by Shawn James
“Now do you feel closer to me?” I ask.
Marcy smiles at me as she catches her breath. “A little.”
“And you didn’t have to show me your pubes to do it. “I tease.”
“Nah, you can borrow my purple suit next week.”
Yes! I am going to be looking foine in that little number. “Thanks Marcy.”
“You’re welcome Col. “Man, that was fun though. I miss doing stuff like that.” Marcia says.
It was. “I wish I could have done stuff like that when I was little. One of the disadvantages of being an only child.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing Col. Me and my best friend Becky used to pillow fight all the time when I was little. We’re lucky these bad boys didn’t explode and have feathers blowing all over the place–”
“Is that what happened at your last pillow fight?”
“Yep. The sleepover of 1981. Good times.”
“And we could have some good times at the movies.”
“You’re just feeling sorry for me-”
“Hey, I can’t spend my whole day working on computers. I wanted to hit the shops after we came out of the movies.”
Marcia lights up. “I did see a linen skirt in the Unique Botique that would go great with that light blue blouse of yours-”
“The one with the mother-of-pearl buttons?” I inquire.
“Yeah, and if I put my black sandals and my navy blue double breasted blazer with it I have the perfect outfit.”
“I was gonna ask if I could borrow that-”
“Only if I get to borrow your peach suit.”
“Just promise me you won’t wear a G-string under it.”
“Er…guys?” Abbby says. “Now I’m feeling left out.”
Marcy and I grimace at the facetious sad look pasted on Abby’s face. A pair of pillows fly across the room and catch her in the face. As House Party continues to play in the background, another pillow fight erupts with Abby taking a goosedown beatdown.
Chapter 34
The slumber party ends at around 1:45 AM. I know that’s cutting it short for a Friday night, but we’ve got to meet Angela for a morning workout.
Not that we didn’t get a workout tonight. Two pillowfights, some tickling and a lot of laughter probably burned a couple of hundred calories. As the pillowfight won loss records stands now I’m 1–1, Abby is 1–1, fights and Marcy is 2–0.
I never did stuff like sleepovers, pillow fights, jumping on the bed or any of that crazy stuff. Aunt Margaret wouldn’t let me. She was too afraid of me wrinkling my pajamas. It felt good to just cut loose and be silly for once. I’m going to try to do more stuff like that when I get home.
Chapter 35
Abby and I have been hard at work on this motherboard since ten this morning. With a lot of consulting the manual, we got the jumpers configured, the processor and memory installed and screwed it in the case. Now to see if all our hard work is going to pay off.
Abby gets the S-Video connector attached to the TV in the suite. We’re tense with anticipation as I hit the power button. Our eyes light up at the sight of the BIOS configuration screen. We give each other a high five to celebrate our accomplishment.
The clock reads 2:48, I think Abby can make it through the BIOS configuration without me.
“Can you get the BIOS configured without me?”
“Yeah I think I can take it from here.” Abby says. “You guys enjoy your movie.”
I rush out of the suite, hurry downstairs and make my way down to the lounge where I find Marcy reading the latest issue of Vogue. As I approach her she smiles at me.
“Hey Col, you guys get the computer working?”
“Yeah. Abby’s working on the BIOS configuration. You want to catch a movie?”
“I thought you’d want to install more parts.”
“BIOS configuration has to be done before anything else is installed. And Abby needs to do it on her own to get it just the way she likes it.”
“Rumsfeld has the day off. So we can’t take the Rolls…” Marcy says.
That puts a crimp in my plans. “Crap–”
“…But we can take the convertible.” Marcy continues. “Just let me get my purse.”
I light up when I hear the word convertible. I wish I could’ve taken my old Mustang up here so I could feel the wind flowing through my hair. I’m hoping they have a car that’s as nice as mine.
Marcy jumps off the sofa and we head out into the vestibule. After Marcy rushes upstairs and returns back down with her purse, we tell Rosa where we’re going before we head out the door down the path to the garage. Marcy strolls into the garage and in a few minutes, she’s headed down the driveway in a silver Mercedes 500SL with the top dropped down. It’s not a car that’s as nice as mine, it’s a car that blows the doors off it. I know what I want for a birthday present in a couple of months.
I jump in the smooth leather front passenger seat. While the car idles, I wait for my blindfold. After everything goes dark, air whizzes around us as the purring Mercedes rolls down the hill, bumps the curb and merges into local traffic.
“Thanks for taking me to the movies Col.” Marcy says.
“Take you to the movies? Er…Don’t the Thetas have an expense account there?”
“Pledges pay for Big Sisters when they invite them out.”
Figures she’d pull rank on me. But I guess it’s fair. Everyone is here for me, so I can front the bill for the movies today. “Do I have to pay for popcorn too?”
Marcy smiles at me. “And all my other snacks. So What are we seeing?”
Crap, I should have taken a look in the newspaper to see what was playing. “We’ll figure it out once we get there.”
“I hear The Changing Soul is good.”
Guess we’ll see that. “Do you have many friends at Spelman?”
