Disclaimer: All Disclaimers mentioned before still apply.
Chapter 2
The test
02/22/2010
08:53
Max woke me up by licking my face. He had apparently been up for awhile. I pet his head and said, "Good morning, Max."
I got out of bed and went to bathroom to relieve myself. Afterwards I put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants and took Max out to use the bathroom.
After he did his thing we went back upstairs. I went into the bathroom and took a shower. I dried off and got back into the sweats. I then gave
Max a bath. After his bath, I started to clean the apartment. I then gathered all of the dirty laundry and took it and max downstairs to the
basement to the apartments Laundromat. My clothing wasn't much, just several uniforms, and some jeans and shirts. I took the basket and max
and went back upstairs. It was around 10:00. I got dressed in jeans, a black button up shirt and then went to the kitchen to make lunch. I decided
to make spaghetti, meatballs and salad. I knew that Lilia would like some.
10:52
I was straining the noodles and putting them back in the pot and mixing in the sauce when…
-Ding dong-
-Ding dong-
Max ran to the door and started waging his tail. He quietly barked.
"That must be them." I put the sauce jar down, screwed the lid back on, dried off my hands and went to the door. I unlocked the door. Right before
I could say hello a little white tornado flew right into my legs shouting,
"UNCLE TOM." The little tornado turned out my little two year old niece, Lilia. She had grown the last time I had seen her. Of course that was about
three months and little kids grow rapidly. I picked her up and held her in my arms and said
"and how is my favorite niece doing?" and she replied,
"Uncle Tom, I'm your only niece." I stifled a laugh and said, "all the more reason to ask."
I then looked up at my sister and brother-in-law. My sister was dressed in a black T-shirt with a short denim jacket and jeans. Randy was dressed
in jeans, a green button up shirt and a black sports coat. They honestly looked like a cute couple, even though I knew that they were right for each
other back in 2005, a full two and a half years before they got married. I said to them,
"well well well, what do we have here? A very beautiful girl and an equally handsome guy. Who might these two be? Wait don't tell me. Hmm… that
would be my sister and her husband. Correct?" Katie said,
"ding ding ding. That is the answer to the sixty-four dollar question." I laughed at that and said,
"come in, come in."
I put Lilia down and she immediately was pummeled with licks from max. She giggled and laughed all the way to the living room. Katie and Randy
walked in and I closed and locked the door. I asked as they sat down in the living room,
"do you guys want anything?"
Randy said, "I'll take a beer."
Katie asked, "do you have any wine?"
I responded, "I have some chardonnay. Is that okay?"
"Yeah"
I then asked, "Lilia, do want something to drink?"
"Juice."
"Okay." I got a beer for Randy, a glass of chardonnay for Katie, a cup of apple juice for Lilia and a Ginger Ale for myself.
I gave them their drinks and then went back to the kitchen to take the spaghetti out of the pan. I called "Have you guys had lunch yet?" Katie
answered,
"Not Yet and I'm Starving." I responded,
"Well I hope you guys like spaghetti." Lilia called out
"YEAH SPAGHETTIIIIIIII." I couldn't help but laugh and say,
"Ha, Ha, Ha well I'll take that as a yes. It'll be ready in few minutes." I took three large plates, one small plate and three salad bowls out and put
equal portions on each plate. I then took them into dining room. I also got some dog food out for max and set it in the dining room. I told them,
"lunch is on." Lilia and max darted into the room. Lilia sat down in her seat while Max immediately started chomping at his lunch. Katie and Randy
came in slightly slower than their little tornado. I asked Lilia's Parents,
"how does she have this much energy?" Randy responded, "I don't know, but she is a handful." We all sat down and started eating. We eat in
relative silence. Then after about ten minutes, Randy asked, "So how has your life been, Tom?" "It's been great; I got to finally meet the newest
officer on my team last night." "Well that's great. What's he like?" "Militaristic. He's like a new soldier addressing an officer." Katie then interjected,
"Sounds like someone I know." She was hinting at me when I was in JROTC. I said,
"well he is a nice kid from what I can tell. He asked if I could…"
–ring- -ring-
My cell phone was going off. "Darn it" "Excuse me." I went to my bedroom and answered the phone. "Hello, this is Tom." "Mr. Radford, this is staff
sergeant Anderson from the National Guard. How are you today?" "Um… Fine. How can I help you?"
