The Pledge Mistress Ch. 34

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President Alexandra showed up at the hospital a few minutes later driving a Tri-Alpha minivan. With her she had an extra T-shirt and shorts for her fellow officer, knowing that Tracy's clothing was completely soiled from her encounter with the woman she rescued. Instead of putting the clothing on herself, she directed Brittany to get dressed and put her own reeking clothes into a hospital bag. She quickly explained to Alexandra that Brittany would accompany them back to the sorority. When she heard Brittany's story, Alexandra quickly agreed to take the in wayward pledge as a guest and prospective member.

Just as the sun came up and the three women were leaving the hospital, a security guard ran up to the group and told them that Tracy had to go back to the police station to resubmit her declaration. She took a deep breath and objected:

"But I already gave a declaration. Why do I have to go back?"

"They can't find it, and they're planning send some officers over to talk to that sorority about the drinking violations. They need your statement because they might be writing up some arrest warrants."

"Look. I got class. I got my own pledges to deal with. I'd be happy to come back later..."

"You gotta go, now. I'm told to get you and that's what I'm here for. You don't have no choice."

Both Brittany and Tracy were very worried about the turn in events that would force them to separate. Instead of going to back to campus with Tracy, she had to go with someone she had just met and tell her story all over again. Tracy was worried about something far more serious. If she didn't make it back to campus soon, Heather would be left in charge of the pledge group.

To her credit, Alexandra quickly sympathized with Brittany. She was easy to talk to and her diplomatic way of expressing herself contrasted with Tracy's bluntness and military vocabulary. Brittany had to retell her story, but soon it became obvious that Alexandra was just as determined to extricate her from her drunken sorority as was Tracy.

As she rode back to the university with Brittany, the Four-Beta president made a series of calls from her cell phone. The first calls were to the professors of the two classes that Tracy had to miss that morning. She simply told a portion of the truth, that her Pledge Mistress had to help a patient suffering from alcohol poisoning. After the calls to the professors came a call to the Four-Beta chapter vice-president to prepare an orientation packet for a prospective pledge. When the president hung up she turned to her companion:

"You'll need to formally interview the sorority officers once we get back to the Four-Beta House and start reading the orientation package. However, I want you to just take a quick look at it, because we're more worried about your finals. You'll have plenty of time to deal with orientation at the end of August."

As she sat listening to Alexandra's words, Brittany realized the seriousness of what she was doing. Her new mentor was not kidding in the least: she really was about to change sororities.

Alexandra asked Brittany the names of her professors and called each to make an appointment for the afternoon. By the time she hung up, the two women already were on campus. While they waited to talk to the first of the freshman's three instructors, Alexandra got on a computer to access her campus account and pulled up a letter, on formal Four-Beta letterhead, which Brittany would have to sign as an official resignation from her sorority. She pulled up a second letter that Brittany would sign to authorize any Four-Beta officer to go to her former sorority and retrieve her personal property. The two women would take both letters to the university's student center to have them notarized. That weekend, while Brittany continued to study, her Pledge Mistress or Sergeant-at-Arms would go over to the rival sorority to get her things. Undoubtedly there would be a nasty confrontation and possibly a physical fight, but Tracy would be presenting legal documents and the weight of the law would be on her side. If need be, she could return with a cop.

There was one final call Alexandra made on behalf of Brittany, a call to her parents. The president dialed and handed the phone to her companion:

"I expect you to let them know what happened and why you're getting out of your sorority. They'll find out anyway, when their insurance gets billed, so I think the explanation about the ER charges ought to come from you. When you're done, you can put me on, if you want."

"President Alexandra, please! I can't..."

"It's ringing. When they pick up, you'd better start talking."

Brittany discovered that Alexandra's demand that she talk to her parents immediately actually was the best thing she could have done. She didn't have time to think up any stories or soften what had happened to her the night before. Within 15 minutes Brittany's parents learned more about how she had spent her summer semester than they had found out during the prior two months of listening to her brief, evasive conversations. Needless to say, they were quite horrified.

