The Battle of Jericho (16 page)

Jericho sat on the floor, unable to move for a few minutes. He was trying to figure out how his mind had made it all seem real. “And this is just the first day,” he whispered to Josh, who was also unusually quiet.

Before they had a chance to recover completely, Eddie stepped forward again. He handed each pledge a photograph of the black silk Warriors of Distinction jacket. “I want you to look at what you're striving for. The jacket you see in the picture can be yours if this week is successful. But it is much more than a jacket—it is a representation of obedience and loyalty and dignity. It is symbolic of the pride we feel in knowing that we are Warriors of Distinction.” He spoke with fierce passion and frowned at Dana.

“Now you run!” he barked. “I want you to hold this photograph in front of you as you run so you can see what you are striving for. Let it be your strength and your inspiration. Hold it high and run! Run until I tell you to stop. If you slow down, you get beat down.”

Jericho held the picture of the jacket in front of him and
joined the others as they thundered around the sides of the warehouse. He looked around and saw that all of the pledges were doing as they had been told—holding the picture high and looking at it as they ran. He wasn't sure if they felt inspired by the picture or not. He just knew that he had to do as he was told in order to make it into the Warriors of Distinction. So he ran.

Eddie was true to his word. When Cleveland stumbled over a shoelace, Eddie hit him on his back with what looked like the handle of a snow shovel. Cleveland looked at him angrily, but said nothing. He got up and continued to run. Luis got a cramp and sat down in pain. Eddie hit him with the shovel handle and told him to get up. Luis got up, but he walked instead of ran. Rudy ran smoothly, but he bumped Eddie on one of his rounds. Jericho thought it looked like he had done it on purpose.

Two laps. Five laps. Ten. Jericho was breathing hard and hoping that Eddie would let them stop. Twelve laps. Fourteen. Sixteen. Dana ran smoothly, seemingly without much effort. She didn't frown or slow her stride, even when some of the boys started to falter.
Go, girl, go,
Jericho thought. Then he glanced back at Kofi, who was running far behind the others. He let Kofi catch up and noticed his breathing was raspy and rapid.

“You okay, Kofi?” Jericho asked as they ran together, much more slowly than the others.

“Yeah. . . . Fine.” But his words seemed to be stretched wide.

“You need to stop, man?” Jericho asked.

“Don't . . . sweat ... it. ... I . . . can . . . beat . . .
you!” Kofi breathed as he managed to push past Jericho.

They ran longer and harder than in any gym class or basketball practice that Jericho had ever been in. Fifteen minutes, twenty, twenty-five. None of the pledge masters seemed to notice that Kofi was having difficulty. Thirty minutes of nonstop running. “One more lap,” called Eddie. He had stopped using the stick.

Jericho and Kofi finished the last lap together. Jericho was definitely winded. But Kofi took deep gulping breaths.

“I'm going to go tell Mahoney to take it easy on you,” Jericho declared as they finished.

“Don't you dare say anything to anybody!” Kofi exclaimed. He grabbed Jericho's arm and whispered, “This is the only thing I have ever done in my life that makes me feel proud. So just shut up!” Kofi stuffed the picture of the Warrior jacket into his pocket.

Jericho looked at Kofi and said grudgingly, “Okay for now, but if it gets crazy, I'm not gonna shovel you off some floor. You got that?”

“Thanks, man. I'll be fine. I can't let my girl Dana beat me, can I?”

Dripping with sweat in spite of the chilliness of the room, Jericho glanced around at the group. The heavier boys like Ram and Cleveland heaved loudly and sweated profusely. Josh looked energized instead of being tired, Kofi looked almost ashen, and even Dana looked drained and exhausted. She wasn't breathing nearly as hard as Kofi was, however.

Madison passed out small bottles of water, and for a moment Jericho thought the worst was over. “I have a
question,” Madison said to the group of pledges sitting on the floor. “Are you willing to do anything to be a Warrior of Distinction?”

“Yes, sir! Yes, Master Senior Madison, sir!” they all chanted. Jericho didn't know whether he was excited or frightened.

“Don't ever forget that,” Madison commented dryly.

