Chapter 56: Back to School

I quizzed Josh on the way to school, asking him simple questions, like which direction his clothes were to hang in his locker, how to protect his belt buckle from being exposed to fingerprints and where the end of his tie should fall against his shirt. We had been over the questions a dozen times. That was not the point of the quiz. I was trying to settle him down because he was still fired up over the way he had been able to subdue Peter the evening before. I wanted him to know that other conquests would not be as easy; he was not invincible.

But I took a certain amount of pride in the way Josh had handled Peter's attack. I was proud of myself for not interceding, too. Much to the consternation of Mrs. Ford, Cindy and Jeannie, I had watched as Josh had to take a few jabs to the chest and chin before he was able to shut down Peter's windpipe.

"I didn't flinch, did I, Sir?

"No, you didn't," I answered his question for the third time. "How many demerits does it take for you to be confined to quarters for the weekend?"

"Three, Sir but I'm not going to get any."

"Good. Let me tell you something. Calling your Mom to tell her not to pick you up on Friday afternoon is the hardest telephone call you'll ever make."

Mrs. Ford listened to us but didn't join in the conversation. She had already voiced her objection to how I had let the fight progress. I think she had come to realize that it had done wonders for Josh's confidence but didn't want to admit it.

As we entered the school grounds a pang of anxiety rushed through my chest. The familiar grounds were well kept and more expansive than I remembered. I pointed out the field house, the parade ground and the two practice fields. The winding drive leading to the cluster of buildings was impressive. Josh looked around like he recognized everything we had spoken about so often.

I let Josh and his mother go into the administrative office to register and get his room assignment. If the Colonel was there I didn't want him to see me with Josh. My strained relationship with the Colonel had not improved and knowing me could be detrimental to Josh.

While they were inside I got Josh's luggage and equipment ready to carry upstairs.

"Room 2 D," Josh said excitedly when he returned to the car.

"Company D is on the third floor. Let's take the back stairs," I said heading that way with two bags.

"Its right up there," Josh protested, pointing to the front side of the building.

"I'll meet you," I said without explaining why it was better if we were not seen together. Mrs. Ford followed Josh and I went on my way to the back stairs, up to the third floor, through Company E, through the hallway between the bathroom and showers and on to the Company D rooms at the front of the building. Josh and his mother were already inside the room, meeting the other freshman, his parents and older brother, Orlando Laredo.

Laredo recognized me but it was evident that he didn't remember my name. We shook hands and it came to him. "Cadet Oldham, you're one of the misfits assigned to my room," he said. The way he said 'misfits, ' was puzzling to me but I didn't ask him what he was talking about. I shook hands with his parents and kid brother. The Laredo parents were handsome and obviously successful. I sized up the brother, Chico and could see that Orlando had prepared him as well as I had prepared Josh. This will be an interesting competition, I thought.

We stood around watching the freshmen stow their gear, Mrs. Ford chatting with Mrs. Laredo and Mr. Laredo speaking casually with Orlando and I. The boys didn't need any supervision; they both knew what to do.

I had hoped to be assigned to my old room in Company C but Orlando informed me that we would be next door in room 4. He was explaining that he had been chosen to be the room leader of room 4 C when Colonel Travis stuck his head in the room, and then entered. I spotted him first and called the room to attention. Chico and Josh snapped to attention and Orlando reluctantly did the same. The Colonel smiled at the parents and then looked directly at me.

"You're early, Oldham, sophomores don't report until tomorrow," he said in his distinctive military manner.

"Thursday, Sir, I'm a junior this year.

The Colonel's stare became distant, strained. "You're a junior in name only. This is your second year at Cromwell Military Academy and you will be treated accordingly, private."

"Yes, Sir," I responded.

"As you were," Laredo said when the Colonel left the room.

Mrs. Ford must have seen that the Colonel had humiliated me. "Josh, we're going to let you get settled. Be good. I'll see you on Friday," she said, kissing her son on the forehead and waving goodbye to the parents of Orlando and Chico.

I followed Mrs. Ford out of the room and down the stairs. We got in her car and drove out the front gate before she spoke.

"Thank you, for coming today, Sammy. It was a big help to have you there."

"Thanks for getting me out of there," I said. I didn't feel like I had been a big help. All I was thinking about was how the Colonel had showed me who was in charge. So that was how it was going to be. Why did I come back to C.M.A.? I suggested that Josh could ride home with us on Friday afternoon and Mrs. Ford graciously accepted, saying that she would like to arrange car pooling with Ned.

"We could include the Baldwin sisters. That way you would only have to make the trip every third time," I said.

"Josh would like that," she laughed. I didn't tell her that I would like it too.

Mrs. Ford dropped me off at home and left to go to her work. I walked across the street and found the Baldwin sisters at the tennis courts. Cindy was still cool towards me because of what I had let happen to Peter but Jeannie wanted to know all about Josh's first day at Cromwell. In telling her about the room and Josh's roommate I let it slip that I had to report to school the next day.

