating. He has that same shit eating smirk on is face when he was joking with me in his studio. He knew what he was doing. And I loved him for it.

“Hello people of today!” he announced as he walked past rows of shocked scouts. His big black biker boots would come down with a loud thump with each step. The floor of this old meeting hall shook with each step. The black leather jacket he was wearing was incredible but intimidating as hell. It was old, beaten up, filled with scratches and places where the top layer finish has worn off. But the coolest part was that it was covered in old patches. I could see the cloth patches were names of many of the bands that must be his favorites. I recognized these names from the my dad’s box of albums; The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Stooges, Television, Pretenders, Stiff Little Fingers, Ramones, Patti Smith, The Dead Boys, The Talking Heads, The New York Dolls. I never knew any of these bands before I found that box of albums. Now I love them even more.

Burnside was almost to Mr Miltner’s, the Scoutmaster’s, office.

“Let’s go.” I said to Sawyer. I had to hear this. Sawyer nodded and we broke ranks and started heading for the office.

Kyler immediately saw us break ranks and barked “Back in line! You were not dismissed!”

“Jesus! Lighten up dip shit”. someone said from the other side of the room. I turned to look who said it. It was Alex. He too was breaking rank and joining us, heading for the office. And right behind him were Arnaub and Ricki. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But we are going to find out together.

Watching the others simply break ranks like that really pissed Kyle off. Once again he had lost control over the meeting. As he saw us walking towards the office door, he bolted too, leaving the meeting without a leader.

As soon as Kyle left his post, Kyle’s mom immediately started heading for the office. What business was this of hers? None. But she still had to helicopter over just to keep control over everything.

It was an all out sprint towards the Scoutmaster’s office.

Johnny knocked and walked right in.

Me, Sawyer and Alex reached the door next. We wanted to go in the office but Burnside held up his hand and motioned for us to stay where we were. So we stood in the doorway. Kyle and his mom were right in our heels and tried barging into the office. Alex and Sawyer stood their ground blocking their path. I loved it.

“Back in formation!” Kyle barked. We just ignored him.

Kyle’s mom pushed her way though and burst into the office.

“Can I help you?” She sneered.

“No. Thanks I go this.” Burnside shot back.

Burnside turned away from Karen totally blowing her off and started talking to Mr. Miltner. Burnside reached out and grabbed Miltner’s hand and started vigorously shaking it. At one point I thought he was going to pull Mr. Miltner out of his chair. If he wasn’t careful, he might dislocate his shoulder.

“Hiya Mr…….” Burnside leaned over and read the name tag pinned on Mr. Miltner’s uniform shirt. “Miltner. My name is Burnside, Johnny Burnside. I’m here to sign up.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Miltner sat there confused. And I don’t blame him. You would be confused too if this six foot tall leather clad punk rocker just walks into your office, starts shaking your hand and says he’s here to sign up.

“I can explain.” I interjected. “When we spoke, we said we wanted to stay together as a patrol” I pointed at Alex and Sawyer standing in the door. “But you said that you didn’t have enough adults to sponsor a new patrol, so we would have to be split up. So..” I pointed at Burnside “..we got another adult to sign up. He can be our sponsor. Now we can stay together. Right?”

“Absolutely not!” Kyle barked. He couldn’t break his way through Alex and Sayer, who were still blocking the doorway. So poor little Kyle had to jump up and yell over Alex’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry sir, our troop is not taking any new members right now. But if you leave your application, we’ll review it and get back to you if there’s a fit” Karen chimed in.

“Sorry, ma’am, it doesn’t work that way. I’m not applying for a job.” Burnside said calmly.

“But we have membership criteria” Karen tried to assert her BS authority.

“No you don’t. No troop is a closed membership group.”

“But you do need to fill out an application. And there’s some leadership and training” Mr. Miltner was trying to keep things calm.

“Yep! All done.” Burnside unzipped his leather jacket. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a large yellow manila envelope. You could tell that’s where he had it stashed while he road his bike here. It was all crumpled and dirty. I’m positive he just found the envelope on the floor of his studio. Burnside opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers. One by one he laid them on the desk next to Mr. Miltner.

“Application, signed and approved by the district office.
Scoutmaster Training, completed and approved by the district office
Two deep training, completed and approved by the district office.
First Aid training.
Merit badge counselor training.
And for good measure, Wilderness Survival First Aid and Training.”

Mr.Miltner looked at the stack of paperwork. I could tell he was impressed. “You’ve had experience in scouting?” he asked.

“Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow, three sets of Eagle Palms, Venture Crew Summit Award.” Burnside rattle off his achievements snapping his fingers.

“How did you get this approved so quickly?” Miltner asked.

“Tommy James, the District Commissioner, you know him? He’s a good friend of mine. Ever see that giant glass eagle sculpture in the lobby of the district office? That’s mine.” Burnside was beaming, and rubbing it in. And he knew it. This leather clad punk rocker had more qualifications than helicopter Karen, Kyle’s mom!

“I’m sorry, I don’t care whose friend you are. We have standards at this Troop Mr. Burnside. Yes. We run a tight ship here. Yes we focus on discipline. Yes. We occasionally lose the weak scouts that can’t handle our system. But that makes being an Eagle scout from this troop all the more valuable. Having the rank of Eagle Scout from this troop actually means something on a college application. It means something on a job application. When we let those standards lapse, it devalues what in means to be an Eagle Scout.”