“You're hot and sweaty,” Eddie said then. “Take off your shirts.”

Jericho started to obey immediately, but stopped when he remembered Dana. A bunch of dudes taking off their shirts was one thing, but a girl in the room made it different. The other pledges hesitated as well, looking at each other and not sure what to do.

“I said take off your shirts—all of you!” Eddie yelled.

Kofi removed his shirt first. His thin, wiry body was still heaving from the run. He was sweating heavily. Cleveland was next. He wore a heavy sweatshirt and removed it slowly. Rolls of fat hung over his waistline. Josh and Jericho removed their shirts at the same time. Josh was fit and slim; Jericho looked down at his large belly and wished he had eaten more carrot sticks. Luis had the best build of all the boys, with deeply rippled muscles. Jericho wondered how Luis managed to be blessed with such a physique. Rudy, the tallest of them, towered silently over the rest. Ram, thick and solid, flexed his biceps. Fourteen shirts lay next to fourteen boys. The room was silent. They waited for Dana.

DANA LOOKED AROUND HER, SHRUGGED,
and swiftly removed her T-shirt. She wore no bra. She looked straight ahead. Eddie grinned as he stared at her. At first, no one moved, then Kofi walked over to where she sat on the floor. He stood, arms folded across his chest, directly in front of her, facing forward, like a human shield. Jericho realized what he was doing and joined him, his back to Dana, his arms folded across his chest as well. Josh ran to join them, then the rest of the pledges did so as well. When they were finished, fourteen boys surrounded the half-naked girl on the floor, each facing outward.

“Well done,” Madison said, nodding his head. He said nothing else to them.

The pledge captains then handed out bright pink T-shirts to the pledges.

“Toss one over your barrier to that pledge who wants to
be just like a man,” Eddie sneered. Unlike Madison, he did not seem to be very pleased that they had shielded Dana. “You will wear this shirt every day at school to every class and every school function. You will wash and dry it every night and iron it every morning. Failure to wear this shirt will mean you have failed as a pledge, which means that the entire class of pledges will have failed. Why?”

“All of us or none of us!” Jericho and the rest of the pledges said in unison.

Rick spoke to them next. “You will be living two lives for the rest of this week. During the day you will participate in school-sanctioned pledge activities. At night you belong to the real world of the Warriors. You will say nothing about these two worlds. You will tell no one of our evening activities. Understood?”

“Understood,” the pledges repeated obediently, but Jericho continued to feel uneasy about the “other world” Rick spoke of.

“Go home. You are dismissed for tonight. Be in Mr. Culligan's room tomorrow morning at seven thirty.” With that, he and the other members of the club left the room.

Dana stood up then, wearing her pink shirt. “I want to thank you guys,” she said shakily. “Especially you, Kofi, for starting it. But I'm gonna do my best to hold my own. I would have sat right there in just my jeans—all night, if I had to—just to prove it.”

“You would have?” Josh asked in amazement.

“Yeah, but I'm glad I didn't have to,” she admitted. “I promise never to let any of you down. I'm determined that I'm going to do whatever they make me do.”

“We got your back, Dana,” Kofi said quietly. “I didn't like what you did and how you did it to get in here, but you got guts, girl. I gotta give you your props for that.”

For the first time all night, Dana smiled.

“Hey, Dana,” Kofi asked her, “how did you know the spit was fake?”

“I didn't. I just figured they had to be faking us out somehow, and I had to prove myself. I don't want them to have an excuse to kick me out of this group.”

“Why do you want this so bad?” Josh asked.

“I've never had a chance to make a real difference,” she said. “I talk big, but talk changes nothing. This is my chance to prove what I believe in.”

“You're doin' great so far,” Cleveland added. “If it hadn't been for you, I woulda just sat there and vomited my dinner all over their fancy shoes.”

The fifteen pledges collapsed in laughter then. Jericho felt really close to them at that moment, and wondered if this was what was meant by bonding. “We're bonded, right?” Jericho asked the group.

“I guess so,” Kofi said.

“All of us or none of us,” Luis reminded them.

“Yeah, yeah. Enough of that. What's up with the shirt?” Josh asked. “Pink? November is gonna trip when she sees this!”