"Well I sent your information through the system and they said if you are going to get into west point this summer you need take the preliminary
tests now. Can you come in to the armory in Machesney in about one hour?" I looked at the clock. It read 11:39. "Sure. I'll be there at 12:45."
"Thanks. Goodbye." "Bye." I flipped my phone closed and went back out to dining room and sat down. Katie noticed that I looked down and asked,
"Who was that." I had to come up with a response quickly. I didn't want to lie, but also didn't want them to knew that I was rejoining the military
just yet. I said, "That was the office. There's an emergency meeting at the office for all site supervisors in one hour. I have to go to it. I am sorry for
leaving you guys like this but I have no choice." Randy said, "We Understand." With that I took a drink of my Arnold palmer and went to the
bedroom to get my jacket. I called to the dining room, "I should be back in a couple hours. Okay?" Katie called, "Okay" and then I was out the
door. I went down to the basement, into the garage, got in my car and left.
12:34
I arrived at the Armory and sat in the parking lot for about five minutes. I then walked into the armory. It was a single floor building that looked like
a small elementary school from the outside. It had the motor pool on the east side of the building and what looked liked a gymnasium on the south
side. I walked through front door and looked to the right. I saw the directory and looked for the recruiting office, it was in room 159A. I walked
toward the front office to my left, room 102. I walked in to see a sergeant working on some paperwork. I saw the name on his fatigues. It read
O'Neal. I knocked on the door and the sergeant O'Neal looked up and said,
"Can I help you?"
"Yes sergeant, I'm looking for room 159 Alpha."
"First, I have a question for you. Were you ROTC?" I was kind of surprised that he was asking me a question like that. I regained my composure
and responded,
"Yes sergeant I was. I graduated a major. Why?"
"I was just asking because not a lot new recruits know rank or phonetics. Room 159 alpha is third door on your right in the hallway behind you,
major" I looked behind me and saw the hallway. I turned around. "Thanks sergeant." I walked out of the office and down the hallway. I walked
into room 159A looked around, I didn't see anyone. Then I looked up and saw I sign that said SSG Anderson and an arrow pointing to the right. It
was pointing to an office around the corner. I walked to the office and saw Staff Sergeant Anderson. Like Sergeant O'Neal, he was doing
paperwork. I knocked on the door; he looked up and asked "Can I help you?" I said, "Yes Staff Sergeant. I am Tom Radford." "Ah yes I was
expecting you, please sit down." I walked over to the desk, shook his hand and sat down. He then said, "So you want to go to west point, huh?"
"Very much, Sergeant. But why did you want me come in today." He leaned back in his chair and said, "Because the cutoff date for the prelims is
March 1st and they take about a week to determine if you qualify to enter. So I called the admissions counselor at West Point to have them fax
over the preliminary test." He then sat up turned around, got a small test booklet from the shelf behind him, turned around, handed me the
booklet and said, "I would like you to go to the room across the hallway to room 152 and take the test. You shouldn't be disturbed while you're in
their. Come back and see me when you are done. Okay?" "Okay. Thank you, Sergeant." I walked out of the office and went across the hall to room
152. I opened the door and saw that no one was inside. It looked like a classroom. There were five long tables with ten chairs at each table. At the
front of the room was a podium with a projector screen to its left and a DVD player was to right of the podium. On the ceiling was a projector. I
closed the door and walked to the front of the class and took a seat in the first seat from the left. I looked up and saw above the projector screen
a digital clock and a sign the said "135th Chemical Company" I looked at the clock; it said 12:50:23. I looked back down at the booklet. The cover
said "Department of the Army. United States Military Academy at West Point. Preliminary Acceptance Test. 01/01/2010" From my four years in High
School JROTC and my college classes in military science I knew that this was not the same test as the test taken by people last year because the
tests are updated every year to prevent cheating. I took the pencil I was given, tore the seal and looked at how many pages the test contained.
