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.
APPLE
After the night Harlem and I had, I found myself waking up after noon. When I rolled over, he was still asleep. I smiled widely as I leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his face. I was somebody’s girlfriend, and I couldn’t lie; I was happy about it. Today, however, I was going to continue my mission to destroy Jesaiah. I tried sleeping off my feelings. I tried putting them in the back of my mind and moving forward, but I couldn’t. There was no way this man was going to walk around scot-free while ruining people’s lives. Even though he and I were done, there would soon be another girl going through hell just as I did.
I got out of bed, got dressed, and left. When I got back to campus, the bruhs were in the parking lot grilling and selling BBQ plates. I watched as some of them held up signs, while others sweated like slaves, making plates or running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Jesaiah stood back and watched them. At this point, just the sight of him made my stomach curl. I quickly parked and got out. I tried avoiding him so I could at least change clothes before I got into anything. I was hurrying past some of them when he called out my name.
“Apple!”
Ignored him and continued to walk until I reached my room. As I opened the door, I heard my name being called, but it wasn’t Jesaiah’s voice. When I looked, it was Dio.
“That nigga wants to see you,” he said.
“So, he sends you. I know you're only doing this because you're trying to cross, and I’m not trying to get you in trouble, but fuck him!” I spat.