Finally Brittany's mother asked to speak to the Four-Beta chapter president. Brittany handed over the phone and listened to Alexandra's side of the conversation:

"Yes, ma'am...I'm the Four-Beta chapter president...No, ma'am I wasn't there, it was my Pledge Mistress who picked her up...No, ma'am, we'll let her stay at the house, but she's not exactly going to be a pledge...Well, the reason for that is her grades. She'll need to pass her summer classes to be eligible to formally pledge, which is what we're going to check on in a few minutes...I'll see if she's got any hope of passing her classes; that's what'll decide whether or not we can let her pledge...I understand that, ma'am, but academic performance is a prerequisite for joining the Four-Betas, and we're inflexible about that...No ma'am, we don't drink...Well, that's them. We're different because we don't allow alcohol...No ma'am, none at all. We don't allow it...Yes ma'am, we do haze our pledges, but not in the way your daughter was being hazed. Most of what they do involves exercising and studying...Not really, it's not that big of a secret. Our prospective members get an orientation packet that explains what we expect from them...I guess the best way to describe it is that it's kinda like Basic Training in the military, especially with the Pledge Mistress we have right now. She's been in the Army and...Once again, ma'am, I'm not sure. It depends on whether or not she can pass her classes...Yes ma'am, if she stays with us we'll do what we can to help her pass. We've got some pretty good tutors and she's still got three weeks, but a lot of it'll depend on what I hear from her professors in a few minutes..."

An hour later Alexandra and Brittany had their answer. Although she was failing all three classes, there was hope she could pass two of them just by doing very well on the final. The third professor was a man who had spoken with the Four-Beta president several times in the past and liked her. He was willing to allow Brittany to re-submit a poorly-written term paper, which, combined with a high score in her final could conceivably give her enough to get "C-".

"There's your answer. If you work hard enough over the next three weeks you can salvage your semester."

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Alexandra took Brittany to the Four-Beta house and ordered a sophomore to give her lunch in the kitchen. As the visitor peeked out the window she had a bit of a shock; all of the women in the pool area were completely naked. Wow! So that part of Four-Beta life isn't an urban legend after-all, thought Brittany to herself. They really do run around with nothing on.

After lunch Alexandra turned Brittany over to her sophomore class leader. Elaine took her companion to the basement, issued her a toothbrush, a towel, a pair of Four-Beta pledge shorts, and an unmarked T-shirt. She ordered Brittany to clean up.

The final step was the formal interview with President Alexandra, her vice president, and the sorority's social director. Alexandra's calm, serious manner of talking helped put Brittany at ease and gave her hope that her time with the Four-Beta sorority would be more productive than her time with her former sorority. The interview ended with Brittany signing "an intent to pledge" statement, which gave her provisional status and the right to stay in the house as a guest over the next three weeks. Because she was not yet officially a pledge, she did not have to strip or kneel when talking to members. However, she had to have an escort at all times and was not permitted to use any of the amenities such as the pool. For the next three weeks, the only purpose in her life would be to get caught up in her classes. She would have to study as though her life depended on passing her classes, which in fact, it did.

"OK, Brittany, it's library time! I'll pair you up with one of our members who's taken your expository writing class, and you can get started on that one first. You'll have to ask her permission to do anything, and that includes going to the bathroom or getting a drink of water. When Pledge Mistress Tracy gets back, she'll be the one in charge of your day-to-day life."

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While Brittany was settling in, Tracy spent several anxious hours at the police station. She had to wait to give her statement, then was interviewed at length about what happened the night before, then told to wait again.

After lunch, a cop from the university police department interviewed her yet again. Upon finding out that Brittany was staying at the Four-Beta house, he asked Tracy if she thought she could get the freshman to give a second declaration to the university police. Finally, Tracy found out why both police departments were so interested in talking to her:

"We've been trying to get that sorority for the past four years, ever since the death of the Thompson girl. If we can get you and Brittany to testify, we've finally got what we need to nail 'em. I say that, because in the past they've always intimidated their witnesses."

Tracy smiled:

"Well, Officer; they won't be intimidating me. And they won't be able to get at Brittany, 'cause our pledges are always escorted. I'll help you nail 'em."

"So, she's going to be joining your sorority?"

"I guess she's gonna have to."

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Finally, at 3:00 in the afternoon Tracy left the police station. She was desperate to get back to the Four-Beta house, very worried about what might happen between Heather and Lisa. Shannon picked her up in a Tri-Alpha minivan. Tracy ordered the junior to get into the passenger seat and got behind the wheel. She needed to return to the Four-Beta house quickly, and felt that Shannon was too cautious a driver.

