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Chapter 20: Losing Rancek
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Twenty Losing Rancek Yea lhough I walk through the valley ofdeath, I willflar no Mli/, for I am the mean~t motheifucker in the valley. -Infontry schooljoke After turning black, we found that OCS relaxed some. The philosophy for the first twelve weeks was "Total Control-Lockdown,ยป meaning that every hour was controlled, no passes, no phone, no radio, or newspaper privileges. After the eighth- and twelfth-week panels had bounced out the weakest candidates, we began to get a few privileges, but they might be granted for one platoon for one night and not for the next. We might get coffee privileges on breaks one day and have them denied the next. Rancek seemed to be especially erratic. One morning he told us we could have paper privileges before we marched over to Infantry Hall for day-long instruction on night patrols. I bought a paper in the hall at the first break and was standing there reading it and smoking a cigarette when he came by and ripped into me. "Adams, what the hell do you think you're doing reading that paper? JUSt who told you you had paper privileges?" "Sir, Candidate Adams. You did, sir. This morning." He looked at me blankly for a moment and then said, "As you were, Adams. I \vas just checking to make sure you were alert." As the academic officer I ended up down in the TAC office entering grades almost every night for awhile. Rancek had grown more tolerant over the weeks, but now he seemed more and more distracted. The next night after he'd given us paper privileges, I was in his office working. Usually these nights he would be gone after chow, and I could work alone during the regular study hall hours, another benefit of being academic officer. Muttering to himself that there was nothing left to lose, Rancek came in quickly and acted like I wasn't there. I was sitting on the floor sorting the test results on tactics from the week before. He turned on the stereo he kept behind his desk, the one I'd sneaked a listen to over the weeks when I was sure he wasn't going to come in on me. He put on a Rolling Stones album and mrned it up loud, and the sounds of"Symparhy for the Devil" reverberated off the walls. I sran ed to say something to him, but I figured he'd speak to me when and if he was ready. He leaned back in the chair with his arms behind his head, closed his eyes for a few minutes, then took a key from his pocket and unlocked his desk drawer. I watched quietly as he brought out a small leather pouch and a packet of rolling papers. He took out a paper, tapped some of the contents of the pouch into rhe paper, rolled it into a cigarette, and licked the edge. I had never seen Rancek smoke, and even though we had been allowed to smoke in our rooms during study hall, he was adamant that no one could smoke in the TAC office. He reached into the back of the desk drawer and pulled Out an ashtray and some matches. He looked over the smoke he'd rolled, licked the edges again, and lit it up. The smoke began to fill the room, and I recognized the sweet smell of marijuana. I couldn't believe that Rancek was actually smoking dope in the TAC office. It wasn't particularly dangerous to smoke there, becmsc the second platoon TAe office was at the far end ofthe building, isolated from the CO's office, the other platoons, and from our rooms upstairs. And since it was late in our training cycle, most ofthe orner officers were gone by this time ofthe evening, and one TAC officer rarely went into another platoon anyway. Stili, something odd must have happened for Rancek to take such a chance. It was incredible that he would risk lighting up there, especially in front of me. I thought that he must not have seen me on the floor when he came in, and I began to wonder how I should handle this strange rum ofevents. I thought for a minute that I would just sit silently and maybe he wouldn't realize I was there, bur the longer I sat watching him, the more uncomfortable I bCGlme. I dcrided that maybe J should JUSt leave...