The Fraternity Files

by Stephanie Joeline Kerfoot

  Folder One: The Meeting

  File One: The Pool Game

  File Two: The Promise

  File Three: The Confrontation

  File Four: The Plea

  File Five: The Meeting

  File Six: The Questions and Answers

  File Seven: The House Rules

  File Eight: The Code

  File Nine: The Resolution

  File One

  The Pool Game

  "The secret to getting ahead is getting started."

  -Mark Twain

  It was an exceptionally warm November day even for South Carolina. The temperature at the Saber Bend University campus in Columbia had hit fifty degrees by nine am and was now climbing swiftly towards seventy. The sun was bright and welcome after the recent week of rain, and all the doors to the Rho Beta Chi (Kigh) fraternity house stood wide open. A soft breeze floated through the hallway to where Steve Jankowski, Ryan Sanderson, and Danny Lockheart were playing pool down in the otherwise empty game room. Like all the Saber Bend students on such an unexpectedly beautiful day, they were dressed in nothing but shorts and t-shirts. The sunny weather, however, did little to help brighten their mood, and most of their fraternity brothers, knowing it was a hard day for them, were respecting their space.

  “Eight ball, corner pocket,” Steve called, indicating the pocket with his cue to make sure his intentions were clear. He had won every game so far, and he didn’t intend to lose now. He aimed carefully, and bent low over the table, taking his time.

  “Hey guys, what’s up?” Danny’s “little brother,” Kevin, entered the room and threw a furtive glance in Danny’s direction before making his way to the kitchenette in the corner, and helping himself to a beer.

  “It’s a little early for that, don’t you think, Kev?” Danny demanded.

  “Come on, Dan,” Kevin protested, “cut me a break today, won’t you? One won’t hurt anything.” Danny remained silent and avoided Ryan’s eyes as the ball rolled smoothly into the pocket.

  “Oh, yeah! Who’s the man?” Steve raised his arms victoriously and Danny and Ryan scowled at him. In their current mood, his cockiness was just a little hard to swallow. “Come on, girls! Rack ‘em up again! You’re not gonna let me win ‘em all today are you?”

  “You’re not gonna let me win ‘em all today are you?” Ryan mimicked him silently and began to strut and wave his arms as Steve turned to re-chalk his cue. “Who’s the man?” Ryan puffed out his chest and continued his comical and frighteningly accurate impression as he began to gather the balls. There weren’t many people who would have had the guts to mock the president of the fraternity so boldly, but Ryan knew he could get away with it.

  Danny tried to smile, knowing that the show was for his benefit, but not even Ryan could make him laugh today. Finally Ryan stopped, flashing Steve an impish grin, as his “big brother” turned and caught him in the act. Steve shook his head and couldn’t help smiling too as he returned his attention to his cue. The kid was such a goober sometimes, but he sure was fond of Danny. ‘Tonight’s going to be hard on both of them,’ he reflected as the smile fell away from his face. ‘Who are you kidding, Jankowski?’ he sighed. 'It’s going to be hard on all of us.’

  Kevin was making his way back to the pool table, now, and Steve looked up just in time to see Danny’s brooding countenance return. Ryan’s face too reverted to its formerly grim expression, and Steve pursed his lips. Kevin, oblivious to his brothers’ changing visages, lounged against the back of the sofa, watching his three older counterparts, and Steve offered him a small smile. “What’s going on, Kev’bo?” he asked in an attempt to recapture the fleeting moment of lightness. It was no use; the moment had passed. Without a word, Ryan finished re-racking the balls while Danny got ready to break.

  “Not a whole lot,” Kevin answered Steve as the next game began. “It’s been a pretty boring day so far. Where is everybody?”

  “Never you mind about that!” Danny chided as he, in his turn, re-chalked his cue. “Did you get that report done for Merrick?” Ryan was preparing to shoot and he exchanged glances with Steve, but they both remained silent as Kevin looked tremulously at his big brother. “Well!” Danny prodded. “Did you?”

  “No, not exactly . . .,” Kevin started hesitantly, and Danny glared at him.

