Sorority Sister (12 page)

She lay perfectly still in the darkness, her breath coming in short, painful gasps.

She wasn’t dead.

She wasn’t even unconscious.

And none of her bones hurt enough to be broken, although the ankle was iffy.

Above her in the kitchen, she heard voices.

The relief she felt was overwhelming, turning her body to jelly. She would call to them and they would come to rescue her.

Maxie opened her mouth to shout and at that precise moment a red-hot pain shot up her leg from the ankle to the hip. The pain was so intense, she gasped. Although she fought against the ensuing wave of dizziness that assailed her, it was too strong for her. With her mouth still open to shout, and a look of dismay on her face, she slid into unconsciousness.

When she awoke, she was in her own bed, in her own room, and she was surrounded by people. They were all there, looking down upon her with concern: Erica, Tinker, Candie, Mildred, Chloe …

As she opened her eyes, they began bombarding her with questions. Mildred wanted to know what had happened in her room, why the chair was tipped over, the hot rollers spilled across the floor, and was she all right? Erica and Tinker wanted to know what she’d been doing in the basement and was she all right? And Chloe asked her what her slipper was doing in the kitchen and was she all right?

“Something is very wrong with that ankle,” Mildred said sternly. “I’ve called a doctor and he’s agreed to come here to see you. I don’t want any more ambulances rushing up to our door if it’s not absolutely necessary.” She peered down at Maxie. “You don’t have a really bad headache or anything, do you?”

“No, no headache.” Maxie tried to sit up, but the pain in her ankle stopped her. “And I don’t think my ankle’s broken. I didn’t hear anything snap when I fell out of the laundry chute.”

“The laundry chute?” Mildred looked blank.

“Mrs. B.,” Maxie said wearily, “I think you’d better call the police.”

She really couldn’t tell the officers very much. Underneath the thick glasses and the weird cranberry-colored hair and the layers of makeup, “Tia Maria” could have been anyone. Anyone at all.

Well …not just
anyone.
“She knew about the things that have been going on here at the house,” Maxie told the officer armed with a notebook. “Not that many people know the details, but
she
did. And she said there
was
insecticide in what we ate that night, but according to her, it was on the plates, not in the food.”

“You keep saying ‘she’,” one of the officers said. “You’re sure it was a woman?”

Maxie thought for a moment. The doctor had given her something for the pain in her ankle, which had turned out not to be broken, but badly sprained. The painkiller was strong, and she was exhausted, and it was hard to think clearly. “Yeah, I guess,” she said drowsily. “She was pretty big. I guess it could have been a guy.”

“Well, you get some rest,” the same officer said kindly. “Tomorrow we’ll want a list of everyone you girls might have told about the previous incidents. We’ll check those people out.”

When they had gone and Tinker, Erica, and Candie had settled on Tinker’s bed to keep Maxie company until she fell asleep, they discussed who had known about Tia Maria and who they’d told about the nasty goings-on at the house.

Maxie struggled to think clearly. Brendan and Jenna knew what had happened, of course, because she’d told them. Had she also told them about Tia Maria? She thought that she had, although it was hard to remember now.

Candie, Tinker, and Erica all reluctantly admitted that they’d told more than one person about Tia Maria. “She sounded like such a character,” Erica admitted.

“I didn’t tell Graham Lucas,” Candie said thoughtfully, “but he was sitting in the next booth at Vinnie’s when I was telling a bunch of people about her. I remember being really annoyed by that because I thought he was eavesdropping. I still do.”

And Tinker pointed out that most of campus probably knew all of the details of every incident that had taken place at the sorority house. “Even if we hadn’t told people,” she said, “you know how that stuff gets around. Cath told me
everyone
knew what was going on at Nightmare Hall when things were so bad. She
hated
that.”

“Thanks for rescuing me,” Maxie said. Her eyelids suddenly weighed a ton. “How long was I down in the basement, anyway? Aren’t you guys missing the Tri-Delt party?” She didn’t care that she wasn’t going. Brendan wasn’t going to be there. He’d driven some guy somewhere …

“Longer than you
should
have been,” Tinker said guiltily. “No one noticed your slipper until we’d all been home a while. I’m sorry, Maxie. Erica found it there by the chute, and then Candie came downstairs and said your room was a mess, so we knew something was wrong. That’s when we started looking for you. It was my idea,” she added proudly, “to check the basement where the chute comes out.”

“And we don’t care about the party,” Erica added. “The Tri-Delts don’t give such a great party, anyway.”

They were still laughing when Maxie quit struggling against sleep and closed her eyes. She was disappointed because there was something really, really important that she needed to remember. But she couldn’t … couldn’t …

On Sunday, they handed over to the police their lists of who might have known about Tia Maria
and
the incidents that had taken place in the house. The officers’ faces fell when they saw the length of the lists.

“Is there anyone on campus who
didn’t
know?” one said. But they took the lists and left.

Later that day, Cath was released from the hospital. She hadn’t been home more than an hour when she came into Maxie’s room to announce that she was leaving. Leaving the house, leaving Omega Phi Delta. Erica, Tinker, and Candie were stationed on Tinker’s bed.

Cath had a cast on her arm and she walked stiffly, telling them her back still hurt. “Thanks for pledging me,” she said quietly, standing in the center of the room, “but I’ve decided to go back to Nightmare Hall.” Her pale cheeks flushed. “I’ve. .. I’ve missed my friends there. I guess it’s not such a good idea to leave the place you’ve been living, in the middle of a semester. Too hard to get used to. I’m really sorry,” Cath added, and left.

