The Lords of Discipline (74 page)

“Members are selected on Corps Day each year, General. You were selected with nine of your classmates in the spring of your junior year.”

“We’ve known about the existence of cadet fraternities for years, Mr. McLean. I was in one and so was every other graduate who ever came through here. It’s a frivolity we tolerate probably because there’s nothing we could do to stop them anyhow.”

“The Ten is no fraternity, sir. It’s a gang and you’re responsible for its excesses.”

“Are you trying to blackmail me, Mr. McLean?” he said, smiling at his hands, in perfect control of the situation.

“Yes, sir, I sure am,” I answered. “I want to make a deal with you. My roommate and I will remain quiet about The Ten if you allow us to graduate.”

“I find that most amusing, Mr. McLean. I also find you insulting and impertinent. How should I react to these desperate charges of yours, Mr. McLean? Should I act afraid? Should I tremble before your unprovable accusations? I helped land the victorious Army of the Pacific during World War II, I was a roving ambassador for President Eisenhower, have met the crowned heads of Europe and half the leaders of the Iron Curtain countries, so you will excuse me if I’m not suitably impressed by your idle, cowardly threats. But you tell me, Mr. McLean. If you were I, how would you react?”

“I would act ashamed, sir.”

“You are going to need this air of moral superiority to get you through the rest of what might prove to be a very trying day for you,” the General answered, his anger measurable in the slow, burning floridity in the hollows of his cheeks. “Your case is cut and dried and there is no question of leniency. Major Mudge, your tactical officer, has recommended instant dismissal and I have concurred with his recommendation. I must ask you now for your ring.”

“No,” I said.

“Put a ‘sir’ on that, mister,” the General said, pushing his chair back from his desk.

“No, sir,” I said. “You don’t get my ring until I’m officially withdrawn from the Institute. That is clearly stated in the Blue Book.”

“That moment is but a signature away, Mr. McLean,” said the General as he reached for a pen on his desk.

“Don’t sign that paper, sir,” I said, surprised at the confidence, no, the command, in my voice.

He looked up at me and we stared at each other for a moment. He looked at the door, then back at me.

“Mr. McLean, I want to make this as easy on you as possible. I cannot tell you how this action saddens me, but you know the rules of the Institute. It is my duty to sign these papers to expel you from the Institute. This action is irrevocable and I am doing it in the best interest of the school and yourself. I will write a letter of recommendation for you that will enable you to attend and graduate from any college in the country. All this will depend on your conducting yourself like a gentleman.”

“I conduct myself like a gentleman when I’m in the presence of gentlemen.”

“Your impudence will only jeopardize your future, sir,” he said, preparing to write.

“What I know will also jeopardize yours, General,” I answered. “What I know about The Ten.”

“Who would believe you when you tried to slander the Institute? Who would believe the word of an expelled, embittered cadet from the Institute?”

There was a loud knock on the door.

The Bear entered the General’s office in his dress uniform. He saluted the General and stood directly beside me facing him. The desk had become a point of division and demarcation. “I would believe that cadet, General.”

“Colonel Berrineau, may I ask who ordered you to report to my office?” the General said, recovering from his initial astonishment.

“Mr. McLean asked me here, sir,” the Bear answered. “He asked for my help. He said that you were running him out of school.”

“Good day, Colonel,” the General ordered coldly, rising out of his seat, “
I
am the only one who extends invitations to my office, not Mr. McLean. You will report back to your office and you will have a satisfactory excuse for your actions when I speak with you at 0800 tomorrow. And, for the record, I am not running Mr. McLean out of school. I am simply acting on a recommendation of his tactical officer and expelling him for excess demerits. This is not a pleasant task and I fail to understand why you are helping Mr. McLean in making it even more difficult.”

“One moment, sir.” The Bear spoke in a perfectly calm and respectful voice, but he seemed diminished and overshadowed in the presence of the General. “A new delinquency report has been issued from my office today.”

“I don’t see the point, Colonel,” the General said. “Nor do I wish to see your face any longer. Good day, sir.”

“Mr. McLean is prominently listed, sir.”

“I’m quite aware of that, Colonel. I called you this morning to get the final tally of demerits.”

