Secret Society

by Robin Roseau

  "No, but I think I need to know a little more."

  "Of course you do," she said. "If you break your vow with the amount you currently know, our wrath would be minor. You know little. As we tell you more, the opportunity to annoy us increases."

  "Nothing illegal," I said.

  "Nothing illegal, unethical, or immoral," she said. "Well, the last is harder. In some cultures, it is immoral for a woman to hold a position of power. But I do not believe you'll have a problem with our morals."

  "I keep my promises," I said.

  "Good. Let us start with our name. We are the Order of Circe." She pronounced it Kier-kee. "You will find that name from Greek mythology. We borrowed it." I nodded understanding. "We exist for several simple reasons. You've already experienced those reasons. Every one of Cadence's projects and events were ours. Our primary purpose is to see to the betterment of the world around us, beginning closest to home."

  "That doesn't seem like cause for such secrecy."

  "Perhaps not," she agreed. "The other reason is similar to that of other secret societies."

  "World domination, like Claudine suggested?"

  She laughed. "Perhaps not the world." But she gestured around her. "But everyone in the room received at least some help from Circe."

  I thought about it. "My grandmother was a member."

  "Your great-grandmother was a founding member," Mrs. Franklin clarified. "Yes, your grandmother was a member."

  "We nearly invited you four years ago," Mrs. Grafton said. "Your name was under discussion. But when you decided to start your own firm, we decided you didn't need any extra distractions for a while." But she smiled. "But we helped you anyway."

  I looked around. "How much of my success has been my own?"

  "All of it," she replied immediately. "If a parent teaches a child to learn to ride a bicycle, the success of learning still belongs to the child. You have earned every contract you have won, and you have performed well on them besides."

  "How many did I win that I wouldn't have without Circe?"

  "Mine," she said. She looked around. "You've been offered the opportunity to bid on two or three others, but no influence was exerted as to whether you won the bids. You've stood on your own two feet, Ms. Todd, just as you wanted."

  And so I nodded.

  "Did you wish to leave?" Mrs. Franklin asked.

  "Not yet," I said carefully. "You're offering me membership?"

  "Yes, but it's not quite as simple as that. We'll come back to that."

  "All right. Then what are we doing?"

  "We're giving you information a little at a time," she said. "At this point, we want to be clear you understand why we exist, what we do, how we can help you, and our own expectations for you and, indeed, for all of us."

  I nodded. "All right."

  "We exist to break glass ceilings," she said. "That is not as critical as it once was, but that ceiling still exists."

  "I know."

  "We exist to ensure our members have opportunity. Men do so much business on the golf course, and rarely do they invite us. When they do, they still see us as second class golfers, and thus second class business associates."

  I'd encountered that in the past, and I nodded.

  "We exist to serve as a source of guidance," she continued. "You've been on the receiving end of some of that."

  "If my grandmother was a member, I suspect I've been on the receiving end of quite a bit of that."

  "Quite so," she said with a smile. "We also act as a united front, which is sometimes necessary. If someone wages war on one of us, he wages war on all of us although he probably doesn't know it."

  I nodded.

  "We exist to even the playing field," she said. "Mayor Bell has twice been the subject of significant negative attention for the sole reason of being female. Some men find powerful women frightening. We give them cause."

  I smiled at that. "Good."

  "Do you understand what I've said so far?" I nodded. "Good. Then let us discuss expectations. You can already guess some. We as a group decide to support a variety of events and causes. There are at times we make a decision to support a cause that is somewhat controversial."

  "Such as?"

  "Planned parenthood."

  "Oh."

  "We expect our members to support these causes and events. Support comes in a variety of ways, and you've already experienced them. However, we do not expect any member to set aside her own morality. We have three members who do not come out when it's time to help at a planet parenthood clinic."

  "I understand."

  "We also are not selective based on political leanings. A wide range of political beliefs are represented in this room. When one of our members is running for office, then we expect support from those members on that person's side of the aisle."

  "I understand. So I wouldn't be asked to support someone who declares me an abomination?"

  Her lips tightened. "No. And that particular belief is not found in this organization."

  "Good," I said.

  "We expect everyone to vote in every election. We expect you to vote Yes for school referendums. Of course, we don't follow you to the voting booth, but that is the expectation. We also expect you to be educated voters, and we go to lengths to be assured."

  "Oh?"

  "In the weeks leading up to a primary or the general elections, we hold intensive questioning. Everyone is brought in to question. You are expected to articulate how you are voting, but more importantly, why. We are quite relentless when someone is unable to answer our questions. It can be quite uncomfortable."

  "So voting the party line-"

  "Will be a deeply uncomfortable experience," she finished for me. "We would rake you over the coals if you cannot articulate your reasons for every voting decision you are making."

  "Wow. Okay."

  "To be clear, you vote your conscience, but if your position is poorly formed, we will poke holes in it. If you seem to know your candidates, the process can be a breeze."

  "What happens if I suggest I am voting for Mayor Bell's challenger?"

  The woman in question laughed. "It's your vote," she answered. "But did you meet my challenger in the most recent election?"

  "No, but my grandmother wasn't impressed with him."

