The week beginning Monday, August 31, was enveloped in the whirl of fraternity rush.  Classes seemed to pass without much notice, and little or no serious studying was accomplished in the evenings.  Bryce did, however, manage to get his term paper topics approved by Dr. Drake on Tuesday and Dr. Dickinson on Wednesday.  In the Milton class, Dr. Drake agreed to the topic which Bryce entitled, “Milton, Religious Toleration, and the Catholics.”  Continuing his researches into Milton’s writings, he found that, while he advocated toleration for the various sects of Protestantism, he was not willing to extend that same benefit to Catholics, and he wanted to find out why.  Perhaps as an unconscious part of his inner struggles, which were otherwise placed on hold for most of the week, Bryce also chose a topic involving Catholicism for his history paper.  Dr. Dickinson gave his consent to the topic, “King James II and Anthony Farmer at Oxford.”

 

But these academic concerns definitely took a back seat to rush week, not only for Bryce, but for Damon as well.  Each of the fraternities and sororities had booths on the main quadrangle, with members in attendance passing out literature and talking to prospective pledges.  Each evening, they would hold open house, with those interested invited to come by and look over the fraternity or sorority, while the interested parties were themselves being evaluated by the members.  The sororities got more formal and complicated than the fraternities after that, but that was of no concern to Bryce or Damon.  Bryce and Damon were not the only residents of Clay Hall to be interested in the fraternities.  There were brothers and students who hoped to become brothers, so talk about the various fraternities, and what each had to offer, seemed to be everywhere - in the corridors, in the lounge, on the front steps.

 

The first fraternity visited by the duo was, of course, Sigma Alpha Tau.  It was less crowded than at the party, and a good deal neater.  The large room where dancing had taken place was now adorned with several couches, and the brothers were dressed neatly, each displaying the fraternity letters or motto in some fashion on a blazer, sweat shirt, or tee.  Curtis, as Pledge Master, acted as some kind of master of ceremonies, speaking to each visitor as he arrived, and then introducing him to the fraternity officers.  When Bryce and Damon appeared, Curtis’s face lit up.

 

“I thought you guys had abandoned us,” he said.

 

“No way!  We just didn’t want to seem over eager,” Bryce returned.

 

“You guys clean up pretty well,” Damon observed.

 

“It’s the difference between a reception and a party,” Curtis informed him.  “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the other officers.”

 

So it was that the two were introduced to the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Chaplain.  In the process questions were asked on both sides, and answers received.  One question asked several times was about the visitors’ SAT scores and their academic majors.  This favorably impressed Bryce, who saw that the fraternity took seriously its declaration that it prized academic achievement.  Of course, they were also asked about athletic achievement, when Bryce’s experiences on his high school soccer and swim teams were mentioned.  They then were passed on to other brothers, who showed them around, and continued the questions.  A black brother appeared to greet Damon.

 

“Hey, Bro!  How’s it hanging?”

 

“Great, man!  What are you doing here, checking out the house, too?” Damon asked.

 

“No, man.  I’m a brother here.  I joined last year.”

 

“No shit?  And here I thought you were just another peon like me.”

 

The other black man laughed.  “Who’s your friend?”

 

“Sorry.  This is Bryce Winslow.  He’s my neighbor in the dorm.”

 

The other guy laughed as he shook Bryce’s hand.  “Oh, yeah.  That dorm which is an insult to all the black students on campus.”

 

“It was Bryce who told me about the other Clay guy.  Bryce, this is DuBois Kennedy.  I linked up with him back at that IMPORTANT meeting at the BSO, and we’ve gotten together a couple of times since then to share a few beers and some choice comments on you-know-who,” Damon completed the introductions.

 

“No,” Bryce acted innocent.  “Who?”

 

Damon merely laughed and socked Bryce on the shoulder.  DuBois began to show the two around, commenting on the house and the fraternity, obviously proud of his membership and urging Damon to consider joining as well.  Bryce felt left out just a bit, but then he considered that Damon probably felt that way in predominantly white company from time to time.  Noting the name badge on DuBois’ shirt, Bryce sought to re-enter the conversation.

 

“Damon introduced you as DuBois [pronouncing it the way it’s spelled in English], but that’s a French name, isn’t it.  Are you actually named DuBois [pronouncing it in French].”

 

“No, actually Damon is correct.  I was named for W.E.B. DuBois, the famed black leader, who pronounced it the way I was introduced,” DuBois responded.

 

“I’ve heard of W.E.B. DuBois, but I didn’t know about his pronunciation,” Bryce admitted.

