From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [31]
Capt Holmes felt suddenly hedged in. There was a condition attached to the majority, provided of course he won this year, and he was being pinned down for it.
“Well, yes, Sir,” he said.
“As good a chance as we have now? of winning this year?”
“Well, Sir. No. I wouldnt say exactly that.” Capt Holmes racked his brain. “We’re due to lose three Class I boys, Sir, you know, as short timers.”
“Ah,” the Col said. “I know. But you still have Sgt Wilson and Sgt O’Hayer. Do we have nothing else by way of replacement?”
“I have one new man who did fairly well this year in the Bowl. Pvt Bloom. I’m thinking of grooming him for a shot at the middleweight next year.”
The Col kept staring at him and his eyes kept slipping out of focus off the Colonel’s face, hard as he tried to keep them there. His left cheek itched and he wished he had a stick of gum. But then he could not chew it. He wished he’d never come up here in the first place.
“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 convinc