Date: Sun, 06 Apr 2003 01:57:25 -0500
From: X X <thewriter_x@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Brotherhood #4 {X} {MM College} [4!?]

The following story contains sexually explicit acts between
men.  If such things bothers you, annoys you, disturbs you,
frightens you, then why the hell are you here?  Do yourself
a favor and leave before you read something you like and
discover that you're actually gay; you might not be able to
deal with the revelation.

This is NOT a true story and I'm NOT Jacob, LOL.  Everyone
seems to think I am.  This is complete fiction, stuff I'm
writing as I go along.  I know what happens in the next
chapter just as much as you do, believe it not.  Meaning it
doesn't come to me until I'm actually sitting down about to
write.


I want to hear from YOU, the reader, so drop me a line:
thewriter_x@hotmail.com Again, I'm NOT Jacob!



                       The Brotherhood
                         Chapter IV
                            By X


     Grinding my teeth and closing my eyes tight, I took in
a breath and filled my mind with thoughts of Alexandra,
yearning to forget where I was and what was happening to me.
It worked, for a little while anyway.  I was far away from
that closet, lying contently under the thick, white blankets
keeping Alex and I warm while we cuddled on the sofa as our
favorite movie played on the large screen TV.  The scent of
her hair, the warmth of her body was so vividly clear in my
mind my heart fluttered as if she was truly in my embrace.
I would've given anything for that moment again.  To have
her that close to me would be a dream, to feel her lips on
mind again would be heaven.
     She turned to look at me, smiling, her loving eyes deep
with affection.  "Jacob!" Alex screamed my name and I was
startled out of my daydream; my eyes snapped opening.  It
took me a moment or two to regain my senses, a bit more to
realize I was alone in the closet.
     "What the." I mumbled, gathering my robe around me as I
looked around.  Where did he go, I thought?  I never heard
the door open or felt him move away.  Granted, my mind was
elsewhere but still I should've seen or heard something.  It
was almost like I imagined it all, but that was definitely
not the case.  That stranger, who ever it was, was in there
with me.  I still felt the strain on my arms from when I
tired to push him off me in vain.  The area on my back where
he pressed hard against me was a bit sore.
     He was there.  It was real.
     I left the closet confused with a bunch of questions I
was already convincing myself I'd never know the answers to.
Who was that guy?  Was he really part of the Brothers?  If
he was, would he rat me out and tell them what he saw?
     "Crap!" I slammed my open hand against my forehead.
The other students walking passed me thought me a bit
strange, I bet.  I couldn't believe the situation I was no
in.  Stupid me should've just left the instant I saw
Alexandria.  Now because I was thinking with my dick instead
of my head, my future with The Brotherhood seemed more like
a fading dream than anything else.
     I was so out of it I didn't even notice when Anthony
and CJ walked up beside me and started talking.  I have no
idea how long they were there before CJ's "Dude!" snapped me
out of it.  There was a look of surprise on my face as I
looked at them.
     "Where the hell did you guys come from?"
     "What's wrong with you, dude?" CJ looked just as
surprised as I did.  "We've been walking besides you,
talking to you for the past five minutes.  Where you been?"
     Shaking my head, I waved my hand dismissively.  "I'm
sorry, I'm kind of out of it right now."
     Placing his hand on my shoulder, Ant gave it a gentle
squeeze and a little shake.  "Is everything okay, Jacob?"
The sincerity and concern was touching.  I just met these
guys, was just starting to get to  know them really, and
already I felt like I found a bunch of my long lost
brothers.  I was thankful for them.  I really was.
     "I.I." I was going to tell them, but stopped myself
before I made a complete fool out of myself.  Yeah we were
boys, but telling them I was stuck in a dark closet with
some strange guy feeling me up is not something guys tell
other guys.  It just doesn't happen.  So I did what all guys
do.  Lied.  "I'm fine.  I was just wondering what else the
Brothers have planned for us because so far I'm sure they've
only scratched the surface."
     "Tell me about it," Ant agreed.  `Personally, I don't
even like to think about it.  I'll just deal with whatever
they throw at us when the time comes.  At any rate, I got to
meet a few of my professors today."
     "Oh yeah," I said trying to get my mind off things,
"and what did you think of them?"
     He glanced at me for a moment and shrugged.  "For the
most part they seemed cool, but this one professor, Kim
something or other, is going to be a real bitch.  I can
already tell."
     "Why?" CJ and I said in unison, laughing.
     "I don't know.  She's just one of those people who just
seem like they're going to be a major bitch."
     "Whatever dude."
     We talked all the way to the frat house, not that any
of it is worth mentioning.  Just your every day guy stuff
all dudes talk about.  What chick we saw that was totally
bangable or who we wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.  You
know, shit like that.  Unlike CJ, Ant wasn't much of a
talker when it came to whom he'd bang.  Sure he mentioned a
couple of girls he noticed but he spoke about them with
class.  CJ on the other was all about the fucking.  Man, I
thought I was horny.  This kid wanted to screw everything
that moved.  If it had tits it was fair game.  He's such the
clown.  I guess that's why I liked him.
     We entered the house and were quick to remove our
robes.  You know `cause we're not allowed to walk around
with anything but our underwear on.  For a moment the house
appeared to be empty until the door to our right slide open.
     "Glad you ladies finally joined us," were the first
words out of Steel's mouth.  "Now get your asses in here!"
He gestured to the room with his head and moved to the side
to let us thru, his no nonsense eyes on us like glue.