“I didn’t tell you that in the same list, Mr. McLean was awarded a total of fifty-seven merits. Thirty for outstanding performance of duty, five for outstanding personal appearance, five for outstanding room, five for reflecting outstanding credit on Carolina Military Institute. And so on, General. Subtracting merits from demerits, Mr. McLean only has forty-five demerits for the year. The same holds true for Santoro.”

“I see, Colonel,” the General whispered in a rage. “I understand perfectly well.”

“Another thing, sir,” the Bear said. “I heard everything said in this room just now.”

“You eavesdropped, Colonel. You eavesdropped on your superior officer. For what reason, Colonel?”

“I needed to find out something, General. Something very important.

“What did you need to find out?”

“I needed to find out if you were a liar. I was sorry to find out that you were.”

“So you are calling me a liar, Colonel?” the General said in a cool, detached tone.

“I am calling you a goddam liar,” the Bear answered, equally cool, equally detached. “I am calling you a disgrace to the ring, a disgrace to the Line. I am calling you unworthy to be President of this great school. Mr. McLean has given me a list of names, General. The list contains all the names of alleged members of The Ten and the names of the boys they have run out of school for the past thirty years. He has provided me with a complete history of The Ten, a history that turns my stomach, General. I have contacted twelve of the boys who were kidnaped and taken to your plantation house on their last night as cadets. They all have volunteered to swear to the fact in a court of law.”

“You will give the list to me, Colonel,” the General said. “That is a direct order. You will mention this list to no one. You will report to your quarters to await further instructions.”

“You’ll get the list, General, when McLean and Santoro graduate. If they do not graduate, then I will go to the press and give the list to them.”

“Your allegations will seem much less severe and trustworthy when they come from the mouth of a former Commandant of Cadets who was relieved of his command for incompetence. I was going to dismiss you when the school year was over, Colonel, but your insubordination leaves me no choice. You will submit your resignation when you report to my office tomorrow,” the General declared, but then his voice softened, became conciliatory, ingratiating, as though he realized he was pushing too hard, too quickly. His strategy shifted in congruence with his voice. “But Colonel, we are both being far too hasty. We’ve been through far too much together to have our professional relationship end because of the lies of this one boy. And he is lying, Colonel. I assure you of that and his lies nearly cost you your job. I know how much the job means to you, Colonel. There is a chance for you to continue as Commandant and we can forget any of this happened. This can be a simple disagreement among men of good will. I still want you on my team, Colonel Berrineau, but only if you want to be, only if I’m assured of your absolute loyalty to me and my staff. It’s up to you, Colonel, it’s entirely your decision.”

The Bear was silent for a moment, reflective, and his face was worried. I thought I’d lost him.

“General,” the Bear said, “Mr. McLean got involved in all this because of a request I made at the beginning of the year. I feel personally responsible for his involvement in this affair. I didn’t know anything until he came to my quarters two nights ago. Now I know everything.”

“Your job is extremely important to you, is it not, Colonel?”

“Yes, sir, you know it’s important to me.”

“Very good, then. We have struck a deal, Colonel?” the General said.

“You can kiss my ass, General Durrell,” the Bear replied.

“You would betray the Institute, Colonel?” the General whispered harshly.

“No, sir,” the Bear answered without emotion. “I would never do that. Would you, sir?”

“There’s not much loyalty in you, Colonel,” the General replied. “Now get out of my office and you report to your quarters, sir. Colonel Lyall will be Acting Commandant until we can find your replacement.”

“You’re going to be amazed how much loyalty there is in me, General,” the Bear answered. Then turning to me he said, “I’m in it with you all the way, Will. You and I are going to show him what this school can produce, Bubba. We’re going to show him what it really means to wear the ring.” Before he departed, he whispered so only I could hear, “Now when I go, you play the last card. Play it, Bubba.”

When the Bear left the room, I felt the full weight of my isolation and solitude as I faced the General’s hostile, appraising eyes alone. But the mood in the room had changed since the Bear’s declaration of support for me, and for the first time there was something uncertain, even endangered, in the General’s expression.

“I’m signing the papers to expel you from the Institute, Mr. McLean. I wish to remind you that there is nothing personal in this action.”

