SEVENTEEN
“Did anybody get the newspaper?” Stephanie asked her line sisters, as she carried a box of bricks into the kitchen. “We need it to cover the floor.” She put the bricks down, yawned, and stretched. Her body ached, and she craved a long hot bath.
Their big sisters had given them bricks and little lavalieres shaped in the sorority’s symbol. They were to paint the bricks pink and choose one of the founders whom they felt they were most like, dedicate the brick to her, and carry the brick through the end of Hell Week, which, according to the urgency in their big sister Kendra’s voice, had already begun. They spoke more with her and less with Dean Big Sister Nina ever since the night of the auction. The line sisters assumed she and Derrick had hit it off pretty well after the auction, because in the last few sessions they had with their big sisters, she wasn’t as demanding as she had been during the first part of their pledge period.
Big Sister Kendra informed them that the bricks required two coats of paint, and needed to be ready yesterday. She also told them that they needed to put each person’s line number on their lavalieres.
It was a Saturday morning, and the line sisters hadn’t slept all night. After their big sisters left one of the biggest parties of the year, which, of course, the line sisters missed, they decided to conduct a pledge session until five-thirty a.m. The big sisters were on a high from the party, and a few were a little tipsy. The big sisters quizzed the pledges on their sorority’s history and questioned them on every possible fact about one another. The pledges answered every question, and their big sisters became bored with them, so they made them stand in line for hours doing absolutely nothing. The justification was that the pledges needed to know what it felt like to be in a helpless situation that was mentally draining, unnecessary, and a waste of their time, and still function normally the following day. Their big sisters went home and got sleep afterward. The poor pledges, however, only had time to grab a quick nap because their day started at seven a.m.
“There’s some newspaper in the trunk of my car,” Cajen said. “I’ll go get it as soon as my body lets me.” She forced herself off the sofa, reached into her backpack, grabbed her keys, and went to her car.
“I’m so tired, and I’ll be glad when I get my apartment back,” Stephanie complained. “I can’t believe Dean Big Sister Nina volunteered my place for us to move into for an entire week or longer.” She yawned, sat on the floor beside the bricks, and closed her eyes for a brief moment. “I love you ladies a lot, but I’m not gonna miss any one of you when it’s time to say bye, and I promise I’m gonna get a maid in here and get my carpet and upholstery shampooed. I’m gonna pamper my poor, abused apartment,” Stephanie said.
Tiara, who had caught Stephanie’s yawn, responded. “I hear you, girl. Some people got it like that.”
She opened her eyes. “Nah, I’m sending that bill to my daddy. It will be his gift to me for crossing.”
“You’re saying you want us out now, but you are going to be sick when we leave, because you’re gonna miss us,” Malena said.
“Whatever!” Stephanie laughed.
The line sisters spent the rest of the evening painting and preparing their bricks and lavalieres. They discussed the improvements they wanted to make once they got into the sorority. They also talked about how much fun their next campus party was going to be. They would be sorority sisters and everyone would watch them and think about how exciting their lives must be as they danced their sorority steps in line around the party. They imagined they would be the envy of all non-Greek women.
The sisters talked about what they had missed most while pledging. Tiara said she missed studying with Sandra and Gina in the hall on her floor. Malena missed double-dating with Tammy. And she longed for quality time with Ray. Cajen couldn’t wait to have one of those long talks with Eric that she enjoyed so much. Chancey missed Don’s apartment more than her dorm room, and lying on his bed talking before class.
Although she tried otherwise, Stephanie could think only of her friendship with Sidney. That is what she truly missed. Her full days as a pledge didn’t allow her time to speak with her about their previous argument and Sidney’s being pregnant. She realized how much their relationship meant to her and wanted to resolve their differences.
The line sisters talked about their plans for the summer, and Stephanie invited everybody to her parents’ house for a weekend when her mother would throw a party in honor of her joining the sorority. She warned them that Savannah was small, but promised that it was a beautiful city to visit. They were excited to go, and chose a weekend.
The evening flew by as they continued talking. They sang some of the sorority’s songs, and practiced their sorority call. And although they were exhausted, they had an enjoyable evening. They were functioning purely off the adrenaline and the excitement of knowing that Hell Week always ended in crossing the burning sands into the Greek world.
The pledges were in Malena’s car. It was five a.m., and they were leaving the worst session of their pledge period. If they hadn’t known that in less than a week it would all be over, they all would have dropped line and gone back to their normal lives.
Dean Big Sister Nina instructed them to travel in one car instead of two to save time. Malena drove and Chancey was in the passenger seat. She was awake, but mentally she had checked out. She was shocked by the tremendous hazing experience she had just endured, but she was too tired to stay awake, so she zoned out. Tiara and Stephanie were passed out in the backseat. They were asleep before Malena got the car on the road. Cajen sat in the middle of her two sleeping sisters. She didn’t want Malena to be the only conscious person in the car, so she kept up the conversation.