“They used the same ones last year,” Jericho reminded him.

“Yeah, but not on me,” Josh complained.

“Well, I'm gonna have to listen to Arielle all week about this slogan on the back,” Jericho said with a sigh. “I am not distinguished yet.'”

“Yeah, that's pretty cold,” Josh admitted. “But it's only for a week. I figure I can put up with anything for five days.”

“Even being called 'Pledge Slime'?” asked Rudy.

“I guess. All this is worth it, right?” Jericho asked.

“Yeah, you got that straight! I'd do anything to be a Warrior,” Cleveland said as he looked at the ugly pink shirt.

“Anything?” Jericho asked.

“Yeah, man, just about anything.”

Jericho took Kofi and Josh home, then eased into his house quietly. Everyone had already gone to bed. He took a long, hot shower and called Arielle when he had slipped under the covers.

“How was it?” she asked.

“Pretty disgusting, but not bad. Nothing scary—yet.”

“That's all you can tell me?”

“Aw, you know, the code of silence thing. It's dumb, but I'm following their rules for now.”

“How did Dana do?”

Jericho thought back to the intensity of the evening. “Better than most of us, actually. She's tough.”

“That's for sure. Well, I'm just glad you're okay.”

“Sleepy. Tired. And better now that I've talked to you.”

“You always know what to say, Jericho,” she said softly. “Good night, and I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Arielle.”

Even though he was tired and still slightly nauseous, Jericho practiced his trumpet for a half hour after he hung up. He winced as he thought about the competition, however, and he put the trumpet away.

THE FIFTEEN PLEDGES, DRESSED IN THEIR
flourescent pink T-shirts, waited quietly for instructions. No one mentioned how Dana had answered the challenge the night before, but Jericho was sure they were all thinking of it.

Madison moved to the front of Mr. Culligan's room. 'I have a question,” he began. “Are you willing to do anything to be a Warrior of Distinction?” he demanded.

“Yes, sir!” they all replied.

“We will see,” Madison commented dryly. “Today we begin the school service assignments. We meet for the serious stuff again tonight. Eight o'clock. Don't dare be late!”

“Yes, sir!”

“For your first assignment this morning,” Madison continued in his gravelly voice, “we ask that all of you stand in the main hall by the front door and greet each and every
incoming student. You will say, 'Good morning. We are the undistinguished pledges who strive to be Warriors of Distinction. We hope you have a pleasant day.' Understood?”

“Understood, Master Senior Madison, sir!” the pledges said in unison.

“When the bell rings for first-period class, you are to go to your classes as usual. For now, you are dismissed. Have a great day.”

With that, he and the other Warriors of Distinction left the room. Jericho and the other pledges looked at each other excitedly.

“So what do you think is gonna happen tonight?” asked Kofi.

Jericho shrugged, “I don't know, but I'm not worried.”

“You ready for this, Dana?” Kofi asked her.

“I'll be fine,” she said with a smile, “as long as I can keep my clothes on!”

“Well, we better get this over with,” Josh reminded them. “Let's go meet and greet the world!”

The first person all fifteen pink-shirted pledges met in the hall was November. Rick Sharp was standing nearby, watching them. The pledges looked at November and said in unison, “Good morning. We are the undistinguished pledges who strive to be Warriors of Distinction. We hope you have a pleasant day.” Jericho felt pretty stupid saying it, but he reminded himself that he was just one of the group, and his voice blended in with the others.

November looked at the group, gasped, then sat down in the middle of the floor and howled with laughter. She
laughed until tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't stop laughing.

“I don't think it's so funny,” Kofi said saltily. “Quit laughing, November!”

“But you all look so
funny!”
she howled. “Dana, girl, you better watch out! These dudes look like they're tryin' to be fashion statements!”

“The shirt is supposed to show who we are and that we're proud to be pledges,” Jericho tried to explain.

“A pledge is a promise, not a person,” November said to them. That kinda made sense, Jericho thought, but then November started laughing at them again. “Well, you sure can't miss any of you coming down the hall! Where's my shades?” She dug in her purse and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.