  “Just when did you plan on doing it, Kev?” he inquired. The

  sharpness of his tone caused Ryan to glance at him again as he took aim, but Danny once again avoided his eyes.

  “Come on, Danny . . .,” Kevin started in the beseeching tone that habitually won his big brother over.

  “Don’t even try it, Kevin!” Danny snapped. “How many times are we going to talk about this?? Have you started it?”

  “No!” Kevin returned defensively. Why was Danny being like this, especially now, especially this week? He was never such a hard ass, not like this. “I’ll do it next week, ok?”

  “No, Kev! Not ok! Merrick is no joke! He’s not going to accept the same BS some of your other professors do. You need to get going!”

  “I’ll do it, next week!” Kevin repeated exasperatedly.

  “I think you should start it now!”

  “Well, I don’t care what you think!” Kevin snapped. “This is the weekend before my birthday for Christ’s Sakes! Does that mean anything to you? It’s the one chance I have to celebrate, and all you’ve done all fucking week is hound me about that report! We have a big game on Sunday, and, as you keep reminding me, I have a lot of stuff to do. Don’t you think I know that? Can’t I have just a few minutes this weekend without you crawling up my ass?”

  “Easy, Kev . . .,” Ryan started. He sunk several striped balls and then stood, scowling pointedly at Danny as he did. Kevin shifted his now brimming eyes in Ryan’s direction, but Danny was not ready yet to let the conversation go.

  “Kevin, you are going to fail American History!”

  “Dan, I’ve got time!”

  “Yeah, loads of time! The end of the semester is barely a month away, Man!”

  “I will do the fucking report, Danny! Just get off my back will you?”

  “Fine, Man, it’s your funeral.”

  “God! Fuck you! I don’t need this shit! Obviously my birthday means nothing to you! The hell with you!” Kevin crunched his empty beer can into a ball and fired it at the trash. Then he turned, and with one last glare at Danny, made his way sulkily to the door.

  Danny closed his eyes as the common room door slammed, and when he opened them both Ryan and Steve were staring at him, the game forgotten. “What?” Danny demanded.

  “Don’t you think you were a little hard on him?” Steve asked. Danny shrugged and picked up the chalk again, twisting it vigorously against the end of his cue.

  “You may as well let him celebrate a little, Dan,” Ryan spoke quietly. For a moment Danny remained silent. “You can’t help him out of this by being hard on him now,” his big brother continued in the same soft tone. “You know that, don’t you?” Danny looked down at his stick, concentrating intently on some unseen object as Steve and Ryan waited. Finally, he looked at them.

  “I should have been stronger with him before,” he replied, his voice cracking.

  “It wouldn’t have helped,” Steve responded in the same undertone Ryan had used. “You would only have succeeded in getting his back up like you did just now.” Danny bit his lip and looked away.

  “I guess I better go talk to him,” he said at last, setting the stick down and leaning it against the table. He started for the door, but Ryan took hold of his arm, pulling him back.

  “You can’t tell him, Dan.” Danny hesitated and Ryan turned to face him, looking squarely into his little brother’s eyes. Danny tried to yank his arm away, but Ryan held him fast. “You know the consequences! Promise me you’re not going to tip him off!” Danny averted his eyes and remained silent. After a minute, when he still had not spoken, Ryan tightened his grip, making Danny grimace.
“Promise me!”

  “I’m not going to tell him,” Danny replied wretchedly after a minute. Still Ryan didn’t let go and Danny looked up again to meet his eyes. “I promise,” he said. Finally, Ryan released him, and Danny headed forlornly for the door. Steve and Ryan watched him go, and as Danny closed the common room door behind him, Ryan sank heavily onto the couch and put his head in his hands. Steve observed his little brother quietly for a moment and then without a word he replaced the cues in the rack on the wall and sat down next to him. Neither one of them had any interest in continuing the

  game.

  File Two

  The Promise

  "Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."

  -Carl Gustav Jung

  “Learning to believe you are magnificent. And gradually to discover that you are not magnificent. Enough labor for one human life.”

