Moose and Goose

Chapter Twenty-five

Every member of Zeta Kappa Delta is seated in the living room, with the furniture pushed against the walls. Ethel, their housemother, is sitting in a chair in front of them. Mary, Kacey, Veronica, Jennifer, and Juniper are in the back row with Judith, but they, too, are listening to their housemother rant.

"My patience is wearing out with every last one of you, young ladies," she says and shakes her head with disappointment. "There's absolutely no reason for me to look outside and see two of my residents fighting in the rain. Do you have any dignity? You're women, not men or boys! Stop conducting yourselves in the manner in which they do! Hailey?"

"Yes, Ms. Roberts?" A girl in the front row speaks in a soft, childlike voice, and Ethel motions her over with her right hand. The girl pushes to her feet and walks over to her housemother, who pulls her to her left. Her wavy raven hair falls to her shoulders, with the sections framing her small face tucked behind her ears. She's dressed in a long grey shirt and grey flannel pajamas.

"Hailey, as most of you know, is my hall monitor before eight," she informs them.

"More like her glorified rat," Juniper says under her breath, and Jennifer sniggers. She's sitting between her older sister's legs with the back of her head against her chest, facing the crowd and their housemother.

"And not only is it not okay for her to have to inform me of the fights between you all, but it's also shameful that she has to see the sordid affairs happening when your male counterparts sneak into this building." A few among the crowd snicker. "Oh, this is funny? Well, since I'm so comedic, how's about I lock this building down until Thanksgiving?" Suddenly, the majority of the crowd erupt in groans bearing various vocal pitches. "There'll be no Monster Mashes, no Soul Train, absolutely nothing but classes and work; You go to your classes, and you come straight here!"

"Are you serious," someone yells with a shrill voice along with the other murmurs of disagreement. Ethel nods her head and puckers her lip as she scans her sorrowful pupils. Kacey rolls her eyes onto Veronica to her right.

"Is it too late to return our hot pants to the store," she asks Kacey, who exhales a heavy breath.

"But I have to be home before Halloween," another person whines and Ethel shoots her a blank look.

"This is bullshit," Kacey yells over the mob around them, and they fall silent. They all look at her, and Judith can see the color drain from her face when she and their housemother meet each other's gaze.

"Care to explain, Miss. McDaniels," she calmly asks, and after taking a glance around the circle of her peers, she jumps to her feet. Kacey licks her lips and straightens her posture.

"Every year on Halloween, me, La'Shawna, and the rest of our group do charity work in our old neighborhoods, and others like it." She takes a deep breath and folds her trembling arms. "Those kids aren't able to go trick or treating because of how dangerous their area is, so we give them toys, clothes, candy, whatever they want. You can't take this away from them!"

"Aren't you noble," Ethel mocks her with a feigned smile and sympathetic gleam in her dark brown irises. "I'm sure your God will reward you for your charitableness, but the answer is no. You're not leaving this campus, and I'm not taking anything from them; thank yourselves for that instead."

"What did I do?" Kacey drops her arms, and Judith stands beside her. Ethel draws her brows together when she sees her.

"Don't challenge her. She made up her mind," she tells her, and Kacey rolls her eyes before returning to her spot.

"Young lady, what're you doing in here?" Judith looks around at the multiple people staring at her, and she stares at the housemother.

"I came in from the storm since the bus hasn't come," she explains, and Ethel rises from her chair with a low grunt.