Ensign Weber, four Marine military policemen marched into the barracks where he and the rest of B company were relaxing while maintaining ready-alert status, and put him in handcuffs. Captain Dogwood and the battalion colonel watched it happen.
Then Lieutenant Commander Bonson came up to Donny and said in a loud voice, “Good job, Corporal Fenn. Damn fine work.”
“Good work, Fenn,” said Weber. “You got our man.”
In the aftermath, a space seemed to spread around Donny. He felt it open up, as if oceans of atmosphere had been vacuumed out of the area between himself and his squad and others in the platoon. Nobody would meet his eyes. Some looked at him in horror. Others merely left the vicinity, went into other squad bays or outside to lounge near the trucks.
“What the hell did he mean?” asked Platoon Sergeant Case.
“Uh, I don’t know, Sergeant,” Donny said. “Uh, I don’t know what the hell they were talking about.”
“You had contact with NIS?”
“They talked to me.”
“About what?”
“Ah. Well,” and Donny swallowed, “they had some security concerns and somehow I got—”
“Let me tell you something, goddammit, Fenn. If it happens in
my
platoon, you come tell me about it! You got that? This ain’t a one-man goddamn motherfucking operation. You come tell me, Fenn, or by God I will make your young sorry ass sorry you didn’t!”
The man’s blazing spit flew into Donny’s face and his eyes lit up like flares. A vein throbbed on his forehead.
“Sergeant, they told me—”
“I don’t give a monkey’s fuck what they told you,Fenn. If it happens in
my
platoon, I have to know about it, or you ain’t worth pig shit to me. Copy that, Corporal?”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“You and me, boy, we got some
serious
talk ahead.”
Donny swallowed.
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“Now, get these men off their asses. I’m not going to have them sitting around all goddamn day like they just won the fucking war all by themselves. Get ’em on work detail, drill ‘em, do something with them.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“And you and I will talk later.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
Donny turned in the wake of Sergeant Case’s departure, which was more like an ejection from a jet fighter than a normal retrograde adjustment.
“Okay,” he said to the squad. “Okay, let’s get outside and run through some riot control drills. There’s no point just sitting in here.”
But nobody moved.
“All right, come on, guys. I’m not shitting around here. You heard the man. We have an order.”
They just stared at him. Some looked hurt, the rest disgusted.
“I didn’t do
anything,”
Donny said. “I talked to some Navy lifers and that’s all.”
“Donny, if I flash the peace sign in a bar, will you turn me in to NIS?” someone asked.
“All right, fuck that shit!” Donny bellowed. “I don’t have to explain
anything
to
anybody
! But if I did, I’d point out I didn’t rat
anybody
out. Now, get into your gear and let’s get the fuck outside or Case’ll have us on a barracks party until 0400 next Tuesday!”
The men got up, but their slow heaviness expressed their bitterness.
“Who’ll take Crowe’s place?” someone asked.
There was no answer.
———
J ulie was released from the lockup at the Washington Coliseum at 4 P.M . that same day, after forty-eight hours of incarceration with several hundred of the more recalcitrant demonstrators. At least physically, it was almost pleasant being arrested; the cops were old hands by this time and as long as everybody cooperated, the process was all right. She spent two nights on a cot in a field where the Washington Redskins practiced when it was their season. The seats of the junky old place rose above like a Pentecostal cathedral from the twenties, and in the pen, all the kids had a good time and nobody watched them too carefully. Grass was abundant; the portable toilets were cleaner than the ones at Potomac Park. The showers were never
Then Lieutenant Commander Bonson came up to Donny and said in a loud voice, “Good job, Corporal Fenn. Damn fine work.”
“Good work, Fenn,” said Weber. “You got our man.”
In the aftermath, a space seemed to spread around Donny. He felt it open up, as if oceans of atmosphere had been vacuumed out of the area between himself and his squad and others in the platoon. Nobody would meet his eyes. Some looked at him in horror. Others merely left the vicinity, went into other squad bays or outside to lounge near the trucks.
“What the hell did he mean?” asked Platoon Sergeant Case.
“Uh, I don’t know, Sergeant,” Donny said. “Uh, I don’t know what the hell they were talking about.”
“You had contact with NIS?”
“They talked to me.”
“About what?”
“Ah. Well,” and Donny swallowed, “they had some security concerns and somehow I got—”
“Let me tell you something, goddammit, Fenn. If it happens in
my
platoon, you come tell me about it! You got that? This ain’t a one-man goddamn motherfucking operation. You come tell me, Fenn, or by God I will make your young sorry ass sorry you didn’t!”
The man’s blazing spit flew into Donny’s face and his eyes lit up like flares. A vein throbbed on his forehead.
“Sergeant, they told me—”
“I don’t give a monkey’s fuck what they told you,Fenn. If it happens in
my
platoon, I have to know about it, or you ain’t worth pig shit to me. Copy that, Corporal?”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“You and me, boy, we got some
serious
talk ahead.”
Donny swallowed.
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“Now, get these men off their asses. I’m not going to have them sitting around all goddamn day like they just won the fucking war all by themselves. Get ’em on work detail, drill ‘em, do something with them.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“And you and I will talk later.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
Donny turned in the wake of Sergeant Case’s departure, which was more like an ejection from a jet fighter than a normal retrograde adjustment.
“Okay,” he said to the squad. “Okay, let’s get outside and run through some riot control drills. There’s no point just sitting in here.”
But nobody moved.
“All right, come on, guys. I’m not shitting around here. You heard the man. We have an order.”
They just stared at him. Some looked hurt, the rest disgusted.
“I didn’t do
anything,”
Donny said. “I talked to some Navy lifers and that’s all.”
“Donny, if I flash the peace sign in a bar, will you turn me in to NIS?” someone asked.
“All right, fuck that shit!” Donny bellowed. “I don’t have to explain
anything
to
anybody
! But if I did, I’d point out I didn’t rat
anybody
out. Now, get into your gear and let’s get the fuck outside or Case’ll have us on a barracks party until 0400 next Tuesday!”
The men got up, but their slow heaviness expressed their bitterness.
“Who’ll take Crowe’s place?” someone asked.
There was no answer.
———
J ulie was released from the lockup at the Washington Coliseum at 4 P.M . that same day, after forty-eight hours of incarceration with several hundred of the more recalcitrant demonstrators. At least physically, it was almost pleasant being arrested; the cops were old hands by this time and as long as everybody cooperated, the process was all right. She spent two nights on a cot in a field where the Washington Redskins practiced when it was their season. The seats of the junky old place rose above like a Pentecostal cathedral from the twenties, and in the pen, all the kids had a good time and nobody watched them too carefully. Grass was abundant; the portable toilets were cleaner than the ones at Potomac Park. The showers were never
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