     There was a long, square table made of black marble in
the room with eleven guys standing in a row behind it in
their underwear.  Quite a funny site actually, until I had
to join them, of course.  I took my place next to Arsen.
Our eyes met briefly in greeting before one the brothers
walked up behind us and slapped the cuffs back on.  Tired of
the "bondage" crap the brothers had going on, I sighed
quietly to myself.  Like always we stood without making a
sound or moving an inch as the brothers stared us down from
the other side of the reflective table, there glossy images
were as intimidating as the real thing.  Directly in front
of the line up was the Inner Circle with a row of Brothers
standing behind them, shoulder to shoulder, wearing their
TBH jackets.
     "Listen up," Eric ordered, his hand slipped thru his
long brown hair mindlessly, his eyes scanned our faces like
that of a demanding father.  "You all met with your advisers
today and you know what that means right?  Classes will be
starting soon, so if you think things are hard now they're
only going to get harder.  Don't think for a second we're
going lighten up because you'll have school work to worry
about."  A halfhearted laugh left his lips.  "Your
priorities are clear, pledges.  The Brotherhood before all
else, but lack in your school and you'll be dismissed faster
than you can blink.  Anything below a 3.3 GPA will be
grounds for dismissal."
     Eric went talking about school and THB and how they
expected us to balance the two.  The others added their two
cents as well from time to time, but it was clear Eric had
the floor.  To be quite honest I zoned out for most of what
he said, only catching a few phrases here and there.  The
enigma that was Q held me entranced.  He never said or did
anything, it was his mere presences that had that kind of
effect on people.  You wanted to get to know him, get inside
his head and see what he's all about.  What makes him work
the way he does?
     I admit I had a bit of an idol worship going on even
thou I truly didn't realize it back then.  Out of all the
brothers in the house Q was the one I imaged myself being in
the future.  His ability to control a room without saying a
single word amazed me to the point where I sometimes grinned
despite myself.
     A slight jab to the ribs by Arsen snapped me out of it.
Seth was talking about god only knows what when I came out
of my daze, all the while I'm hoping I didn't need to know
whatever the hell he was talking about.
     "Is that understood?" he inquired sternly.
     "Yes sir!"
     I was fucking clueless.
     Breaking off form the others, Q walked around the table
and paced behind us, his footfalls were a gentle thud
against the hard wood floor.  They stopped somewhere near me
and all went still in the room.  A good ten minutes later
still nothing.  The room became filled with living statues.
     The silence gave me a chance to think back on what
happened earlier in the day, not that I wanted to mind you,
the image just reared its ugly head.  Thought of that guy
having his hands on me made my stomach turn.  I wanted so
badly to run into this guy one day in the street and beat
the living piss out of him.  I was mad all over again to the
point where I had to grind my teeth to keep myself calm, but
then the gravity of the situation I was in finally hit me
like a ton of bricks.  One of these guys in this room could
be the one from closet.  Maybe the guy already spilled what
he saw and all the Brothers already knew what I did.
     Holy fuck!
     I felt so bad just then not only for myself but for
Arsen as well.  If they knew it pretty much meant my ass was
out the door and Arsen was out with me.  I don't think I
ever hated that rule as much as I did in that moment.  I
couldn't live with myself if I caused the dismissal of one
of my fellow pledges.
     Oh God help me and I swear I will never fuck up like
this again, was the silent prayer running thru my mind.
     That's why Q stopped so close to me.  That's why they
were all being so quiet.  They were giving the guilty party
time to reflect.  It was their way of saying "We're on to
you asshole!"
     Just get it over with already!  Fucking say you know
and do your worst!  My prayers turned into screams of
contempt.
     "The trials will begin soon," Q finally spoke after
what seemed like forever and a day.
     My God I was so relieved just then I'm surprised I
didn't collapse right there.  Wait a minute.  Trials?  What
the fuck?
     "Allow me to answer that for you," he said as if
reading my mind, "the question you're all asking yourselves
that is.  The trials are what we use to test everything
about you.  I wont' get into any lengthy explanations
because one, it would defeat the purpose, and two, I don't
owe you any."  His voice poured out like a melody from a
piano, wrapping itself around you like a song you can't stop
listening to.  He knew how to take control.  He knew how to
command respect.  "Suffice to say that every pledge in this
room better be on their toes and at their best 24/7.  You'll
be tested in many different ways but you'll never know it so
be on your guard.  Some of the trails are painfully." He
lingered on that word for a moment and I could almost feel
everyone cringe at thought of the torture we were going to
go thru.  "Obvious, " he finished and I thought, you bastard
that was a good one.  "While others you'll have no idea.
Trials will be failed, that much is expected, but fail
enough of these and you will be dismissed."
     Well how much is too much, I thought.
     "That you'll find out on your own," he said matter-of-
factly.  "Of course I'm referring to the other question I'm
sure you're all asking yourself now."
     It was Geo's turn to pick up the microphone so to
speak.  Stepping forward a bit and folding his arms over his
chest, he looked down the entire line of pledges.  "We
expect the best because we are the best.  No other frat in
this college, state, or country even comes close to The
Brotherhood.  If you don't think you'll be able to meet the
challenge then I suggest you save yourself and more
importantly, us, the trouble and leave now.  We set a
standard and we expect you all to rise above it.  Is that
understood?"
     "Yes sir!"
     Placing his hand on Geo's shoulder, Seth stepped up
next to him with a smile.  "Today is a special day, so we
are suspending all other activities to prepare for tonight's
party."   I think all the pledges perked up when they heard
"party" come out of his mouth.  I know I did.  "You see Geo
here is leaving us, transferring to another school.  One of
our own is leaving us and he'll be sorely missed, but that's
okay because we plan to give him the biggest, baddest going
away party this campus has ever seen."
