"Look, boy, I don't want any trouble." "Sit down." "You better sit down." "Play it, Luther." "Oh, honey, play it." "Play the song now, Luther." "Yes!" "Yes!" "Show me, sweet thing." "See, well, that's what I was trying to tell you." "Hey, sarge." "He's so drunk." "Oh, what a shame, he's drunk." "He's drunk." "What does he think he's doing?" "That drunken old..." "Have a good night." "They still hate you." "They still hate you." "You can put your arms down when the search team finishes with you." "We don't want anybody from this fort going into Tynin looking for rednecks." "May I speak, sir?" "Cobb?" "Nivens must know nobody colored killed the sarge." "Well, this is precautionary, Cobb." "We can't have the Army engaged in revenge on civilians." "Sir." "Are there any suspects, sir?" "None." "Oh, come on, now." "Everybody knows it was the Klan." "Were you an eyewitness, soldier?" "They lynched Jefferson the week I got here." "Two weeks after that, it was-- Henson." "Unless you saw it, keep your opinions to yourself." "Yes, sir." "And that applies to everybody else." "Yes, sir." "Tynin has been placed off-limits to all enlisted personnel." "Oh, come on, captain." "Any man found in the town will be immediately subject to court-martial." "Sergeant Waters' replacement will be assigned in a couple of weeks." "Until then, Cobb, you're barracks NCO." "Any questions?" "Carry on." "Now, what you think, huh?" "Huh?" "Taylor and that goddamn colonel, they know who killed Waters." "Anybody feel like playing me in some pitty-pat?" "I thought all you could play was flunky." "Yeah." "Wilkie, whose ass you gonna kiss now that your number one ass is dead?" "You know what you can do for me, Henson." "You too, Peterson." "Aw, take it easy." "I'm the one who lost three stripes." "I'm the only man here with kids." "When the man said jump, I jumped." "Come on, don't put your wife and kids between you and Waters' ass." "I don't kiss nobody's ass, Henson." "I just wanted my stripes back." "Never been no place, never had nothing." "You can't understand a man like me." "I was a top sergeant of this platoon." "Yeah?" "Well, now you ain't nothing." "Nothing, Wilkie." "Recruits, over here." "Let me see your passes." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Hey, wake up." "Wake up, boy." "You said Tynin, didn't you?" "Yeah, yeah." "Ahem." "Yeah." "Come on, boy." "Let's go." "Hang on." "Here we go again." "I'm from Mississippi." "Captain Davenport?" "Corporal Ellis at your disposal, sir." "I'm to take you to Colonel Nivens, sir." "Well, let's get rolling, soldier." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir, Captain Davenport." "Yes, sir." "We're rolling, captain." "This is where they killed Sergeant Waters last month, sir." "Why did you say "they" killed him, corporal?" "Who's "they"?" "The Klan, sir." "They ain't too crazy about us tan yanks down here." "I suppose whoever drove you in from the station showed you the spot where the killing took place." "Told you I had all the troops' personal effects searched for weapons." "He tell you all that?" "Is there a point the colonel is trying to make, sir?" "There's a point." "This thing has been blown all the hell out of shape." "This is the Army's business." "Not the NAACP." "Not the Negro press." "Not those paper-shuffling desk jockeys in Washington." "I was brought up in the South, Davenport." "Ever hear of Threadgill County, Alabama?" "No, sir." "No matter." "I've been commanding colored troops all my life, Davenport." "The worst thing you can do in this part of the country is pay attention to death of a Negro under mysterious circumstances." "Especially a soldier." "People get itchy." "Uneasy." "White folk in the town, colored at the fort." "Keep turning this thing over, sooner or later, you're bound to have an explosion." "Now, I've lived here in Hunter Parish three years." "I'm fond of the place." "I like the duty." "You get my meaning?" "What is it you want, colonel?" "I want whatever you came here to do completed in three days." "Sir, I request permission to notify Washington." "Denied." "I'm under direct orders" "I don't give a damn if Roosevelt sent you." "I'm trying to prevent my troops from going into town and killing somebody." "And I don't care what you think." "You can always return to Washington." "No, sir." "I was assigned this case and I intend to file a report, sir." "Here are your instructions and our reports." "Taylor's men will help you get settled." "Taylor was Waters' CO." "That'll be all, Davenport." "Oh, and, captain?" "Remember, you're the first colored officer most of these men have seen." "The Army expects you to set an example for the colored troops and be a credit to your race." "Is that clear, captain?" "Yes, colonel." "Sir." "Sir, you all right?" "You like to go to your quarters?" "No, I'll see Captain Taylor." "You don't wanna unpack, sir?" "Freshen up?" "Didn't go too good?" "You got a hearing problem?" "No, sir." "I was born with big ears." "It runs in my family." "My grandmother had big ears..." "I used to drive a fire truck, captain." "Then the Army took and let me drive an ambulance." "I've been driving this jeep for six months, sir." "Only turned over twice." "Twice?" "Yes, sir." "Good." "Good afternoon, sir." "Good afternoon, sir." "Sergeant Washington, sir." "Can I help you, captain?" "Captain Davenport to see Captain Taylor." "Um, just a moment, sir." "Yes?" "There's a Captain Davenport to see you, sir." "Well, send him in." "Yes, sir." "Every member of the lodge is rooting for you, sir." "Uh, have a seat." "Thank you." "I like your flowers, captain." "Hey, where's he from?" "He's from Washington, D.C." "He's here on special assignment." "Washington?" "Yes, sir." "You gotta be shitting me." "So they assigned a lawyer to the military police, eh?" "Well, where did you graduate