Chapter 62: Passing up Dessert

I went for a run after talking to Cindy, partly because I needed some exercise but mainly because I needed to sort things out. We had been together most of Saturday but we hadn't talked. We had been in the company of others most of the day. And the rest of the time we didn't talk about anything more important than which position we wanted to try next. The one serious conversation we had was about the taking of Jeannie's virginity. Why had I agreed to be the one to take it?

There were so many things I wanted to tell Cindy and so many things I needed to ask her. Was this how it was going to be with us, two hours of sex and the rest of the time bantering about nonsensical things?

We had talked about the next weekend. The cottages would be occupied with sales people from Mr. Oldham's company but we had been invited to have dinner at the hotel on Friday night and there was a good possibility that we would have some time alone afterwards. Saturday night offered the best chance for us to be alone but Cindy had decided that would be my best opportunity to deflower her sister. What had she meant when she said that she would keep Josh busy while Jeannie and I were alone in my room?

Nor had I had the opportunity to tell Cindy more about Eddie Maize and Celia Johnson. I couldn't put my finger on why I took such an interest in their relationship. All I knew was that as I learned more I wanted to share it with Cindy. She had visited Celia in her room. Why?

I ran by the Baldwin house but didn't see anyone so I headed for home, showered and got ready to return to school.

The room was abuzz with talk about the weekend, whose girlfriend put out, who broke up, whose girlfriend was on the rag, who went to parties and who met someone new. When the talk changed to Spence and I dancing with Marcy Cochran the room leader called us to attention. "No more talk about that subject. A hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Oldham and Freeman, you will be notified as to where and when to report. In the meantime you are not to confer. No talking, do you understand?"

Spence and I looked at one another. "Do you understand?" Orlando Laredo repeated.

"Yes, Sir," we said in unison. We sat at our desks with our backs to each other. What was the purpose of the hearing? Obviously, it concerned our dancing with Marcy Cochran. But we had done nothing wrong. Still, the possibilities of being punished weighed heavily on my mind. I found it difficult to concentrate, thinking of what pleasure the Colonel would take in depriving me of playing football. I looked over Eddie's work and released him without asking him to continue his teenage love story.

Spence and I avoided each other in class and at mealtimes, scarcely glancing at each other. We waited all day to be called to our hearing. The call came just as we were headed to football practice.

I was the first to face the board of inquiry and was relieved when I discovered the board consisted of five seniors. Four of the five were from Company C but two of them were enemies of mine. Room Leader Orlando Laredo was in command of the board with William Lester, also from my room, Sims Carter, Room Three C Leader, Bruce Craig, also form my old room and rounding out the board was Leonard Bruce from Company A. He was now the commander of the band and I knew I could count on him to back me. Lenny and I became acquainted when I was a freshman and we were restricted to quarters for an entire weekend. I also knew that I could count on Lester and Craig to vote against me. Laredo, being my room leader, would almost certainly back me and I was fairly sure that I could count on Carter to be fair.

"Cadet Oldham, reporting as ordered, Sir," I said, saluting Orlando Laredo and standing rigidly at attention.

"You're not being charged with any infraction of the rules, Oldham. This inquiry is one of discovery. In short, Cadet Oldham, what the hell were you doing?"

"I beg your pardon, Sir?" I asked, playing dumb.

"You know what we're asking. What were you and Freeman trying to prove by dancing with the fat chick?"

"They were settling a bet," Lester spoke up.

"Cadet Lester, let Oldham answer the question, Orlando Laredo barked at Lester."

"It wasn't to settle a bet, Sir," I said to answer Lester's accusation. "We were just trying to do something nice for Miss Cochran. Considering that she was made the goat of a joke last year, we thought it was the right thing to do."

"'We thought it was the right thing to do, '" Crag mocked me. "That's not what I hear. It looked like you were trying to embarrass the girl."

"You weren't looking very closely if you thought that," Leonard Bruce said to Bruce Craig.

"Gentlemen, you'll get your chance to express your views when we break to review the evidence. For now, please listen to the questioning and speak only when you're spoken to," Orlando said. And then to me, "Oldham did you and Freeman take the action you did in an effort to change the new rule that specifically forbids using dancing to settle a bet?"

"Yes, Sir," I answered. I couldn't lie about it because I didn't know how Spence would answer the same question. Hopefully he would be truthful.

"Was changing the rule your way of embarrassing Colonel Travis for establishing the rule?"

"No, Sir. It was because it's a redundant rule. Everyone knows betting is not allowed at C. M.A. Specifically banning dancing with Marcy Cochran is an embarrassment to her. We were trying to make her feel better about herself. She thanked me for asking her to dance and I'm sure she thanked Spence."

"That's very commendable of you, Cadet Oldham," Leonard Bruce said, looking around to see if other members of the board were in agreement. Not all of them were.

"That's bullshit," Bruce Craig quipped and Lester nodded in agreement.

It went on like that for several minutes, Craig and Lester making negative comments about my intentions and Orlando trying to gain control of the hearing. I stood at attention, waiting for another question to be directed to me but none were advanced. Orlando finally released me, telling me to send Freeman in.

Spence was nervous. I tried to assure him that there was nothing to worry about. "Tell them the truth and we'll be okay," I said.

But as I waited for him to be questioned I became less sure of myself. What could they do to us if they didn't believe us? More importantly, what could the Colonel do to us if he thought we were trying to make him look foolish?

