From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [409]
“It wasnt my fault,” Baldy said lamely.
“No,” Warden said. Why in the name of Christ wasnt he informed Prewitt was coming out of the Stockade in three days? Did he have to do everything by himself in this outfit? “Well, have you dropped him for rations and picked it up on the Morning Report?”
“Well, no,” Baldy said uncomfortably, “not yet. You see—”
“What!”
“Well, you see—”
“What do you mean, not yet? My god how long do you need? He’s been gone two whole days, aint he?”
“Well now wait a minute,” Baldy said. “I’m tryin to explain. You see, Ross dont know a single soul in the Company by name yet, except for a few noncoms.”
“What the hell has that got to do with this?”
“Well,” Baldy said, “you see Chief Choate turn him in present for duty at Reveille the first morning. I dint know nothing about it till the next day.”
“All right, so what? Jesus Christ, Dhom,” he said painfully, “this is an Infantry Compny, not a goddam YMCA.”
“Well,” Baldy said uncomfortably, but stubbornly, “you was due in the next day. So I figure one day already whats one day more? The harms already done to the Morning Report.”
“Well of all the goddam ways to run an outfit.”
“Well,” Baldy said impassibly, “what the hell? This is your orderly room. I ony ride shotgun on it. And,” he said, “I figure he might even come back in of him own self before you got back.”
“Oh,” Warden said. “You figured he’d just come back.”
“Thats right.”
“Say, what the hells eating you?”
“Nothing, why?”
“Since when is Prewitt such a goddam good friend of yours?”
“He aint.”
“Then why the hell try to cover up for him?”
“I didnt. I just figured he’d probly come back.”
“But he didnt though, did he?”
“Nope,” Baldy admitted. “Not yet.”
“And you’re left holding the sack.”
Baldy shrugged massively and looked at him with the open innocence of a guilty man who knows he is safe just the same.
“Hell, First. I thought you’d be glad I waited for you to handle it.”
“Horse shit!” Warden hollered. “Now I’ll have to pick him up retroactive to the 16th—what month is this? October—retroactive to the 16th of October. How the hell you think thats going to look on the Morning Report?”
“I was ony trying to do you a favor,” Baldy said.
“Do me a favor hell!” Warden bellowed.
“Okay,” Warden said, he ran his fingers tearingly through his hair, “all right. Just tell me one thing. How’d you manage to keep it a secret from the rest of the Compny?”
“What do you mean the rest of the Compny?” Baldy asked blandly.
“Now dont tell me they didn’t even notice he was gone now?”
“I never thought about it,” Baldy said. “But I reckon they did. But you see, like I said, Ross dont know none of them. They dont owe Ross nothing, either. And you know feather-head Culpepper, he never pays no tension to nothing. I mean—”
“I see what you mean,” Warden cut in. “Just one other thing. How did Choate manage to get it past Ike Galovitch? Dont tell me Ike’s in on it too?”
“Well, thats another thing,” Baldy said. “I hant got to that yet. You see, Galovitch aint the platoon guide of the 2nd Platoon any more. Galovitch is been busted.”
“Busted,” Warden said.
Baldy nodded.
“Who busted him?”
“Ross.”
“What for?”
“Inefficiency.”
“Whatd he do?”
“Didnt do nothing.”
“You mean Ross just up and busted him? For nothing? Under a blanket charge of inefficiency?”
“Thats right,” Baldy said.
It was like pulling teeth out of an elephant, if an elephant had teeth. “But he must of done something, Baldy.”
Baldy shrugged. “Ross seen him give close order one day.”
“Well I’m a dirty bastard,” Warden said happily. “All right, who’d he make in his place?”
“Chief Choate.”
“Well now I am a dirty bastard,” Warden said happily.
Baldy seized the opening. “So you can see how I wunt know nothing about it. Who’d ever of thought Choate would turn him in Present? Would you, First?”
“Oh, no,” Warden said. “Oh, no. Of course not.”
“And you know how Champ Wilson is with his platoon. He never pays any mind to whats going on. Especially during training season. You can see how it wasnt my fault.