---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “The Cool Cold” Down in the Dirt, v202 (12/22) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology The Paths Less Traveled the Down in the Dirt September-December 2022 issues collection book		get the 422 page September-December 2022 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Jamboree

Richard K. Williams

    Bill was having a difficult time; he was attempting to absorb and make sense of everything that was going on. As he assessed his current situation, he ticked off the items in his head; it was 105 degrees with 98% humidity. They had arrived at the jamboree after a long bus ride several hours ago. He had already lost an assistant to the oppressive weight of the air.
    Mark had to be medevacked out to a local hospital due to heat exhaustion. His other assistant Hector was on the fast track to losing his grip on his temper; Bill expected an outburst at any second.
    Bill stood observing the 36 boys he oversaw; they were attempting to set up the campsite that was going to be their home for the next week. They were wrestling with the unfamiliar nylon tents to get them erected correctly. Organizing food and water details, sorting out the huge piles of gear and getting equipment stored away. The senior and assistant senior patrol leaders were hastily giving instructions to the four patrol leaders to help the younger boys who were really suffering with the heat and uncooperative tents. It was getting late and their gateway to the site hadn’t been erected yet. Plus, there was a constant flow of nitwits from headquarters armed with clipboards containing endless lists of tasks that must be accomplished before the boys could begin having the fun this jamboree was supposed to deliver.
    Bill took a moment to let his mind drift back to the recent months. The months of preparation for this event, he questioned why he volunteered to be the leader of this expedition. He already knew the answer, the man that was supposed to be in charge suddenly dropped out due to personal issues at home. So, Bill stepped up, mostly because he didn’t see anyone more qualified than himself. Also, he wanted his son’s and the other boy’s experience to be the best it could be. Bill was slated to be an assistant leader anyway; how much tougher could it possibly be to take over as leader? What Bill never saw coming was the greedy bullshit involved.
    His first sightings of trouble were the differences between his objectives and the jamboree councils. They saw this jamboree as a wonderful opportunity to skim funds away from the event. They weren’t satisfied with adding an extra few hundred dollars onto the basic cost per youth to attend; they started skimping on the essentials to be able to divert more. No matter how Bill attempted to shift money back toward the needs of the youth, the council found a way to thwart his efforts. Bill’s local troop had a benefactor that had just purchased all new tents for their troop. The local troop committee agreed to loan the new tents to the jamboree troop. But when Bill brought the money saving idea to the attention to the council’s jamboree committee, they nixed the idea. The conversation still angered him, it was rather heated between Bill and the council’s committee chair Harold.
     “You see sir, we have received a donation at my local troop of twenty brand new Eureka tents and my committee has decided to loan them to my jamboree troop for this trip. That way we can save to cost of purchasing the tents and use the money saved for something that the boys might want or need at the jamboree.” Bill said.
     “Well on the surface Bill, that appears to be a generous offer, but I have reservations about it.” Harold replied.
     “Such as?” Bill asked
     “I don’t like the idea of the jamboree troop or this council being responsible for your local troop’s property.” Harold said.
     “But the troop committee already approved the loan of the tents and they understand that since most of the boys attending the jamboree are from our troop they are not concerned with rough usage or vandalism. The boys are just going to be using them to sleep in for a week. They trust me and the boys to keep an eye on the tents, any damage that might occur would be minor and repairable.”
     “I’m sorry Bill but I’m going to have to say no. That is unless your troop agrees to take the money the jamboree troop would have used to buy the tents as a donation and promise not to come after the jamboree committee if the tents get destroyed.”
     “I don’t understand sir; how the tents could get destroyed.”
     “Well Bill, what about if the bus catches fire or has an accident and the tents burn?”
    Bill took a few moments to let this remark sink in. He realized at that moment he was dealing with a moron, and it made him angry. He responded more loudly than necessary; “Well I think, I would, be more concerned with the safety of the children over the cost of a few friggin tents!”
    Bill’s home troop committee decided to keep the money the jamboree council gave them. They claimed money was an unexpected bonus that could be used to supplement their troop’s program for the upcoming year. The money they received was less than half of what was budgeted for tent purchases. Which meant the jamboree council pocketed the rest. Bill was certain of other misdeeds when it came to money. But he decided to focus on making the jamboree as exciting and as much fun as possible for the boys.
