CHAPTER TWENTY- SIX
The night screamed loudly as we stood at the Dead Zone.
I had fucking made it to Initiation Day.
The night started with running through the probate show.
Our line was clean and on point. We had practiced the entire spring break to be sure we didn’t fuck it up today.
We stood there as men who had made it through the storm.
This moment meant a lot to me because through it all, I was still standing here.
I was in a place some couldn’t stomach, in a place my father probably prayed for me to be.
I was a Black man dedicating myself to something I saw the good in, even if Thick Neck tried to destroy it. I had fucking made it.
We glanced East over the lake as the bruhs from other chapters crossed the bridge to meet us on the other side. The very same lake that we had to cross to be purified to become men of the Chi. The sound of the paddle echoed through the woods as Thick Neck’s sinister grin peeked through the dark.
“It’s time to take it for the Chi!” Thick Neck barked.
Each guy bent over, gritting their teeth as we took seven for the Chi.
It could have easily been twenty-one for the Chi, but they felt like it was too excessive.
If it were up to Thick Neck, he would have done it.
Once the guys got through the paddle, we would cross the lake by swimming to the place we had been killing ourselves for almost the entire semester.
When it was my turn, I was ready. To my surprise, Stay Fly was the one paddling me while Thick Neck watched.
I bellowed as the first swat landed. “If it ain’t about Chi, then why?! We’re strong, we’re solid, and we’re dogs!”
Another one.
That was when Thick Neck squatted in front of me, snarling. “Harder!” he shouted.
Another one.
This time, Stay Fly put a little extra in it.
“Harder!”
Now I was getting pissed because, even down to the last few minutes of this, he was determined to make it hell. There was no humanity in this nigga, and I needed him to remember that when his ass was in the hot seat. So, instead of looking past him, my eyes landed on him.
“Harder!” he shouted again.
Eye to eye.
“You think I’m some bitch, huh, nigga?” I whispered.
Another paddle.
My body bucked forward. A grin eased onto my face as I took my last paddle hit for the Chi.
I didn’t waste another second as I ran and jumped into the lake and took my swim across.
Tears trickled down my face into the lake water with each stroke of my arm to get across.
I thought about Zeus, my dad, my mother, and Samara.
I did something I didn’t think I could, and a nigga was happy as I fucking crossed it.
The bruhs crossed the small bridge to meet us on the other side with everyone else.
I was given a towel when I got out of the lake, and Big Brother Freaky Zekey gave us words of wisdom about why swimming across the lake was important.
“Reborn a Chi man now, a neophyte.”
They handed each of us a flaming torch. We held them out as they circled us and went into Chi Kappa Chi’s creed.
Each of us had one of the bruhs standing next to us pouring positive words into us, and that shit was breaking me down.
They began giving names to each of us, and I was presented with Hades.
Big brother Spitta stood next to me, explaining why they chose this name for me.
“Number Seven, you are Hades the God! The Alpha of the Underworld. The dark unknown. Hades, the master of eternal life. It doesn’t matter how they try to break you; you cannot be broken!” he shouted.
My head nodded up and down because it was fucking perfect.
God of the Underworld, ruler of the fucking dead.
This let me know they understood the assignment.
It wasn’t the fraternity that was bad, but the bad seed they held within their organization.
I was now a Chi Kappa Chi nigga. My thoughts of what was next played in my head because the mission was not yet accomplished.
APPLE
In my solitude.
I heard so clearly in my dreams. Billie Holiday, a woman who was broken, the lover of both men and women, a drug chaser, but also a woman who stood on business.
She took the stage singing her songs, letting her Black voice be heard from state to state, even as she was reprimanded for making those who needed to listen aware.
She cried in the dark but shone in the light.
I wasn’t quite a Billie Holiday, but my voice needed to be heard.
My eyes shot open in a hospital room. My head was unable to turn, leaving me still and only able to stare at the ceiling. The last thing I remembered was being out with Harlem.
“Harlem!” I shouted.
He stood and leaned over the bed. “Damn, you’re awake.”
“Apple!” I heard my aunt Nyomi’s voice.
My eyes turned slowly to see her standing on the other side. “What happened?”
She looked at me, confused. “We’re trying to figure that out. It’s why we’ve been waiting for you to wake up. The nurses said you were dropped off, and that’s all we know. But you’re okay. That’s the best part.”
I didn’t understand. I tried to remember, but I couldn’t. “What day is it?” I asked.
Harlem looked at my aunt. “Let’s just say you’ve been out for the entire spring break.”
I began to cry because I had lost so many days. I closed my eyes, trying to remember, but I couldn’t, and that was the frustrating part.
Harlem grabbed my hand and kissed it. “I’ve got to get back to school, but I did email your professors. You will be able to submit your work for your courses online until you’re out of here.”
“No. I want to go to school. I have Black Excellence Day. I have Gray and Gold meetings. I—”
My aunt touched my head. “You have to rest. Apple, you can’t even remember what happened. There is no way you’re going back to school this quickly. I have talked to the dean, and he—”
“He! Where is Dean August? What is happening to me? I feel like I’m in the fucking Twilight Zone.”
“You need to calm down,” my aunt said to me.
“I don’t want to calm down. I want my fucking life back. I want to go back to school. I want my peace back,” I cried.
“Can I talk to her alone for a second?” Harlem asked my aunt.
She gave him a nod and stepped out of the room. Harlem gazed down at me. “Baby, I don’t know what happened, but I will find out. I need you to relax and know I got you. Do you know if any of this had to do with Jesaiah?”
I knew I wanted to destroy him because I hated him, but I never got the chance to do so because somehow, I ended up in here. Tears rolled down the side of my face as I tried to remember, but nothing was coming to me.
“I don’t know,” I sobbed.
I could see frustration in his face. “Okay. Calm down. I will see what I can find out, and if they can tell me anything, we will see if any of it jogs your memory. In the meantime, stay pretty for me,” he finished and kissed me.
I didn’t want him to leave. I wanted him to stay. I tried not to let my emotions get the best of me, but I was stuck. God found a way to sit me down, all while he let the Devil still roam the earth.