Thursday, April 13, 2017

Chapter 2: The Rush Chronicles

It was that time of the week where you see everyone trying to figure out who they are, what they wanted to be a part of, and starting to pursue their dreams of trying to join an organization. I never had any interest in any of this because of the shit you see on television, and the stories you hear about the stupid things people endure during pledging these organizations; however, if Stephen believes this would make a great fit for me, then I guess it was worth giving it a shot! Stephen called me and asked me if I needed anything, and to make sure that I read over some information to prepare for the upcoming meeting that was supposed to be happening the following day. Yes, I am good bro. We will be ok! I did not know what to expect, I did not know what I had in store for me, but I told myself that I would give it my best shot. After talking to Stephen, I started walking down the hallway to get some fresh air since I was cooped up in a room reading over information. As I was walking, there was this guy walking down the hallway. He was a janitor cleaning the dormitory after hours, and he saw that I had my all black suit in a bag in my hands. He looked strange, and he proceeded to stop me. Are you going to one Lambda Kappa Theta’s event tomorrow?  Of course I said no! Discretion is the key. I said no sir, why do you say that? You are a bright person but I want to let you in on a little secret… Whatever you do, Please DON’T GO! These group of men are malicious! They try to lure you in, give you this nice pep talk, and they make you their bitches during pledging season. A lot of underhanded things go on with these organizations here, and no one dares to step to them because of the consequences that could happen. In the back of my head, I am thinking, why is he telling me this? This cannot be true whatsoever. I know Stephen well enough to know that he would not put me in any danger. I damn sure won’t be anyone’s bitch because I was not raised to be a bitch or even allow someone to take advantage of me like that! But I did keep all of this information in my head. Oh and young man, be careful with this Stephen Heart guy! He is the most vindictive of them all. No one likes him. If you don’t believe me, you will figure it out soon enough. That’s when I got so heated. I am the loyal type of friend to where if I am riding for you, I don’t allow people to talk about you to me. I told the man that he was lying. And he said, Ok, you will see in due time. And when it is too late, No one will believe anything that you have to say because I tried to warn you! You will be back. But you better catch it before it is too late. So I ran back upstairs, and slammed my door. I had to call Stephen, and ask for him to come back to the room. I needed to talk to him face to face. He came back upstairs, and sat on my bed. What is it? He asked. I told him to look at me in the face, homie to homie. If you were to ever do anything bad or crazy, you would tell me right? He said, yes! I would. You are my best friend. Why wouldn’t I? If I were in danger, you would try to stop it right? He answered again, yes! What the fuck is wrong with you? Oh nothing! I did not want to tell him what the janitor was saying about him, and since I didn’t really know him or anyone else I trusted him. He talked about how pledging started tomorrow night, and I am looking at him like but didn’t you say that this rush or informational was tomorrow? He told me how things run a little differently from us and that I was chosen already by his brothers the night I met with them. He told me that I could not tell anyone what was going on or it was a wrap for me. I’m thinking, ok, this is a part of this so I am going to roll with it. So I dropped the conversation, and we both went to bed. The next day, I got in my car. And went to the mall. Everyone from campus was out doing their usual shopping, and I did notice some people walking around just staring at me as I was walking to pick up some things I needed for that night. My phone goes off, and it was text from a random number telling me to be on time tonight to the meeting, and bring a change of clothes afterwards.  You will need a pair of black jeans, and a white t-shirt with some black tennis shoes. Luckily I was already in the mall so I just grabbed some stuff and went back to my room. I never thought it would take this much time, energy, and dedication be a part of something like this. After all of this was said and done, I took a nap to prepare for what was in store for that night. The sun went down, and it was getting to crunch time. I was nervous, excited, conflicted, and all over the place. I could not help but to think about what the janitor told me, and what Stephen told me the night before. I had to take a deep breath, and tell myself that no matter what happens, I know that god will have me covered. Man, god needed me throughout this entire experience because the things that happened later just took me a little over the edge. But that’s a little later down the line. So I get into this big room, and I see there’s about eighty other people waiting to be seated in this section where it was closed off from campus. I had to sign in on this form, and there were these men walking to the door looking like pit bulls! I did not get a greeting, they didn’t crack a smile, and they were looking at me like I was the scum of the earth. I said hey how are you? And they told me to find a seat and shut my mouth. I am over like looking like, who the fuck are you talking too? I am trying to show hospitality. Stephen had to grab me before I said anything because he knows my mouth can get reckless. He had to explain to me that this was about business and don’t take anything that’s going on personal! I’m looking at him and telling him if you want anyone to support or join your “business”, you don’t try to run them off by doing stupid shit like this. He had to calm me down, and I bit my tongue only for Stephen. As we go in the room, they had us sitting. The other guys in the room were all shaking, nervous, and just all over the place. I was looking around confused. We were all sitting in a position like we were in the military. You are in this room. You are told when to speak, move, and raise your hand. One guy got so nervous he started to vomit everywhere. As the night went on, they explained to us what the organization was about, how much money it would cost, the dangers of pledging, etc…. I can say that they had a lot of great philanthropy and I loved some of the programs they had. The meeting lasted for about three hours, and they were just giving everything to us at one time. So as the meeting closes, I walked outside to get ready to head back to my room. They told us it would be a month before we heard anything, so I assumed that this was over. Stephen stops me, and told me you stay here. Go to the back room, and wait for further instructions. I am looking like what the hell is going on? So I went to the back of this room, and I saw nine other people in the room. Of course I did not speak because I don’t know these Negros! I sat in my corner, and I kept to myself. As the members came in, they asked me to sit with everyone else, and I was hesitant but I eventually sat with them. They explained to us what to expect these next couple of weeks. They gave the rules, they told us what to have, and gave us some information. Everything was cool but I did notice how they all were licking their lips, checking out the scene, and they were whispering something, but I could not hear anything. Stephen was looking at me, and he whispered to me, I have faith in you. I got you. You got this! This is a test for the next couple of weeks.  Please try to get along with these men because these are the other nine people you will have to deal with for the next couple of weeks.  I did not think nothing of it. I was very hesitant because I don’t trust people like that. 

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