Chapter 17 – Lovers and Temptations
As soon as the swearing-in ceremony for the Tri-Alpha pledges ended and the benches and speaker’s podium were safely loaded on the pickup truck for transport back to the fraternity, President Alexandra turned the six male aspirants over to the sorority’s pledges.
Lisa, as usual, realized that ultimately she was in charge of the evening’s clean-up. Her three companions accepted that she would tell them what to do and they would pass her orders along to the males. She took it for granted that her fellow pledges would obey whatever she told them to do, and the males in turn would obey the women. Lisa would be giving orders to a total of nine people, five of whom she did not know.
She began by assigning two male pledges to each of her three companions. She assigned Ken to work under Bernadette, realizing that to have him work under Kathleen would create a very tense situation. Once her three teams were organized, Lisa quickly drew up a duty roster for each group. Kathleen and her two pledges would clean the kitchen; Cherine’s group would take all the bathrooms; and Bernadette’s group would clean the public areas of the sorority house and then move to the pool area. Lisa would supervise all three teams and be responsible for taking out the trash.
Lisa ordered the males to kneel facing the wall. They were not to speak until given permission. Meanwhile, she took her three fellow pledges to the back room containing the discipline implements. She passed out three leather paddles and took a heavy leather strap for herself. She then addressed her group:
“I want you to keep these paddles with you at all times. If those guys give you any attitude whatsoever, I expect you to paddle them. If they slow down or get tired, a couple of good swats will wake ‘em up. If you think there’s a real discipline problem…” Lisa held up her strap, “…just let me know and I’ll handle it.”
Lisa looked at each of her three companions and continued: “Those guys are responsible for doing what you tell them to do. But if your area’s not up to inspection standard when I do the walk-through, I am holding you, not the guys, responsible. It’s their job to obey you, but it’s your job to make sure things are done right. If you let me down, I will deal with you directly. If any of you has a problem with that, you’re more than welcome to take it up with Pledge Mistress Tracy.”
The three wide-eyed pledges glanced at each other, then back at Lisa. Her expression and the sinister-looking strap in her hand made them realize the implement was not just for the Tri-Alpha pledges. If they failed to meet their companion’s expectations they would be punished as well. They knew there was no point in trying to appeal to Tracy if Lisa decided to strap them. They sensed that Lisa would not be threatening them unless she already had a prior understanding with the Pledge Mistress.
There was indeed an agreement between Lisa and Tracy, but it was somewhat different from what the three freshmen thought had happened. The understanding between the two women was unspoken and implied, never formally discussed. Tracy had accepted Lisa as the de facto leader of the pledge group and had no problem with her giving commands to the others. However, with Lisa’s power also came a huge responsibility. Another part of the understanding was that it was Lisa who would be held accountable for the success or failure of her group. Any time Lisa failed to get the other pledges to do what Tracy wanted them to do; the Pledge Mistress had the right, and the duty, to punish her. Lisa knew that ultimately she was the person responsible for making sure the house was properly cleaned. She would do what was necessary to motivate her companions, not only so the group would succeed and pass another pledge test, but also to save her own backside from a severe strapping the following morning.
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With inspection manuals in each of their hands, Lisa’s companions ordered their pledges to stand up and collect cleaning supplies. As the cleaning progressed, Lisa walked around with a trashcan collecting used paper towels and other discarded items from the three teams. She had assigned herself trash collection because that duty gave her the opportunity to constantly monitor the progress of the cleaning and correct any problems as they were taking place. She noted with satisfaction the increasing redness and paddle marks on the bottoms of the six male pledges as the night went on. It turned out that all three of her companions had no problem using their paddles to motivate their subjects.
At midnight Heather showed up in a Four-Beta jogging outfit. In her hands she was carrying a pair of men’s running shoes and a riding crop.
Oh yeah…that’s right…she had said that she was going to take that fat guy out running.
The male pledge’s eyes widened upon seeing the Four-Beta Sergeant-at-Arms with a pair of running shoes in her hand. He had hoped that she had been joking about the mid-night workout; even though deep down he knew the run was indeed going to happen. Heather, her voice ringing with cheerful sarcasm, addressed him:
“Hi, Sweetie!”
The trembling naked pledge got on his knees.
“Good…Good evening, ma’am.”
“So, you ready to take a break from all this nasty cleaning and go for a run with me?”
“I…I mean…yes, ma’am.”
“OK, let’s stretch out and have some fun!”
With that Heather and the pledge went out to the patio to stretch and get ready to move out. His departure left Cherine with only one male under her command and presumably would slow down her portion of the clean-up. However, Lisa had anticipated that the freshman would object to having to keep up the pace of her clean-up with only one assistant. She knew that expecting Cherine to manage with only one helper wasn’t fair, and also how she would settle the matter.