law school?" "Howard University." "Your parents rich or something?" "No, my father's a mailman." "I graduated at the Point." "I didn't see any Negroes at the Point." "In fact, I never saw a Negro until I was, I think, 12 or 13." "Have you seen my orders, captain?" "Yes, as soon as Colonel Nivens received them." "Look, I think it only fair to tell you that had I known you'd be a Negro" "I would've requested the immediate suspension of the investigation." "Now, look, may I speak freely?" "You haven't stopped yet." "Look, these local people aren't gonna charge a white man in this parish on your say-so." "And Nivens knows that." "He doesn't give a damn about this killing." "Your being here proves it." "Making a fool out of you." "Can't you--?" "Will you take off those sunglasses?" "I like these." "They're like MacArthur's." "All right." "Now, look." "Let me explain something to you." "You go near Tynin in uniform, sounding white and charging local people, you're gonna wind up just as dead as Waters." "This isn't Washington, Davenport." "I know where I am." "Do you know how many times I've asked Nivens to look into this killing?" "Every day since it happened." "Do you suspect someone?" "Don't play lawyer with me, soldier." "With you on this case, we are not gonna get anywhere." "Like it or not, captain." "I am all you've got." "Your orders instruct you to cooperate." "Now, is there anything else?" "Ellis." "Yes, sir." "Captain Davenport will need some assistance with the men." "You'll excuse me, captain?" "Oh, I'm glad I met you." "Captain." "I sure hope we get to fight soon, sir." "Next, they'll have us picking this year's cotton crop." "Heh, heh." "Don't worry, they don't grow a lot of cotton in Germany." "Yes, sir." "How long was Captain Taylor's investigation?" "Two days, sir." "Two days?" "Who did he question?" "Well, mostly guys who had contact with sarge that day." "Guys in his platoon, then anybody who could've seen him on the road." "Wasn't but a handful." "Did you see him that day?" "Nope." "No, sir." "Did your sergeant drink a lot?" "I didn't know him well enough, sir." "All right, soldiers, let's get back to those exercises." "Haven't you ever seen a colored officer before?" "No, sir." "Have you, sir?" "Ten-hut." "This is it, sir." "The captain instructed everyone in the sergeant's platoon to be here." "As you were." "Sergeant Waters' room is right there, sir." "Sir, I think I ought to tell you, sir." "Captain Taylor questioned two white officers from this fort that night." "How do you know?" "I delivered his report to Colonel Nivens, sir." "And on the way over, the jeep hit a hole, bam!" "And the papers flew all over the road and I happened to notice it, sir." "Who are they?" "No names, sir." "Just the mentioning of the questioning." "Seems they were on the road that night." "Well, don't let any more reports fly away from you, corporal." "No, sir." "Sir, may I say something, though?" "It sure is good seeing one of us wearing captain's bars, sir." "Call in the first man, corporal." "Yes, sir." "Private Wilkie, captain wants to see you." "Yes, indeedy." "On my way." "Private Wilkie reports as ordered, sir." "Close the door." "Have a seat." "Yes, sir." "I'm Captain Davenport." "I'm conduc-- We all know that, sir." "Word went out on the grapevine you were here the minute you hit the fort." "I'm conducting an inquiry into the events surrounding the death of Waters." "The report I file will be confidential." "How long did you know the sergeant?" "About a year, sir." "You see, this company, sir, was basically a baseball team." "Most of the guys had played in the Negro league." "Naturally, the Army put us all together." "The Army sent Sergeant Waters here to manage the team, summer of '42, right after the invasion of North Africa." "He'd been in field artillery, a gunnery sergeant." "He had a FEF and an ETO." "A Croix de Guerre from the First World War." "What kind of man was he?" "He was all spit and polish, sir." "He took my stripes, sir, but I was in the wrong." "Sergeant Wilkie." "You're a noncommissioned officer in the army of a country at war." "Penalty for being drunk on duty is severe in peace time." "So don't bring me, "Us colored folks can't do nothing unless they're drunk."" "You're supposed to be an example." "I'm gonna put you in the stockade for 10 days and take those stripes." "Wait, sergeant-- To teach you a lesson." "You're in the Army." "Colored folks running off at the mouth." "What will they do if the white man give them a chance?" "What do you do?" "You wind up drunk on guard duty." "I don't blame the white man." "Why the hell should he put colored and white together?" "You can't guard your own quarters." "Sergeant" "Where's your pride, soldier?" "Where's your respect for this uniform?" "Get out of my sight, private." "And how was he with the other men?" "Sometimes the Southern guys caught hell." "Sergeant wasn't too big on guys from the South." "Me, I'm from Detroit." "Did you know that Joe Louis got his start in Detroit?" "What about the Southern men?" "The sarge didn't like them." "Except for C.J." "It could've been because C.J. was the best ballplayer on the team." "He could sing too." "Boy, could he sing." "Oh, sing it for Big Mary, you little sweet thing." "I'll tell you something, C.J., right now." "Whoo!" "All right." "Drink up." "Drink up, y'all." "Drink up." "Mary can't make no money when the U.S. Army stops sipping." "So drink up now because I need a new car." "Yeah." "I'm gonna ask that boy something." "Come on, Wilkie." "Hey, boy." "You ever heard of Blind Willie Reynolds?" "From Son House?" "I knew it." "I bet you're from Mississippi too, ain't you?" "Yes, sir." "I used to hear him at the Bandana Club outside Camp J.J. Reilly." "Folks used to come from everywhere, Wilkie." "Folks would be dancing, sweating." "Reminded