Free The Boo by Pat Conroy Page A

hell.” With that, the cadet, heeding what seemed like brilliant advice, ran with all deliberate speed back to The Citadel campus. Boo entered The Ark to see about the cadet who escaped. He exited from a side door just as Boo entered.

INCIDENT AT CAPERS HALL
     
    In his first summer as Assistant Commandant when he still lived off campus, The Boo received a frantic phone call from the guard at Lesesne Gate. “Colonel, I think someone is sneaking around Capers Hall. It’s dark, but I swear I saw someone go into the building.” “O.K. Bubba, get five cadets together and I’ll be over in ten minutes.”
    Boo arrived on campus about a quarter after ten. The cadets were assembled around the guardhouse. The guard said no one had left the building. Whoever was inside the building had not escaped. He was sure of this. Colonel Courvoisie stationed cadets at each exit of the building. He then selected the largest and most powerful looking cadet in the group to accompany him in a room to room search of the building. Before they entered the front door, they armed themselves with makeshift clubs that could brain a small water buffalo if the occasion arose. Starting with the bottom floor they searched each classroom. They turned on every light as they passed. They worked slowly and methodically, making sure they left no corner unchecked. Boo then walked to the west stairs while Cadet Boney waited at the east stairs. On each floor they checked the elevator to make sure no one had used it. First floor, second floor, third floor. Every room, closet, latrine, and office came under careful scrutiny. Pressure mounted as The Boo climbed in darkness to the fourth floor. He grasped his club more tightly. The building was silent and stoical. When Boo and Cadet Boney flicked on the hall light, they heard a faint shuffling sound coming from a small broom closet. Both of them froze. The Boo said, “Raise that stick, Bubba.” They raised their clubs over their heads. The quarry, whoever he was, cowered in darkness. The Boo slipped to the door, opened it quickly, and stepped back just as quickly. A shaft of light filled the closet. A thin, cramped figure stood amidst a phalanx of mops, his head buried in the mop strings. He was trembling. Courvoisie ordered him out of the closet. The two clubs were still in the air. The boy stepped out with his hands raised in the air. He offered no resistance at all. The clubs gradually came down.
    Under investigation, the cadet admitted he broke into Capers Hall to steal exams for the purpose of selling them in the barracks. He was a six foot six basketball player who reportedly had great potential as an athlete. This potential, however, was never realized at The Citadel.

ERW’S
     
    ERW’s reveal as much about the nature of The Citadel and her cadets as the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal about the ancient Jewish sect of Essenes. Explaining the function of an ERW to a non-Citadelian is almost as difficult as translating those same scrolls. In military language, this “explanation required written” is a rather unsubtle method of extracting confessions from men who otherwise would remain silent and unpunished. If, for instance, a cadet is absent from a formation, he is asked to write an ERW to explain his whereabouts at the time of this formation. He may have been dying of cholera in the rear of the gymnasium. Therefore, his punishment would not be as severe as it normally would be. The cadet might have been absent because he slept through formation, received a phone call from his girl friend telling him about their blessed event, or any of a thousand reasons. No matter what the reason, the cadet had to explain his absence to the Commandant’s Department. It was up to Colonel Courvoisie to read the ERW’s and to decide what punishment be levied on the offender. Most of the time these ERW’s were dull documents, sterile as test tubes, without life or personality. They were written in the designated formula;