I feel another smile directed at me before she answers. “After a rough start, I’m getting to know a few people there now.” Marcy answers.
“You had a hard time making friends there?”
“It’s was hard for me to relate to people since I come from a strict Christian home.”
“Wouldn’t you find friends among other Christians?”
“Not when you’re a fanatical nutjob.”
“You don’t look like a fanatic-”
“Hey, most bullies don’t look like bullies. But when you carry a Bible around you can shame the people in your neighborhood into agreeing with you.”
“Until you get to a college campus.”
“That’s when I almost lost my narrow mind.”
“I take it you were uncomfortable on the Spelman campus-”
“When you’re threatening to kill your atheist roommate and getting into shouting matches with the Muslim RA you’re well on your way to becoming the most unpopular person on campus.”
“Wow-it sounded like things were getting crazy down there-”
“The Deans would have put me in for a 72-hour hold if Grand Mother Flowers hadn’t intervened on my behalf.”
“What’d she do?”
“After my little…episode in the Spelman dorm last year, she called my parents down and had a meeting with them. They were prepared to write the trustees a check to make things go away, but she persuaded them to have them sponsor me for The Thetas instead.”
Taking that money out of the college’s hands and keeping it in Black hands. Even in helping a sista she helps the Sisters. Nice to know she practices what she preaches.
“I don’t see how pledging a Christian organization would stop a Christian bully-”
I feel Marcia looking at me through the blindfold. “Are you a feminist anymore?”
“So she got you with the taser too?”
“I wish.” Marcy laughs. “No, she got me in the pocketbook. My trust fund is still feeling the pinch it got a year ago.”
“She made you pay for pledging-”
“No, she told me I had to pay anytime I disagree
d with someone else’s religious beliefs or threatened them with fire and brimstone. By the end of the summer, I owed the Thetas over $200,000.”
“Ouch.”
“Hey, I learned a valuable lesson last year.” Marcy continues. “When I saw how much money it was costing me, I realized how much my acting out was costing me socially.”
“Driving away the very people you could have been friends with.”
“Like you were.”
“I’m really sorry about MochaTan Malibu Barbie crack-”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I had a penchant for calling people whores since I was oh, about eleven years old.”
“I take it you used that word a lot on the Spelman campus.”
“With all the sex that went on in the dorms that word was a major part of my vocabulary freshman year.”
“You do know when you use words like that it’s a sign that you’re insecure about your own sexuality.”
“That’s so true.”
“Gained some perspective on your past experiences?”
“Yeah, being argumentative, combative, hostile, and downright nasty isn’t really a great way to show people an example of Christ.”
“Fastest way to turn them off.”
“You couldn’t tell me that. I thought I was a saint doing the Lord’s work.”
“Did The Thetas show you another way?”
“Yeah. Grand Mother Flowers and the Dean Mothers showed me that people express God’s love to others through their actions, not by browbeating people with a Bible.”
“So you’re not trying to convert the heathens anymore?”
“In between moving the planks of advanced macroeconomics and statistics classes out of my eyes, I haven’t had much time to focus on the mote in the eyes of my fellow classmates.”
“If you’re so busy studying, how’d the wall come down between you and the people at school?”
“After I apologized to my former RA and my former roommate, I started talking to people between classes. And I started trying some of the things I once denounced people for.”
“Like thongs and g-strings.”
“That’s how I found out they weren’t so sinful. Along with some other things…”
“So you…”
I feel Marcy flashing me a sly smile. “In the interests of maintaining goodwill with my new roommate and my neighbors at the dorm, I’ve been trying to keep the noise down.”
“My roommate thought I was having a heart attack the first time she heard me having an orgasm.”
Marcia gasps on the revelation. “She caught you-”
“It was two in the morning. I didn’t think she’d be such a light sleeper-”
“You must have really been in the zone-”
“Man, I was cumming so hard I didn’t know where I was. When I looked up and I saw Meghan standing over me asking if I was okay, I almost had that heart attack.”
Marcia and I share a laugh. “Did the two of you finally work out a system?” She asks.
“Yeah, I kept my fun in between the hours of six to ten when she’s working in the dining services hall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.”
“Just so you know, if you’re gonna have fun here, there’s a setting on the shower head in the suite that hits that spot right every time.”
I’m definitely going to have to try that out this weekend. “Is that why you take such long showers?”
“It’s one of the reasons why I came back to volunteer this summer.” Marcia says.
We share another laugh on the revelation. “Seems like your Theta experience really changed you.”
“It just brought out who I really was.”
“I don’t know, going from an extremist Christian bully to someone who’s so open and friendly seems like a complete 360 in personality.”
“Well, I’ve learned to just be comfortable with who I am and that there’s nothing wrong with me being me.”
“I take it your parents aren’t too happy with who you are.”
“That’s why I got my own place a couple of months ago.”
“You live by yourself?”
“I had to get away from the crazy.”
“I’m sorry things are so strained between you and your parents-”
“I’m not. I’d rather be happy by myself than be miserable around them.”
“So how is living alone?”
“I’m actually enjoying it.” Marcy replies.
“Had any friends over?”
