Sorority Party 1955 Ch. 03

Sorority Party

(Fall, 1955)

Joel, Frank and Eddie have been invited to a September weekend visit to Delta Omega Gamma sorority at Sarah Smith College with some girls they met at the beach the previous spring. So far they have met a number of girls and spent an adventurous Friday evening with three of them. Saturday the trio went on a picnic and skinny dipping with Doris, Betty and Barbara. Saturday night is the big party. Joel tries his suave manner and pickup lines with mixed results, but the party has lots of mixing and an unexpected conclusion.

CHAPTER 3

When Frank, Eddie and Joel pulled up to the Delta Omega Gamma house at the designated time the party was already under way. They arrived dressed as they would for their own fraternity parties - slacks, white or light-colored shirt, tie, a blazer and loafers.

They went up the steps and through the main door into the smoke-filled reception area where some meet-and-greet was happening. Music could be heard coming from the basement level. All the girls were spiffed up in bright blouses or sweaters, colorful swishy skirts for dancing, and mary janes with short white socks.

Joel straightened his tie and began to circulate. Frank and Eddie stood by watching with amusement as Joel began to work the room. Above the noise of talking and laughter they could just catch portions of Joel's tired lines. "Heyyy! Your profile is like crazy, like wow! What's your handle?" They circulated around the room and a few minutes later they passed Joel casually leaning against a door jamb talking to a pretty brunette. "Wanna go play some back seat bingo?" They heard a slap just after they passed the pair, and snickered.

"Hey, guys! Over here!"

They turned to see Doris waving to them from the top of the stairway leading to the floor below, and sauntered over to greet her.

"Pretty tame party, huh? Don't worry, they always start slow. I promise things will pick up shortly, once folks get into the 'refreshments'."

Eddie grinned. "Ours are the same way. It's early yet. Sometimes we don't even show up at our own parties until about nine."

Frank added "But tonight is different for us. At home we know pretty much everybody and can spot someone we've never seen before to talk to. Here, we are the ones being sized up."

Doris grabbed Frank by the arm and headed downstairs. "Come on guys. The lights are dimmer down here and I've got a few already looking for you. Word gets around."

As they reached the bottom of the stairs Eddie said "Word about some new faces?"

Doris laughed "Yeah, sure. That and rumors flying around about a certain picnic."

Frank was aghast. "What? You told them about this afternoon?"

"Hold your horses. Nobody spilled the beans, exactly. However once word got around about where the picnic took place all sorts of rumors took off. I have personally tried to dispel some of them."

"I bet you did," Frank said sarcastically.

Doris placed her crossed hands on her chest and sniffed "Why, Frank. I'm hurt. How could you think I'm one to let wild rumors of sexual excess run rampant?" She made a mournful puppy look, batting her eyes, but could only hold it for about three seconds before she snorted a stifled laugh and then the three of them laughed out loud.

"Here, let's get some beer and I'll introduce you around. Some you already met yesterday."

They all helped themselves to Dixie cups of beer, and Frank selected a sandwich triangle from a tray. "This is fancy. We don't have anything like this. We usually settle for beer and chips or something like that."

"Yeah, Cookie insists on some real food when alcohol is served. She makes a ton of these things, but by the end of the night they are gone."

The downstairs was crowded and as smoky as upstairs. A quartet of what were probably either locals or men from one of the nearby schools played a mixture of new and big band music. Frank nodded appreciatively. "Not bad for a garage band. That guy on tenor sax is pretty good. Trumpet guy can use some more practice, though."

"'Nights of Old' they call themselves. Couldn't decide whether to have the first word start with a 'K' or an 'N'. It appears they've settled on Nights, though, since they now have 'NoO' on the pedal bass drum. We've used them some last year. The trumpet player they used to have was real good, but he graduated last spring, so they have a new guy. Give him credit, he's trying. People will start dancing to the beat shortly."

Margaret came up to the group. "Where's that Joel character. I want to keep an eye on him."

Frank indicated the direction of the stairs with a head motion. "Last we saw him he was upstairs. He didn't seem to be having much success."

Doris cut her eyes toward a couple across the room and said 'Hey, Maggs. Isn't that Lisa over there?"