     The Brother's erupted into loud cheers, patting and
hugging Geo like he just came home from war or something.
It really showed the camaraderie, the love they shared for
each other.
     One could easily see Geo was flattered beyond words;
his face was cherry red and couldn't stop laughing.  After a
long while he threw up his hands and gestured for silence.
It took a minute or two for the Brothers to calm down.  It
was an exciting moment.  I wanted to jump up and join them
in cheer but I knew better than that.  To do so would invite
the brother's fury, and who wanted that?
     It was time for Geo to take center stage and he did so
with an unyielding smile and determination that made the
brothers proud.  Before he spoke his first word he took a
look around at the many faces in the room, faces he learned
to trust and depend on over the years.  These were the faces
he grew up with here at the university; TBH was more than
just another frat for these guys, it was a family.  I
couldn't begin to imagine how he felt now that he had to say
goodbye to them.
     It was time to get serious and so that determined smile
faded away, his mood more somber now.  "I.I don't even know
where to begin, guys," he finally said, his eyes taking
another quick survey of the room.  "I consider this house
and people in it, my life.  How do I find the words to say
goodbye to that, to my family?"  Eric's slipped over Geo's
shoulder for moral support.  I thought it was a nice
gesture.  "I love all you guys as if we were flesh and
blood.  Fuck that, we tighter than that.  I'll miss each and
every one of you, no doubt about it.  I'm not just leaving
behind my Brothers but a part of myself as well.  It's
tough.very tough."
     He broke off for a moment to collect his thoughts.  He
even wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.  Shit, he
had me feeling like I was about to lose a part of myself
that's how emotional things got for everyone, even for us
pledges, who barely knew the guy.
     "Look, I don't want to get all weepy, but I will say
this:  I will represent to the fullest and show them how
it's really done!"
     The place went nuts!
     One of the brothers, Lucas, looked in our direction and
for a moment I thought we had done something wrong.  "You
pledges may be new and all but I think the other brothers
won't mind if you cheer for our departing brother."
     His permission was all we needed.  We cheered and
hollered like madmen.  For a moment it felt like we were
truly a part of something special even though we knew we had
a long way to go.  For a split second I, and I'm sure some
of the others as well, felt like a true brother.
     The cheering went on for sometime before it died down
again and Q took center stage again.  He didn't have to
gesture for silence.  Everyone, pledges and brothers alike,
knew to shut up.
     "While you guys are in a cheering mood I want everyone
to welcome Geo's Canadian counterpart, Shaun."
     The crowd parted a bit and this guy walked up next to
Q, a serious look dawned a handsome face with a neatly
trimmed goatee.  His brown hair, highlighted tastefully with
a blond hue, fell over his gripping auburn eyes, his hands
tucked away in the side pockets of his TBH lettermen.  Yet
another man of mystery was about to walk into our lives, or
better yet, walk all over our lives being that he's a
brother and all.  I thought it a bit strange the brothers
brought in a outsider, so to speak, to take Geo's place.
Moving one of the brothers from our house into the Inner
Circle seemed like the logical way to do it.
     "Now, some of you may be wondering why Shaun is taking
Geo's place instead of someone from the house."  This was
just too weird for me.  It was like every time I was
confused about something or a question crossed my mind,  Q
was right there to offer an explanation.  "It's quite simple
really.  It's actually the whole reason why Geo is leaving
us.  I guess you can say it's somewhat of an exchange
program.  Our Canadian counterparts get one of ours and we
get one of theirs as a way of exchanging ideas and
information.  It's certainly not that we don't believe one
of our own isn't up for the job, they know this as well as
I.  At any rate, that's all you need to know for now.  If
you guys actually make it to becoming full brothers you'll
be privileged to more information."  He put his hand on
Shaun's shoulder.  "Is there anything you'd like to say to
the brothers or our new pledges here?"
     Shaun nodded and clasped his hands loudly.  "To my
fellow brothers I say this.  I'm prepared to do everything
in my power to up hold the integrity and honor of this house
and those who sleep under her roof.  Trying to replace Geo
would be impossible and it's not something I'd really try to
do anyway.  But I will say this.  Some of you may not know
this but Geo and I have known each other for a very long
time so I'm going to do my best to make him proud that I was
the one chosen to take his spot."
     The Brother's clapped while the pledges watched on in
silence.
     With the same conviction he held in his eyes when he
spoke to the brothers, Shaun focused his attention on us.
"There is a fine line between brother and pledge, one which
you will have to watch very carefully.  I'm strict but fair,
cross that line and you'll experience first hand how strict
I can be."
     Great, another hard ass, I thought.
     His narrowed eyes fell on me instantly as if my private
thoughts scrolled across my forehead for all to see.  "Cross
me and I'll have you wishing Geo was back here faster than
you can blink.  Believe me."
     "Well said," Geo laughed, clapping.  "Are you done,
Shaun, or do you have more inspirational words for our
wannabes here?"
     "I'm done for now."
     "Okay then."  Geo patted Shaun on the back and pulled
out a notepad from his back pocket.  He walked down the
pledge line and handed each pair a sheet of paper from the
pad.   "For one of my last official acts I'm having you
pledges go out get all the stuff for my party tonight.  It's
my last day here and I want everyone to have a good time so
you better not fuck it up.  It's quite simple.  I handed you
a piece of paper with a list of things to get for tonight
and where to get them.  Easy enough for you?"
     At first we weren't sure if he was actually looking for
an answer, but when his brow shot up harshly there was no
doubt.