me of a place I used to go in France." "Ah, the whiskey, the women." "Place called the Café Napoléon." "Where did you learn to play, son?" "My daddy taught me, sarge." "You play pretty good, boy." "Wilkie, wasn't that good?" "Yeah, that was good, sarge." "Take it easy, son." "I mostly agreed with the sergeant, sir." "He was a good man." "Good to his men." "Talked about his wife and his kid all the time." "As a matter of fact, he wrote home to his wife every day." "I just don't see why anybody would wanna kill the sarge." "See this?" "My wife let a neighbor take this just a couple of weeks ago." "Army's not for my son." "See, when this war is over, things are gonna change." "I want him to be ready for it." "I'll send him to some big white college." "Let him rub elbows with the whites." "Learn white man's language, how he does things." "White don't rub off." "Well, what are we gonna do?" "Stay behind in everything?" "Hell, you can see it in the Army." "White man's running rings around us." "Lot of us ain't had the chance them white boys had, sarge." "Oh, that ain't no excuse." "My daddy shoveled coal from a wagon all his life." "Couldn't read or write, but he saw that we did." "Now, not having is no excuse for not getting." "You can't get pee from a tree, sarge." "You're just like the rest of them, Wilkie." "Ignorant, scared." "Stop thinking like a nigger." "Take it easy." "All I said-- Is the equipment ready?" "No." "Then see that it gets ready." "Here's to the war, gents." "To the war." "To the war." "To the war." "Two people, sir." "Mr. Warm and Mr. Cold." "But deep down, a real nice guy." "You could borrow a 10 from him if you needed it." "Did you see him the night he was killed?" "I saw him in town at the club earlier." "But I left around 10:00." "He was juicing pretty heavy." "Is it true that when they found him his stripes and insignia were still on the uniform?" "Yes." "Something's wrong, ain't it, sir?" "Those Klan boys, they can't stand to see us in these uniforms." "They usually take the stripes and stuff off before they lynch us." "That'll be all, private." "Yes, sir." "Can you do anything about allotment checks?" "My wife didn't get hers last month." "Did you see the finance officer?" "Yes, I did, sir." "Well, I'll speak to Captain Taylor about it." "Yes, sir." "Thank you, sir." "Yes, indeed." "Would you like me to send the next man in?" "Yes." "Private First Class Melvin Peterson, reporting as ordered, sir." "Sit down, private." "Where are you from, Peterson?" "Hollywood, California." "By way of Alabama, sir." "You see, I enlisted in '42." "I thought we'd get a chance to fight, sir." "Did you know the sergeant well?" "No." "He was with the company when I got assigned, and PFCs and sergeants, we don't mix too well, sir." "You played ball for him." "Oh, yes, sir." "I played shortstop." "And did you like the sergeant?" "No, sir." "Well, it goes back to the team." "Stoneass felt that" "Stoneass?" "I'm the only one who called him that." "Sergeant Waters." "Didn't mean no offense, sir." "By the time I got here, the team had won nine or 10 games in a row." "There was even a rumor we'd get to play the Yankees in exhibition." "Anyway, we were..." "We were playing the 35th Ordinance this particular day." "It was a real big game too." "The YWCA sent a whole busload of women to see us." "Yes, a real big day, sir." "Whoo!" "I can't believe that." "Yeah." "Let it fly again." "Let's go, Pete." "Come on, batter." "Hit the ball." "That's a hell of a ballplayer." "Come on, hit it." "Throw another one up here." "Come on, C.J., next county." "Hell of a ballplayer." "Did you see--?" "All right, C.J. Right on, C.J." "Come on, boy." "Did you see that ball?" "Did you see it?" "Did you see it go?" "We played fairly well." "I had two hits." "Smalls had a couple and C.J..." "C.J. was incredible." "And we beat them something like nine-, 10-nothing." "Like we always did after, we went over to the mess hall to celebrate." "Fellas." "It's a big ball, give it back." "C.J. Who was that fine river hip thing you was talking to before the game?" "The woman had tits like two helmets." "You see the size of them knockers?" "No, he didn't." "Smalls couldn't even see a ball go in his glove." "How the hell he gonna see C.J.?" "I saw C.J., man." "Will you all let C.J. tell me about this woman?" "She looked mighty good to me, C.J." "All she asked me for was my autograph." "She looked like she was asking for more than that." "Moved in close." "Breathing heavy." "Waving them tits all in your face." "He's right on that, C.J." "If I'd given that gal what she asked me for, she'd give me something I didn't want." "Around home, there's a fella folks used to call Little Jimmy One-Leg on account of his thing was so big." "A couple of years ago, a young, pretty thing laid clap on Jimmy so bad he lost the one good leg he had." "Now folks just call him Little." "You know, that pretty young thing talking to me ain't look too clean." "Yeah, them dirty ones will give you the clap every time, right, Henson?" "I hear tell they're on the verge of getting all of us together." "The colored, the white, say they want one army." "You can forget that, C.J." "White folks ain't never gonna integrate no army." "I don't know." "If they do, I'm gonna be ready for them." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Go on, boy." "All right." "Knock it off." "We don't need no more of that guitar-picking, sitting-around-the-shack music today, C.J." "I want all you out of those baseball uniforms and into work clothes." "You'll report to me at 1600." "We got a work detail, painting the lobby of the Officers' Club." "Why can't those officers paint their own club?" "Hell, no, Smalls." "Let the Great Colored Cleanup Company do it." "Our motto is, "Anything you don't wanna do, the colored troops will do for you."" "That's enough." "Let me tell all you fancy-assed, ball-playing Negroes something." "The reasons for any orders given by a superior officer is none of y'all's business." "You obey them." "This country is at war." "And you niggers are soldiers, nothing else." "And something else." "From now on, when I tell you to do something, I want it done." "Is that clear?" "Yes, sir." "Now get out of those baseball uniforms." "I could smell you suckers before I hit the door." "Hey, what kind of colored man are you?" "I'm a soldier, Peterson." "And the kind of colored man that don't like lazy, shiftless Negroes." "Well, sir, you ain't got to come in here calling us names." "The Nazis call you schwarze." "You gonna complain to Hitler he hurt your feelings?" "Don't look like to me we could do too much to them Nazis with paintbrushes, sarge." "You trying to mock me, C.J.?" "No, sir, sarge." "Good." "Because whatever an ignorant Geechee like you has to say ain't worth paying attention to, is it?" "Is it?" "I reckon not, sarge." "You're a creep, Waters." "Sarge's just joking, Pete." "He don't mean no harm." "No, he does." "I mean, we take enough from them white boys." "Yes, you do." "If it wasn't for Southern niggers white folks wouldn't think we was all fools." "Well, where are you from, England?" "Wilkie." "Looks like we got us a wiseass Alabama boy here." "Yes, sir." "Now, don't you get smart, nigger." "Get your fucking hands off me." "You wanna hit old Sergeant Waters, boy?" "Come on." "Please." "Come on, nigger." "Ten-hut." "At ease." "What's going on here, sergeant?" "Nothing, sir." "I was going over some batting techniques, sir." "Is there something you wanted?" "Something I can do?" "No, no, nothing." "I just wanted to congratulate you men on the game you won today." "Now, the way I figure it, only seven more and we'll be the first colored team in Army history to play the Yankees." "The entire regiment is counting on you." "Sergeant?" "Sir." "As far as I'm concerned, these men can have the rest of the day off." "I beg your pardon, sir." "Excuse me, sir." "These men don't need time off." "They need work." "Our fellas in Africa aren't getting time off." "Besides, we have orders to report for a paint detail at 1600." "Who issued that order?" "Major Harris." "I'll speak to the major." "Sir?" "I don't think it's a good idea to have a colored NCO mixed up with your officers, sir." "I said I'd speak to him, sergeant." "Yes, sir." "Memphis, about that catch you made in center field today..." "How in the hell did you get up that high?" "They say I got bird in my blood, sir." "I hope it's American eagle." "No, sir." "Crow." "See, a man told my daddy the day I was born." "He said, "The boy got the shadow of crow in his chest--"" "That's fine, Memphis." "Men, you played a great game today." "Sergeant?" "A-ten-hut." "Carry on." "Shadow of a crow." "What do you say?" "Yeah, that's the..." "How long a story were you gonna tell the man there, C.J.?" "Peterson." "I ain't forgot you, boy." "It's time to teach you a lesson." "Wilkie." "Sir?" "Go outside and make sure everything is set up." "You want all the NCOs?" "I'm going outside and wait for you, Geechee." "And when you come out," "I'm gonna whup your black Southern ass." "Let the whole company watch too." "You need to learn respect for these stripes." "The rest of you, get those goddamn uniforms off like I said." "You ain't gonna fight him, are you?" "Don't do it." "He'll fight dirty." "You can't whup the sarge." "Well, you wanna fight in my place, Cobb?" "Shoot." "Pete." "Pete, I got some farmer's dust." "Just a pinch will make you strong as a bull." "Would you get the hell out of here with that crap?" "You can't speak up." "You let him treat you like a dog." "Calling names ain't nothing, Pete." "I know who I is." "Sarge ain't so bad." "He's been good to me." "C.J., the man despises you." "You're wrong, Pete." "Plus, I feel sorry for him myself." "Any man ain't sure where he belong gotta be in a whole lot of pain." "Look, don't you all even care about nothing?" "Don't none of us like it, Pete." "But this is the Army and sarge got all the stripes." "I'll go get the captain." "You ain't got to go out and get your head beaten in." "Well, somebody's got to fight him." "Waters, what's going on?" "I had a problem with one of the guys." "Yeah?" "Ha-ha-ha." "Don't worry about it." "Come on now, boy." "Let's take your whupping like a man." "Kick his ass, Pete." "Watch him, Pete." "Yeah, come on out here and kick old sarge's ass." "Come on, Geechee." "You don't want the sarge to grow old waiting for you now." "Fight." "Fight him." "Fight him." "Grab him." "Get him." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Watch him, Pete." "He got him." "That got him." "Come on." "Get up." "Get up, sarge." "You throw a pretty mean punch, boy." "But old sarge is here to kick your ass." "Come on." "Come on, Pete." "Move over there." "There you go." "Come on." "Who the hell is fighting over there?" "Come on." "There you go." "Get up, Pete." "Get up, get up." "Get him, sarge." "Vernon." "Vernon." "That's enough." "Yeah, he beat me pretty bad that day, sir." "Did anybody report the fight to an officer?" "No, sir, I never reported it." "I know I should have, but he left me alone after that so I just played ball." "I appreciate your honesty, Peterson." "Thank you, sir." "Did you see Sergeant Waters the night he was killed?" "No, sir." "Smalls and I had guard duty." "Thank you." "That'll be all for now." "Yes, sir." "Did the team ever get to play the Yankees?" "No, sir." "We lost the last game to a sanitation company." "What brings you out to my neighborhood, captain?" "Slumming?" "I wanted you to see the request" "I've sent to Colonel Nivens to have your investigation terminated." "Now, my reasons have nothing to do with you