Margaret whirled around and said "Oh, shit. What's she doing here?"

"She hinted the other day that she might come."

"What? She told you? I can't believe you two were even talking."

"She came by one day looking for you. I think you were in the library or something. She said she might come to the party because she is thinking of rushing."

Margaret snorted "Rushing? Here? Fat chance. She has always maintained she isn't the sorority type. Even so, why is she here instead of with her friends at the Gamma party?"

"She said something about coming just to bug you. Also, she heard about the Western guys coming here."

"You told her that!?"

"Well, she happened by just as I was opening the letter from Joel. She was hoping Richard would show up."

Margaret scowled and stormed away muttering "Little twit."

Doris continued taking the two guys around for introductions. "Fun family, huh? Back to the intros. Some of the girls are going steady and have their boyfriends here. We'll avoid them. Others are just mingling with the locals. They'll be interested in meeting you. Fresh meat and all that, you know."

A few couples began to dance and Doris and her entourage had to weave between them. They encountered a girl headed toward the refreshment area.

"Time for a refill" the girl said as she passed the group.

Doris reached out and caught her by the shoulder. "Your thirst can wait a minute, Joyce. Here are some guys I'd like you to meet."

The girl turned around with an interested look.

"Joyce, this is Frank and Eddie from Western State. They were at the beach last spring. They're friends of Richard."

The girl nodded and asked "Is he here, too? I've heard lots about him."

Doris shook her head. "I know, everyone wishes Richard was here, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that you won't be disappointed with either of these two. The one upstairs I'm not so sure about. I can give you some other campus 'references' for them if you require them."

Joyce laughed "More than just you? Well now, that is interesting. Why don't both of you fellas come with me while I get my refill and I'll take you over to my little corner of the room? Others there will be interested in guys who come with 'references'.

Doris said to Eddie and Frank "You are in good hands now. Enjoy yourselves. I, as one of the chapter officers, have duties to fulfill. My socializing tonight will be severely limited. I'll try to check back with you from time to time in case you need to be rescued or something," and blew them a kiss as she headed back upstairs.

The two guys also refilled their cups and walked with the girl back across the room. "When did you guys get here?" she asked as they walked.

"Yesterday afternoon. Doris introduced us around a little then."

"I didn't see you. I must have been working down here at the time. Hey girls! Look at what I found!"

Three heads swiveled in their direction as the group approached. Joyce made introductions all around and the two guys tried to remember faces to go with the names Joyce, Adele, Robin and Catherine. For the next hour the six of them sat around smoking and drinking beer while they got to know each other, and commenting on the merits of the music being played.

At ten a cabinet was unlocked and several bottles of gin, scotch, bourbon and rum as well as assorted mixers were placed on the table near the beer. Eddie looked at his watch and gave a questioning look. Adele laughed and explained "we can serve booze, but only after ten. Go figure. I mean we can get just as drunk after ten as we could before. It's just one of the silly rules on this campus. Anyone want some of the good stuff?"

Frank got up with Adele, Robin and Catherine. Eddie and Joyce nursed beer along for the time being. Joyce explained "I'm a freshman although I know Adele from high school. That's why I'm here. There is a lot going on that I'm not used to. I mean, I've had rum and coke before and I obviously drink beer. I just don't know if I could handle both without getting sick."

"We have a saying we pass on to frosh at Western. 'Beer on whisky, mighty risky. Whisky on beer, never fear.' It seems you are more likely to get sick if you started with the rum and then switched to beer."

"Is that true?"

Eddie laughed "there are those who swear by it. I've never really tested it myself. I tend to stay with one or the other. I've seen too many guys, and girls too, throw up to make me want to take a chance."

"Eww. I don't want to take a chance either."

Eddie hung his jacket over the back of a chair and motioned toward the dance floor. "Come on, let's dance."

During a band break Frank stood up to get refills for several of the girls. As he was about to head back across the room trying to hold four cups at once Margaret sidled up beside him and whispered in his ear. "Frank, I want to ask you a huge favor."

"Sure, Margaret. I'm your guest, I'll do whatever you want."

"Don't be obvious, but if you look over my shoulder you'll see my sister, Lisa."

"You must mean the short redhead. I see her. She's with some big guy."