     "Yes sir!"
     "Now go to caf‚, get something to eat, then come back
here before you go to get the stuff.  Keep to yourselves and
keep contact with others to a minimum."
     They let us go on our own to the caf‚, which was a good
thing because I was starved.  Though I wasn't so sure I
liked the idea of us pledges going out to a public place
without a brother there to watch us.  The truth is I really
didn't believe the whole lot of us could control ourselves
long enough to follow Geo's simple instructions.  Four
pledges could possibly stay out of trouble, but fourteen?
     The whole situation smelled of trouble.
     We sat around a series of square tables we put together
to make one long table.   I was closer to the middle with
Ant and CJ sitting directly across from me.  At first we ate
without so much as a peep coming from any of us, but we knew
that wasn't going to last long.
     "You guys excited about tonight?" Xavier whispered
across the table as if we were surrounded by brothers.  His
green eyes traveled up and down the table, waiting for a
response from anyone willing to indulge him.
     Troy spoke the words I was about to before he beat me
to it.  "Should we even be talking, guys?"
     "Dude, why not?" CJ questioned, a playfully smile
stretching across his small face; the gleam in his blue eyes
just as impish.  "Geo said to stay to ourselves.  He didn't
say anything about not talking."
     "Oddly enough, the surfer dude has a point," said CJ's
cuff mate Ant, laughing.
     "So are you guys excited or what?" Xavier repeated his
question, clearly anxious to hear what we thought."
     "Look," Justin began, taking a quick bite from his
sandwich, and then saying something utterly unintelligible.
     That's when my sarcastic nature chimed in.
     "Lets try that one more time, this time without a
mouthful of food please."
     Rolling his eyes, Justin swallowed hard.  "What I said
was I don't think we should be expecting to do much partying
tonight.  I see us walking around in our underwear
surrounded by some pretty fly hunnies, serving up the booze
and cleaning up after everyone.  Don't kid yourselves.
That's what we'll be doing I bet."
     "You think so, huh?" Steve said.
     Paul of course was quick to give him this look that
just screamed annoyance.  "What did I tell you about the
whole talking thing?"
     "Shut the fuck up, cum wad," Steve blasted back
     We laughed our asses off.  Even though they were both
my boys, it was nice seeing him stick up to Paul.  I think
Paul came down hard on him unfairly.  Steve was a cool guy.
I liked him.
     "Guys think about it," Justin continued, taking another
bite from his sandwich, but this time he finished chewing
before speaking.  "We are pledges.  Why in fucks name will
they let us join in on the fun when we're still so early in
the game?"  He looked at each of us, hoping his words hit
him.  "Are the wheels turning yet?"
     "Shit, I don't care what they have me doing at the
party as long as I'm there, you feel me?" Mike offered his
two cents.
     "I hear that!" Nick agreed; the football jock had a
shit eaten grin he couldn't hide even if he tried.
     "Alright," Justin shrugged,  "I think we're all in a
for a rude awakening tonight.  Call me psychic, but I just
have this vibe."
     "Okay Justrodamus I think we get you," I joked.  "I say
we just wait until tonight and see what happens before we
jump to any con."
     "Well, well, well," came a snide voice from behind me.
I tilted my head back too see who it was before I turned
around completely.  It wasn't a Brother like I had thought
but someone wearing a Zeta Chi Omega letterman.  "So this is
The Brotherhood's new pledge class, eh?"  He laughed,
playfully elbowing the guy next to him.  "I must say I'm not
all that impressed."
     Ignoring the guy, I turned around and gave a look to
the rest of the guys telling them to do the same.  I didn't
know what the guy's problem was and to be honest with you I
really didn't care.  But one could easily see he was the
type who just loved to start some shit.
     He looked around the caf‚ for a moment.  "So where is
the rest of your fearless frat?  I'm surprised they loosen
the leashes around your necks long enough to let you get
this far from their sights.
     "Dude, who the fuck are you?" CJ finally snapped,
glaring at the guy with full-blown contempt.
     "The Vice President of Zeta Chi Omega if you really
must know."
     They more he yapped the more my wheels kept turning.  I
remembered reading about Zeta Chi Omega when doing research
on the different fraternities KU had to offer.  They were
actually a pretty descent frat, second largest on campus,
second only to TBH.  Pledging Zeta Chi Omega was a very
strong possibility for me had The Brotherhood not chosen me.
I'm glad they did.  By the looks of it Zeta Chi Omega held a
lot of resent towards The Brotherhood.  Think about it.  No
one likes to be second best to anyway, but these guys had no
choice in the matter, The Brotherhood was that good.  Like I
said before, almost every guy who goes to KU with the
intentions of pledging hold off on even looking at another
fraternity until TBH finishes making their selection.
     "What's your issue Mr. Vice President, dude?"
     We couldn't help but chuckle under our breaths at CJ's
mocking ways
     With a shit-eating grin on his face, the VP shook his
head.  "The Brotherhood must be in real trouble if this is
the best they have to offer.dudes."  He laughed.  "The
Brotherhood is a tired joke that should be put out of its
misery."  From his back packet he produced a business card
and threw it on the table.  "If you guys ever decide to wake
up and want to roll with a winning fraternity give me a
call."
     Nick had about as much as he could take from this guy.
Slamming his fist against the table, he shot up from his
seat, dragging Troy with him, and stood toe to toe with the
VP; I was quick to grab his arm with my free hand, but when
a whole bunch of Zeta Chi Omega guys jumped up from their
seats we did the same.  "Look, I've had it up to here with
your yammering.  I don't care who you are but if you don't
shut the fuck up I'm going to pound your ass into the
ground."