personally." "My request won't hurt your career in any way." "It's just that there are other things to consider in this case." "Only the color of my skin." "Now, hold it, Davenport." "I want the people that killed Waters prosecuted." "So do I. Then give this up." "White people down here, they won't see their duty or justice." "They'll see you." "And you can't possibly get at the truth." "Why?" "Because two white officers are involved in this?" "And you can't get them charged, court-martialed or anything else." "Why wasn't there any mention of them in my report?" "You think I'm gonna let you get away with this?" "I was ordered not to include it." "By who?" "Colonel Nivens." "Now, look, they took two .45-caliber" "slugs out of Waters, Army issue." "Now, if my men thought a white officer had killed him, there would have been a slaughter." "Who are the officers?" "Lieutenant Byrd in Ordnance and a Captain Wilcox, uh, 12th Hospital Group." "Private Seymour saw them on the road." "When I checked the officers' billet, I found them both asleep." "They admitted they'd had an argument with the sergeant, heh, but said they'd left him on the road." "So you never believed the Klan was involved." "No." "No." "Now can you see why this thing needs somebody else?" "Tell me what they told you." "Look, hotshot, they're not gonna let you charge those two men." "Tell me what they told you." "Left, hup, three, four." "Left, hup, three, four." "Left, hup, three, four." "Left, hup, three, four." "Left, hup, three, four." "Left, two, three, four." "You wanna move your ass off the goddamn road, sergeant?" "Well, I'll be damned." "If it ain't the white boys." "Did you hear what he said?" "Shit." "Let it go." "Let it go my ass." "Come here, sergeant." "White boys, all starched and stiff." "Want everybody to learn that symphony shit." "That's what you said in France, and, you know, I listened to it." "Am I right, now, hm?" "Am I?" "You'd better straighten up and salute an officer or I'll take your fucking stripes, boy." "That's better." "Heh-heh-heh." "Well, look at the nigger." "You come to attention right now, and that is an order." "I ain't doing nothing white folks say do." "No more." "No, leave him alone, the man is drunk." "I want the nigger to do like I tell him." "Do it." "No." "I'll teach him, goddamn it." "I always mind y'all." "Look what it's done to me." "I hate myself." "Don't blame me." "God's the one who made you black, not me." "My daddy said," ""Don't talk like this, talk like that." "Don't say," "Say..."" "I even killed for you." "Stop!" "You wanna kill him?" "The man is sick." "Let him go." "You're gonna kill him." "Come on." "Come on." "White men are killing for you, nigger." "Good men dying for you." "So anyway, they said they left Waters about 2310." "And everyone in the barracks confirms that they were in by 2330 and that neither man left till the following morning." "That's nothing but white officers lying to protect two of their own." "You know that." "I'm arresting both of them, captain." "Consider yourself under arrest, pending my charges against you." "What charges?" "It was your duty to go over Nivens' head if you had to." "Oh, you're gonna arrest the colonel too, Davenport?" "Because he's part of their alibi." "He was there in the officers' billet when they came in." "Played poker till 3:30 in the morning, yeah." "Yeah, the colonel, Major Hines and four other white officers." "They're all lying." "You just go out and prove it." "Sir, I intend to arrest Lieutenant Byrd and Captain Wilcox." "You will do nothing of the kind." "Colonel." "I believe these men had something to do with Sergeant Waters' death." "No, I can't allow that." "You have no authority to arrest white officers." "Then give me the authority, sir." "Colonel." "Your breakfast is ready." "Thank you, honey." "Can I have someone fetch you coffee, captain?" "No, thank you, ma'am." "I hope they're making your stay at Fort Neal real comfortable, captain." "They're taking good care of me." "It's very thoughtful of you to ask." "Good morning." "No, I can't give you that authority." "I told you." "They were in by 11:30." "I was there." "Now, you've read our affidavits on this thing." "Colonel, what will the Army say when they find out white officers beat up the victim not long before he was shot to death?" "Their CO refuses to report they had anything to do with it and he signs an affidavit supporting their alibi." "These two are our best suspects." "How can you not have them arrested or at least questioned by the investigating officer?" "Something like this is bound to get out." "I didn't say you couldn't question them." "But I want a white officer present." "And I want everything that's said reported to me." "Is that clear?" "Of course, sir." "You're dismissed, captain." "Yes, sir." "Go with God." "Hey, Virge, same old sermon, huh?" "I didn't know you were a religious man, Henson." "I'm not." "I just play this organ." "If I play on Sundays, I get out of a few work details during the week." "That's all." "I wanna talk about Sergeant Waters." "Yeah?" "There ain't much to talk about, except for I didn't like the man myself on account of what he did to C.J." "What did he do?" "I don't mean you no offense, but I ain't exactly crazy about talking to no officer." "Colored or white." "Oh, you're gonna talk, Henson." "You'll talk or I'll put your ass in the stockade so long you'll forget how to." "He was always on" "Always on C.J.'s back about something." "Every little thing." "Least ways, that's how it seemed to me." "Then the shooting went down." "What shooting?" "Well, the shooting over at Williams' Golden Palace." "Happened just last year right at the end of the baseball season." "A whole lot of shots had gone off right near the barracks." "I had gone over and gotten a little juiced at the Enlisted Men's