"Exactly. That's Butch Ryan. He's a senior at Johnston Smith, and yes the two schools were founded by the same family. Butch is notorious for swooping in on young girls to talk them into bed. I think he has slept his way through most of the sororities here, including this one. He's a smooth talker and has quite a few notches on his belt, if you know what I mean. He's knocked up a couple of girls, too."

"Ugh. I know the type."

"Well, if I go over there Lisa will get all in a huff and make sure to leave with him just because I don't want her to. Could you sort of keep an eye out and when Butch gets up to get another drink or something could you go over to her? I have a bad feeling about that situation. You probably know that Lisa and I squabble a lot, but still, she is my little sister and I do feel protective of her. As far as I know she's still a virgin. I'd hate to see her lose it to a guy like Butch."

Frank glanced over at the girls he and Eddie were with and then over toward Lisa. He'd be giving up a lot to 'rescue' a girl that might not even want to be rescued.

Margaret continued "I know what you're thinking. I do know it's asking a lot and you don't have to do it."

Frank asked himself what Richard would do. After all, Richard's rules had been beneficial to his social life after Richard had taught him the principles. Richard would definitely go over there, and so would he.

"I'll do it."

"Thanks, Frank. I trust you."

Frank smiled inwardly at another expression of his trustworthiness as he rejoined the group, but kept an eye on the Lisa-Butch dynamic. Butch was definitely plying her with drinks and coming on to her and it appeared she was falling for it.

At last he saw his opening when Butch got up and headed toward the restroom. Frank stubbed out his cigarette and mumbled "excuse me, there's someone I want to say something to."

The others barely broke the chain of conversation to acknowledge his leaving the group, and Frank sauntered over to Lisa.

"Hi. You're Lisa, right?"

"Yeah. Who are you?"

"I'm Frank, from Western State."

Lisa's interest picked up. "One of Richard's friends."

Frank smiled and sat down beside her. "You've got the same color hair and the same eyes as your sister, but you don't seem to be anything like her."

"God, I hope not!"

"No temper, huh? You're not going to belt me?"

Lisa laughed. "You heard about that, did you? That's right, you were there and saw the marks on Richard's face."

"Bright red, as I recall. I could see the actual finger prints."

"Yeah. And did you know he didn't even defend himself? He let Margaret hit him twice!"

Frank shook his head slowly. "That's Richard for you. Trust me, I've never seen him get hit by a girl before. Girl's boyfriends, yes. But girls, no."

"After spending some time with him I can believe it. I don't think he would ever hurt a girl."

"Look, Lisa, the music is getting kind of loud and the smoke is pretty thick in here. Do you want to sit outside? I don't want Margaret to see us and come over and hit me for bothering you."

Lisa laughed at the reference and picked up her purse. "Fine with me. That guy who was here with me began to give me the creeps. I've been trying to figure his angle. I think he only wants to get in my pants."

They went out the back door onto a patio where there were several picnic tables and a number of lawn chairs and benches. The tables were all occupied by couples or small groups engrossed in conversation. "It looks crowded out here," she observed.

"Let's head over to the trees a little farther out on the lawn. That should get us away from the crowd."

A copse of trees gave a place to sit out of the glare of the lights. Frank offered Lisa a cigarette. "Nah, I don't smoke, but thanks."

Frank put the cigarettes away. "Then neither shall I."

Lisa asked "Richard told us a little about his friends. Are you by any chance the one who plays baseball?"

Frank nodded.

"I love baseball! What position do you play? Are you any good?"

He laughed. "Center field. Sometimes second base in an emergency. I'm not the greatest, but I am team captain and we have won the conference championship two years in a row. I've got a pretty good arm. One time our rivals at Eastern had the tying run on third in the ninth with one out. Their cleanup hitter hit a high fly to deep center. The wind was blowing in so I knew the ball would stay in, but ran to the outfield wall and made it look like it might be a homer and then turned and charged back toward the infield. I caught it cleanly on the run just on the outfield grass, skipped, and uncorked a throw to home. Their coach had waved the runner on third home, and thought it would be an easy score. The runner was surprised to be tagged out by a good five feet. My throw reached the catcher on one hop. The cutoff man didn't even bother to try a relay."