     The VP appeared to disappear behind Nick's massive
muscular frame; I could hardly see him anymore.
     "Is that a promise?" the VP sneered.
     "You know, you talk a lot of trash but I'll bet
anything that even if one brother was here you wouldn't have
much to say," I spat angrily.  I was pissed and ready to
throw down.  This mothafucka had balls of fucking steel;
dissing the fraternity we were pledging the way he did.  He
was fucking crazy if he really thought we were just going to
sit around and not do anything about it.
     By now the schmuck VP and his two cronies had about ten
of their brothers backing them up now, but that was okay
`cause there was fourteen of us.  Only real problem I saw
was how hard was it going to be to throw down while cuffed
to someone else.  Did really matter though `cause I'd throw
down with both hands tied behind my back if need be.
     "Listen here, dudes," the VP mocked, "why don't you
pussy pledges go back to your pussy frat before we're forced
to show you what real men can do?"
     Nick's face went cherry red just before I saw his fist
go flying towards the VP's face.  Seemingly from nowhere, a
hand snatched his fist from the air.  After that we were all
ready to bum rush `em, until we heard that voice that is.
     "Problem?"
     Like twenty-seven heads turned in the direction of that
voice.  Who was standing there with a pair of gleaming
silvery orbs, staring at the lot of us with a stern look on
his face?  You guessed it!
     Q.
     None of the pledges said anything because we weren't
sure if it was allowed.
     "When I ask a question I expect answer."
     Of course after that comment fourteen mouths shot off
at about hundred miles a second.  Q just looked at us, his
stern look never wavering even for an instant.
     "Guys, guys, guys!" Arsen gestures for silence by
waving his hands in the air.  "We all can't talk at once."
Arsen took the reins and was about to run with them, but Q
stopped him before he could begin.
     "I'm not interested in what any of you have to say." Q
waved dismissively, briefly looking over to Zeta Chi Omega's
Vice-President before he continued.  "I will tell you what I
saw here though.  I saw you guys ready to defend the honor
and dignity of your house and Brothers.  That's the sign of
a true Brother.  Congratulations gentlemen.you passed your
first trial."  He turned to the VP and offered his hand.
"Thank you Scott."
     "Anytime man," he smiled, graciously accepting Q's
hand.  Playfully slapping Nick's shoulder, Scott offered a
look that simply said `no hard feelings' then walked off
with all his brothers in toe.
     It took a moment or two for us to figure out what was
going on, but when we did we wanted to jump and holler, but
again we weren't sure if it was allowed.
     "It's okay if you want to pat yourselves on the back.
You did good today."
     It was pretty much like saying let the hollering
commence.  We went nuts.  Nick wrapped his massive arms
around me and picked me up a foot off the ground.  I
couldn't stop laughing.
     Some of you may be thinking this really wasn't a big
deal and that's fine, but unless you ever pledged a
fraternity you couldn't possibly understand how we felt when
we passed our first trial; to hear Q say we did good was
icing on the cake.
     Despite our jubilant celebration, Q's foreboding
presences remained the same; not even a hint of a smile
appeared on his face.  "Try not to get too overconfident,"
he warned ominously, "for the trials will only get difficult
from here, but keep your wits about you and you will do
fine.  Now, finish up here and be back at the house in
twenty minutes.  We have to start sitting up for Geo's
party."
     That was that.  He was gone, just another figure
disappearing in the mass of hungry students rushing here and
there hoping to grab a bite to eat before the lines got shut
down.
     Finishing up the last bits on our plates, we
bullshitted for a little while before heading back.  Twenty
minutes later we entered the house and were welcomed by the
Inner Circle's newest member.  Shaun handed Ant, Jason,
Steve, and me individual sets of car keys and the list from
the pledges he decided should stay behind to get the house
ready, and lead us to the garage.  Arsen and I got the keys
to a brand new supped up black Expedition.  The monster had
twenty-four inch chrome rims, music, tint, the whole nine.
     "Try not to get too excited, Pledges," Shaun said, his
hand slipping thru his silken hair effortlessly.  "The only
reason we're letting you near this cars is because you have
to pick up a lot of stuff.  If it weren't for that we'd be
sending you out in unicycles."  He pointed to the floor.
"In ninety minutes I'll be standing right here expecting
each of you to be here already unloading the trucks.  If you
get here a second after that, it's your ass.  If you put so
much as a scratch the size of a cunt hair on any of these
trucks, it's your ass.  Fuck up in anyway, shape, or form,
it's your ass.  Got it?"
     "Yes sir!"
     "Oh yeah, I almost forgot."  He reached inside his
lettermen for four credit cards and passed them out.
"Charge anything that's not on the any of the list and it's
your ass."
     He handed me a MasterCard and I gave it to Arsen.  I
intended to drive so I figured he could be the
navigator/treasurer.  Before he left, Shaun opened the doors
and turned on all the lights in the garage with a remote.
Man that garage was huge and lined with rows and rows of
fancy cars and SUVs.
     We got in our SUV and took off.  Now that Arsen and I
were away from the Brother's prying eyes we got to look at
the list for the first time.  It was pretty normal stuff we
had to get.  Chips, soda, paper plates, beer and shit like
that.  Arsen hands me the list while we were stopped at a
red light and he complete missed the part that said `tons of
condoms' towards the end of the list.  It even listed a
specific place we had to get them from.  We got all the
stuff with ease, though we did get some strange looks from a
lot of people when we walked into the local mini-mart.