Club." "Somebody's shooting." "They're shooting over there." "Everybody up." "Wake them up, Wilkie." "Move it." "Come on, Un-ass them bunks." "Come on, you Geechees." "Off your asses, on your feet." "Everybody up." "Let's go." "What's going on, man?" "Company, a-ten-hut." "There's been a shooting." "One of ours bucked the line at Williams' pay phone and three soldiers are dead." "Two colored, one white MP." "The man who bucked the line, he killed the MP and the white boys started shooting everybody." "That's how our two got shot." "And this lowdown nigger we're looking for got chased down here." "Was almost caught till somebody in these barracks started shooting at the men chasing him." "So we got us a vicious, lowdown murdering piece of black trash in here somewhere." "And a few people who helped him." "If any of you are in this," "I want you to step forward." "All you baseball niggers are innocent, huh?" "Wilkie." "Sir." "Make the search." "Open those footlockers." "Come on." "All right, Peterson, what are you waiting for, an invitation?" "Open them up." "Spread them out." "I wanna see what's happening inside." "Memphis, you in this?" "No, sir, sarge." "You heard what the sergeant said." "How many of you were out tonight?" "I was over at Williams' around about 7." "I got me a pack of Lucky Strikes." "But I didn't try to call home, though." "Got something." "Still warm." "C.J., is this yours?" "You know it ain't mine, sarge." "Probably not." "Probably just crawled in through a window, passed everybody's bunk, Peterson, Cobb, and just snuggled up under yours, huh?" "Must be voodoo, right, boy?" "Or some of that farmer's dust." "That ain't mine, sarge." "I hate guns." "Makes me feel bad just to see a gun." "Liar." "Place this man under arrest." "Look, sir, C.J. couldn't hurt a fly, sarge." "You know that." "I found a gun, soldier." "You know it ain't him." "Who is it then?" "You?" "I saw somebody sneak in here." "You were drunk when you left the club." "Throw his ass in the shower." "Well, I was here all night." "C.J. ain't go nowhere." "He was asleep before I got to bed." "Oh, you think he's innocent, huh?" "C.J. Memphis, playing cotton picker, singing the blues, bowing and scraping, smiling in white folks' faces." "This man undermined us." "You and me." "Everybody." "That "yes, sir, boss" is hiding something." "Are we like that today, in 1944?" "He shot that white boy." "What are you going to do now, boy?" "Hit a noncommissioned officer." "Well, C.J. just lost his head-- Shut up." "Get him out of here." "Sarge, I know I saw somebody." "Smalls, I saw somebody, I did." "Oh, C.J. was sleeping when I came in." "Well, it's Waters." "Can't y'all see that?" "You know, I seen them before." "Yeah, we had them in Alabama." "White man give him a little-ass job as a servant, and when the boss ain't looking, that old copycat nigger act like he the new boss." "Shouting, ordering people around." "You see, arresting C.J., that'll get Waters another stripe." "Yeah." "Next, it'll be you or you." "You see, he can't look good unless he's standing on you." "Cobb told him C.J. was here all evening." "Waters didn't even listen, did he?" "Turning somebody in." ""Yeah, look what I done, captain, boss."" "Only reason they let him in is they know he'll do what they tell him to." "See, I've seen this kind of fool before, boy." "Yeah, somebody's gonna kill him one of these days." "I heard they killed a sergeant at Fort Robinson." "A recruit did it." "Forget it, Pete." "Our luck, sarge will come through the war, won't even get a scratch." "Yeah, maybe, but I'm going over to them stockades." "Tell them MPs what I know." "C.J. was in here all evening." "I'm gonna go with you." "Y'all wait up." "I'm coming too." "Was Wilkie the only person out of his bunk?" "I guess." "Wilkie came in with the sarge." "But it's hard to say." "It's been a while and like I said, I was a little juiced that night." "Ellis." "Yes?" "Yes, sir?" "Find out what's holding up my investigation of Wilcox and Byrd." "Yes, sir." "The night Sergeant Waters was killed, where were you?" "I was in the barracks." "I played checkers with Cobb till 9:30 and then I went to bed." "Is there gonna be anything else, sir?" "Dismissed, private." "Let her go." "Let me know when it's full board." "Here we go." "Let's go, baby." "Pick it up." "Keep your rifles up." "That's it." "That's it, move out!" "Move out!" "Move your ass!" "That's it, move out!" "Move out!" "Goddamn it, get going!" "That's it, that's it, move it out!" "Shake it out!" "Hit that wall!" "Get your feet up!" "Hurry it up!" "Hurry it up!" "Move out!" "Move out!" "That's it!" "Watch it!" "Shake your ass!" "That's it!" "Move it out!" "Move it!" "Let's go!" "Ellis!" "Ellis!" "Hold it!" "Stop shooting!" "Stop shooting!" "Which one of you idiots is Cobb?" "That's me, sir." "You all right, captain?" "I wanna talk to you." "What'd he want old Cobb for?" "I don't know." "What'd he ask you, Pete?" "He just asked a couple of questions about the baseball game, some about the sarge." "Didn't amount to too much." "Yeah, we was homeys, me and C.J., both from Mississippi." "C.J., from Carmella." "Me, I'm from up around Jutlerville, what they call Snake County." "How did you feel when your best friend was arrested?" "I hated Waters for it, sir." "Hated?" "C.J. ain't killed nobody." "He hit Waters, didn't he?" "Yeah, but the sergeant made him, sir." "He called that boy things he ain't never heard before." "C.J. was from the farm, a country boy." "That jail cell started doing crazy things to C.J., sir." "It started closing in on him." "Are you all right?" "It's hard to breathe in these little spaces, Cobb." "What they doing to you in here, C.J.?" "Man wasn't made for this here." "Nothing 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." "Oh, 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 