Free Got It Going On by Stephanie Perry Moore Page B

policy saying you wouldn’t be hazed.”
    â€œTorian, I thought you had your adviser in check,” said a Beta I had never seen before. On her jacket were the Greek letters for Gamma Psi, so I knew she was from another school. Torian looked like she was now very mad our adviser had gotten her punked in front of other Betas.
    â€œPlease, y’all just go,” Torian said to the Gamma Psi sorors. “Sorry it didn’t go down the way we planned, but I need to handle this lady. We just got her as an adviser this year, and it seems she needs to be replaced.”
    â€œYeah, she does,” the other Beta from the other school uttered, rolling her eyes at Dr. Garnes.
    After we followed the orders of the adviser, Isha leaned over and whispered to me, “Weren’t we supposed to take off our blindfolds? Look at Torian staring at us like we did something wrong. We had a direct order from the head lady in charge. We might not be able to even cross because we did this anyway.”
    We remained in one line. I could hear the heavy breathing coming from my line sisters. We were in the middle, and the middle was the hot spot. As Torian and Dr. Garnes eyed each other down, I knew things were about to get even hotter.
    â€œAnd, pledges, get out of line right now!” Dr. Garnes screamed out. “You’re not supposed to be hazed. You’re not supposed to be feeling like you got to please these girls in order to cross over. You’re supposed to go directly by the book. You must not want to become Betas.”
    Many of us started saying, “Yes, we do. We’re sorry,” and much other mumbo jumbo that let the adviser know she need not get it twisted: we did want to pledge.
    â€œLike any of them wants to be paper, though,” Loni said in a whisper, clearly also heated by Dr. Garnes.
    â€œDid you say something?” Dr. Garnes went over to Loni with her hand on her hip.
    â€œWe’re just saying we got this,” Torian said bluntly.
    â€œDo Alyx and Malloy know you’re out here? I need to know how far all this deception goes. It is one thing to think it’s cute and fun to have these girls out here, but it’s another to think it’s legitimate. Besides, all this wanting-props stuff is pure foolishness and ain’t about nothing. I told you girls to fall out of line,” Dr. Garnes said to us.
    We all looked at Torian, and her eyes were like Do not move . I didn’t give you an order to walk anywhere. What were we to do?
    It might not even matter anyway, now that Dr. Garnes had found out. If she turned us all in, certainly we would not be able to cross. But if we ticked off our Big Sisters, would crossing without their blessing be worth it?
    Torian said, “This is bull. We weren’t even doing anything to these girls. You have no proof of that. We didn’t tell them to put those covers on their faces. We don’t even know what it is they’re wearing.”
    â€œTorian, I know you don’t think I’m that ignorant. These are stockings, and I’m sure if I took them down to the local police station, all of your prints would be on them and not just these girls’. So are you telling me you didn’t touch any of these blindfolds?”
    Torian rolled her eyes and then looked away.
    Loni said to Dr. Garnes, “Can’t you just, like, go back to those other old ladies and enjoy social time? We understand where you’re coming from now. We won’t hurt anybody.”
    â€œIt was one of those old ladies who heard some commotion and noise coming from her window. We fussed and argued back and forth because I just knew there was no way you Betas would’ve found us and been up here messing with these girls on our alumnae weekend. Though I’ve only been your adviser for less than a year, I pledged this chapter more than twenty-five years ago. When the regional coordinator and state director asked me to take this