From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [32]
“Bloom?” the Col said. “Bloom. Great big Jewish boy with a flat head and kinky hair? And that’s all?”
“Well, Sir, no, Sir. I wanted to ask you about that. I have no heavyweight worth a damn. Corporal Choate was Heavyweight Champion of Panama not so long ago. I’ve been trying to get him to go out ever since I came here.”
“Ah,” the Col said. “He wont go out.”
“No, Sir.”
“Corporal Choate is probably the best firstbaseman in the Islands. We dont want to lose our firstbaseman, do we?”
“No, Sir.”
“I’m afraid you couldn’t count on Choate.”
Capt Holmes nodded. The baseball team would lose out anyway, but they wanted you to win. They always wanted you to win. The winner gets the gravy. The Colonel’s goddamned dog was still boredly asleep, hind legs spread flat and belly to the floor, front legs crossed as nonchalantly as a male lead in morning trousers. Every officer in the Regiment had to coddle the little bastard.
Why dont you chuck it, Holmes? he thought. And do what? Go where?
“I have one new man, Sir,” he said, though he had meant to save this one back. “Name is Prewitt. Fought for the 27th. Runnerup in the welterweight division. He was transferred to my Company from the Bugle Corps.”
The fatherly smile appeared. “Well now, fine. That’s fine. You say he was in the Regiment? in the Bugle Corps?”
Holmes was tired. “Yes, Sir.” That damned smug dog. “Been here a year.” Sleeping and eating and allowing himself to be coddled. “Ever since last boxing season.” Son of a bitching little fat dog with such a goddamned easy life.
“Remarkable!” the Col said. “In the Bugle Corps. Too bad we didnt know about it this year. Could have used him. But then no one ever knows who’s in the Bugle Corps. You’ve talked to him?”
“Yes, Sir,” Holmes said. Might as well give him all of it, now. “He refuses to go out.” If you had an ounce of guts, Holmes, you would have added, “too.”
Col Delbert turned his head on stiff shoulders. “He cant refuse to go out.”
“He did, Sir.” Capt Holmes realized he had made an error. He didnt give a damn, to hell with it. Still, where would you go? He refrained from mentioning the Company Bugler job.
“No, he didn’t,” the Col said precisely. His eyes were curiously flat. “You just think he did. It’s your job to see th’t he does go out.
“If he knew it was for the Regiment’s sake he would want to go out. All you have to do is convince him. Let him know how much the Regiment needs him.”
The Regiment, Capt Holmes thought. Thats all. The honor and reputation of the Regiment. Col Delbert’s Regiment. And he doesnt even want to know why he wont go out. At least I asked him that, he told himself. You already knew it, himself said.
The fatherly smile lubricated the flatted eyes, creating a peculiarly imperfect picture. “If you’re going to need the man, you must convince him.
“And from what you’ve told me I gather you will need him?”
“I could certainly use him, Sir.”
“Then convince him. I might as well be frank. We have got to win that next year. Because that is all we can win. Keep that in mind. I want you to keep your hand in. A few workouts now and then. You can have the gym afternoons now and then. Start building now. That’s important: Plan Now.”
“Yes, Sir,” Capt Holmes said. “I’ll start in soon.”
But his voice was overwhelmed by the screek of an opening drawer, the traditional indication that the interview was ended. Col Delbert raised his eyes from the drawer and looked at Holmes inquiringly, but Capt Holmes was already on his feet replacing the chair against the wall. Anyway, he had gotten a green light on Stark’s transfer and that was what he came for.
The wood noises woke the cocker and he rose and stretched himself, one leg at a time, unrolling his pink tongue in an insolent yawn. He licked his chops and stared at Holmes accusingly. Holmes stared back, lost