"Hey, Cindy, Sammy has to go to school tomorrow, not Thursday, ' Jeannie yelled to her sister. Cindy came over and seemed concerned. We talked and joked around. They were to go to Speedwell on Friday to pick up their uniforms and find out about their room assignments. I told them about the carpooling idea. They said they would check with their parents.

"That would be cool," Jeannie said.

"That's what Mrs. Ford said."

"Did she say it would be cool?"

"No, she said that it would be agreeable to Josh," I clarified.

Suzanne came to the house to have lunch with me. I told her about the change in plans that I had to report to school the following day. We played eighteen holes that afternoon, talking about everything except C.M.A. It was our last Tuesday outing of the season and we were trying to have a good time.

Mr. Oldham joined us for dinner and Suzanne told him that I had to report to school the next day. I didn't say anything about the Colonel telling me that I was a junior in name only or that he had called me private. He didn't react immediately and I hoped that he wouldn't ask questions. I didn't want him interceding on my behalf.

That evening I packed the clothes and toilet articles that I would need to take the next day. Football pads and my spare pair of shoes could wait until the Sunday afternoon trip. Looking around the room to see if I had everything, something I had done dozens of times before, a feeling of pride came over me. This was my room that I was leaving and it would be there when I got back. No one could take it away from me. My name was Sammy Oldham and no one could take that away from me either. I sat down at my desk, thinking, this is my desk. I wrote to Becky, telling her about my return to school the next day and that my letters would be less frequent. I told her that I missed her and requested that she write often.

Ned let me drive his new Volvo on the way to school. I told him about how the Colonel had treated me. He praised me for not making an issue of it to Mr. Oldham, remarking that it might do more harm than good. We talked about sharing driving duties with Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Baldwin. Ned said that he would check with Mrs. Ford to see if she wanted us to bring Josh home on Friday.

One of the sophomores called the room to attention when I entered. I introduced myself and looked around the room, checking to see which bunk I wanted for myself. Something about the room reminded me of Orlando's description, ' misfits.' It wasn't the four cadets, two sophomores and two freshmen, it was the room. In addition to the paint peeling from the walls and Celiaing, the place looked dirty. I tossed my bag on the bunk and went to the janitor's closet in the hallway to find a dust mop. My new roommates watched as I cleaned under my bed and the beds of the two seniors before turning to offer the mop to them. None of them showed interest in accepting it so I took the mop outside to shake it before putting it back in the janitor's closet.

"Are you Jordon's brother?" I asked one of the sophomores.

"Yes, Sir," he responded and I recognized the remarkable resemblance between Jeremy and his brother. It was more than the dark hair, the broad shoulders and the controlled posture. His voice was the same as Jordan's.

"What got you assigned to this room?" I asked. Assigned was being kind. I could have used the word marooned. Somehow I knew that he had done something to raise the Colonel's ire.

"I don't think I did anything wrong. I was in room 3 C last year. I guess they don't want me over there," he said.

An announcement to assemble in the courtyard interrupted us. I took command of Room 4 C and reported all present. The sophomores and I were issued uniforms and bedding. We returned to the room, made our beds and begin sewing our stripes on our uniforms. There was a noticeable change in respect when they saw that I was sewing private's stripes on my sleeves.

"Buford, go get the mop and clean under the bed," the other sophomore ordered one of the freshmen. Buford looked at me for help but when I didn't make a move to intercede he left the room. Buford's body, I noticed, was overflowing the uniform he had been issued the day before.

"What's your name?" I asked the kid who had ordered Buford to mop under their bunks.

"Sherman, Benjamin," he said before responding to my stare with, "Sir."

"What got you banished to this room?" I asked. The term, 'misfits, ' was making sense to me. I thought I knew why I had been assigned to room 4 C and I suspected that Jeremy was there because his brother had come to my assistance during my military trial.

"I'm a fuck-up," Sherman admitted. "I got the most demerits in the history of the school last year,"

I laughed but could see that he was serious. "How many weekends were you confined to quarters?"

"Three," he said, still not cracking a smile.

"Shit, you beat me by two," I said and was rewarded with a slight grin.

Buford came back with the mop and made a few half-hearted swipes at the floor under Sherman's bunk.

"Let me show you how to do that," I said, getting up and taking the mop out of his hands. I did a thorough job, inspected my work and handed the mop back to him. "Take care of the other junior's bunk," I said and the fat kid made a face before doing as he was ordered.

"What's your name?" I asked the other freshman. He was a slight kid, wearing glasses and looking frightened.

"Maize, Edward, Sir," he responded.

"Very good, Maize," I said. "You mop under Jordan's bunk and then take it outside and shake it, then put it in the janitor's closet."

"Yes, Sir," Maize said, his voice making a squeaking sound.

I inspected the freshmen's bunks. "Jordan, show Maize how to make square corners and tighten the top. Sherman, you do the same for Buford."

"Yes, Sir," Jeremy Jordan said. I had to stare at Sherman to make him acknowledge his assignment.

I had been away from the military academy for over a year but it was all coming back to me. While I had enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of being in my mother's home it was good to be back where everything had meaning and was done for a purpose. It was going to be easy to get back into the swing of things because I had practiced being a cadet all the time I had been gone.