“Can you believe that session?” Cajen asked her. “I can’t believe we actually made it through that chaos.”
Malena didn’t respond, but Cajen continued. “They had the nerve to say we all were gonna drop by the time the night was over. I guess we showed them,” she said.
“They oughta know it’s too late for us to turn back now,” Malena said. Her tone was dry, but she was glad Cajen was talking to her, because she was sleepy.
“This has got to be Hell Week, because our big sisters are crazy. We are supposed to recite history, answer petty questions about our sincerity to join the sorority, and learn five songs by the end of the night. And just where do they get off thinking they can break our line up? We are much too tight for that. They better recognize physical hazing doesn’t work either,” Cajen joked. “And what about the one-eighty-degree change Assistant Dean Big Sister Kendra pulled? I never thought I’d see that side of her.”
“Girl, please. Anything that happens now until we cross will not surprise me. It didn’t even surprise me when Big Sister Attitude Adjuster said we’d better not go to sleep when we get to Stephanie’s, and that she expects us to call her at the start of every hour and each tell her answering machine we are awake,” Malena replied.
“She’s psycho. I think she missed her calling. She should have become a lion tamer, or something barbaric like that, ’cause she insists on training us.” She looked around. “Can you believe these wimps fell asleep on us?”
“I’m not asleep,” Chancey replied, but not one bone in her body moved, and her eyes were glazed over.
“Oh, yes you are,” Cajen and Malena answered in unison. They laughed.
The girls arrived at Stephanie’s apartment and dragged themselves out of the car, each wondering if it was really worth it.
EIGHTEEN
“Oh, shit!” Cajen screamed, as she got off the phone and ran into the living room where the rest of her line sisters were going over new pieces of history and other important information about the sorority their dean conveniently forgot to give them until the end of last night’s session. The girls were irritated and cursing more frequently. Even Chancey found occasion to swear.
“I just got the first of the two calls Nina told us about at the auction practice. Now get this. She said we need to be dressed in our black sweat suits and drive all the way out to Sawanee Park and be there at exactly 11:45 p.m.”
“It’s almost ten now. Isn’t that park an hour and a half from campus?” Chancey asked.
“You’re right. Anyway, then she said she wants us to park the car and walk to the large gray pavilion,” said Cajen.
“What gray pavilion?” Chancey asked. She was stressed, and her right leg began to bounce as it always did when she was uncomfortable.
“Why we got to meet them all the way out there?” Tiara complained.
“Wait. That’s not all.” She continued. “Then she said if no big sisters show up in an hour, we are to go to the blue pavilion and call her to make sure she has already left. If she’s not there, we are to call this new number she gave me for further instructions.”
“They’re trying to make fools of us,” Malena said. She was sitting on the floor filing her fingernails. “We’re gonna get to that park and nobody’s gonna be there but us, sitting in the dark, looking like some damned fools, waiting to make a stupid phone call that will more than likely lead us to drive back to campus, and that’s why I’m not going.”
“You’re probably right, but what if we don’t show up and they do? What if they come out there, and we’re nowhere to be found? Big Sister Nina’s exact words were ‘If you mess up, then you’re shit outta luck,’ ” Tiara said.
“True, but we are forgetting one important thing. Big Sister Nina already gave us the time and the location of our second destination. What was the time and location Cajen? Wasn’t it Vine something?” Stephanie asked.
“Yeah, the corner of Jackson and Vine at one a.m.,” Chancey said.
“That’s it exactly,” Cajen confirmed.
“They won’t have anything to do with us until one,” Stephanie explained.
“So, they’re just trying to wear us out. I’m not going,” Tiara said.
“I’m not going either,” Stephanie huffed. She crossed her arms and legs.
Everyone sat in silence for about five minutes. They weren’t sure what their next move was going to be, but time was passing and they needed to act.
“Shit! I hate this. We have to go,” Malena finally said. She put her emery board on Stephanie’s coffee table and got up off the floor. They were all becoming relaxed in their treatment of the apartment.
“This is crazy,” Cajen said. She got up and followed. She didn’t want to go, but she, as well as her other line sisters, knew that they had no choice.
“We’ll go,” Stephanie said, still sitting on the couch. “But I’ll tell you what else we are going to do. Chancey, how much money do we have left in the treasury?”
“What are you thinking about doing with the money?” She was protective of the line’s money and wanted to make sure every penny of it was spent wisely. “We only have sixty-five dollars.”
“The money is ours, right?” Stephanie asked.
“Yeah . . .” Chancey wondered where she was going with her questions.
“Well, we will only be on line for what . . . two, three more days tops.”