  -Czeslaw Milosz

  Danny knew just where to find Kevin, but he wasn’t in a hurry. The kid was no joke when he was mad. It was best to let him cool down a little before attempting a rational conversation. Slowly, but surely he made his way to the practice field of the Saber Bend University Bull Dogs, and as he went he pondered quietly the success of the team so far this year. Much of it was due to Kevin he thought proudly. Danny was the quarterback, and Kevin, though just a freshman, had made the team as a running back and had proved himself in every game. He was a gutsy kid. Danny smiled as he thought of some of the plays Kevin had made. Some of them, Danny would never have even thought about trying with a kid as green as Kevin if his little brother hadn’t pestered him so much. “Give the ball to me, Danny! I can do it! I know I can!” Finally, he had taken a chance. He had gone out on a limb to get Coach to agree to start his prize rookie. If it hadn’t worked, if Kevin had been injured . . . well . . . Danny shuddered as he thought about it. It had worked though; it had paid off big.

  ‘Another thorn in Gregg Mcarthy’s side,’ Danny thought, his lips twitching involuntarily. He knew he shouldn’t be so smug, but he couldn’t help it. He had never really experienced the frustration Gregg had of being repeatedly shown up by younger, cockier, and more talented players. Gregg was the kind of guy who was fairly capable in any position he played, and his versatility had kept him on the team, but he was not a star at any position. He was a senior now, and chances to prove himself had become limited. The day Danny took a chance on Kevin Kramer was the day Gregg Mcarthy had lost his starting position for the fourth year in a row.

  Danny’s pleasant reminiscences began to fade as he got closer to the field. They were replaced by thoughts of the impending night, and his stomach turned. ‘Damn the kid’s cockiness!’ he thought, but he understood it. Hadn’t he been the same way? He had reached the door of the weight room by now and he could hear the punching bag inside. Someone was really knocking the shit out of it. His hand was on the door knob before he changed his mind and retraced his steps to the field. He sat down to wait on the perimeter and stretched his legs out before him as he chewed a blade of grass and continued to contemplate the good times the team had enjoyed this season and the fondness he had developed for Kevin.

  He smiled again to himself. The kid really was cocky. Danny, Ryan, and Steve were just about the only ones Kevin ever listened to, and it wasn’t often that he listened to them. Danny had spent a lot of extra time with his little brother, encouraging him in his studies and on the field. He’d tried hard to keep him out of trouble, but Kevin seemed destined for it. He was failing most of his classes, or just barely passing them. He spent twice as much time partying as he did studying, and recently he was spending more and more time at Rho Beta Xi (zzEYE), the sorority counterpart to their fraternity, where many of the cheerleaders lived. The most disturbing thing though was his attitude. Recently he had been mouthing off all the time to everyone, even his three mentors. ‘He really has gotten just a little too big for his britches,’ Danny sighed. ‘Well, he can’t help it!’ The defensive big brother in him flared. ‘It’s not like you, Ryan, or Steve handled things any better when you were freshmen.’ ‘Too true,’ the inner battle continued, ‘and thank God we all had the house there, waiting to straighten us out . . .’

  “What are you doing here?” Danny’s stream of consciousness was interrupted by Kevin’s hostile challenge, and Danny looked up at him, thoughtfully.

  “Waiting for you,” he replied quietly.

  “Why?” Kevin remained guarded, shifting his workout bag on his shoulder and glaring down at his big brother.

  “Just to talk.”

  “Well, excuse me if I’ve had enough of your kind of talk today,” Kevin snapped, and he turned away.

  “Kevin, wait,” Danny called, but Kevin didn’t stop. “Wait,” Danny pleaded, getting to his feet and hurrying to catch up with him. “Please listen to me.”

  “Why should I, after you yelled at me that way? And in front of Steve and Ryan too!” Danny caught hold of Kevin’s arm, but Kevin yanked it away and continued storming down the field, forcing Danny to trot along side him.