  "I'll say," Mrs. Shaffer said. "He was an arrogant misogynist."

  "For local elections, we watch when someone like that is coming up," said the Mayor. "That's why I'm the mayor. I was asked to run."

  "By Circe?"

  "Yes."

  "Wow," I said. "All right. I think I understand."

  Mrs. Franklin smiled. "On the local elections, we're unbeaten. Our success on wider elections is less assured."

  "We also expect our members to assist each other. If any of us has influence over a marketing decision, you can bet Guerrilla Girl and Hankins Marketing would be invited to bid. Our influence is not always perfect, and we won't steer the work to you if you are not the best candidate, but we give a leg up. In the future, you could find yourself in a position to return the favor in any of a variety of ways. Would you have a problem with that?"

  "You're not dictating my choices?"

  "No. But if you were in a position to help an Order member and you did not, then you might find yourself in this room explaining your thoughts. That rarely happens."

  And so I nodded.

  "To be clear," Mrs. Grafton added, "This help extends to the members of the Order of Circe. Occasionally someone also helps a daughter or more rarely, a son or husband. But there is absolutely no obligation. It is unlikely you would be asked to assist with the aspirations of any man."

  "All right. I think I understand."

  "Good. And I think along the way, we've given you an idea of how we can help you," Mrs. Franklin said.

  "I prefer standing on my own two feet."

  "And so if I have a client that would be better served by you than by me," said Mrs. Hankins, "you wouldn't accept the
business?" She smiled.

  "If Brighten is looking for guerrilla marketing," said Mrs. Mayer, the CEO. "You wouldn't want an opportunity to bid? It would be a much safer choice to ask Mary Ellen to take the business, but safer isn't always the best choice."

  "I see your point," I said after a moment. "But if I were going to join, it wouldn't be because I want an unfair leg up."

  "Who said anything about unfair?" Mrs. Franklin said. "We won't hand you anything on a silver platter. You'll earn everything you do."

  "My impetus to join would be the other reasons," I said.

  "And you would turn down the help as it arrives?" Mrs. Franklin asked.

  I laughed. "Well, probably not." I looked around the room. Everyone was watching me intently. "Was there more?"

  "We must vote," Mrs. Franklin said. "And so before we go through all of that, I will ask simply. Do you wish to be considered for membership in the Order of Circe?"

  I smiled. "Yes. I would be honored."

  "Excellent."

  "You're going to vote in front of me?"

  She smiled. "Yes. It remains a secret ballot." Then she nodded, and one at a time, the women rose from their seats, moved to one end of the room, and then I heard glass clinking. I remained on my stool. Mrs. Franklin was last, and when she returned, she carried a black hat, turned upside down, and three large martini glasses. She handed one martini glass each to Mrs. Shaffer and Mrs. Grafton, keeping one herself. The hat went into her lap, and then, one at a time, she withdrew a small glass marble from the hat. I saw two colors, blue and red. The blue marbles went into Mrs. Shaffer's martini glass. Mrs. Grafton's glass accepted the red marbles. No marbles landed in Mrs. Franklin's glass. At the end, she rummaged around, then finally upended the hat. She had removed every single marble.

  "Do you understand the significance of my glass remaining empty, Ms. Todd?"

  "If I walk over to the table, will I find a supply of black marbles?"

  "A small supply," she said. "And a larger supply of white ones. Either color would indicate a change of heart. A single black marble or three white marbles would have meant we would withdraw our offer."

  "Has that happened?"

  "Twice that I know of," she said. "Both times we knew it was going to happen before we invited the woman in here."

  "Then why did you do it?"

  "Each time, the woman in question had angered us. We wished to make a point, and to let her know whom she had angered. We will not share any further details at this time."

  I nodded.

  She smiled at me. "Ms. Todd, we wish to invite you to join the Order of Circe as an initiate member."

  "An initiate member?"

  "Yes. If Mrs. Shaffer's glass were full of blue marbles, the offer would have been as a junior membership such as is now enjoyed by Ms. Grafton, Appleton, and Cross, amongst others. A small number of red marbles in Mrs. Grafton's glass would not prevent this." She gestured at the two glasses. "However, as you can see, the vote was divided. I suspect most of the blue marbles are due to your grandmother. I suspect some of the red marbles are also due to your grandmother."

  I smiled. "Grandmother Cadence could be stern."

  "My marble was red," she said. "And it was red because of something you said earlier."

  "Did I offend you?"

  "No. You quite firmly indicated a desire to stand on your own two feet. A red marble is allowing you to do so."

  I didn't fully understand, but I nodded.

  "And so, you invite me as an initiate member."

  "You would have all the responsibilities of a junior member, which we have discussed. You would receive most of the benefits as well. However, your membership is tentative." She smiled again. "And now we return to your earlier question."

  "Which question is that?"

  "You asked if you were to be hazed. Look around the room."

  I did, and most of the women were smiling broadly, Claudine and Sylvia at least as widely as the others. A few were smiling, but it was with a more intent look, a hungry look. Then I returned my attention to Mrs. Franklin.

  "I believe the smiles are your answer."

  "Oh god," I replied.