 

DuBois paused in his tour of the facilities, and really looked at Bryce for the first time.  “You’re the guy Damon is always talking about, aren’t you?”

 

Bryce laughed.  “I don’t know.  Damon, are you always talking about me?”

 

Damon looked embarrassed.  “I might have mentioned you from time to time.  DuBois exaggerates.”

 

“You’re the guy who not only knew about Cassius Marcellus Clay, but who also goes with Damon to help out at the soup kitchen on Sundays, and who is lending Damon the cash to join the fraternity, right?” DuBois insisted.

 

“The Clay stuff is in the catalogue and on the web site,” Bryce dismissed this achievement.  “And the soup kitchen is run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a Catholic organization, and I’m Catholic.”

 

“Yeah, go on,” DuBois kidded.  “How can you explain away the financial assistance?”

 

“I’ve got money and Damon doesn’t,” Bryce shrugged.  “Besides, that was supposed to be just between us.”  Turning on Damon, he continued, “What are you doing, spreading our private arrangements all over campus?”

 

“Who, me?” Damon eluded the question.

 

“Come on.  This way,” DuBois said, leading the other two down into the basement, to a large room where several other brothers were gathered.  There was a large screen TV broadcasting some sporting event, with several brothers sitting around, watching, talking, and drinking beer.  DuBois announced to the assembled group, “These are some special guests of mine.”  Then, to Damon and Bryce he said, “We don’t usually bring guys who are just asking about us down here, but you two deserve a beer on the house.”  DuBois got beers from a glass door refrigerator behind a large bar for both Damon and Bryce as well as himself, and led them to a well used couch, a little apart from the TV crowd, where they sat in the cool basement and discussed SAT further.

 

Some fifteen minutes later, Bick Lomax swaggered into the room.  He went over to the bar and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator.  Turning around, he saw the three of them.  “Hey, assholes, this area is off limits except to members!” he yelled.

 

“Members and their guests, Bick,” DuBois shot back.

 

“Might have known you’d be involved,” Bick said with a sneer.  He clutched his beer and left the room.

 

“The one negative in an otherwise perfect fraternity,” DuBois commented, loudly enough that several other brothers heard and snickered.

 

As Bryce and Damon were leaving, Curtis again appeared.  “Fill out these bid forms,” he instructed them.  “We’ll vote on Friday afternoon, and have a party for the pledges on Friday evening.  I’m sure you’ll both be hearing from us.”

 

“I don’t know,” Damon said.  “We ran into this guy named Bick, and he didn’t seem very welcoming.”

 

“Bick’s an ass.  Bryce and I have already agreed on that.  Final votes on accepting a new brother after the pledge period must be unanimous, but decisions on extending invitations to pledge are by majority vote.  It’ll work out, somehow,” Curtis promised.

 

On Tuesday, Bryce and Damon visited the fraternity to which Mike Sandoval belonged.  Bryce was a little uneasy after hearing the comment made by Mike’s brother after Mass on Sunday, but had noted nothing unusual during class that morning.  At the fraternity reception, Mike was as friendly as usual, welcoming both visitors, and making no reference to Kyle’s remark, although he did mention seeing Bryce at Mass.  Maybe he did not know Bryce had overheard the comment about a new boyfriend.  Or, was Kyle just annoying his brother, maybe getting back at Mike for introducing him as his “little” brother?  Could it be that Mike actually was gay?  Bryce tried to see something about his friend to give him a clue, but nothing appeared.  Didn’t he remember reading somewhere that gays were supposed to have this ability to recognize each other?  Gaydar?  Yeah, that’s what it was called.  But either he wasn’t gay, or his gaydar wasn’t working, as he got nary a clue as to Mike’s sexual orientation at the reception.

 

On the way back to the dorm, Damon asked, “What were you looking for in there?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You were looking for something, and didn’t find it.  I can tell.  What was it?”

 

“Um, just something I heard about Mike,” Bryce replied.

 

Damon did not pursue it until they were back in their rooms.  Then, just before slipping out to meet a couple of the brothers, Damon dropped another surprise.  “You mean, you heard something about Mike being gay, right?”

 

He disappeared before Bryce could recover.  “Damn you!” Bryce yelled at the empty corridor.  “You keep doing that!”

