From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [248]
The police lieutenant consulted a list. “Prewitt,” he said. “Prewitt, have you ever seen this man before?”
“No, Sir,” Prew said.
“Havent you ever been out to the Waikiki Tavern?” the lieutenant asked patiently.
“Yes, Sir.”
“And you mean you’ve never seen this man out there?”
“Not that I remember, Sir.”
“He hangs out there all the time, I’m told.”
“I may have seen him then, Sir. But if I did I dont remember.”
“Have you ever seen any queers out there?”
“I’ve seen some men that looked like queers. Looked womanishly. I dont know if they were.”
“Dont you know a queer when you see one?” the lieutenant asked patiently.
“I dont know, Sir. Theres only one sure way to tell a queer, isnt there?”
The lieutenant did not smile. He looked tired. “Have you ever been out with a queer, Prewitt?”
“No, Sir.”
“Not once? In your whole life?”
Prew wanted to grin, remembering Nair’s: Oh. You mean in my WHOLE life, but he did not. “No, Sir,” he said.
“You dont have to lie to me,” the lieutenant said patiently. “The psychological textbooks say that almost every man, at one time or another in his life, has been out with a queer. This is all in the strictest of confidence. We’re not trying to put the finger on any of you men. We’re trying to protect you from these people.”
Tommy sat in his chair staring out the window, his face set. He made a very poor monster. Prew felt suddenly sorry for him.
“To do that,” the lieutenant said tiredly, “we have to have legal evidence, to put these people where the law says they belong. We’re not after you men.”
“I thought the law said both parties are held equally responsible,” Prew said. “At least,” he said, “thats what I’ve always heard.”
“Thats true,” the lieutenant said tiredly, “legally. However, as I said, nobody wants to bring charges against you men. We only want you to help us clean up this nest of vice out around Waikiki. The Waikiki Tavern is a respectable place. They dont want to be used as an esoteric trysting place any more than we want them to. But they can hardly handle a thing of this magnitude. Its a job for the law.”
“Yes, Sir,” Prew said. The police lieutenant looked very tired, and there were still ten more men after him to be run through. He felt suddenly sorry for the lieutenant.
“All right, I’ll ask you again, Prewitt: Have you ever been out with a queer.”
“I rolled one once,” Prew said, “when I was on the bum before I got in the army.”
The lieutenant’s tired mouth tightened a trifle. “Okay,” he said. He nodded to the clerk standing by the door. “Bring him in.”
The clerk went out and came back with Maggio and the two big MPs, one MP with riot gun coming through the door first and turning around, then Maggio, then the other MP with riot gun following Maggio. The clerk started to cross the room. His line of march would have passed between the MP called Brownie and Maggio. The MP called Brownie stepped in front of the clerk, standing at port arms wooden faced.
“You cant pass between the prisoner and his guard, Corporal,” Brownie said woodenly.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” the clerk said. He was terribly embarrassed. “I forgot,” he explained lamely, and went around.
“Prewitt, do you know this man?” the lieutenant said wearily.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Is he a friend of yours?”
“Not exactly a friend, Sir,” Prew said. “He’s in my Company.”
“Werent you talking to him outside a while ago?” the lieutenant said.
“Yes, Sir,” Prew said. “So were a lot of other people.”
“You were sitting beside him though, werent you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You ever go on pass with this man?”
“Yes, Sir. Several times.”
“You ever go to Waikiki with him?”
“No, Sir,” Prew said. “I’ve run into him out there once or twice, but I never went out there with him.”
“You say you have run into him out there?”
“Yes, Sir. I’ve run into lots of men from the Company out in Waikiki. We all go out there from time to time.”
“We’re concerned with this man now,” the lieutenant said. “Who was he with when you saw him out there?”
“I dont remember, Sir.”
“Was it someone from the Company?”
“I dont remember, Sir. I dont think he was