  Hazing

  I looked around the room nervously. Everyone in the room was watching me.

  "Blythe Suzanna Montgomery Todd," said Mrs. Franklin formally. "The Order of Circe invites you to join our society as an Initiate Member. Do you accept or decline?"

  "Are you going to describe the hazing?"

  "No."

  "The duration?"

  "Ah, that is variable. Any member of the order, excepting you of course, may ask for a new vote to be held at the next meeting. She must ask with sufficient warning that every member may vote, either in person or by proxy. If there are five or more red marbles, your period of initiation will continue. We formally meet monthly."

  "So the initiation is at least a month and can continue indefinitely."

  "Yes."

  "How do I know it won't?"

  "You don't," she said. She smiled. "You must trust us, as we have trusted you tonight."

  "Will my business, my health, or my finances suffer?"

  "You might lose sleep," she said. "And some of the hazing can be creative. Again, you must decide if you trust us. Are you ready to give your answer?"

  "How many of you joined as initiates?"

  Mrs. Franklin looked around the room. Then she smiled. "I believe all of us."

  I stared.

  "I will add this. I wasn't necessarily happy about it at the time, but I am glad for every red marble I ever received. We let you keep them."

  I stared. "Grandmother Cadence had a glass of red marbles on the fireplace mantle in her bedroom. There were a great many of them."

  "Why, I believe there were. Did you dispose of them?"

  "I didn't dispose of anything," I said, "excepting things that were deeply worn out." I smiled. "I will return her glass to the mantle and add my own. I happily accept your gracious offer." I offered a bow. "Thank you for your trust."

  The room broke out in cheers, and then I accepted hugs, cheek kisses, and other signs of affection from every single woman in the room. Then Mrs. Grafton handed me the martini glass of red marbles. "I tried to keep mine in the glass," she said. "There won't be enough room."

  "Will you tell me the color of your marble?"

  "Red, of course," she said with a grin. "And it will remain red for some time."

  I received a few more congratulations, and then I was directed to return to my stool. This time, it was Mrs. Shaffer who sat in the center seat, the one most directly facing me.

  "Blythe Suzanna Montgomery Todd, as you have accepted initiate membership status in the Order of Circe, you have agreed to certain requirements. We will now outline them."

  "Of course."

  "First, you owe personal service to every single member of Circe. For full members, the amount you owe is equal to the number of red marbles in your glass."

  I eyed the glass.

  "To junior members, you owe one quarter that amount."

  I looked around the room and did a rough estimate of how many marbles I was holding.

  "We have eight members missing," Mrs. Shaffer added. "Two are junior members."

  "All right. Is there a deadline?"

  "None at all. We all hope you'll take your time."

  I studied her carefully. "Why is that?"

  "Because if you owe someone time, she is obligated to give you a red marble when we vote."

  "So I remain an initiate member until I've paid my..." I did the math. "Two hundred hours, in round numbers."

  "I do not believe you fully understand," she said. "Every time we vote, you receive more marbles."

  I laughed. "And so if I ignore my debt for a month, it will far more than double automatically."

  "Yes. Now, paying off your debt does not guarantee a blue marble. But not paying it guarantees a red marble."

  I shook my head, but didn
't say anything.

  "To your benefit, the time you already spend on projects for the order would qualify as paying debt. So this is not necessarily as bleak as it looks. Oh, it's bleak, but it could be so much worse."

  "I understand." I looked at the glass and sighed.

  "Each member will invite your service," Mrs. Shaffer continued. "You are under no obligation to agree. However, if you do not, the woman is not obligated to offer again that month. Furthermore, she is likely to immediately ask for a vote at the coming meeting. Do you understand the implication?"

  "You don't vote on me every month."

  "No."

  I thought about it. "And that means I want to stay on everyone's good side."

  "I believe she's beginning to understand," Mrs. Grafton said. "Do you have other questions?"

  "Not yet."

  "Then I believe we're done."

  "Now I have questions."

  Everyone laughed, well, everyone but me.

  "Hazing was mentioned." I rattled the glass. "Is that in addition to all this? Or does the service represent the hazing."

  "Ah, the hazing," said Mrs. Shaffer. "You may buy blue marbles."

  "Oh?"

  "You only need offer yourself for hazing."

  "You're not serious. Why would I do that?"

  "Imagine it is three weeks from now, and someone has called for a fresh vote. I imagine you won't have filled your debt. Even if you have paid most of your debt to me, if it is not completely paid, you get a red marble from me."

  "A month from now, I may not have paid anyone off at all."

  "Which means you will receive 25 red marbles representing an additional 625 hours or so of time."

  "Oh god."

  "Now, it is unlikely any of us would call a vote so quickly. That would, frankly, be cruel. But it has happened. So perhaps this is two months from now, or even three. You may have paid much of your debt. You could accept some hazing, and it is possibly none of us would be obligated to give you a red marble."

  "Wait," I said. "You can still give me red marbles if you want to?"

  "We can. And we might. Two months would be an exceedingly short initiate period."

  "I see."

  "But you might earn fewer red marbles."

  "When voting, do you know how many other people have added red marbles to the hat?"