 

On Wednesday, Damon refused to talk about anything except their visit to the fraternity of which Robert Blanton, a.k.a, Mr. Aeropostale, was Vice-President.  Talk in the dorm discouraged their visit.  More than one guy said Bryce would not be welcome, but he was determined to accompany Damon.  Naturally, they decided to wear their Aeropostale shirts to the reception.  As they approached the house, Bryce noticed that he was the only white student headed that way.  He asked Damon, “You did say whites were permitted in this fraternity, didn’t you?”

 

“Of course,” Damon responded.  “We could no more have a campus approved organization which excludes whites than you could have one which excludes blacks.”

 

“Do you have any idea how many white members this fraternity has?”

 

Damon got a big grin across his face.  “Yeah.  I checked.  The exact number is ... zero!”

 

“Purely by chance, of course,” Bryce commented ironically.

 

Damon chuckled.

 

At the house, when Damon and Bryce entered there was some confusion, as Bryce was the only white person there, and the fraternity officers did not seem to know how to deal with him.  He blandly noted, in response to a blunt question as to why he was there,  that the fraternity publications said it was open to all interested males, so he was just checking it out.  He was introduced to the officers, including Robert Blanton, Damon’s bête noir.  At last, he had a face to associate with the figure Damon spoke about so often.  The man was not impressive, and seemed to be offended by Bryce’s presence.  He made a comment about those who mocked the black experience, evidently aiming that at Bryce.  Inspired by a wicked thought, Bryce asked Blanton about the fraternity policy with regard to homosexuals.

 

“There are no queers in this fraternity, and there never will be,” he was told.

 

“Isn’t that contrary to the University’s anti-discrimination code?” Bryce asked, acting naive.

 

“The anti-discrimination code is to protect blacks and other oppressed people, not perverts,” Blanton insisted.

 

“Oh, I see,” Bryce said, allowing the matter to slide.  He had heard enough anyway.

 

After leaving this fraternity, Bryce and Damon visited another “historically black” house.  Damon had no intention of joining Mr. Aeropostale’s fraternity under any circumstances, but just in case he was not invited to pledge Sigma Alpha Tau, he wanted a fall back position, and Bryce agreed to support that.  Bryce himself had his second choice with Mike Sandoval’s fraternity.  Their second visit of the day was much more pleasant.  For one thing, Bryce was not the only white person around.  For another, they were welcomed and shown around without the obvious suspicion and hostility of their previous visit.  Pushing things, Bryce again asked his guide about gays.  He was told there was no rule against admitting a gay person, but some of the brothers might object, so it would be better to kept it to oneself.  The member telling him this did so in a whisper, as though he were in a conspiracy with Bryce against everyone else.  Bryce thought all this most interesting.

 

The next day, the two friends visited still other fraternities, but they were merely going through the motions at this point.  If they did not get Sigma Alpha Tau, they had their second choices, and if those also failed, they had decided not to pledge any fraternity this semester.   Bryce actually got started on his Psychology project that afternoon.

 

On Friday afternoon the various fraternities held plenary chapter meetings for the purpose of deciding to whom invitations were to be extended to pledge.  The potential pledges were requested to designate on their bid sheets where they would be located between five and six that afternoon.  At Sigma Alpha Tau, there would be a cook-out and party that evening at which the new pledges would be the guests of honor, the only time until the final vote on admission at the end of the semester when they would not be at the beck and call of the brothers.  Other fraternities had their own welcoming arrangements.  One suggested location for the candidates was the dorms of those students who lived on campus, and this option was selected by Bryce and Damon.  They spent some time in the lounge on their floor, but found the other guys annoying rather than helpful.  They were nervous, awaiting the outcome of the vote, and could not concentrate on the program on the TV or the talk about the weekend away game.  Returning to Bryce’s room, they tried playing games on his computer, but they were too distracted to enjoy the games or to be very successful at them.  They talked nervously, and paced.  The first messenger to arrive came from Damon’s second choice.  He was invited to pledge.  The second came from Bryce’s second choice, where he was also invited to pledge.  They were afraid there would be no messenger from Sigma Alpha Tau, and were about to give up, when, shortly before six o’clock, there was a knocking on Damon’s door.  As both guys were in Bryce’s room, this resulted in some scrambling, but eventually two invitations were received from SAT, one for Damon, the other for Bryce.  They were ecstatic, actually jumping up and down and hugging each other.  They would do this together.