tried to sing, but nothing won't come out." "Yesterday, I broke a guitar string." "And I lost my dust." "Got no protection, Cobb." "Nothing to keep the dogs from tearing at my bones." "C.J., stop talking 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, C.J." "We changed the charge on you this morning." "You're in here for striking a superior officer, boy." "And everybody seen it too." "Why are you doing this to me, sarge?" "Oh, don't feel too bad, C.J." "It has to be this way." "You see, the first war didn't change nothing for the Negro." "But this one, 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, C.J." "See, the black race can't afford you no more." "Oh, there used to be a time we'd see somebody like you singing, clowning, "yes, sir, boss"ing, and we wouldn't do anything." "Folks liked that." "You were good." "Homey kind of nigger." "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?" "C.J. 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 C.J." "Captain Taylor was mad because 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?" "Well, they broke up the team and they assigned us to this here 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 2120 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, sir." "Is that it, captain?" "Thank you, corporal." "Yes, sir." "Eight ball, corner pocket." "Whose idea was this, Charlie?" "Nivens." "And you 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, huh?" "I'm not here to answer your questions, lieutenant." "Sit down." "Sit down." "Yes, sir." "When did you last see Waters?" "Same night somebody killed him." "Course, I should've 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 a few things he shouldn't have." "I told the lieutenant not to make the situation any worse than it was." "So we just 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." "And he starts blaming Wilcox and me for him being black." "I mean, imagine that, huh?" "Hell, I didn't even know the man." "Yeah and he said he killed somebody too." "And some pretty insulting things about us." "I mean, uh, white officers." "Did he say who?" "Mention a name?" "Look, the goddamn nigger was disrespectful." "No way a colored soldier speak to a white officer like that." "What are we doing, wasting time on this, huh?" "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." "You said he was disrespectful." "Is that why you killed him?" "I killed no one." "Sit down." "You hit him?" "Knocked him down." "Shot him." "He was alive." "You beat him up, shot him." "Get out of 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?" "Speak up." "You had weapons." "But we didn't fire." "When did you turn them in?" "Right away." "Nivens took our .45s" "to the MPs." "He wanted it quiet." "Didn't want colored boys to know anybody 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, the colonel felt if he involved you, you'd go to Washington, which you did anyway." "Sir, I just wanna say we were not involved with the sergeant's death." "Now, I'm a doctor." "We left that man on the side of the road." "Alive." "You're under arrest." "The charge is murder." "Captain" "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, you've got a witness." "I mean, what more do you want?" "This is still my investigation, Charlie." "We've both been had, captain." "Colonel knew this all along." "Been marching around in circles." "They are guilty and you know it." "Now, I'll back you up." "Charge them." "I do what the facts tell me, not you." "You don't know what a fact is." "I'm the lawyer." "They teach law at West Point?" "You don't have to be a lawyer to deal with those two assholes." "And if they didn't kill Waters, who did?" "I don't know yet." "What do you know about C.J. 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." "This man managed the finest baseball team in the entire United States Army." "Besides, colored people aren't that devious." "Hell, we hadn't lost a game for two years." "And the finest" "I mean, the finest player that Waters ever had was C.J. Memphis." "If you'd have seen him, you'd know what I mean." "Captain." "Captain Davenport." "We found Wilkie, but we haven't located Peterson and Smalls yet." "Where's Wilkie?" "Waiting for you, sir." "Good." "Wait." "Didn't you question Wilkie and Peterson already?" "I asked you a question." "This is my investigation." "Ellis, let's go." "Well, that's the problem." "You arrogant son of a bitch." "You nervous, Wilkie?" "No, I just couldn't figure out why you called me back, sir." "Heh, heh." "You said the sarge busted you, right?" "Uh, yeah, he got me busted, sir." "He reported me to the captain." "How'd you feel?" "Well, I..." "You and the sarge were good friends." "Uh, yeah..." "He was a nice guy." "Didn't you tell me that?" "Yeah, I..." "Would a nice guy get a friend busted?" "Well..." "No, speak up." "You lied when you said he was a nice guy?" "No." "What I said was he was" "Was Waters a nice guy or not?" "No." "No, he wasn't a nice guy." "You don't turn somebody in." "Give him extra duty." "But three stripes, it took me 10 years to get them stripes, sir." "That's right." "That made you mad, didn't it?" "Yes, mad." "Things I did for him." "That's right." "You were his boy, weren't you?" "You took care of the team." "You ran his errands." "Well..." "You policed his quarters." "You listened to his stories." "Put the gun under C.J.'s bunk." "Yes." "No" "Sit down!" "It was you Henson saw." "You lied about Waters, you're lying now." "The only person out of barracks." "Who else could've found C.J.'s bunk?" "It was you, Wilkie." "You." "It was the sarge." "He ordered me to do it." "He said I'd get my stripes back." "He wanted to teach C.J. a lesson." "Put him in jail, scare him." "The boy hit him, he had C.J. where he wanted him." "And then C.J., he hung