Couldn't understand why.  Maybe it had to do with the robes
we wore and the fact that we were still handcuffed together.
     Can you feel the sarcasm yet?
     It didn't even hit me that we were going to have
trouble getting the beer since we were both under the
drinking age.  It was when I put my hand on the first case
of Budweiser in Earl's Liquor that we finally looked at each
other with the same thing on our minds.
     "Dude, I'm not twenty one," I said, a flash of CJ
invaded my thoughts.
     "Me either."
     "Okay, now what?"
     Arsen shrugged.  "I say we just start grabbing cases
and hope they don't ask for ID."
     "That's your plan?"  I was shocked he would suggest
such an idiotic scheme.
     "Do you have a better one?" he challenged.
     "Not really, but you seriously don't think this is
going to work."
     "You never know."
     "I do know.  It won't work, I'm telling you."
     "Just give me a hand with these, Jacob."
     Under protest, I helped Arsen lug case after case to
the front counter.  The kid at the register had his face
buried in his book, but every so often he'd look at us and
then pretend he wasn't.
     Weirdo.
     And if things couldn't get any worse, who decides to
walk in while we're stacking all these cases of beer?  A
Connecticut State Trooper of course.  Nice!  It's not like
we wanted things to go smoothly or anything.  He asked the
register kid where Earl was before he noticed us.  The
trooper looked at us, then at all the beer, and then his
eyes darted back to us again.  Wouldn't you know it?  He
approached us slowly, cautiously.  He would've thought?  Not
me.
     "We are royally fucked!" I whispered to Arsen.
     He nodded.  "Yeah we are."  Arsen leaned closer to me.
"Maybe he won't notice us."
     "Good one."
     Arsen chuckled under his breath just as the trooper
stopped in front of us.
     "What do you boys think you're doing?"  This tower of
intimidating muscle hovered over us while folding his arms
over his broad chest.
     "Uh." was my intelligent replay.
     Arsen's "um" wasn't any better.
     "Look," he said with a dismissive wave, "I don't even
want to know.  And I'm not going to bother asking you for ID
because you and I both know you're not old enough to be
buying this stuff.  So this is what I propose."  He pointed
at all the beer we stacked and got a bit smug with us.  "I'm
going to let you put all this back where you got it, let you
walk out of here, and forget I ever saw you tonight.  But if
I ever catch you morons trying to pull this again I will
take you down to the station and book you before you know
what hit you.  Got it?"
     "Yes," Arsen answered for us.
     "Now put all this stuff back quickly and neatly.  Don't
you go messing up my brother's store."
     Great they're brothers.  Can anything else go wrong?
     Actually I was bit surprised the trooper didn't say
anything about our robes, but I guess I shouldn't complain.
     While he watched we carried the cases back to the
shelves, but the instant we turned our backs to him the
trooper stopped us.
     "Hold on a second."  He put his hand on my shoulder to
stop me and lifted the hood of my robe up.  "Property of The
Brotherhood," he read quietly.  "You two are pledging The
Brotherhood?"
     We nodded, unsure if that was a good thing or not, but
when he showed us his right ring finger I let out a sigh of
relief.  The ring bared The Brotherhood emblem, two birds
locking their claws together in combat.
     "And this is for the party tonight?"
     Again we nodded.
     "I wish you had said something sooner.  I never would
have stopped you."  The trooper pointed at the beer again.
"You better get this stuff to the house ASAP.  I know how
the Brothers get when things don't go the way they want them
to."  Raising a brow, he grinned and readjusted the bulge
under his tight pants.  It was not like I wanted to look,
but it was so unexpected my eyes couldn't help but follow
his hand.  "Maybe I'll see you later tonight."  With the
same shit eaten grin, he winked and headed out, leaving a
message with the register kid for his brother and assured
him that we were okay and there was no need to card us.
     "I wasn't planning on it, Joe," the kid uttered his
first few words.  "I read the back of their robes when they
walked in.  I'll be seeing you later tonight."
     Leaning over to me, Arsen whispered, "What the fuck as
that all about?"  I knew he was referring to the cop
grabbing himself.
     "How the fuck should I know?  Lets just get the shit
and go."
     I tried to hand the kid the credit card but he waved me
off.
     "Don't need it," he assured me.  "We already have The
Brotherhood's account in our system.  So you are the new
pledges, eh?"
     "That we are," Arsen nodded.  While the guy looked
away, Arsen nudged me and discreetly pointed at the kid's
right hand.  The same ring was on the same finger.  "You're
a former Brother?" Arsen ventured carefully.
     "Former?  I don't think so.  When you join The
Brotherhood you join for life."
     "So you're a KU grad?
     "Yep.  Got my masters in criminal justice.  No, this is
not my only job."  He laughed.  "I help out Earl a few
nights a week.  Our families go way back."
     "Cool," I said.
     "So how do you like pledging so far?"
     "It's cool, though we have yet to get into any of the
heavy stuff I bet."
     He looked at Arsen for a second before an impish grin
appeared on his face.  Taking his hat off, he scratched the
back of his head; the grin never leaving his face.
     "What's the smirk for?"
     Now he looked at me and laughed.  "Don't worry about
it."  Like the trooper before him, he felt the need to
squeeze his crotch and readjust himself.  "You'll find out
when you get into the `heavy stuff'.  Anyway, I don't want
to keep you so you better get going before the Brothers come
looking for you."
     "Thanks," we said.
     It took us about fifteen minutes to properly load up
all the beer in the back of the truck and get back on the
road for the last item on the list.
     Condoms.  A shit load of condoms.
