Wright put his manual down and stood to face Tee. Standing directly in his path, Wright blocked the passageway between the two diesels. Tee looked angry but he stopped and did not come any closer.
“What’s your problem, dickhead?” he finally said.
“You are, Tee. You’re nothing but a damned coward and a liar.”
Tee’s face grew red and his lip began to quiver. He looked like he wanted to rip Wright’s head off, but still he did not advance.
“You’re in enough trouble already, asshole,” Tee said, slightly regaining his composure. “I’d beat you to a pulp, if the XO would let me.”
“Well, you’re going to have to,” Wright said, barely maintaining his own self-control. “You’re not leaving this compartment, until you get through me.”
Tee looked long and hard at Wright. Realizing that
Wright’s intentions were serious, he sat his clipboard on the starboard diesel bedplate and rolled up his shirtsleeves. Tee outweighed Wright and Wright himself half-wondered what the hell he was getting himself into, challenging the man to a fight, but he was bent on venting the rage inside him. He was determined to settle the score and get revenge for Rudy’s death. He quickly unbuttoned and removed his own shirt.
“What the hell’s gotten into you lately anyway, Wright?” Tee asked, suddenly in a more appeasing tone. “Don’t you know when someone’s just screwing around with you?” Wright did not respond.
Tee paused. “I know I’ve been an asshole to you, and all. But the bull ensign’s supposed to be fucked with. All ensigns have to go through it. It’s kind of a navy rule.” Tee chuckled, in an obvious attempt to lighten up the situation.
With fists firmly clenched Wright did not laugh or even smile.
“When the next ensign shows up,” Tee added, “you can fuck with him like I’ve fucked with you. That’s the way it works.”
“I don’t care about that,” Wright said. “You think I’d risk a fucking court martial for that? Hardly.”
“Then what’s your fucking problem?”
“You killed Rudy, Tee! You killed Anderson!”
Tee’s face turned white. “What the hell’re you talking about?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know, asshole!” Wright yelled. “I saw the way you acted after Rudy was killed. You weren’t yourself. You were tense about something. What were you tense about, Tee?”
Tee glanced around the compartment. “Nothing. I was just a little upset at Rudy’s death. That’s all. We’d been shipmates for a while.”
“And it was just a coincidence that you suddenly returned to your old self again after Anderson shot himself, huh?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“Let me tell you what I’m talking about. You told Anderson to leave his post to clean up some coffee on the day Rudy died, didn’t you? Even after Rudy told you not to bother his watchstanders, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“I think you did. I think you did, and I think that plane snuck up on us because Anderson was away from the radar. We didn’t dive in time and Rudy got killed. Then you and Anderson were afraid you’d get court-martialed so you kept your mouths shut about the whole thing, blaming it all on atmospheric interference.” Wright paused. Tee continued to shake his head and glance around the compartment. He was visibly distraught. “You were able to live with the lie, Tee, but Anderson couldn’t. When the captain gave him that commendation letter, he cracked. He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t live with the guilt and he shot himself.”
Tee wiped beads of sweat from his forehead and pretended to smile. “Whew. That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life, Wright.”
“You thought no one else knew about your little secret,” Wright continued. “But you forgot one thing, sailors talk. They talk to each other. You should have known that there’s no such thing as a secret on a boat. Now they’re talking about taking matters into their own hands. They’re talking about getting revenge on you, Tee.”
Tee gave a brief artificial chuckle, but then his eyes fell to the deck and his face grew somber. Wright’s words had struck some string inside his warped mind and he suddenly became very quiet.
Wright walked toward him until they were toe to toe. Tee did not move.
“What’s it going to be, Tee? Did you do it, or not?”
Tee cleared his throat. His eyes slowly looked up to meet Wright’s.
“Yeah, Wright, I guess I did. But it’s not like—”
Tee did not finish the sentence before Wright’s fist struck him hard in the jaw. Wright could not hear any more of the man’s denials. He put every bit of strength and anger he had into his punch. Tee fell backward against the port side diesel engine, clutching his face, his mouth bleeding.
Wright landed two more punches to his temple, then missed with a third, as Tee ducked beneath it. Tee went on the offensive and came up with a strong blow to Wright’s midsection. Wright crumpled under the punch and fell to his knees wheezing. Tee had been a boxer at the Academy and knew exactly where to hit a man. Wright was now paying the price. He was bearing the consequences of his actions. He knew that Tee could beat him any day of the week, but at least he had landed a few punches. At least Tee was bleeding. That was some recompense for Rudy’s death.
Tee grabbed Wright’s hair and pulled his head up, preparing to deliver the knockout blow. Wright opened his eyes to see Tee’s large fist, an arm’s length away, ready to strike the smashing blow. He shut his eyes, waiting for the punch that would almost certainly shatter his jaw.
But it never came.
Wright opened his eyes again. Tee’s fist remained cocked, as he breathed heavily. Wright watched as the pure rage in Tee’s red sweaty face slowly transformed to anger, to pain, and then finally to sorrow. He released Wright’s hair while practically crying, and then backed off to lean against the port side diesel engine.
Wright clutched his own abdomen as he leaned against the opposite engine. He was sure several of his ribs were broken.
“You’re right,” Tee finally muttered, sobbing. “I screwed up that day. But it’s not like you said, Wright.”
Wright looked up at him, skeptically. Tee’s expression stunned him. If he had ever seen a trusting look on Tee’s face, this was it. Tee’s face showed the pain he felt. It was sincere. He was genuinely hurting inside for his actions.
“I did tell Anderson to clean up the coffee,” Tee continued. “Rudy got killed because of me. I know that. But you have to believe me, Wright, when I tell you, Anderson and I didn’t make any agreement about keeping quiet. He didn’t want to tell anybody anymore than I did. We both felt guilty. I know I did. It was eating me up the whole time we were in Pearl. I didn’t sleep nights. I drank all the time, and I couldn’t even face Margie. I could barely get a meal down. I was too drunk to see how bad it was eating at Anderson. I didn’t know he was going to kill himself. If I did, I would have come clean and told the XO about the whole thing.
“I wish Rudy hadn’t gotten killed. I liked him. You may not believe me, but I thought of him as a brother sometimes. He and I had seen a lot together. When he got killed, I just panicked. For some reason, all I could think about was how ashamed everyone would be if they found out it was my fault. The admiral would remember me as the failure. My father would remember me as the failure. My fucking dad, mister fucking navy!”