Gray Girl (17 page)

After dinner, Jan and Kristi stopped by the mailroom before heading
back to their rooms.
 
Another folded
piece of paper had been placed in her mailbox.

Dear
Esmeralda,

We
are a small, inclusive, multi-cultural, co-ed group whose whole purpose is to
instill a little fun at West Point.
 
We know our goals are lofty and seem out of reach at times, but we dream
big.
 
No, there are no dues and no
secret handshakes.
 
We do occasionally
have secret meetings however, again, for the purpose of having fun.

Don't
let this place get you down. There is hope.
 
Someone does care.
 
We can't give you too much help without being
a member.
 
To be a member, all you
have to do is make a pledge to have fun at West Point.
 
There is a little more involved, but those
details can only be divulged to fellow members.
 

I
understand your caution.
 
And I hope
you understand mine.
 
We are a
secret organization and I am taking a risk letting you in on some of our
priceless values.
 
For if we were
discovered, the killjoys would wipe us out.
 
We are gaining strength and soon we will
be able to take over.
 
As for now,
we must stay underground.
 
I am sure
my trust in you will not be detrimental to our cause.
 

But
if it helps, you can call me SKIP.

P.S.
Don't forget to secure this letter.
 
You never know where the enemy is.
 
Also, I will not be here from Thursday until Sunday for I have a meeting
with other brothers and sisters from our adjoining groups:
 
O.T.H.F.A.N.A. and O.T.H.F.A.A.F.A.
 

Dear
SKIP,

I
see that even your code name connotes some kind of lightheartedness.
 
That's very nice. I don't think I can
take your pledge.
 
You see, I cannot
believe in having fun here.
 
I
certainly have not been able to have any fun since arriving.
 
I would like to think that it CAN happen,
but I am a pessimist about that.
 
I
find it very hard to smile, let alone laugh, at anything here.
 
Maybe you have more skill than I do in
this area.
 
Anyway, I am sorry to
disappoint you, but I’m probably not a good candidate for your group.
 

Esmeralda
  

They endured the diet tables for
another fortnight.
 
On the following
Sunday, Jan’s Squad Leader came to her room.
 
“
Wishart
, you
and McCarron need to report to DPE for a body fat test this Tuesday at 1600 hours.”
 

Jan never knew who made these
decisions.
 
Kristi came by a few
moments later.
 
“Did you hear we
have to get a BFT?”
 
she
asked.

“Yeah, Cadet Meyer just told me.
 
I suppose we’re not making enough
progress on the diet tables….
”
 
Jan assumed this was one more way
to pressure them to lose weight.
 

In black, Speedo swimsuits, the two
women reported to the Olympic-sized pool.
 
A body harness had been attached to
the end of the diving board.
 
Naively,
Jan thought the BFT would be done with calipers.
 
I
should have known better.
 
The
DPE officer instructed Jan to step into the contraption first.

“Blow out all the air in your lungs,
Miss
Wishart
.
 
Then we will lower you under the water.
 
Keep holding your breath while we get a
reading.”

Okay,
just so I understand…I’m not supposed to take a breath underwater??
 
Jan’s sarcasm increased under
duress.
 
And exactly how do I hold my breath when I’ve let it all out
beforehand?
  

In spite of her doubts, she did as
instructed.
 
One officer lowered her
into the pool, and while she held her non-breath, the other officer read the
scale attached to the harness.
 
They
repeated the exercise twice more and averaged the three readings.

Kristi’s face reflected sheer terror
when she stepped into the harness. “Kissy, it's
gonna
be fine,” Jan said encouragingly.
 
“Think of it as a big bath.”
 

Kristi blew out the air in her lungs
before being lowered into the water.
 
When her mouth was almost submerged, she panicked and took a deep
breath.
 
They raised her coughing
and spitting.
 
It happened again on
the second attempt.
 
“Kissy, just
relax.
 
Don't try to fight it,” Jan
said realizing the irony of
her own
advice.
 
They could never relax because they were
always fighting something at West Point.
 

After three false starts, Kristi
finally managed to breathe out long enough for a good reading.
 
The officers decided one time would
suffice, and Kristi didn’t have to do it again.
 
