"Is Lucy here?" the young man asked.
He was standing on my doorstep, a bouquet of flowers in hand and wearing a nice sport coat and tie. I didn't think young men his age even knew what a tie was. If it hadn't been for the tie and his genuinely pleasant smile I might have bitten his head off.
This had been a rough day for me. Lucy, my granddaughter had come down with another one of her sinus infections. They didn't happen often, but when they hit, they always laid her low for two or three days at a time and this time she had waited a little too long before calling the doctor. She was sleeping in her room in the basement this very moment. I had just checked on her and she was fast asleep, her fever under control for the moment with the antibiotics hard at work fighting off the infection. I knew from experience she would overcome the germs but it would take at least another day of almost non-stop sleep before she could even hold down anything more than chicken broth.
This must be the date she had planned, I thought - and this guy was probably the reason she put off going to the doctor. She must have been hoping against hope that she could hold out long enough to go to this fraternity dance she kept talking about. I looked this young guy up and down once more and decided Lucy could have done worse. He was tall, fairly handsome, with a nice, honest square jaw and sharp blue eyes that seemed to take in everything all once as they darted first to me and then over my shoulder into the living room and back again to me.
I decided my granddaughter just might have a keeper with this one, though appearances could definitely be deceiving. "You must be Trent. Lucy's told me a lot about you," I told him with a smile. Then I added the bad news, "She's sick with a sinus infection," I told him. "She isn't gonna be fit to do anything for at least another twenty-four hours."
The young man was crestfallen. First, he got this panic-stricken look on his face and then I thought he might start crying. His chin dropped to his chest and he muttered, "That's too bad. I hope she gets better soon. I-I was really looking forward to this dance."
He turned to leave and added, "I'll call her the day after tomorrow. You tell her to take care of herself."
I'm not a soft touch but my heart really did go out to him. I didn't know what I could do to make him feel better but I didn't want to let him go away so dejected - especially if Lucy had some real feelings for the guy.
"Hey, Trent - wait a minute - please," I said, "You don't have to leave yet. Why don't you come in and we can talk for a minute. I'd like to get to know the guy my granddaughter is going out with."
Three minutes later he was sitting at the kitchen table with me drinking a soda. He seemed really nice and he was showing genuine concern for Lucy in the questions he asked.
"So she's not in any serious danger?" he asked.
"Well, any kind of infection is serious but she's been through this before and this time seems to be running its course. She just needs to sleep and take her medicine on time."
Before we finished our sodas I learned that Trent had been taking Lucy to a dance that was a pretty big deal for him. He was a pledge in his fraternity and this dance was a sort of final rite as well as some sort of test. Trent wasn't really clear what sort of test but it did require that he bring a date. Actually, he was careful to not call it a date. He kept saying 'female guest' instead of date and after a couple of minutes of hearing this I interrupted him.
"Why don't you use the word 'date' when you talk about my granddaughter?"
"Well, Lucy
was
going to be my date - but the fraternity has some very simple but very specific requirements for the guest we bring. I guess I've heard my pledge guides use the term 'female guest' so often I just started using it too. It's really all about meeting the requirements."
"Requirements? What
kind
of requirements are we talking about here?" I asked. I was beginning to worry about what they expected of Lucy.
"No, no! It's nothing bad!" Trent countered, realizing that I thought he might be leading my granddaughter into something I might not approve of.
"The brothers set this dance up as a final test. They just want to make sure we're able to get a date and then that we treat them properly at the dance. Since the university won't allow hazing the fraternity has set up a series of tests for pledges to make sure we measure up as gentlemen and as scholars. This is part of the test." And then, as if it would reassure me he added, "It's all on a point system,"
A fraternity point system involving my Lucy didn't sound very good. "So your fraternity is going to award you points for my granddaughter? Do you get extra points for how pretty she is? What else would your female guest have to do on this point system?"
Trent realized too late he was digging a hole for himself and how bad it sounded to go to a dance and be awarded points. "No, no! The points are awarded first
for bringing a female guest
. Period. Second I am graded on how graciously I treat my guest. And third - and this is the
only
part where my female guest has anything at all to do with the points I receive - she has to demonstrate reasonable social skills in things like dancing with other fraternity brothers, carrying on conversations and things like that. My fraternity has one of the highest reputations in academics and responsible behavior of any fraternity on campus."
Trent said this all with great conviction and I believed him. I had already begun to feel comfortable with this young man. He was honest, good looking, a college student like my Lucy and with a promising future. It sounded like his fraternity was no "Animal House" either. Still, I suspected there was something he wasn't telling me.
"So," I began, "They don't grade your female guest on their looks?"
"No, absolutely not," he snapped.
But then he sort of grinned sheepishly. Ah-ha, I thought, there was something else!
"What
do
they grade female guests on then?" I asked. I had this nasty suspicion it involved something even seedier. "Tell me, young man!" I commanded.