himself." "He died like he was spiting the sarge." "He didn't figure on that." "What did he have against Memphis?" "He despised him, but he would hide it, everybody liked that boy." "Underneath, it was a crazy hate, captain." "Crazy hate." "You won't believe it." "Sometimes you could" "You could just feel it." "He's the kind of boy that seems innocent, Wilkie." "Got everybody on the post thinking he's a strong, black buck." "White boys envy his strength." "His speed." "Power in his swing." "Then this colored champion lets those same white boys call him Shine or Sambo and he just smiles." "Can't talk." "Can barely read or write his own name and don't care." "He'll tell you they like him or that colored folks ain't supposed to have but so much sense." "You know the damage one ignorant Negro can do?" "We were in France in the first war, we'd won decorations," "but the white boys had told all them French gals that we had tails." "And they found this ignorant colored soldier." "Paid him to tie a tail to his ass and run around half-naked making monkey sounds." "They put him on a big round table in the Café Napoléon." "Put a reed in his hand, a crown on his head, blanket on his shoulders, and made him eat bananas in front of them Frenchies." "Oh, how the white boys danced that night, passed out leaflets with that boy's picture on it." "Called him Moonshine, king of the monkeys." "When we slit his throat, you know that fool asked us what he had done wrong?" "My daddy told me, we got to turn our backs on his kind, Wilkie." "Close our ranks to the chitlins, collard greens, corn-bread style." "We are men, soldiers." "And I don't intend for our race to be cheated out of its place of honor and respect in this war because of fools like C.J." "You watch everything he does." "Everything." "Give me a drink." "And I watched him." "But Waters couldn't wait." "He wouldn't talk about nothing else." "C.J. this, C.J. all the time." "Why didn't he pick on Peterson?" "They had the fight." "He liked Peterson." "Pete fought back." "Sarge admired that." "He was planning to promote Pete." "You imagine that?" "He thought Peterson would make a fine soldier." "What did Peterson do when C.J. died?" "Everybody blamed sarge." "Pete put together that protest that lost our last game." "Afterwards, he kept to himself or with Smalls." "I didn't mean to do what I did." "Ellis!" "It wasn't my fault." "Ellis!" "Yes, sir." "I did what he told me." "What is going on?" "We're shipping out." "They're gonna give us Negroes a chance to fight." "Hitler ain't got a chance." "After what Joe Louis did to Max Schmeling..." "Twenty-four-hour standby alert." "It's the invasion of Europe, boys." "Look out, Hitler, the niggers is coming to get your ass through the fog." "We gonna goose the goose step there." "Heil Hitler!" "We gonna turn them Nazis around." "Yeah!" "We're gonna teach them a thing or two about them schwarze." "Ellis." "Yes, sir." "Private Wilkie is under arrest." "Take him to the stockade." "Sir?" "You heard me." "Private Smalls, as you requested, sir." "Leave us alone, sergeant." "Yes, sir." "Why'd you go AWOL, soldier?" "Private Anthony Smalls, sir." "Answer my question." "I didn't go A-W-O-L, sir." "See, I got drunk in Tynin and I was just..." "Weren't you and Peterson supposed to be on detail?" "Where was Peterson?" "Speak up." "I don't know, sir." "You just walked off your detail and Peterson did nothing?" "No, sir." "See, he warned me, sir." "Said, "Listen, Smalls." "Listen up, you..."" "Are you trying to make a fool out of me, Smalls, huh?" "No, sir." "You two went over the hill together, didn't you?" "Answer me!" "Yes." "Yes." "You went over the hill because Peterson knew I'd find out the two of you killed Waters." "Didn't you?" "What?" "I can't hear you." "You killed Waters, didn't you?" "I want an answer." "Did you kill Waters?" "It was Peterson, sir." "It wasn't me." "Smalls, look who's drunk on his ass, boy." "Oh, leave him be, Pete." "No, no." "No, I'm gonna enjoy this." "Big, bad Sergeant Waters down on his knee." "No, sir, Smalls." "No, I'm gonna love this." "Hey, sarge." "Need some help?" "Hi, Pete." "Oh, yeah." "Here, come on now, here we go." "That's the help I'll give you." "Shut up!" "Peter" "Smalls, some people..." "If this was a German, would you kill it?" "Huh?" "If it was Hitler or that fucking Tojo, would you kill him?" "There's a trick to it, Peterson." "It's the only way you can win." "See, C.J., he could never make it." "He was a clown." "Ha-ha-ha." "A clown in blackface." "A nigger." "See, you got to be like them." "But the rules are fixed and" "Shh." "Listen." "Hear it?" "It's C.J." "I made him do it." "But it doesn't make any difference." "They still hate you." "Peterson." "It's justice, Smalls." "It's for C.J." "Everybody." "They still hate you." "And you call that justice?" "No, sir." "Then why the fuck didn't you do something?" "I was just..." "Just scared of him, sir." "He said everybody would think white people did it." "Oh, God, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, I was just so scared about it." "Caught this one on old bridge road, sir." "That'll be all, thank you." "You told it, didn't you?" "I didn't kill much." "Some things need getting rid of." "A man like Waters never did nobody no good anyway, captain." "Who gave you the right to judge?" "To decide who is fit to be a Negro and who is not?" "Who?" "Sergeant." "Sir?" "Get these goddamn men out of here." "Yes, sir." "I hear they caught Peterson." "I guess that's it." "Got your man." "Yeah, I got him." "I was wrong." "So was I." "Say, Charlie, look, I could do with a lift." "Hop in." "I guess I'll have to get used to Negroes with bars on their shoulders." "You know, being in charge." "Oh, you'll get used to it, captain." "You can bet your ass on that." "You'll get used to it." "Hut!"