 

Despite their excitement, at Bryce’s insistence both sat down to pen letters to their respective second choices, thanking them, but declining the invitations.  Then, they prepared to attend the festivities at Sigma Alpha Tau for the evening.  They dressed nicely but casually, and strolled over to the SAT house, with invitations in hand.  They were welcomed, and joined the other new pledges in the back yard of the house, where three grills were busy turning out hot dogs, hamburgers, and barbequed chicken.  The keg was in evidence this time as well, and there were side dishes enough to slake any appetite.  The yard had Japanese lanterns hung all around the place, intended to give lumination after dark, which, however, was still several hours away.  Bryce immediately noticed that there were no females present.  In fact, he overheard Bick complaining that it was “one hell of a piss poor party” where there was no pussy.  He located Curtis and asked about that.

 

“No, tonight is just a guy thing,” Curtis explained.  “The brothers are welcoming you pledges, and showing you a good time.”  Then, rubbing his hands together, Curtis cackled, “then, for the rest of the semester, we’ll make your lives miserable.”

 

Bryce laughed, but wondered just what was in store for the pledges after tonight.  He had been assured by Curtis previously that hazing was against the policies of both the University and the fraternity, so he was not concerned about his actual safety, but he knew he would be subjected to various humiliating experiences, whose object was to prove that he was willing to go through anything in order to join Sigma Alpha Tau.  This could be interesting.  But tonight, he was a guest of honor, and determined to enjoy it.  The food was great, the beer was plentiful, and the brothers were friendly.  Bryce found himself talking to several guys about soccer, which took up a couple of hours.  Discussion of the fraternity, of classes, and of professors, along with the command that he show up for the intramural soccer game tomorrow afternoon, caused the time to pass quickly and pleasantly, until those Japanese lanterns served a real function.  He completely lost track of Damon.

 

At one point, he did ask Curtis whether he was permitted to ask what took the brothers so long that afternoon making up their minds.  He admitted both he and Damon received invitations from other fraternities while they were waiting, and had almost given up on Sigma Alpha Tau.  Curtis replied that he could divulge no details, but there was one applicant who was favored by some of the brothers, but who had been found guilty of unethical practices connected with his football scholarship.  That engendered a great deal of discussion, but his bid had eventually been rejected.  Bryce was relieved to find that the delay had nothing to do with himself or Damon.  Sometimes it’s hard to believe that the whole world does not revolve around oneself.

 

About eleven o’clock that evening, Curtis came to get Bryce, saying Damon was in one of the upstairs rooms and in bad shape.  He had been found slumped in a corner, obviously having drunk more than he could handle, so Curtis and another brother laid him on a bed, but he needed to be taken back to his dorm room.

 

As they walked down the corridor leading to the room, Curtis said, “I think Damon has a drinking problem.  Obviously, we have no problem with drinking, but he seems to end up falling down drunk every time he drinks.”

 

“You might be right,” Bryce responded.  “He’s had a rough time.  I think his drinking is his way of escaping his background.  I’ll talk to him about this.”

 

Just then, as they approached the room where Damon had been left, they heard a rough voice shout, “Take it, you damned cock sucker!  Suck my fucking cock!  Damn it, nigger, suck it!”

 

“No!” Damon’s voice cried out.  “No, I don’t ....”

 

There was the sound of flesh smacking into flesh, cutting off Damon’s protests.  The first voice repeated, “Suck it, damn it!”

 

Bryce and Curtis looked at each other, shocked.

 

“That’s Damon,” Bryce declared.

 

“And Bick,” Curtis added.

 

Bryce was closest to the door, so he burst into the room before Curtis, although the two were both there in seconds.  It was a lurid scene which greeted their eyes.  Damon lay on his back on the bed, with Bick straddling his chest, with his knees pinning down Damon’s arms.  Bick had discarded his jeans and shorts, and had his erect cock shoved in Damon’s mouth.  Bick’s hands held Damon’s head steady as he began to pump his protuberance into the black pledge’s mouth.  Damon’s legs floundered helplessly, like a fish out of water.

 

In a flash, Bryce launched himself against the bigger man, knocking his head against the wall with such force that Bick was momentarily stunned, and dislodging him from atop Damon.  While Curtis pulled Bick the rest of the way off Damon, Bryce saw to his friend, asking whether Damon were okay.  Damon was still largely incoherent, but one statement came out loud and clear: “That bastard tried to rape me!”

 

As Bryce and Curtis tried to get Damon to his feet, Bick recovered somewhat, and let out  a roar.  Although still groggy from having had his head knocked against the wall, Bick looked as though he were about to challenge their right to escort Damon from the room.  Curtis left Damon in Bryce’s hands for a moment, turned, and hit Bick in the stomach, hard.  The bigger man doubled up, collapsing on the floor, gasping for breath.