How
is she ever going to pass survival swimming?

Cadet Meyer came to Jan’s door
Thursday evening. “Congratulations,
Wishart
.
 
You’re off diet tables.
 
Starting Monday you’ll be back on company
tables.”

“Sir, may I ask…”

“Your Body Fat Test came back.
 
You and McCarron are well within the
limits.
 
Both of you are released
from diet tables, unless of course you want to stay on them.”

“No, Sir!”
 

“Good.
 
Those tables are only for fat
cadets.
 
You shouldn’t have been
assigned to them in the first place.”

Did
he just give me a compliment?
 
“Thank you, Sir!”
 
And I think I love you.

She never knew who required them to
be on the diet tables,
nor
who ordered the BFT.
 
It seemed that someone thought they were
overweight, and someone else must have thought they weren’t.
 
Dogety
probably had something to do with the diet table
assignment.
 

In a funny way, she was grateful for
both directives.
 
The diet tables
led to the BFT, and the BFT validated her weight.
 
That all led to the first real
compliment she received from an upperclassman.
 
That
made it all worth it.

17

Friday,
May 7, 1982

1430
hours

After a brief break, Jan was allowed to question her roommate.
 
“Cadet McCarron, you stated that I
returned to the room about 2200 hours on Sunday night.”

“Yes, I recall checking the time,” Kristi replied.

“Okay, but you also mentioned that I complained about Cadet Jackson
screaming at me in the CQ room.
 
Is
that right?”

“Yes, that’s what you said.”
 

“Did I complain about
Dogety
yelling at me
also?
 
Do you recall what I said
about
Dogety’s
behavior in the CQ room?”

“You said he was kind of quiet and trying to get Jackson to calm down,”
Kristi said, confirming Jan’s previous statement.
 

“Do you remember what else I said?”
 
Jan asked.
 
They had not rehearsed this, but Jan
just assumed Kristi would recall everything the way it happened.

“I remember you said you were surprised by
Dogety’s
demeanor…he seemed more upset with Jackson than with you.
 
You said he stepped in front of Jackson
a couple times putting himself between you and him.
 
At one point, you thought he even
grabbed Jackson by the arms trying to restrain him.”

“Did I tell you about Cadet
Dogety’s
comment
when Cadet Jackson demanded that I report to his room the next morning?”
 
Jan hoped Kristi remembered this part.

“Yes, you said that
Dogety
told Jackson you
had had enough punishment and it was time to just let this thing go.
 
But Jackson would have none of it and
they got into a shouting match over it.”
 

Good girl, Kissy.
 
“Yes, and did I tell you how the argument ended?”
 

“Yes, Jackson abruptly pointed his finger at you and said, ‘
You
better be in my room at 0500,
Wishart
.’
 
Then he just walked out of the
room.
 
Dogety
told you not to report to Jackson’s room, no matter what.”
 

“What else did I say about that, Kristi?”
 
Jan asked.

“You said you had to report to his room or else he might make you do
something even worse.
 
You said you
were more afraid of Jackson than
Dogety
, so you would
go.
 
I tried to convince you not to,
but you wouldn’t listen.”
 

Did you have to throw that
in?
 

Trane slid another piece of paper in front of Jan.
 
“This would be a good time to stop.
 
Save some questions for later.”
  

Conrad interjected, “Miss McCarron, how many times have you and Miss
Wishart
talked about this since Sunday night?”
 

“Quite a few times, Sir,
”
 
she
answered.

“Since you are roommates, would you say you’ve talked about it every
day since Sunday night?”
 

“Yes, Sir, we have.”
 

“So, could you be remembering more conversations than what actually
took place on Sunday night?
 
Could
you be recalling conversations that took place on Monday or Tuesday as well?”
 

“I still recall what she told me that night, even though we’ve talked
since then,” Kristi insisted.

“Well, you mentioned a few extra details here that were not in your
initial statement.
 
For instance,
you never said anything before about Cadet
Dogety
trying to restrain Jackson in the CQ room.
 
You didn’t write that Cadet Jackson pointed a finger at
Wishart
demanding she report to his room.
 