Lisa laughed appreciatively. "Good arm! How's your hitting?"

"Okay. .285 over three years."

She tucked her legs under her and asked "Who's you favorite team?"

"Anyone but the Yankees! I guess I like the Red Sox best. I love to watch Ted Williams. What a sweet swing!"

"I've always liked the Dodgers."

"If I have to go National League I like them, too. Their fans are weird. I'd hate to play outfield at Ebbetts Field with all the odd angles to the fences."

"That's what makes them fun to watch on TV. They have that clown that wanders through the stands, too."

"Hoo, yeah! What's his name? Something like Emmet...something or other."

"Kelly. Emmet Kelly. Looks like a bum."

"Speaking of bums, why can't those bums ever beat the Yankees in the World Series?"

"Said the Red Sox fan. Why can't the Sox keep the Yankees out of the series?"

"Touché. I guess both our teams are snake bit when it comes to the Yankees."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Lisa changed the topic "How does this party compare with yours?"

"Basically similar. I think ours can get a little wild as the night wears on, but I find I drink less the later the party goes. I like to remember it."

"Richard told me about that! He said why should you get so drunk you can't remember anything? He said something about getting to know girls and not just falling into bed together in a drunken stupor."

"Why, indeed? He's right about that."

Lisa pursed her lips for a moment before asking with a mischievous grin. "So, are you trying to get to know me better before taking me back to your room, or wherever you're staying?"

"Whoa. I'm not trying to take you anywhere, although I am trying to learn a little about you. Richard taught me to know better than to try and talk a girl into doing anything."

"Yes, he did tell me that is what he does. Do you do all the things he does?"

"I don't know. He never tells what he does. I just do whatever feels right to the girl."

"You've met my sister Margaret, right? You know she speaks her mind. I may not look like her, but we do share that trait."

"Meaning?"

"Richard never tells about what he does, right? Yet he taught you about how things should be done, right?"

"Yes on both counts."

"Here's me speaking my mind. From experience I know what Richard does, even if you don't, and I like it."

Eddie nodded in understanding.

"Let's find out how good a teacher he is, and how good a student you are."

"I'm not sure where you are going with this."

"I had a great time at the beach last spring, rules and all, and would like for you to show me if you really have learned The Rules. Are you beginning to get where I am going, yet?"

"I get that you are a very unusual young lady."

"Richard's comment exactly! That's what he said before he showed me how he could please a girl - with his pants on. Do you get it yet?"

Frank stared at her as she crossed her arms and waited for a response.

"Uh...where would you like to go to do...this...um...whatever you have in mind?"

"Right here. Right now."

"Just how much have you had to drink?"

"Not as much as Butch thought I had. I'd pour some out when he wasn't looking. One of those plants is going to have a hangover in the morning."

Frank laughed and commented "Smart girl."

"I'm waiting."

"Jeez, what do you want to do?"

"I want you to please me. I mean REALLY please me. I do know what it feels like after all."

"How..."

"That's for you to figure out, but here's a start." Lisa leaned over and kissed him. "Now,

Captain, you take it from there. Show me your leadership."

Frank thought about what Margaret had told him about Lisa, and wondered if Margaret knew what Lisa was really like. He wondered if Margaret was right about Lisa being a virgin.

Lisa wanted him to please her with his pants on. That sounded so much like something Richard would do that he had no doubt something along those lines had occurred between them at the beach. If so, how had Richard handled it? She wanted him to do something like that, if he could only figure out what that something was.

"Good god! I kissed you and still you sit there. I'm beginning to think you really don't know Richard after all!"

"I'm not Richard, and don't pretend to be. I do things my own way while following the general rules."

"Okay. Be yourself. Just please me."

Frank studied her for a few more moments. When he put his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer she turned her head toward him and parted her lips in expectation. He would like to have started off on a different foot, but decided to work with what she wanted, and kissed her. She knew how to kiss, that was for sure. His fingers twined in her hair and her kiss became more ardent.

Her signals indicated she obviously was ready to get more physical.

He kissed her neck and nibbled on an ear as he caressed her face. His hand dropped to her leg, brushing a breast on the way, and she responded with a sigh of pleasure and placed one of her hands on his chest. "You're getting warmer," she whispered.