     Bill, Hector and Mark had to put together three shakedown camping trips prior to leaving for the jamboree. For the boys to begin to work together as an actual troop. The boys who were attending the jamboree were from various troops within the council and some had never met before. Bill had selected a local camp that was located nearly in the center of the council area, to make travel easier for the boys. On these weekends they were supposed to be learning to work as a unit. But council incompetence kept important paperwork out of Bill’s hands. The instructional paperwork would magically appear shortly after the shakedown trips. The troop was always playing catch up, going over the tasks on the next trip that they should have gone over on the last. These weekends were disorganized and a little chaotic, but Bill, Hector and Mark worked hard to keep the boys involved and excited about the jamboree. By the third weekend they were becoming an organized unit. In another twist of the knife of frustration; Bills home troop wouldn’t let the jamboree troop take the tents they promised on the shakedown trips. Stating that they only promised to let them use them on the Jamboree. So the three adult leaders did the best they could and the boy’s spirits never lagged.
    The day of the departure had arrived at last. All of the preparations were complete, or as complete as they were going to be. The buses that were taking Bill’s and the other troops arrived at the local school parking lot somewhere around o-dark-thirty on a day that was predicting record heat and humidity. The boys loaded up their gear and the gateway. Head counts were taken and retaken; mothers and fathers took pictures. Hugs and last-minute instructions were passed from parent to son. The boys and the three leaders boarded the bus and departed. A couple of hours into the trip Bill recognized something was wrong. In the excitement and bustle of loading up and boarding he hadn’t noticed that the bus was of poor quality. It lacked air conditioning and properly operating windows. As the sun climbed into the sky the bus got warmer, eventually becoming unbearable. One the boys in an attempt to get some air circulating in the oppressive heat popped the roof emergency hatch open. That pissed off the surly driver and Bill had to intervene. He bought the driver an expensive lunch out of his own pocket just to keep him from reporting the incident as vandalism.
     Bill had tried hard to salvage his spirits by pushing out all the negative incidents that had occurred and concentrating on the good times he had during preparation for the trip. His two assistants were good guys. Mark was skilled in graphic arts and had developed some amazing art work for their gateway and troop patches. Mark was small and thin, not what would be considered an outdoorsy type. His health wasn’t great but he had his heart in the right place and tried hard to do what he could to help. Hector on the other hand was a fire ball of energy. He and Bill hit it off right away becoming fast friends. They had come from different backgrounds. Hector was Cuban, and a little high strung. Hector had an interesting way of speaking; it was Spanglish with a Cuban twist. Words would come out of Hector that puzzled Bill until Hector explained them. Words like por-cript-jon Hector would explain “You know you go to de drug store to get your por-cript-jon!” Hector was great with tools and was instrumental when constructing the gateway. He had a quick sense of humor and the boys loved him. Hector would tease Bill about how uptight he was and how he worried about everything. Bill would tease Hector about his mispronunciations. Their friendship brought their two families together. Bill and Hectors families had gotten together for meals and parties. Bill couldn’t help but smile when he thought about all the evenings and weekends he and Hector spent together planning, preparing and building. They managed to laugh their way through all the nonsense, despite their working full time jobs, and spending every minute they could spare on preparation for the jamboree.
    Bill’s thoughts returned to the present, they were at the jamboree in the campsite. One leader down and things were starting to get tense. More than a few of the boys were getting frustrated; some yelling and a couple of pushing matches had started. The boys were tired and sweaty and didn’t realize how much work was going to be involved in the setup of camp. They were expecting an easy ride and a lot more fun. Bill knew the fun was going to happen, they just had to get through this rough patch. Bill suddenly came up with an idea; laughter brings people together and always lightens the mood. It would be a little mean but his friendship with Hector was solid and if it worked Hector would understand. Bill started moving through the partially erected campsite and telling the junior leaders to tell their troops to ask Mr. Banderas (Hector) for some peanuts. Ask often, every ten minutes, keep asking him, and don’t stop until I tell you to stop. The boys did, for the rest of the afternoon each of the 36 boys went up to Hector and asked him for peanuts. Each boy was declined, some more than once. Bill kept an eye on Hector knowing that the heat, humidity, and the persistent pestering of the boys would eventually get to him. As the afternoon wore on and the questions about peanuts kept coming Hector’s replies became more abrupt and sharper. Finally, Hector charged into the center of the campsite yelling at the top of his voice. “I want you all to know right here, right now, I have no penis!” Hector pointed at the boys. “I have no penis for you, I have no penis for you, I have no penis for nobody!” Hector emphasized the last outburst by waving both arms in a wide arc over his head. “Hector Banderas has no penis! What de hell are you all laffin at? Is not funny I have no penis!” It worked, Hectors outburst had the whole camp laughing, it was just what was needed to break the tension. Bill ran over to Hector with a cold bottle of water, he was still laughing a little but he managed to explain that Hector had saved the day. Hector took a long drink from the bottle and a big smile broke across his face. He looked at Bill and said. “I know what you did, you and me make a pretty good team, eh?” Bill began to laugh with Hector and he thought to himself this jamboree is going to turn out just fine.

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...