 

Bryce and Curtis led a befuddled and only partly sobered Damon down to the ground floor.  The party was still going on, of course, so Bryce decided he would simply escort Damon back to the dorm, leaving Curtis to handle things at the house.  He believed he could do this alone until Damon stumbled and nearly pulled Bryce down as well.  Fortunately, DuBois happened on them at that point, and offered to help escort Damon home, as Curtis did not feel he could leave his responsibilities there at the house.  As they exited, Damon was heard to mumble, “I’m going to sue that bastard for all he’s worth.”

 

Between them, Bryce and DuBois got Damon back to his room in Clay Hall, stripped, and in bed.  Damon immediately fell asleep.  After discussing the matter between them, Bryce and DuBois decided Damon was safe enough where he was, so they both returned to the party.

 

There, Curtis told them that Bick had locked himself in his room, and refused to respond to Curtis’s demand for an explanation.  It seems that, in their haste to place Damon in a safe place while going to look for Bryce, Curtis and his colleague had left Damon in Bick’s room.  It was house policy that all rooms be available for guests during parties, or else locked, and, as Bick’s was not locked, they had a perfect right to make use of it.  Bick was returning to his room to collect something when he found the inebriated pledge spread out on his bed.  That explained how he came to find Damon in the first place, but did not, of course, excuse Bick’s attempt to rape Damon.  None of those present in their little huddle knew enough about the law to know whether what happened met the legal definition of rape, but Curtis and Bryce could both testify that Bick had his naked cock in Damon’s mouth, and Damon was attempting to resist.  The fact that he was drunk and ineffective did not make the penetration any more acceptable.  Curtis did know that rape was cause for expulsion from the fraternity and from the University, and, if pursued in court, was a felony offense.  Bick was in serious trouble.

 

The next morning, Bryce met Curtis at the gym later than usual.  While carrying out their exercises, they continued to discuss what had happened the night before.  Damon was still sleeping it off, so Bryce had nothing new to contribute from that angle.  Bick was still locked in his room, refusing to come out, and cursing anyone who knocked on his door.  Curtis was concerned that an accusation of rape brought before the University authorities might cause disciplinary action to be taken against the entire fraternity.  Thus far, only a few brothers, Bryce, and Damon himself knew what had happened, but it could become a serious problem, not only for Bick, but for the entire group.  The fraternity was expected by the University to prevent such things from happening.

 

Concerned, the two cut their work-out short and made their way back to Clay Hall to check on Damon.  On that Saturday morning after a party, it was later than their usual work-out times, so there was at least a chance Damon would be awake.  To Curtis’s amusement, Bryce armed himself with his water pistol before venturing into Damon’s room.  As it happened, however, the armament was not needed.  As they came through the bathroom into Damon’s room, the victim was stirring and moaning.

 

“How’re you doing this morning?” Bryce asked.

 

“Fucking lousy,” Damon responded.

 

“How about getting yourself in gear.  We’ve got some serious talking to do.  Maybe over breakfast,” Bryce declared.

 

At the mention of breakfast, Damon groaned.  Then he asked, “Do I remember right?  That SOB Bick was sitting on my chest, and trying to stuff his stinking cock down my throat, wasn’t he?”

 

“That’s what we need to talk about,” Curtis said.

 

Damon paused, sitting on the side of his bed.  After a moment’s thought, he agreed, “Okay.  Let me shower and get dressed, then we can talk.”

 

“Great!” Curtis said.  “I’m going to change into something that doesn’t stink, then I’ll meet you guys at the cafeteria for breakfast.”

 

“No,” Bryce said.  “I think we need to meet off campus, just in case someone might overhear us.  I’ll come by for you when Damon’s ready, and we’ll go somewhere else.”

 

“Good thinking,” Curtis agreed.

 

A half hour later, Bryce appeared in front of the Sigma Alpha Tau house in his Mustang, with Damon in the back.  Curtis ran out and jumped in the passenger seat.  They agreed on a Shoney’s out by the Interstate, where it was unlikely anyone from the University would overhear them.  There, they selected a corner booth, and each collected a substantial breakfast from the bar before getting down to business.

 

“What went down last night?” Damon demanded, once they were settled.

 

“No.  First tell me what you remember,” Curtis said.

 

“I had too much to drink.  Damn!  That’s happening more and more.  I need to watch that,” Damon admitted.

 

“Yes, you do.  And it could play into all this.  But for now, just tell us what you remember,” Curtis iterated.