There were 30 pages, 10 questions each, 300 questions total. I turned to page one and started taking the test.
-102 minutes later-
After I finished the test, I closed the booklet, got up, grab the booklet and turned around to see a lieutenant colonel in a class B uniform in the last
row watching me. He looked about 47 years old. I saw that he had six rows of ribbons, including the Purple Heart, and medal of valor. He had the
Special Forces tab, the ranger tab, the airborne tab, and the 75th Ranger regiment unit tab of his sleeve. The name badge on right breast pocket
flap said Daniels. He had a portfolio on the table in front of him. When I saw him I almost fell backwards in surprise. I thought, "How did he enter the
room so quietly. I didn't even hear the door open." He said to me, "West Point prelim test, sir?" I hesitated, but after a few seconds I responded,
"Uhh, Um… ye, yes sir, colonel." He then got up walked up to me and said "please give me your test". I gave him the booklet and he took it back to
his seat at the back of the room. He took a sheet of paper with writing on it out of his portfolio. He then said, "Please sit down." I then sat back
down. I realized that the sheet of paper he took out was the tests answer sheet because he was checking my answers. After fifteen minutes he
got up and said to me, "Mr. Radford, come with me please." I thought, "What the hell?" I got up, followed him out of the room and back into the
recruiting office. When we entered Staff Sergeant Anderson's office, he looked up. When he saw Colonel Daniels he immediately got out of his
seat, stood at attention, saluted the lieutenant colonel and said, "GOOD AFTERNOON, SIR." The colonel returned the salute and said, "At ease and
sit down, sergeant. Relax." Sergeant Anderson dropped his salute and then sat down. Colonel Daniels then sat down and said, "Please sit down,
Mr. Radford." I sat down in the chair next to him, wondering what the heck is going on. Sergeant Anderson then said, "How can I help you, sir?"
Colonel Daniels took out his wallet, took out a business card and said, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Daniels, West Point Military Academy Recruiter for
Illinois. I got a call from the admissions counselor at West Point telling me that there is a young man taking the prelim here at this armory. So I
came up here toady to see how he was doing. When he was done, I asked him to give me the test. I then checked his answers. And you will be
happy to know that he got every question right." The jaws of both me and the sergeant just dropped. After ten seconds, I recovered and yelled,
"WHAT?" the colonel said, "you…got…every…question…right." He then showed me the test booklet. On the cover there were two numbers on it. It
read 300/300. I just sat there in disbelief. The colonel then said, "Mr. Radford, I can one hundred percent guarantee your acceptance into West
Point this summer. I will fax this over to West Point tonight and we will see if you need to take the primary acceptance test. They will determine
whether or not will need to take it. But I can almost guarantee that you won't have to. Someone from west point will call you within the next few
days. Okay?" I then said "Umm…Oookaaaaay." "I also think you should go and get an I.Q. test just to see how smart you are because in the seven
years that I have been a recruiter for west point, nobody has gotten a perfect score." And with that he got up and left the room. I looked at the
sergeant and he looked at me. He finally said, "Well…congratulations…Cadet Radford." I laughed at this. We then both got up, shook hands and I
said, "thank you, sergeant. Um…requesting permission to leave the building, Staff Sergeant." He chuckled at this and then said, "Permission
granted, Cadet." I then did an about face and walked out of the office, walked into the hallway, to the front door, and went to my car. After I
closed my car's door I couldn't take it anymore. I let out a very loud "YAHOOOOOOO." I started my car and drove home. All the way home I had
butterflies in my stomach.
15:23
When I got home and after I parked my car in the garage, I didn't take the elevator. I took the stairs all the up to the top floor. When I got to my
door I was so excited that I dropped my keys twice. After I opened the door I heard the TV on. I Yelled "I'm Home." Katie called "Okay" Max came
running at me and I bent down to pet and grope his head. After a minute I got up went to the kitchen to get a beer and Max went back to the
living room to play with Lilia. Before I started drinking my beer, I took out my phone and called my Mom.