"We've gotta get back, before Lisa gets out of class. She's gonna be fucked if we don't."

The trip out of downtown was quite slow, because already rush-hour traffic was clogging the roads that led out to the university. As the Pledge Mistress crossed several suburbs and approached her destination, the roads cleared, but then the Four-Beta officers realized they had a much more serious problem to contend with. They were being followed by three carloads of young women. Tracy recognized some of the group as officers from Brittany's sorority.

"Call Alexandra. We've got company."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Just tell her where we are. Be quick about it. We're too far from the Four-Beta house for anyone to help us. Let her know what's happening and that we'll give her another call when we're done."

Shannon nervously dialed, knowing that, as soon as she hung up, Tracy planned to pull to a stop and confront the women following them. Great. That's what we need, she thought to herself, a fight against a dozen drunks. However, Shannon knew that the Pledge Mistress was not one to back away from battle, especially if it involved protecting the life of another person.

While Shannon was on the phone, one of the cars following them raced past the Tri-Alpha van. A beer bottle narrowly missed Tracy head, instead slamming against the window behind her and smashing it. The other driver quickly pulled in front of the van and jammed her breaks as hard as she could, but Tracy anticipated that and hit her own breaks as hard as possible. The van screeched, but narrowly avoided hitting the car in front. Instead, Tracy and Shannon got rear-ended by the carload of women still behind them. They were struck quite hard, the force of the impact shattering the van's back window. The airbags in the car ramming the Four-Betas deployed, stunning its occupants. Already the assault by Brittany's sorority was not going according to plan.

Tracy put the minivan in park and turned off the ignition. She calmly commented to Shannon:

"OK, it's show-time!"

Both women jumped out, knowing that it was vital for them not to get separated. Three sets of car doors opened and a dozen women charged the Four-Betas.

At first it seemed that the odds were totally against Tracy and Shannon, given that there were only two of them against 12 assailants. However both of the Four-Betas were in top physical shape and had taken hours of personal defense training. On top of her Four-Beta training, Tracy had taken several courses from the Army in hand-to-hand combat and was a brown belt in karate. Their opponents' unexercised bodies were trashed by several years of hard drinking and partying. None of them had any hope of matching either of the Four-Betas one-on-one. On top of that, two members of the group were stunned from being hit in the face by airbags. The fight was much more evenly matched than the assailants realized.

The rival Pledge Mistress started by swinging a tequila bottle at Tracy, which she neatly blocked. The bottle flew out of her opponent's hand and shattered on the street. Two other women moved on Shannon, only to have the wind knocked out of them by fast punches to the solar plexus. Tracy's foot landed hard into the stomach of another assailant, doubling her in pain and sending her staggering against the side of the minivan. She fell to the ground and vomited, clearly out of the fight. The largest woman from the rival group grabbed Tracy from behind, but the Pledge Mistress dropped, leaving her opponent's face exposed to a fierce punch from Shannon. Shannon's fist rammed hard into her opponent's nose, breaking it and forcing her to loosen her grip on Tracy. Tracy finished her off with a savage blow with her elbow to the stomach. Another assailant managed to land a punch on Shannon's mouth and cut her lip, but she countered with a much more effective blow to the stomach that incapacitated her. Tracy then landed a beautifully executed karate kick into the chin of yet another assailant, sending her staggering backwards onto the pavement.

The members of the rival sorority realized that they were not winning the melee. However, they kept at it, motivated by hatred, adrenaline, and alcohol. Within a few seconds two more of the assailants had the wind knocked out of them and another was stunned from a cruel blow from Tracy's foot to the side of her head. As for the Four-Betas, Tracy had taken several blows to the face that would leave bruises, but nothing that diminished her ability to swing her fists and feet. Shannon's lip was bleeding, but that was her only injury.

The wail of a siren put a quick end to the street fight. A cop jumped out of his car, pulled his gun, and screamed at everyone to "freeze" and get on the ground. The women gasped for breath as several additional squad cars pulled up. Moments later all 14 combatants were sitting on the pavement in handcuffs, awaiting transportation to a nearby police station.