“Well, maybe . . . maybe not,” Cajen interjected.
“When was the last time that any of us sat down and ate a real meal? We have been chomping down burgers and chips and all kinds of other junk on the run. I say if we’re gonna be sitting in an empty park passing time away, we think smart and make it worth our while.”
“Keep going, Stephanie. I like where you’re going with this,” Malena said.
Knowing her idea was going to be the bright spot of their gloomy pledge period, she began to overarticulate, as she always did when she felt she had a brilliant idea. “I’m merely suggesting that we indulge ourselves in a much-deserved moonlight picnic feast.”
“But what if we need the money for something else?” Chancey asked.
“You only live once,” said Tiara. “I’m with Steph. Let’s go for broke and stop at KFC and get a bucket of fried chicken, some mean turnip greens, cole slaw, and I say we don’t stop there—let’s even get corn on the cob. Then let’s stop at a grocery store on our way to no-man’s-land and get a pie. Why the hell not?” Tiara added.
“Y’all are crazy. What if the big sisters show up?” Cajen asked.
“What if they don’t?” Malena responded.
“Let’s do it!” Cajen said.
Everybody looked at Chancey who had to give permission to use the money. She held tightly to the pad she used for the accounting, and stared at it. It seemed too risky.
“Don’t be a scaredy-cat!” Tiara teased.
“I am scared,” Chancey admitted.
“What’s the worse thing that could happen?” Stephanie said. “It’s not like they want to kill us. They just want to haze us.”
“Well, Big Sister Attitude Adjuster might want to kill us, but if she comes out there by herself, I think we can take her,” Tiara joked.
“Chancey, get up off the cash and let’s go. We’re running out of time,” Malena insisted.
“Okay, I’ll go. But if we get caught in the park eating fried chicken, of all things, it will be our last supper, and Big Sister Attitude Adjuster and the crew won’t have to kill us . . . I’ll do it for her.”
“That’s cool. We can handle that,” Tiara said.
They quickly changed into the black sweat suits and socks, grabbed their backpacks and property, slipped on their tennis shoes on the way out the door, and piled into Stephanie’s car.
On the radio, an old tune was playing.
“Oh, I love that song,” Cajen said.
“I do too. That’s my jam,” Tiara added.
They sang, and everybody knew all the words.
“Ooh!” Malena said. “This song reminds me of Ray. We danced together for the first time to that song.”
Everybody sighed. The next song was an oldie too.
“What station would play that tired mess? Stephanie, why do you listen to that oldies station anyway? Sometimes I swear you act ten years older than you really are,” Tiara complained.
“There is nothing wrong with my preference in music, and as far as my mannerisms are concerned, I’m not old. I’m just mature for my age. That’s why I don’t have a boyfriend right now. These little campus boys are just too young-acting for me. I need a real man in my life,” replied Stephanie.
“Why, no matter what we’re doing or where we’re going, do we always end up talking about men?” Chancey asked. “We are pitiful. I know I am because I miss my Donnie-wonnie so much. We’d better hurry up and cross, because I couldn’t take another week without him.”
“I know how you feel. As soon as Ray and I found direction in our relationship, we were torn apart by the Attitude Adjuster and her torturous crew,” Malena joked.
The girls laughed.
“Yeah, it’s like my fate with Jason has been suspended. I’m just wanting to see what happens between us,” said Cajen.
There was silence, but Cajen didn’t say anything because she knew her sisters didn’t want her with Jason, and that they were concerned about her happiness. She also knew they could never understand what she felt for him, so she decided to keep all future comments about him to herself.
They picked up their meal and stopped by a grocery store to buy a chess pie. Even if they were caught by their big sisters, the energy they’d generated by carrying out a plan that was not dictated by their big sisters would carry them through whatever they would face that evening. The group spent the rest of their drive to the park singing, talking, and for a change acting as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
When they found the gray pavilion, they set up their picnic at one of the tables. The girls were hungry and couldn’t wait to dig in.
“Um, um, um. This chicken is finger-lickin’ good. I’m so glad we did this,” Tiara said. She licked her fingers to reiterate her point.
“I just hope nobody shows up,” Chancey said. She was trying to enjoy her meal, but she was too worried about being caught.
“But you have to admit, it’s good, huh.” Cajen smiled and patted her small stomach.
“Oh, it’s definitely the best food I’ve had in seven weeks,” Chancey responded.
“Let’s make a toast,” Stephanie suggested.
“As long as I can do the honors,” Malena requested. She loved to talk, as well as the art of ceremony.