-Ring-
-Ring-
-Click-"Hi, honey." "Hi, Mom. Listen I was wondering, could you come over to my place for a little while after work, please." "Sure, I'll be there
around four, Okay?" "Sweetness, see you then." "May I ask why?" "I have something to tell you, dad, Katie and Randy." "Okay, see you in a little
bit." "Okay, Bye" "Bye" I pushed the end button and then dialed my dad's phone.
-Ring-
-Ring-
-Ring-
-Click- "Hello?" "Hi, Dad" "Hi" "listen, are you busy?" "No. why?" "Well, I wanted to know if you could come by my place in about thirty minutes. I
want to tell you, mom, Katie and Randy something that I cant say over the phone." "…okay, I'll be there in thirty minutes." "Cool, see ya." "Bye" I
closed my phone, set it down and then took a drink of my beer. "ahhhhhhh." It was satisfying. Katie then walked into the kitchen and said, "You
seem to be in a good mood." "I am. Ohhh. I am" "Want to tell me about it." "I will when our parents get here. Okay?" "Okay." With that both of us
went back to the living room and I flopped down into my easy chair. I was comfortable. I laid my head down on the top of the chair and closed my
eyes. I could hear my sister whisper to Randy "let's not disturb him" I was thankful for that. I then fell asleep.
16:03
-Ding dong-
I woke up to the doorbell. I was about to get up when my sister got up and went to the door. I heard my mom say "hey honey." My sister said "hi
mom." Max then ran to the door to greet my parents. All four of them came into the living room. Lilia jumped up and cried, "GRANDPA, GRANDMA."
My mom picked her up and said "Hi honey." My dad looked at her at patted her head and then went and sat down on the couch. My mom then
came over and handed Lilia to him. He cradled her for a while. I then motioned for them to sit down. Katie then said, "Now Tom what did you want
to tell us?" I took a few seconds to gather myself. I then started; "you all know that I have been with per mar for about three years, right?" they
all nodded. I continued, "Well these past couple weeks I've been having this feeling. Like a calling to do something else. And yesterday I finally
realized what it was that was calling. My Family, I have decided to rejoin the military." They fell silent. The only sounds were from Lilia playing with
Max. I decided to go on. "I received a call from the National Guard Armory this morning. I apologize for to you guys saying that it was a meeting at
Milanis. The phone call I got this morning was actually the National Guard recruiter telling me that I had come to the armory to take preliminary
entrance test because I am planning to enter West Point Military Academy this summer. So I went there to take the test. The state recruiter for
west point came up and checked my answers. He said that he was certain that I was going to be in west point this summer." I could tell that they
were all digesting what I had just told them. After a minute my dad asked me, "Did they tell you how you did on the test?" I felt a sense of pride
welling up. I responded, "out of three hundred questions on the test, I got three hundred correct." When I said this, all of there mouths dropped.
They all then yelled, "WHAAAAAAAAAT?" my ears were ringing. I said, "Yeah. Three hundred." My mom then said, "Well, that's amazing. I am proud
of you, Tom." Katie then said, "When should you be going?" I then said, "I don't know, but I should be getting a call from west point sometime this
week." Randy then said, "Congratulations, Tom." Then dad's cell phone started ringing
'law and order cell phone song'
"Hello?"
…Who's calling him? I thought.
…
"Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes." He then hung up the phone. "I'm sorry guys but I have to go downtown to school board offices." I then said,
"Okay." He then got up and went out. My mom then said, "Well, I got to go too. I have to baby-sit." "Okay" she then left. I then asked Katie and
Randy, "do you guys want to stay for dinner?" Katie said, "No we were planning to go to the movies and then go to Milo's." She then looked at her
watch. "In fact we better get going if we are going to make the movie." "Okay, have fun." All three of them said their goodbyes and then left. At
5:12 I went downstairs and put my laundry in the dryer. When I got back up stairs I gave max some water and went to my room to take a nap. I
was almost too excited because of my score on the test and I looked at the clock. It said 5:40. But after ten minutes of waiting and two minutes
after max came in to the room and jump up on to the bed I finally got to sleep. No dreams though.
A/N: Be Aware that the USMA test mentioned in this chapter doesn't exist (as far as I am aware) and placement into the USMA doesn't happen like
this (as far as I am aware).