all stumbled and crossed the line, I shouted we won, the Jaguar and Gambarina were wrestling on the ground and Urioste and Zapata ran past me with their tongues hanging out, to slug the ones from the Fifth, the crowd got bigger and bigger, then Pallasta signaled to the stands where the Fourth was, come out here, can’t you see they’re after us, the lieutenant was trying to break up the fight between the Jaguar and Gambarina without seeing what was happening behind his back, “You bastards, the colonel’s watching you,” then another crowd came out, our own guys, the whole Fourth was like the Circle, where’s Cava that half-breed, good, here’s Curly, we’re all together again and this time we’re all bosses. And suddenly the squeaky voice of the colonel, you could hear it everywhere, officers, this is a disgrace, st op it at once, they’re disgracing the Academy, and then I recognized the son of a bitch that initiated me, those big dark lips, how nice to meet you, we’ve got some unfinished business, I wish my brother could’ve seen me, he always hated those peasants from the Andes, those big open lips, those big scared eyes, all of a sudden they started whipping us, the officers and noncoms took off their belts and they even tell me some of the officers that were just guests came down out of the stands and took off their belts, they had a lot of nerve because they didn’t belong to the Academy, I don’t think I got hit with the leather, I got hit with the buckle, that’s why my back hurts so much. “Obviously it was a plot, General, but I assure you they’ll be punished for it.” “Plot? Don’t be an ass. Just stop them fighting, if you can.” “Excuse me, Colonel, but you ought to turn off the microphone.” Whistles and whips, all those lieutenants and I didn’t see them, my shoulders were burning they whipped me so hard, the Jaguar and Gambarina were snarled up on the grass like a pair of spiders. But it turned out all right, Skimpy, stop biting me, you bitch. Then we lined up again and I felt hot and tired, I hoped they’d give us a break, I wanted to lie down on the grass and take a rest. Nobody said anything, you wouldn’t believe how quiet it was, we just stood there gasping for breath, we didn’t think about getting passes, just about getting back to our bunks for a good long siesta. So then they screwed us, the minister confined us to the grounds until the end of the year, that made the Dogs happy but if they didn’t do anything why were they so scared, okay, go on home but don’t forget what you saw, and the officers were even scareder, Huarina was white as a sheet, look in the mirror and your face’ll scare the hell out of you, Curly was next to me, he whispered, “Is General Mendoza the fat one with that dame in the blue dress? I thought he was infantry but the bastard’s artillery, look at his insignia.” The colonel almost swallowed the mike but he didn’t know where to begin so he squeaked, “Cadets!” and rested a while and squeaked, “Cadets!” again even squeakier, look out, you bitch, I’m going to laugh, we all stood there like ramrods but scared shitless like the rest. Okay, Skimpy, you don’t believe me, nobody’d believe me, but honest the colonel kept on squeaking, “Cadets! Cadets! Cadets!” and “We’ll settle all these problems among ourselves,” and “I’d like to address a few words to our distinguished guests, I beg your pardon and I assure you this has never happened before and will never happen again” and “We all hope this distinguished lady will pardon us.” I don’t know who started it but we clapped for about five minutes, anyway my hands got sore, and she stood up and started throwing kisses, too bad she was so far away, I couldn’t tell if she was good looking or not or young or old. Stop scratching me, Skimpy. They say she was even crying. But then, “Third Year, dress uniforms. Fourth and Fifth, as you were.” You poor little
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