CHAPTER TWENTY - THREE
Dozens of orange roses filled the deck with loose petals covering the ground.
Candles provided soft illumination, casting just enough light to see.
It was the perfect intimate setting. The violinist played a song I felt resonated with the moment.
I watched as Zeus stood there, tearing up, while Sasha caressed his back.
Chevy and Z proudly stood on opposite sides.
I nervously ran my hand over my waves before clearing my throat while fixing my tie.
Diamond crooned as Samara came in looking as beautiful as the day I met her.
A nigga’s heart skipped a beat, as she was getting everything she wanted while our family and friends watched.
The closer she got to me, the more nervous I became.
When she reached me, I held out my hand for her to take, but she disappeared.
I stood there screaming her name, but a nigga didn’t have a voice.
I was pulled from my dream when I felt my body being pulled off the bed and something being flung over my head.
“It’s Hell Week, Slime! It’s time to go hell!” The big brothers yelled before blowing a whistle in my fucking ear.
They didn’t let me get dressed, and I barely had time to put on shoes. They had my ass outside in the cold in my drawers. My body was thrown into the backseat of a car. “Argh!” I grunted when my head hit the window.
I sat straight up, keeping my ears open.
They were quiet as hell, and that put a little fear in me.
When the car finally stopped, they helped me out and walked me up some steps.
When we stepped inside, I knew exactly where I was.
The smell of old-ass floors and corn chips masked with cologne told me I was in the Chi house.
Right then, I knew these niggas were going to turn up because who was coming to look for us here?
They removed the shit from my face before shoving me toward the rest of the guys.
The line looked nervous as we stood there. Quan and I were the only ones in our drawers while the other guys were fully clothed. I figured Beans would be around during Hell Week, but when I saw only Stay Fly, Freaky Zekey, and Spitta, I knew that nigga wasn’t coming.
“Chain One!” Spitta shouted.
We locked up tightly, ready to begin our greeting as we always did, but before we could start, Thick Neck was coming in.
When he appeared from behind the wall with a paddle in his hand, I thought I was ready, but when Clark Mercier walked in behind him, I knew shit was about to get wicked.
We didn’t hesitate as we rolled out our greetings.
Stay Fly balled his fists and placed them against his lips.
“Okay. Okay, I see you Slimes trying to be on point today.”
Thick Neck stood in front of us as he tapped the paddle into his palm. “Slimes! Let me introduce you to the legacy of Chi Kappa Chi. This is Big Brother Clark.”
“Gentlemen,” he said as he looked at each of us and stopped at me.
His sinister eyes scolded me until a grin eased on his face. “Dionysus Jackson,” he said and pointed. “Why was Chi Kappa Chi founded?”
I didn’t even look at him. “To unite Black brothers like us, Big Brother Clark.”
Thick Neck asked us to run the probate routine from the top.
We had worked weeks on this shit, and I prayed none of them messed up.
Without hesitation, we started, from reciting lines word for word to jumping and stomping throughout the Chi house.
Clark didn’t give any approval when we were done.
He walked toward the corner with Thick Nick.
They exchanged a few words, and he walked out of the house.
My only thoughts were of what was being said.
If I had to guess, it was something about me because he knew I ran with the Zoo.
I exhaled loudly because if they were talking about me, I knew it gave Thick Neck more leverage for torture.
Spitta didn’t even wait until the nigga was gone all the way before he started shouting, “Again!”
Quan started whining like a bitch. “Man, can I at least put clothes on?”
Freaky Zekey cackled. “Ah, shit!”
Fuck! Thick Neck rolled the paddle in his hand. “We’ve come this far, and you Slimes are still complaining like it’s the first week. Time and time again, we say no excuses, but each day I hear another excuse and another. I told you niggas you should have dropped the line. Now bend over!” he barked.
We all bent over, and Thick Neck went to work. The sound of the paddle to the line’s ass was loud. It was as if he was purposely mustering up a power hit. He asked questions about Chi Kappa Chi's history to top it off. When he finally reached me, I sucked in a deep breath and blew out sharply.
“Number Seven, principles!”
I got to shooting them shits out like bullets. “Number Seven, Greek alphabet in order.”
I closed my eyes to let them off, and the nigga hit me.
Wham!
My body bucked forward. “Grrr.” I gritted.
Before I could continue. He did the shit again.
Wham!
My body bucked forward again. Shit!
I didn’t even give him time to draw his hand back as I left the alphabet off as fast as fuck. This paddle shit was crazy. Right when I thought he was done, the nigga hit me again, and right then, I knew he was doing the shit on purpose.
Wham! Wham! Wham!
By this time, my face had become hot. I tightened my jaws, and my fists started to clench.
I was fed up with this nigga, and with every paddle hit I took, I couldn’t lie; this shit was wearing me down.
I wanted to drop the line, not only because of this, but also because of everything I had been through in this process.
I was mentally checked out. The only thing that was keeping me here was my determination not to give this bitch nigga Thick Neck the satisfaction.
I needed to cross. There was so much damage within this fucking frat, and if no one else was going to do something about it, I would.
“You okay?” Chris whispered.
I tuned everyone out, as my ass was on fire. I focused ahead and ate those hoes. “A’ight, nigga. Damn. Ease up on him!” I heard Stay Fly shout out.
“I’m the fucking Dean of Pledges. Don’t make me have to tell you niggas again, this is my fucking line!” Thick Neck barked.
He finally stopped and demanded we run the probate routine again. As we went through the routine, I focused on his ass. My eyes never wavered as I did each move, belting the history and ending back in the Chain One position. I needed him to understand what the fuck time it was.
One day down, five more to go.