  “I’m sorry, Kev,” Danny replied softly, realizing now that he had really overstepped the line. “I shouldn’t have done that.” Kevin slowed his pace, but didn’t stop, and didn’t look at Danny. Instead he just glared at the ground, swiping angrily at his eyes as they filled with hot tears. Danny put a hand on his arm again, and this time Kevin did not pull away. Finally he stopped and looked up at Danny as tears spilled onto his cheeks. “I’m sorry, kid,” Danny said again.

  “Well, I don’t want another lecture!” Kevin retorted.

  “I’m not here to lecture,” Danny responded gently. “I’m here to make peace. This is your birthday weekend, after all, right? I don’t want to fight with you, Little Bro.” Kevin, however, was not ready to let Danny off that easily.

  “That’s right, jerkweed! It IS my birthday weekend! Why did you have to do that to me? Why are you being such an asshole?” Danny didn’t respond. There was no good way to explain to Kevin why he had acted as he had. “Come on, Man,” Kevin pressed him. “I want to know! What exactly is your problem?” Still Danny didn’t answer him. “Are you jealous?” Kevin asked, finally.

  Danny was taken off guard and before he could stop himself he responded with a contemptuous snort, “Of what?”

  Kevin in his turn was surprised by Danny’s open disdain and he hesitated. “I don’t know,” he returned finally, looking at his feet and shifting his weight. “I’ve been getting a lot of the attention recently, getting a lot of the cute girls . . . maybe you’re wishing for the days when you had the spotlight.” Kevin’s tone was even more uncertain as he looked into his big brother’s eyes and saw the good humored, if somewhat condescending, twinkle of understanding. Kevin’s sense of shame was complete when Danny responded with a hearty laugh and clapped him on the back. After all, Danny’s limelight days were far from over and Kevin knew it.

  “Oh kid,” Danny chuckled as they started to walk again. “No, Kev, I’m not jealous. I’m just worried about you.”

  “Worried? Why? What’s to worry about? I’m on top of the world right now.”

  “I know, Man, but you’re throwing it all away.”

  “No, I’m not!” Kevin returned irritably. “I’m passing everything, but American History, and as long as I do ok on that report, I’ll pass that too.” Danny shot him a look. “What?? I’ll do it! Just not this weekend. I promise, next week, I’ll get right on it! Besides,” he added as Danny remained silent and clearly unconvinced, “who cares about grades when you’re the star of the football team. They’re not going to fail me!” Danny shook his head and walked faster, leaving Kevin to try and keep up now.

  “There’s more to life than football, Man!” Danny chided.

  “Ok, Danny, I know. I’ll do the report! Starting Tuesday, I’ll lock myself in my room and not come out until it’s done. I promise.”

  “T
uesday?” Danny questioned skeptically as he looked at his little brother.

  “Well, I can’t do it Monday,” Kevin stated in a tone that implied Danny was missing the obvious. “Monday’s my actual birthday.” Danny’s brow furrowed, but as he opened his mouth to respond, Kevin cut him off. “No more lectures today! Please!” Danny still looked like he wanted to say something. “You promised,” Kevin reminded. Danny sighed and looked away. The kid was right; he had promised. ‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘it won’t do any good now anyway.’

  “All right, Man,” he said finally as he looked back at Kevin, “no more lectures. Just get that report done!”

  “I will,” Kevin responded gratefully.

  “What are you up to, now?” Danny asked.

  “Well,” Kevin looked sheepish and turned red as he looked once more at the ground. “First I’m going back to the house to change and then I’m headed over to Rho Beta Xi (zzEYE). The girls are throwing me a little party.” Danny’s brow darkened once again, but Kevin continued without noticing. “You should come,” he said. “I could definitely set you up.”

  “Kev,” Danny interjected in an exasperated tone, “if I wanted one of those skanky-ass cheerleaders, I could get one. The stuff simply doesn’t interest me anymore!” Kevin stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief, and Danny couldn’t help grinning as he put his arm over his little brother’s shoulders. “Come on; let’s get you back to the house, so you can get ready to celebrate properly.” Kevin smiled too now and they started to make their way back. They walked in silence for awhile and then Danny spoke again quietly. “You’re still coming to the house later, aren’t you?” There was silence and Danny looked over at his little brother. “Kev?”