A Soldier's Story Page #6

What they doin' to you in here, CJ?

Man wasn't made for this here.

Nothin' was.

Don't think I'll ever see an animal

in a cage again and not feel sorry for it.

Rather be on a chain gang.

Come on, homey!

Don't think I'm getting out of here, Cobb.

Feel like I'm going crazy.

Can't walk in here.

Can't see the sun.

I try to sing...

...but nothin' won't come out.

Yesterday, I broke a guitar string.

And I lost my Dust!

Got no protection, Cobb.

Nothin' to keep the dogs

from tearin' at my bones.

CJ, stop talkin' crazy.

You know who come up here last night?

Sergeant Waters.

They talking about giving you five years.

They call what you did "mutiny," boy.

That gun ain't mine.

We know that, CJ.

We changed the charge on you

this morning.

You're in here

for striking a superior officer.

And everybody seen it, too.

Why are you doin' this to me, Sarge?

Don't feel too bad, CJ.

It has to be this way.

You see...

...the First War didn't change nothing

for the Negro.

But this one's gonna change everything.

Them Nazis ain't all crazy.

Whole lot of people just can't seem to fit in

to where things seem to be going.

Like you, CJ.

See, the Black race

can't afford you no more.

There used to be a time, we'd see someone

like you singin', clownin', yassuh-bossin'...

...and we wouldn't do anything.

Folks liked that.

You were good.

Homey kind of n*gger.

When they needed somebody to mistreat,

call a name or two, they paraded you.

Reminded them of the good old days.

Not no more.

The day of the Geechee is gone, boy.

And you're going with it.

We can't let nobody go on believing

we're all fools like you.

I waited a long time for you, boy.

But I got you.

I put two Geechees in jail

in Camp Campbell, Kentucky.

Three in Fort Huachuca.

Now I've got you.

One less fool

for the race to be ashamed of.

What happened to him?

CJ killed himself, sir.

The day after I saw him,

the MPs found him hanging from the bars.

We lost our last game.

We just threw it.

We did it for CJ.

Captain Taylor was mad

'cause we ain't get to play the Yankees.

Peterson was right on that one.

We needed to protest that man.

And the sergeant, what did he do?

They broke up the team and assigned us

to this smoke-generating company.

And the Sarge,

he just started acting funny.

He stayed drunk all the time.

What time did you get in

the night he was killed?

Between 9:
20 and 9:30.

Me and Henson listened

to The Jack Benny Show, played checkers.

Who was the last man in that night?

Peterson and Smalls. They had guard duty.

- Is that it, Captain?

- Thank you, Corporal.

Yes, sir.

Eight ball, corner pocket.

- Whose idea was this, Charlie?

- Nivens'.

You're going to have to clear the area, Jim.

We're here to question these two.

He's got no business in here.

Take it up with the colonel.

Now, this is Captain Davenport.

You both understand you're to give

the captain your full cooperation.

You're a lawyer?

I'm not here to answer your questions,

Lieutenant. Sit down.

Sit down.

Yes, sir.

When did you last see Sergeant Waters?

The same night somebody killed him.

Of course, I should have done it myself,

by the way he spoke to Wilcox and me.

How did he speak to you, Captain?

Well, he was drunk.

He said things he shouldn't have.

I told the lieutenant not to make

the situation worse than it was.

So, we left him there,

on the side of the road, on his knees.

Alive.

Exactly what did he say?

He said he wasn't gonna obey

the white man's orders anymore.

Then he starts blaming Wilcox and me

for him being black.

I mean, imagine that.

Hell, I didn't even know the man.

He said he killed somebody, too.

And some pretty insulting things about us.

I mean, white officers.

Did he say who? Mention a name?

Look, the goddamn n*gger

was disrespectful.

No way does a colored soldier

speak to a white officer like that.

What are we doing, wasting time on this?

You answer him like he wants you to,

Byrd, or I'll stick it to your ass...

...every chance I get. You got that?

Yes, sir.

Captain, let me handle this.

Then handle it! Jesus.

You said he was disrespectful.

Is that why you killed him?

I killed no one.

Sit down!

- You hit him, huh?

- I knocked him down.

- Then you shot him.

- He was alive.

You beat him up then shot him...

No! Get outta my face before I kill you!

- Like Waters?

- No.

Soldier!

- He's trying to put it on me.

- Sit down.

Answer his questions, Lieutenant.

You were both coming off bivouac, right?

Speak up.

- You both had weapons.

- We didn't fire them.

- When'd you turn them in?

- Right away.

Colonel Nivens took our.45s to the MPs.

He kept it quiet so the colored boys

wouldn't know anyone white...

...was involved,

but those weapons cleared ballistics.

Besides, we've been short on

.45 caliber ammo for what, six months?

It's for MPs and special duty people only.

Look, nobody on that exercise

was issued any.

What?

I said, sir, nobody on the bivouac

was issued any .45 ammo.

I don't believe you. Why wasn't I told?

The weapons had cleared

and the colonel felt if he involved you...

...you'd tell Washington,

which he thinks you did anyway.

Sir, we were not involved

in any way with the sergeant's death.

I'm a doctor.

We left that man on the side of the road.

Alive.

You're both under arrest.

The charge is murder.

- Captain...

- Do you think I believe that crap?

Let them go.

What?

- Are we being charged?

- Not by me.

What are you doing?

You've got a motive and a witness.

What more do you want?

This is still my investigation, Charlie.

We've both been had, Captain.

The colonel knew this all along.

- I've been going in circles.

- They are guilty as hell and you know it.

I'll back you up. Charge them!

I do what the facts tell me, Captain,

not you.

You don't know what a fact is, Davenport.

I'm the lawyer.

They teach you law at West Point?

You don't have to be a goddamn lawyer

to deal with those two a**holes.

And if they didn't kill Waters, who did?

I don't know yet.

What do you know about CJ Memphis?

A great ballplayer.

Committed suicide.

It was a tragedy.

I think Waters tricked the kid

into attacking him.

No, I can't believe that, Davenport.

I mean, this man managed the finest

baseball team in the entire US Army.

Colored people aren't that devious.

Hell, we hadn't lost a game for two years.

And the finest player that Waters ever had

was CJ Memphis.

Now, if you'd have seen him,

you'd know what I mean.

Captain Davenport!

We found Wilkie, but we haven't located

Peterson and Smalls yet.

- Where's Wilkie?

- In the barracks, sir.

Wait a minute. Didn't you question

Wilkie and Peterson already?

I asked you a question.

This is still my investigation. Let's go.

That's been the problem all along,

you arrogant son of a b*tch!

You nervous, Wilkie?

No, I just couldn't figure out

why you called me back, sir.

You said the Sarge busted you, right?

Yeah, he got me busted, sir.

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