The board made us wait until after dinner to find out our fate. Spence was in charge of the room at dinner because he was the ranking member present. Orlando and Lester were at the far end of the cafeteria meeting with the Colonel. We didn't talk about the hearing because we didn't want the junior members of our room to speculate on the outcome.

I had the best view of the meeting between the Colonel and the board members and took every opportunity to spy on them. Craig and Lester were doing their share of talking while the others spoke sparingly. I did notice that Sims Carter, who had remained quiet while I was being questioned, looked to be speaking with more expression than was customary for him. I wished that I knew which way he was leaning because he could be the one to cast the deciding vote.

After dinner Spence and I were called in together to learn the outcome from the hearing. In addition to the five board members, Colonel Travis was present, sitting off to one side, silently vigilant. We were told that what we had done was highly suspicious but there was no proof that we had acted with intent to cause malicious harm. Never the less, we were placed on probation while further evidence was collected. The duration of the probation was not stipulated.

We were somewhat relieved that no immediate disciplinary action was going to be taken but having the probation hanging over our heads was disconcerting. I was more pissed about missing a day of football practice than anything else. Spence blamed me for getting us into trouble, saying that it had been my idea to change the Marcy Cochran rule. I took some solace knowing that William Lester and Bruce Craig had missed practice too.

The next day at football practice Press Morgan and I were promoted to the varsity team. It was done without fanfare. After we had taken our laps and finished our warm up exercises Mr. Benson spoke to each of us, quietly telling us to report to Mr. Sterling at practice field number one. Press and I grinned at one another and took off running towards the other field.

Aside from Russell winking at me, our arrival at the varsity practice went unnoticed by other members of the varsity. Mr. Sterling assigned us to the special teams' coach, Mr. Cantor, who was also my English instructor. We spent that first day listening to Mr. Cantor explain our responsibilities under different circumstances. He stressed the importance of staying alert, always being ready to enter the game

We had to wait until the last fifteen minutes of practice when Head Coach Krown called upon all members of the team to practice together. The offense and defense starters lined up against each other and Coach Krown used a bullhorn to call out the various scenarios whereby special teams was to enter the game. Press and I fucked up when we misinterpreted one of Coach Cantor's signals. We both ran onto the field, thinking that forth down punt was being signaled when it was really forth down punt return. Coach Krown chewed us out, telling us to 'get it right, ' when he counted thirteen men on the offensive side of the ball. Otherwise, practice went fine and I was excited when Russell motioned for me to take the locker next to his in the varsity locker room. "What took you so long to make varsity?" He chided me.

Russell overheard me telling Press that Marcy Cochran would like to discuss his stance and suggest that he ask her to dance. "Maybe I'll dance with her too," Russell said. "I could use a tip or two. Besides, I'm up for anything that pisses the Colonel off."

That night in the room Lester was fuming. He had transferred from football to photography on his own but apparently he hadn't thought that I would be the one to take his place on the varsity team. "I'm going to dance with your girl every chance I get," he warned me.

Orlando Laredo had to jump between us and warn me to ease up. "Let him go, Oldham. Let go of him!"

I was seething for the rest of the night. Just thinking of Cindy in Lester's arms made me froth at the mouth. It was comforting to glance over and see how red his neck was from where I had squeezed it but it did not remove the image of Lester smiling as he danced with Cindy.

"Make them stop squeezing those tennis balls," Lester said to Orlando, pleadingly. Eddie and I grinned at each other when Orlando told Lester not to look at us.

I thanked Sims Carter for his support at my hearing. He dismissed it as nothing, saying he knew my intentions were good. Buoyed by his confidence in me, I voiced my concern about what was really troubling me. "Joe Acorn is being a pain in the ass at dances. He's trying to horn in on my friend's girlfriend. I would like for you to talk to him."

Sims refused to become involved, saying that the dances were meant to serve as social training and that there was honor among cadets. "Let them settle it among themselves," he advised.

"Yes, Sir," I said as if I accepted his verdict. Josh had not sought my help. It was Jeannie who had asked that I intercede. But Josh was dear to me, almost like a brother and I felt responsible for his welfare. While I was sure that he was capable of settling the disagreement on his own I didn't want him getting into trouble. His mother was likely to blame me because I had trained him how to protect himself.

I approached Charlie Evans about the Joe Acorn issue. It was Charlie that I had asked to find a dance partner for Jeannie and he had obliged me. But now Jeannie wanted to break it off and Joe was not being agreeable. Charlie promised to see what he could do.

Practice on Wednesday went much better. Press and I responded to the signals without fault and Coach Krown rewarded us by not chewing us out.

Charlie came to me in the locker room to admit that his talk with Joe Acorn had not gone well. In fact, Joe was even more determined to regain Jeannie's favor. I thanked him for trying. Shit, I thought, perhaps Cindy was right. If you want a job done right, do it yourself. I almost knew that I was headed for more trouble but I had promised Jeannie to take care of it.

"What was that about?" Russell asked when he saw me scowl. I told him about my girlfriend's sister needing to detach herself from an aggressive suitor, without revealing Joe's name.

"Why the fuck didn't you come to me in the first place? Charlie's a pussy. How the fuck did he make varsity? Who is it? I'll take care of it."

And that is how I handled the Joe Acorn predicament for Jeannie without getting my hands dirty.