Burnside just stood there, starting at her. Diid she just put Burnside in his place? Is this all going to fall apart on us? I looked at Burnside. Then I looked at Mr. Miltner. “Say something! Somebody! Anybody! Say something!” I was screaming to myself on the inside.

Burnside just stared her down. Then it happened. Burnside started to break. I’ve seen this look on his face before. He pulled this stunt on me when we first met and he told me I was his son. It always starts with his brow getting furrowed and his eyebrows raising. Then the corners of his lips started to creep upward. Here it comes. It’s like waiting for a volcano to erupt. I knew what was coming, but the other kids didn’t. They hadn’t seen it before.

Then it blew, just like Mt. Vesuvius. That loud obnoxious hyena laugh that could only belong to Burnside. It erupted out of this six foot tall punk rocker right at Mrs. Kelley. If this were a cartoon, her hair would be blown straight back.

“Lady, that has to be the biggest load of crap ever. There is no value to the rank. The value is created by the character of the boy.”

“You mean that?” Mr. Miltner interjected. I could tell he was surprised by Burnside’s answer. But

“Absolutely. Been there, done that.” He said looking right at Karen.

“OK. I could always use another dedicated adult.”

“Are you serious?” Kyle and Karen exploded at the same time.

“So we can stay together?” I asked?

“That’s my decision!” Kyle burst out.

“With my approval.” Miltner snapped back. “How many boys do you have?”

“There’s 4 of us”. Sawyer, Alex, Ricki and Arnaub all stuck their heads in the doorway and raised their hands.

“That’s too small. You need one more. That will keep all the patrols similar number.”

“Guys, we need to find one more. Start asking around.” I told the others.
We all dashed out of the office, blowing right past Kyle and his mom.

“Everyone, listen up. ” I yelled to get the troop’s attention. “Were starting our own new patrol! Yes, we’re only first years. But we’re going to be different. We have an adult that will help us and listen to us. And the only thing I can guarantee you is that nobody in our patrol will bully you.”

The entire hall was silent.

“Anyone who joins this patrol will be making a mistake. They don’t know what they are doing.” Kyle snapped back.

“At that’s the fun part about it” Sawyer shot back.

The hall stayed silent. Nobody wanted to join us. Are we really that bad?

I turned around to look at Burnside. Can he help us? He simply motioned for me to run back around and keep making my case.

“Anyone?”

The hall was silent.

Suddenly from one of the back rows we head one small voice.

“I’ll join.” a meek voice spoke up.

I couldn’t see them. I know they were in one of the back rows.

“Great! Come join us!”

From the very last row stepped a pretty small kid. I know he’s a first year, but even this kid was small for his age. He walked over to us. “I’d like to join, if you’ll have me.”

“We’d love to have you join us.” I held out my hand to shake his hand. “What’s your name?”

“Adam James.” He looked down at my hand. It’s almost like he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Come on over and line up with us. I looked over at Burnside. He nodded. Burnside turned around and looked at Scoutmaster Miltner. Miltner nodded back.

“Ok.” he said. “You’ve got your patrol.”

“Form up!” Kyle exploded. He was not happy that he was contradicted like this. As he walked through the crowd to get to the front of the room, he passed by me very closely.

“You’re going to pay for this”. He whispered in my ear.

I looked over at Burnside, he was taking off his leather motorcycle jacket. And I couldn’t believe it. Under his jacket he was wearing a Boy Scout uniform shirt. Every patch, from our unit number, to council badge and his Assistant Scoutmaster patch on the sleeve were sewn in place perfectly. He put his jacket down on a chair and looked over at us.

“Ok gentlemen, you heard your Sr. Patrol Leader, form up.”

Our crew instantly burst into a cheer. Sawyer and Alex gave Kyle a taunting laugh as they ran towards their place in the line up. You could tell Kyle’s mom was pissed. As she walked past Burnside, I heard her whisper, “This doesn’t change anything. I’m not going to let this troop be cheapened by a common hood.”

Burnside looked right at her and smiled.

We all got in our new places in the line up. Now that we were formally a patrol, we all got to line up together. The other guys were already lined up when I reached them. I went to find an open space behind them. I tried squeezing in line behind Arnaub. But he kept stepping back into the space I wanted. What the hell? Then he reached back and pulled me out of line. What the hell was he doing?

“Up here” he whispered. I guess he wanted me to line up in front of him. So I tried to step in line ahead of him. But the same thing happened. Arnaub blocked my way. And Adam, the new kid, who was standing in front of him was in on it. Adam took a step back while Arnaub stepped forward to block my way into the line.

“Nope” Adam whispered. What the hell was going in. Why weren’t they letting me line up?

Then another hand grabbed me by the back of the shirt. It was Alex, With his long lanky gorilla arms he was reaching past Adam, grabbing me and pulling me in front of him. So now I’m trying to get in line in front of him and Sawyer, who was standing in front of Alex. Btu the same freaking thing happened. Alex and Sawyer wouldn’t let me in line. The kept moving forward and backward, blocking my way. Finally Sawyer grabbed me and spun us around. Now I was standing right in front of him.

“What the hell!” I snapped at him.

“Piss off.” He smirked. “This is where you belong. Patrol Leaders stand at the head of the line.”

“Patrol Leader? No Way.”

“It’s unanimous.” He smirked

I turned around to look at him. All the others were looking at me and nodding.

“You got us here.” Alex said. “That’s where your belong”

“Seriously? OK. Thanks guys. I’ll do my best.” I looked at them. I found them. I found my place. I found my tribe. “Patrol, form up!” I announced. We got into our lines and Burnside took his place behind us. “Onward and upward” I said to myself.