     We pulled up to the store specified on the list.  Right
off the bat I could tell this was a mom and pop store.  Who
do we see behind the counter when we walk in?  This little
old lady that could've easily been my or Arsen's great
grandmother.  And here we are, two young bucks, about to
load up her counter with boxers of condoms.  Nice!  And if
that wasn't bad enough the whole store was filled with a
bunch older people, especially women.  Double nice!
     How embarrassing!
     We went looking for the condoms without sharing a
glance with anyone.  When we found them I pulled out my robe
a bit to make a basket and told Arsen to "load me up."
     He grabbed as many boxes as possible and threw them on
me.  Oddly enough, for a mom and pops store this place had a
very large selection of condoms.  Every possible color one
can think of was hanging up there.  They had small, larger,
extra large, super larger, Oh My God are you crazy.  No word
of a lie.  There was a boxed labeled "Oh My God Are You
Crazy Large."  They had flavored ones from strawberry to
chocolate.  They even had glow in the dark condoms.  Arsen
grabbed everything.  He didn't give a fuck.  And I didn't
care either.  All I wanted to do is pay for the shit and get
out of there with the quickness.
     By the time we go to the counter we had enough rubber
to make a Goodyear Blimp.  And of course there's a line up
the ying yang because every person in there had about a
billion coupons they wanted to use.
     It's like lady hurry up and pay for the shit I have
condoms I need to buy!
     This little old lady in line looked at us, smiling.
"Got enough there sonny?"  Then she winked at me and nodded
her head as if to say "how about you break me off a piece of
that."
     GROSS!
     Holy crap! I damn near threw up.
     I could tell Arsen wanted to bust out laughing, the
stupid smirk on his face gave it away.
     We got up there, paid, and bolted faster than
lightening, but not before I heard the old lady at the
register say "how disgusting" to the next woman in line.
     For like five minutes Arsen and I pretended like we
were about to vomit while driving.  Arsen kept teasing me by
mimicking the old lady's "I want you look."
     "You big stud you!" he said over and over again.
     That was the most excitement we saw for the rest of the
day.  The coming hours were spent getting the house ready
for party.  Even though the Brothers kept an immaculate
house they made us clean it from top to bottom.  It was like
cleaning air, the place was so clean.  But if you ever
pledged in your life, you know how that goes.
     Now on to the party!
     I hope I didn't get anyone's hopes up about this party,
because the fact of the matter was, the pledges never got
the chance to experience one second of the party.  Not one
second!  Can you believe that shit?  We got all the stuff
for the party.  We did all the work to get the place ready
for the party.  We moved all the furniture and breakables
down to The Pit.  We scrubbed that house from top to bottom
even though it was already clean.  We did everything!  What
do we get for our trouble?  We get told to go to our rooms
and stay there as if we were  a bunch of little kids.
     I was so pissed!  We all were.  But that's pledge life
I guess.  It sucks major ass but you have to start
somewhere.
     Does hearing the party count for anything?  Because I
heard the wildest, craziest party ever going on downstairs.
The music was off the hook.  They played alternative, hip-
hop, rock, pop, and a lot of reggae.
     Nope, I wasn't bitter at all.  (If you could only see
me roll my eyes at that one)
     I'm not going to get into what Arsen and I talked about
because it's your normal crap two guys bored out of their
mind would say to each other.  The highlight of our night
was when a few Bothers got some pledges to bring up more
kegs from The Pit.  God forbid they did it themselves.
That's the only time we actually got to see the party live.
     It was wall-to-wall people.  I think the whole school
showed up for the party. And oh my god, the girls!  There
were so many hot girls there and some that weren't so hot
but that's okay `cause I really wasn't looking at them
anyway.  My eyes kept wondering so much I almost tripped
like ten times.  Everyone was so cramped together it seemed
like I was walking into one big orgy.
     We got a lot of shit from everyone because we were
walking around in our underwear, but whatever.
     I didn't get to stay long.  The Brother's hurried us
down stairs to get the kegs and then hurried us back up
stairs to set them down and then it was back to our rooms.
I don't know why but something told me to look over my
shoulder while I was going up the stairs.  I saw some guy
hovering over my girl, Alex, by the fireplace.  She was
laughing and giggling it up like she always dose when she's
being flattered.  I couldn't tell if the dude was a Brother
because not all of them were wearing their lettermen.  It
might have been Joe Blow from campus.  I didn't care either
way.  My blood boiled.
     Did I ever mention I was kinda sorta the jealous type?
     Anyway, I don't know what got into me but I went for
him.  I was going to charge thru that crowd and demand to
know what was going on or pound his face in with my foot.
The only thing that stopped me was Arsen, for I was still
cuffed to him thank God.
     "What fuck are you doing?" he yelled at me over the
music and dragged me upstairs.  "You better get your ass up
here before you get us in trouble.  I'm not getting into it
with the Brothers over some stupid broad."
     Thankfully that was enough to knock some sense into me
so I let it go and went back to my room.  Of course when we
were alone in our room I went nuts, yelling and swearing
like you wouldn't believe.  Luckily no one could hear me but
Arsen `cause the music was so damn loud.  Poor Arsen.  He
spend the rest of the night trying to calm me down
     I don't know when, but sometime during the night we
fell asleep on the floor despite the wild party going on
downstairs.
     The next morning we were awakened by a soft knock on
the door.  Arsen and I looked at each other with sleepy
eyes, knowing damn well that was not the knock of a Brother.
Brothers don't knock they just come in.
     Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Arsen asked, "Who do
you think that is?"
     "Sorry, I forgot my x-ray glasses at home.  How should
I know?"