“What am I being expelled for?”

“Excess demerits, of course, Mr. McLean.”

“I have forty-five demerits for the year, General. You’ll have to come up with something else.”

“I am protecting you and Mr. Santoro from a far greater charge, Mr. McLean. A certain Daniel Molligen, a ’64 graduate, was going to bring criminal charges against you and Mr. Santoro for assault and kidnaping. It was only my personal intervention on your behalf which prevented him from going to the police. But the nature of the crime is grievous enough to require your expulsion. The Blue Book specifically states that any cadet accused of a felony will be subject to instant expulsion. I would like to do you and your roommate a favor by keeping this off your record. It would be wise for you to go along with excess demerits. Very wise, Mr. McLean, and very important. You see, I would be more than happy to intervene personally on your behalf with other college presidents. And I would hate to see you do something foolish and never be allowed to complete your college education.”

“And how would you do that, General?”

“I will put on your record that you were expelled on a morals charge of the most heinous nature, Mr. McLean. I would not like to do that. But with your threats and unfounded accusations, you would leave me very little choice. But I’m certain we can work something out, Will. Don’t you agree?”

“What do I have to do to graduate, General? That’s all I want. For me and my roommate to graduate.”

“You’ll have no problem graduating, Will. It just won’t be from the Institute. Things have gone a little too far for that. But it’s not the end of the world. I might even be able to pull a few strings for you and Mr. Santoro and see that your tuitions and educational expenses are provided for. You seem to think there’s some plot against you, Will, and that’s simply not true. You may have convinced Colonel Berrineau, but there are no secret organizations, nothing of that sort. There is only Mr. Molligen and his willingness to press charges against you. I’m trying to help you in every way that I can, but you’re trying to make it so difficult for me. I just don’t want to see a young man’s life ruined.”

“And what would I have to do, General?”

“Nothing, Will. Nothing at all. Many cadets who are expelled for excess demerits often write me after they graduate from other colleges and thank me for giving them such a valuable lesson so early in life. Discipline is both valuable and effective, Will. The only thing I ask of you is that you keep in touch. Drop me a letter when you get settled in your new school. Let me know how you’re doing. I’m always going to be interested in your career. I mean that sincerely. And if I can ever help you in any way, I will do it gladly and you have my word of honor on it.”

“Can I have your word of honor on another thing, sir?”

“Certainly, Will.”

“Can I have your word of honor that The Ten does not exist?”

He leaned forward over his desk; his eyes met mine steadily.

“You have my word of honor, Will,” he whispered.

“And all I have to do is to leave the Institute quietly.”

“That and convince Colonel Berrineau that you were stretching the truth when you concocted that information about The Ten. That shouldn’t be very difficult. Without you and your roommate, he would look a bit foolish going to the newspapers. Colonel Berrineau would never be able to find work again, and I know you wouldn’t want to be responsible for that.”

“So you want me to betray the Bear?”

“Not betray him, Will. Certainly not that. But bring him to his senses, son. Make him see the light as you’re seeing it now.”

“I do see the light, General.”

“I knew you would, Will. The future is so important. So important, indeed.”

“So is the present, General. Because you have to make a decision in the present. You have to make a very important decision right now, General.”

“What do you mean, Will?”

“Look out the window, General. Look to your left. Standing by the mailbox across the street.”

Calmly, the General looked out the window and saw Mark Santoro standing beside the mailbox holding a large stack of letters in his hand. I slid a thick letter across his desk.

“General,” I said, “my roommate is across the street at the faculty mailbox. He is holding fifty letters in his hand. Some are addressed to twenty-five reporters across the state. Others are addressed to influential state senators and representatives who did not attend the Institute. In the letter before you is a brief description of The Ten, including the methods for eliminating freshmen from the ranks of the Corps. Words like kidnaping and torture are used quite frequently. There is also a separate list of every single member of The Ten. If I walk to the window and take off my ring, Mark will mail every single letter. Tonight, we will hand deliver a copy of the letter to every single member of the Corps of Cadets. At this very moment, you can decide whether The Ten remains a secret organization or becomes the most famous group in South Carolina.”