And there’s no mention of Miss
Wishart
being afraid of Cadet Jackson.
 
These details are missing from your
original statement, Miss McCarron.”
 

What is he, Perry Mason?

“Sir, I may not have…”

“Could it be that the story has grown or changed from its original
version?”
 
Conrad continued to push
Kristi.

“No, Sir, it’s just that I didn’t…”

“I just wonder
,
that’s all, Miss McCarron.
 
I’m sure it’s nothing intentional.
 
When roommates talk again and again
about something, it sometimes becomes more than what it started out to be,”
Conrad said.

Kristi stared at him.
 
Jan
tried to think of something to say.
 
Finally Cadet Tourney, Third Regimental Honor Captain spoke up.
 
“Yes, that’s probably true, Casey, but
not only for roommates.
 
It could
apply to best friends, classmates, or anyone else who might have talked things
over after the fact.”

Conrad turned a shade of pink.
 
“Well, I think it’s time for a fifteen minute recess unless you have a
burning question for Miss McCarron that cannot wait, Miss
Wishart
.”

“No, Sir.
 
In fact, I was
wondering if Cadet McCarron could leave now and come back later for more
questioning.”

“Why not continue the questioning after our break?”
 
Conrad asked.
 

“I would like to question everyone about Sunday night first before
questioning them about Monday morning.”
 
Jan decided to take Trane’s advice on this.

“Normally we would question each witness thoroughly and then move on to
the next one.
 
That way we aren’t
playing musical chairs with the witnesses, so to speak.”
 
A few board members chuckled.
 
“Besides, I’m sure the witnesses don’t
want to keep coming and going.
 
They
probably prefer to testify once and be done with it.”
 
Conrad obviously didn’t like Jan’s plan
of staggering the witnesses.
 

“I don’t mind coming back,” Kristi blurted out.

“And Sir,” Jan argued, “
the
Honor Board
guidelines state that I may question the witnesses in any order I choose.”
 

“Yes, any order, but not multiple times,” Conrad persisted.

Trane slid another piece of paper in front of Jan.
 
“Keep arguing,” she thought that’s what
it said in his chicken-scratch.

“Sir, if I can choose any order, it seems I can jump from one witness to
another and back again.
 
They will
spend the same amount of time here, just not all at once, which they might
prefer anyway.”

“Miss
Wishart
,” Conrad raised his voice, “we
are not going…”

“Casey,” Cadet Leavitt, from First Regiment interrupted, “may I interject
here for a moment?”

“Go ahead, Brian.”
 
Conrad
seemed happy to let someone else make the argument.

“There’s a precedent for allowing the witnesses to come back.
 
I recall an Honor Board last year where
a witness was called back two or three times,” Leavitt said.

Conrad didn’t like Leavitt bringing
that
up.
 
“Brian, we only did that when we
discovered there were more questions of that particular witness that had not
been asked earlier.”

“Yes, I was also there, Casey, but we did allow a witness to return
several times.”

Conrad sighed, “Okay, listen, this is not a big deal either way, but
it’s also not the best use of our time, nor the witnesses’ time.”
 
He looked at Jan, “If you want Miss
McCarron to come back later, fine.”
 

Jan nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement, “Thank you, Sir.”

Conrad dismissed Kristi until “some time later” and said, “Lets take a
fifteen minute break, now while Cadet Sayers goes to collect the next
witness.”
 
Everyone stood up to use
the latrine or go to the Coke machine.
 

Jan turned to Cadet Trane and whispered, “Sir, the next witness is
Dogety
.
 
He
refused to make a written statement.
 
Can he “plead the fifth” as a witness?”

Trane thought a moment before saying, “He is supposed to answer all
questions, but he may try to deflect them.
 
Keep him from going on tangents.
 
Ask direct ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions if you can.”
 

“Sir, I’m not sure I can do this.
 
What happens if I have to throw up?”
 
Jan said, suddenly feeling
nauseous.
 

“Just lean to your left toward Major Hastings.
 
Do not, I repeat, do not
,
 
lean
to the
right.
 
Understand?”
 
he
said with a
smile.

“Yes, Sir.”
 
Gawd
, I love you.