 

“I was lying on a bed, feeling like shit.  Only half aware of what was going on, you know.  Then, all of a sudden, there was this big guy right next to me yelling at me.  Seems I was in his bed.  I don’t think I put myself there?” Damon said, making that into a question.

 

“No, another brother and I did when we found you slumped down in the corridor.  Then I  went to look for Bryce,” Curtis confirmed.  “Go on.”

 

“Next thing I knew, this guy Bick was crawling on top of me.  I felt lousy, and tried to get him to go away, but I couldn’t get myself organized.  I think I got in one good lick before he pinned my arms down.  By then, I noticed he was naked from the waist down, and had a hard-on.  If I’d noticed earlier, I would’ve hit him there, but it was too late.  My arms were useless.  He tried sticking his cock in my mouth.  It smelled gross.  I don’t know who or what he had been fucking, but it was rancid.  I don’t think Bick washes carefully,” Damon speculated.

 

Curtis and Bryce were having trouble keeping a straight face as Damon mused on Bick’s personal hygiene, but Curtis was able to contribute, “I think that must be about when Bryce and I came along.  What do you intend to do about this?”

 

“I’m not going to just let it pass,” Damon forcefully declared.  “If I remember correctly, Bick was spewing insults directed at my sexual orientation and my race.  That’s a hate crime, in addition to being rape.  I want the bastard’s balls.”

 

They discussed the matter at some length, with Curtis indicating the possible consequences for the fraternity should Damon file a complaint with the University administration.  In the process, for the first time Damon explicitly stated that he was gay, but insisted that he had done nothing either to antagonize or to encourage Bick.  Curtis repeated for Damon what he had told Bryce a week earlier, namely that there was nothing in the fraternity by-laws prohibiting admission of a gay brother.  Furthermore, he agreed that Bick should not go scot free, and promised to testify on Damon’s behalf if he did insist on a formal process, but he pled with the pledge to let them handle the matter quietly.  He pointed out that Damon now had an interest in protecting the reputation of the fraternity.  After some struggle with his desire to punish Bick for what he had done, Damon agreed to give Curtis a chance to work things out in a way which would not harm the fraternity.  After all, Damon still wanted to complete the pledging process, just to see the expression on Mr. Aeropostale’s face, he said with a grin.

 

Their breakfast and their conversation over, the three returned to the fraternity house.  There, they located the President of the fraternity, Tom Blankenship.  Further discussion, with Tom indicating his gratitude to Damon for his cooperative attitude, and promising to make sure Bick did not escape the consequences of his actions, resulted in the four of them then marching up to Bick’s room.  Bick had not come out since the previous evening, and refused to open the door, which was locked.  He was in there, and answered in crude language, but refused to even discuss what happened.  Tom sent Curtis to obtain a key to the room from the fraternity treasurer, who was custodian of keys to all the rooms.  With this, they opened Bick’s door over his loud protests, and confronted him.

 

“We have a serious problem here, Bick.  We need to settle it right away,” Tom declared.

 

In response, all Bick could do was curse and swear, calling Damon names offensive to his race and his sexual orientation, as well as stating he wished he had succeeded in fucking him bloody the evening before.  At that, Tom asserted control of the proceedings.  “Look, Bick, you’re in serious trouble.  Just now, you as much as admitted you tried to rape Damon, and we all heard you use language which would be considered a hate offense under the University’s code of conduct.  If Damon goes to the administration, you’ll be expelled from the University, and if he goes to the civil authorities, you’ll be put on trial.  In that case, we’ll all be testifying against you.  We won’t forgive you what your prejudices will cause to happen to SAT.  We’re looking at suspension for a year, at least, and we don’t like it.  Now, either you cooperate, or that’s what’s going to happen.”

 

Bick looked stunned.  The prospect of being expelled in his senior year sobered him up so that he cut the bluster and listened.  “Okay, so what do you want?” he grumbled.

 

“First of all,” Tom said, “you will apologize to Damon for your comments on his race and his sexual orientation.  I know you won’t mean it, but that’s the way to begin.”

 

“Okay,” Bick agreed ungraciously.  Without looking at Damon, he grudgingly conceded, “I apologize for my language.”

 

“That’s just the first step, and a pretty piss poor effort at that” Tom said.  “I happen to know you’re pretty well off, so I think a little financial compensation of, say, a thousand dollars, paid to Damon in return for his agreement not to prosecute you for rape, is in order.”

 

“That’s blackmail!  That’s robbery!” Bick protested.