“I would like to toast Hell Week because it’s the beginning of the end. I also toast sisterhood because I have gained four new phenomenal sisters in my life, and I sometimes wonder how I ever made it through life without you. Y’all are my girls, and I hope we will continue to remain as close as we are now and that we continue to stay in touch and visit each other, even after I’m a big-time owner of a high-profile PR firm, and Chancey and Donald become a big-time millionaire family and star in commercials and shit like that, and Tiara finally becomes an engineer and finds the man who rocks her world, and Cajen dumps Jason’s ass and moves to New York or some big glamorous city and becomes Miss America and has men falling over their feet trying to meet her, and Stephanie wakes up and realizes there are good men in the world who just so happen not to be filthy rich. Hell, you both could live off your trust fund and become a . . . well, I don’t know about him, but she’ll become a professional world shopper, shopping all across the universe. Anyway, after all that happens I hope we’ll make efforts to continue being friends and keep in touch like real sisters do.”
“I’m not a shopoholic,” Stephanie begged to differ.
“We follow where you’re trying to go, I think,” Cajen said.
“Okay, then let’s toast,” Malena said, and held up her cup. They touched cups and gave each other meaningful smiles. Every one of them really understood what Malena was saying underneath all her joking. They too hoped they could continue to share the special bond that had formed among them.
Their feast continued until it was time to check in with Dean Big Sister Nina. They even finished the entire chess pie Cajen had picked out. Neither Stephanie nor Tiara had ever heard of chess pie, but everybody seemed to like the sweet, eggy taste.
They found a pay phone in the blue pavilion and called Dean Big Sister Nina. She answered the phone.
“Hi, Dean Big Sister Nina. This is number five,” Stephanie said. Then she began to greet, “Greetings, Most Honorable Big Sister. I am so pleased—”
“Not tonight. I’m not in the mood to be greeted. Put number two on the phone.”
“Yes, Dean Big Sister Nina,” Stephanie said, and handed the phone over to Cajen.
“This is number two. Greetings, Most—”
“Not right now, number two . . . Listen closely. Do you have the phone number I gave you earlier?”
“Yes, Dean Big Sister Nina.”
“Call that number right now.” Then she hung up. Flabbergasted, Cajen stood there and frowned, still holding the phone to her ear.
“What is she saying?” Chancey asked.
“She’s not saying anything. She hung up,” Cajen replied, and put the receiver on the base.
“But what did she say?” Malena asked. They circled the pay phone, waiting to hear their next step.
“She said call the number she gave us earlier.”
“This is so stupid. I hate this shit,” Tiara complained.
Cajen asked Chancey for another quarter, put it in the pay phone, and called the number.
“Hello,” the person on the other end answered.
“Yes, I was told to call this number.”
“Who is this?” the person asked. Cajen was almost sure it was Big Sister Attitude Adjuster. Static coming from the other end convinced her she was on a cellular phone.
“This is Cajen,” she replied.
“Since when do you go by Cajen? Do you know who you are speaking to?”
“No. No, I do not.”
“Figure it out!” The person on the other end said and then hung up the phone. Again, Cajen held the telephone to her ear, stunned. When she hung up, Stephanie asked who answered.
“I think it was the Adjuster.”
“Big Sister Attitude Adjuster, oh shit,” Tiara said. “What did she say?”
“I gotta call her back. I need another quarter, Chancey.”
She gave her another quarter, and Cajen called back.
“Hello,” the voice on the other end said again.
“Big Sister Attitude Adjuster, this is number two. Greetings, Most Honorable Big Sister—”
“Cut the shit, number two. What’s the password?”
“Password?” Cajen asked, and looked around at her line sisters, confused. “I didn’t know that I needed—”
“Put number one on the phone. I bet she knows the password. And tell her not to waste time greeting. This is an urgent matter.”
Cajen put the receiver against her hand and whispered. “The Adjuster wants a password. We weren’t given a password, but she wants to speak to you now, Chancey, and don’t greet.”
“Me?” Chancey squealed. Her voice was trembling.
“Girl, you better take the phone,” Tiara demanded. She took the phone out of Cajen’s hand and gave it to Chancey, who went through the same thing as Cajen. The Adjuster asked for a password, which she didn’t know. This little ordeal continued with all of the line sisters until the phone got back to Cajen.
“Number two, did y’all figure out the password yet?”
“Well, no, Big Sister Attitude Adjuster.”
“Well, that’s because there is no password.” The Adjuster couldn’t stop laughing. “You girls are so funny. Do you have the address and the time?” She spoke in a condescending tone.
“Which one, Big Sister?”
“You don’t know by now?”
“Jackson and Vine at one?” Cajen hoped she had the correct information.
“Are you asking or answering?” she questioned. “You have to be sure of yourself, number two, if you want to make it in the world. There are no handouts in life.”
“I’m answering,” she said in the most confident tone she could manage.
“Better. Now, BE THERE!” the Adjuster said and hung up. Cajen looked at her line sisters and asked the time.