BACK ON CAMPUS... Adjusting (Part 37d)

Sometime after the evening meal some (or all) of us would go down town to the Stone Jug and pretty much polish off a pitcher of beer each. Then we’d go back to the fraternity and rouse the pledges and have them do a myriad of nasty things. We were often joined by a lot of the other “brothers” but it was clear that we were now leading the charge. Each of us took a turn in coming up with some sort of ordeal for the pledges to endure including forced marches and scavenger hunts. I was the one who came up with the items for the hunt and, as you can imagine, panties were on the list. You have to realize that these all took place in the dark and usually after 10pm. You also have to realize that we were in a rural area and also that most homes didn’t have clothes dryers. That meant that when clothes were put out on the line to dry and they didn’t, they were left on the line overnight.

I’d tried to scout the area each night, just before dark, looking for more than just a few filled clotheslines. On the night that the pledges were sent on the hunt I truly felt that they would be able to find more than a few. No two lists were the same but over half had panties listed. They had around four hours to find and return the items to the fraternity. It was one of the few “tests” that the pledges undertook without supervision which meant that the “brothers” stayed at the house and partied. Because I was so interested in the results I tempered my drinking so I could make an honest appraisal of their “loot”. As I remember it, each had to bring back about seven or eight items which included such disparate items as pitchforks, wooden pails/buckets, a Packard hood emblem and a street sign.

By the time the pledges started returning most of the other “brothers” had disappeared. As luck would have it, the first to return was the one who I’d bet wouldn’t get all his items. I think I lost $5 which was a huge amount at the time. Over half the guys managed to fill their lists. That mean that they earned an exemption from the forced march that was scheduled the next night that it rained.

Even though the panties were primarily for my pleasure, I found it interesting just how much interest the rest of the “Alliance” and other “brothers” showed in them. I think we got back around 8 0r 9 of them. Some were of no interest as they were humongous and only worth a deriding remark. But there were a few that certainly had interest for me. My problem was in how to pull them out from the rest without drawing attention to myself.

One of the Senior “brothers” had a friend who was a cop. He put a damper on our little party when he told us that we could probably get arrested for theft. I, for one, hadn’t given any thought to that. We decided that we better get the stuff out of the house as quickly as possible. Because I lived downtown they dumped most of the things into my car, including the panties. I didn’t know what I was going to do with the stuff and was particularly concerned about the next morning when daylight would expose a lot of it in the car. I remembered that there was a railroad siding in one part of the town. I drove past it a few times and, after locating the one police car in town parked, as usual, at the edge of town, made straight for the siding. It took me all of about 10 minutes to empty out all the junk except for the panties and some other items clothing. I left them in the trunk and then headed for my room. It was about 3am.

I really wanted to check out the panties. If they hadn’t been damp I might’ve done it at that time. I left them spread out in the trunk to dry, figuring on checking them out in the morning. However, I overslept and, rather than taking a “cut” from class, drove my car up on campus. I knew that it was a “no no” but had been told that there was a place behind one of the maintenance buildings that didn’t get checked all that often. Being late wasn’t good but it was better than a “cut”. I lucked out and didn’t get a parking ticket. Somehow I managed to forget about the panties in the trunk. When classes were over I headed for the farm to pick up my pie deliveries. I still can’t believe I’d forgotten about the panties but it was a real shock when I opened the trunk to put the pies in it. I couldn’t immediately tell if Mrs T had seen them but I started stammering (and perspiring) and tried to block her view. She knew something wasn’t right. I put one pie in and, while holding the other in my left hand, tried to sweep the panties and other clothes aside so she wouldn’t see them. I remember talking a mile a minute and it probably came out as babble. When we’d finished loading as many as I could get into the trunk I slammed it shut. What a relief. Mrs T asked what it was that I was hiding in there and I think I told her that it was clothes that I’d gotten sick in or something like that. She gave me a disapproving look but, thankfully, didn’t pursue it any further. I never did know, for sure, if she’d seen any of the panties.

To be continued...