“Not yet. But if you’re ever in the ATL, you can come stay at the MochaTan Malibu Marcy fun house.”
I may have to her up on that offer the next time Daddy is doing business on the area. But on one condition. “Can I get as loud as I want?”
I hear the car slowing down. I think we’re at the theater. “Not a problem. I had the walls soundproofed.”
Chapter 36
Marcy and I come out of the theater after The Changing Soul with smiles on our faces. After talking to her one–on–one I realize we have a lot more in common than I thought. Her calling people whores was just like me calling her and Abby MochaTan Malibu Barbies. The truth was we were both insecure and scared about meeting people with different experiences than the ones we grew up with. Now that I’ve faced some of those fears, and seen that those people are just like me I’m learning not to be afraid of the unknown.
As we head up the strip, I look in the window of Madame Panache. The white blouse I saw on the rack is now in the window. I wonder if it’s on sale.
“See something you like Col?” Marcia asks.
“Yeah.” I reply. “And I’m in a mood to buy something.”
I open the door and stroll into Madame Panache. Penelope lights up at the sight of me and rushes from behind the counter to greet us.
“Colleen, I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow. What can I do for you?”
“That white blouse in the window. Is it on sale?”
“Yes. It was going to get a price reduction on Monday as part of our spring clearance sale. But a Pledge can get the sale price today.”
Looks like we got here just in time. This is a deal I’m not going to pass up.
Penelope walks us over to a display on the sales floor where the fitted white shirt with mother–of–pearl buttons is presented on a mannequin. I light up when I see a size 4 on the table. I unfold it and examine it. Looks like it’s going to be a perfect fit.
“Is that all?”
I scan the sales floor for more items. I don’t see anything that grabs me. “I guess so.”
Marcia looks over the blouse. “Col, you’re not going to wear this during Theta affairs? It’s a little casual.”
I better let Marcy know my intentions with this shirt. “Oh I definitely wouldn’t wear this when I was on the Theta clock. But I do need new clothes to replace my old ones when I get back home.”
“You’re getting rid of all your old clothes?”
“Yeah, the T–shirts and jeans aren’t who I really want to be anymore. But this could be the start of building a new wardrobe.”
“It’s still so plain–”
“A shirt is only plain when the person is plain.” I retort. “And I have the charisma to pull this off.”
“You do have a presence about you.” Marcia concedes.
“Part of building a great outfit is making me stand out.” I say. “And every good wardrobe starts with a basic white shirt.”
“I’d have to agree with that.” Penelope chimes.
“Besides, I don’t want to freak out Daddy with too many changes. Remember, he’s still expecting me to still be his Pumpkin when I come back home from pledging.”
Marcy laughs as we head over to the counter. As Penelope rings me up, I imagine what the new me will look like.
Chapter 37
The service at Oneonta Baptist Church was great. I’d have to say Pastor Brown’s message of growing in Christ really reached me personally. If I didn’t live in the
city, I’d probably be attending this church regularly. I prefer to be taught lessons I can apply in my life than preached at.
I’m feeling uplifted and inspired as The Theta’s Lexus LX 470 stops at the top of the hill. As Marcia unties my blindfold and pulls it away from my face I check my watch. 3:30. From what Grand Mother Flowers told me on Saturday when we were at the swing, The party starts at six, so I have enough time to get showered and changed.
After everyone gets out of the SUV, Grand Mother Flowers arranges a meet time for everyone.
“All right ladies we have exactly two hours before Slipdress Sunday’s festivities start. Everyone except Colleen and Sister Abigail must be downstairs by five thirty.”
Grand Mother Flowers turns to me. “Colleen, you’ll wait upstairs until Sister Marcia comes to get you. Then you’ll wait in the kitchen until we announce you.”
With our instructions we all rush into the manor to get ready. I can’t wait to get into that slipdress.
Chapter 38
5:45 PM.
I’ve got a string in my butt cheeks.
Glorified stickers on my breasts.
And I feel good about it.
Abby was right, I barely feel the G–string. And these petals on my nipples are just like wearing band–aids. Now to see if this stuff actually works at eliminating underwear bulges.
I grab my slipdress off the bed. As I slip it over my head, the silk drapes over the curves on my body as if it were poured onto it. Looking at the reflection of the attractive woman in the mirror in the full length mirror across from me, I don’t even recognize myself. I’m a knockout.
Man, I can’t believe how much I’ve changed in just a week. A month ago I’d be begging Daddy to let me wear a pair of bleached blue Levi’s and a black T–shirt to a lunch he was throwing at the office so I could make a statement about being a woman. Now I’m putting on clothes I wouldn’t have ever thought of putting on. And I’m looking forward to the next time I can wear them someplace.
I look over at my glasses on the night table across the room gathering a nice layer of dust on the lenses. I’m not that girl anymore. I’m becoming someone different. Someone adventurous. Someone fun. And I think I’m starting to like her.
My train of thought is interrupted when Abby streaks out of the walk in closet wearing a white g–string, strappy sandals and a fretful look on her face. “Colleen, do you have any petals left?”