     "Are you always such a sarcastic shit?" he laughed,
yawning.
     "Pretty much."
     The knock came again followed by a whisper.
"Dude, are you in there?"
     "CJ?" I said
     "Yeah, I'm opening the door."  He came in and Ant
stayed by the door to keep an eye out I guess.
     "Are you guys nuts?" I said in an equally soft voice.
"What are you guys doing here?  If the brothers catch you
we're all in for it."
     "Dude, you have any idea what time it is?"
     "Dude I don't care.  Get the fuck out of our room
before you get us in trouble!"
     Rolling his eyes at me, he simply continued talking as
if I hadn't said anything.  "It's almost one in the
afternoon and the Brother's haven't gotten us yet."
     "Probably because there's no one here, dumbass," Ant
said from doorway, laughing.
     "What do you mean there's no one here?" Arsen queried
as he stood, then help me up to my feet.
     "The house is empty except for us pledges," Ant
responded.
     "How do you know that?"
     "Because we looked," CJ offered.
     "Are you fucking nuts?" I yelled, back handing him
across the arm.  "What the fuck are you guys doing walking
around the house?"
     "Dude, chill!  There's no one here.  What part of that
don't you get, dude?  Come with us and you'll see."
     Before I could protest CJ and Ant left, thinking we
would follow.  Even though we KNEW we shouldn't be doing
what we were asked to do, we did it anyway.  Curiosity got
the best of us and followed them down.  What I saw
downstairs was even worse than seeing CJ and Ant standing by
my door.  Almost all the pledges were wearing their robes
and the few that didn't were putting them when we got there.
     "What the fuck are you guys doing?"  I was in shock.
"You know damn well you're not supposed to be wearing
anything but underwear while in the house.  You fucking know
that!"
     "Jacob, relax!" Sam said as he closed up his robe.
"Look around you.  There's no one here.  No one is going to
know.  Besides, we're keeping a look out so the first sign
of the Brothers we'll take the robes off and run up stairs
real quick.  Besides, we checked the garage and all the cars
are gone too."
     His cuff mate Kevin grabbed our robes from the wall and
threw it at us.  "Walking around with your ass hanging out
in front of a bunch of dudes may be your thing, but for me,
not so much."
     Again, the pit of my stomach was telling me this was
wrong.  Very, very wrong!  But did I listen?  Nope.  I
didn't put robe on all the way,  I kinda just let it hang on
my shoulder (as if that was any better).  And if things
couldn't get any worse, Mike and Xavier come running around
the far corner (almost slipping on some spilled beer.  Now
that was funny!), uncuffed, grinning from ear to ear.
     "Guys, guess what I found."  Mike sounded like a ten
year old who just found his older brother's porn stash.  He
opened the palm of his hand to reveal the little remote that
locked and unlocked our cuffs."
     "Dude!" CJ laughed, just as excited.  "That's awesome."
     "Guys I don't think we should." To late for my protest.
Mike hit the button and unlocked us all.  I looked at Arsen
for answers, to see what he thought of the situation.  That
fool just shrugged and took off the cuffs.
     All the guys were quick to take the cuffs off without
giving it a second thought.  They were sure they could put
them back on before the Brothers caught us.  I had no choice
but to play along.  What was I going to do?  Handcuff
myself?  I think not.  There was a part of me screaming for
me to run up to my room, dragging Arsen if I had to, lock
myself in and put the handcuffs back on.  That was my smart
side talking.  The stupid side appeared to have more
influence because I just stayed there and watched my fellow
pledges dig us a deeper grave.
     "Guys."  I broke off suddenly laughing.  I couldn't
help myself.  "We are so fucked if we get caught."
     "For the hundredth time, dude, will you relax?  We've
been thru the house while you guys were still sleeping.
There's no on here, dude.  Speaking of which, this place is
fucking huge!"
     "All the rooms except for that one room in the back,"
Jason said.  "It was the only one that was locked really."
     "Yeah," his partner Justin recalled.  "But it has a
simple lock.  I can open it easily with," he looked around
the floor and a near by table until he found a knife,
"this."
     Did I mention how trashed the place was?  There was
spilled beer everywhere.  Plastic cups, bottles, cans, food,
paper plates, and a whole bunch of other crap covered the
floor.  It was hard to tell if the party caused the mess or
a tornado.  I thought tornado, it was that bad.
     By that point no one was going to listen anyway so I
just stopped arguing.  What was the point really?  Justin
lead the way thru a maze of halls until we entered this one
room way in the back of the house. It was a pretty big room
but it was empty.  No furniture, rugs, pictures, nothing.
It looked like one big room someone forgot to furnish.  In
the back of the room was a pair of sliding doors made of
dark oak.  Just like Justin said a simple lock locked them
together.  With knife in hand, Justin got down on one knee
and worked the lock over.
     I have to admit I was a bit curious.  That room stuck
out like a sore thumb.  It just seemed so out of place.  And
why were those the only doors locked in the whole joint.  It
was very weird.
     "I almost got it," Justin said thru clinched teeth.  We
moved in closer.  "Got it!" He laughed and slid the doors
open.
     I think we all just about died when we saw what was
behind those doors.  We didn't just open a set of doors.we
opened Pandora's Box.
     Oh, and how the Gods were pissed!

_____________
So there you have it.  The forth chapter of The Brotherhood.
I hope you liked it.  I will definitely continue the story,
no problem, but it really depends on you guys.  If you
enjoyed what you read so far and would like to read more
please drop me an email with TBH or The Brotherhood in the
subject line at: thewriter_x@hotmail.com

Take care,
X