A chagrined silence followed her departure.

We all know the real reason she’s leaving, Maxie told herself, and we’re embarrassed that Cath thinks Omega house is even scarier now than that gloomy old place down the road. Omega house scarier than Nightmare Hall? How was that possible?

This last Sunday in the month of March was turning out to be the gloomiest day of Maxie’s life.

“I talked to my mother,” Candie said. “I didn’t tell her anything that had happened, of course, she’d go ballistic on me, but I managed, very cleverly, I thought, to find out what Tia Maria looks like.”

“And … ?”Maxie sat up in her bed.

“She’s only five feet, four inches tall and she has short platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. And she doesn’t wear glasses. Or, according to my mother, lime green. Ever.”

So the real Tia Maria was a far cry from the person who had been standing on the front porch when Maxie opened the door on Friday. Maxie wasn’t really surprised. “I should have known,” she said miserably. “I should have known someone as classy as your mother wouldn’t have a hairdresser who looked like something out of a cartoon.”

“Quit beating yourself over the head,” Erica said. “I personally think that any one of us would have let the woman in. We’d heard so much about Tia Maria from Candie’s mom, we all felt like we knew her. Whoever that was pretending to be her, it was a brilliant idea, if you ask me.”

Brendan called later that afternoon. “How was the party?” he wanted to know. He hadn’t heard what had happened. She didn’t want him to know, which was exactly why she hadn’t called him.

“Didn’t go. You weren’t going to be there, so I opted to stay home.” She wasn’t really lying. She
had
decided to stay home. Of course, she’d had a little help deciding. …

“Gee, I’m flattered. So, you feel like canoeing this afternoon? Not a bad day out there.”

The trouble with telling one little white lie was that you just dug yourself a hole. She hadn’t told him about her ankle, so now she had no excuse for not going canoeing.

Maybe a half-truth would do. “Can’t. Went and turned my stupid ankle yesterday. I’m stuck in bed.” Stupid, stupid, she scolded … if he found out from someone else exactly
how
she had “turned” her ankle, he’d be furious that she hadn’t told him the whole story.

He was properly sympathetic, said he understood, and he’d call her later.

She felt guilty when she replaced the receiver, but she also felt relieved that they hadn’t got into another why-don’t-you-leave-that-dangerous-place-immediately argument. She wasn’t in the mood.

She didn’t tell Jenna the whole truth when she called later that night, either. But Jenna was much more suspicious. “What do you mean, you turned your ankle? Turned it into what?”

“Into a black-and-blue, swollen mess, that’s what.”

“How? And does this mean you’re going to be out of commission all weekend?”

“I … I fell in the basement.” That was almost true. Except the correct word would have been “into” the basement. “And yeah, it does mean I’m pretty much stuck in my bed.”

“Well, I’ll just saunter on over there, then, keep you company. What are friends for?”

“No!” Maxie immediately regretted shouting out the word. But Jenna was much too aware, too smart, to be allowed inside Omega house now. The minute she saw how gloomy everyone was, how oddly quiet the place was, she’d know in a second that something was very, very wrong. Besides, someone might accidentally let the truth slip out. “I mean, that’s really sweet of you, but I hit my head, too, and I’ve got this excruciating headache, so I’m just going to sleep, okay?”

There was a hurt silence on the other end of the line. Then, stiffly, “Yeah, sure I get it. Not to worry. Sleep it off, okay? I’m sure all your sisters will be tending to your every whim, just like sisters should. Talk to you later.” And Jenna hung up.

She doesn’t believe me, Maxie thought as the line went dead. She probably doesn’t even believe I actually hurt my ankle.

Some people seemed to lie so easily. Other people, like Maximilia McKeon, were lousy at it. Had to be a genetic thing.

By Monday, Maxie was able to hobble around the upstairs hall, gingerly limping along on her Ace-bandaged ankle.

She was passing Candie’s room, the door open, when she heard from behind the closed door, “I just want to know where you were Saturday night, that’s all. Humor me, okay, Graham? Just
tell
me?”

Maxie rapped on the door.

Candie, the phone to her ear, waved her inside. “Alone?” she said into the phone. “You went to the movies alone Saturday night? What did you see?”

Maxie sank gratefully into Candie’s desk chair, propping her injured ankle up on the edge of the bed.

“No, this isn’t an inquisition. I’m taking a survey … on what students do on weekends, that’s all. For … for soc class. It’s due this morning.” Candie grinned at Maxie. Then she listened for a few seconds, and said, “Just because I called you for my survey, Graham, doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind about going out with you. Like I said before, when there’s a nuclear war and you’re the only other human being left on earth, not a minute before. Thanks for the info.” She hung up, a satisfied smile on her face.

“You shouldn’t be so rude to him, Candie. I saw how angry he was with you that day on campus. He’s got a temper, and you’re just baiting him.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Candie sat down on the bed, careful to avoid jarring Maxie’s ankle. “Listen,” she said eagerly, “I knew Graham never went to the Tri-Delt party because I called over there and asked. Suzy Cummings said he wasn’t there, she was positive. So I wanted to know where he was, right? So I called him. He said he went to a movie, by himself. Have you ever in your life seen Graham Lucas anywhere alone? Except when he’s driving me nuts, I mean?”

“No.” It was true. Graham didn’t seem to like being alone. He was always with a bunch of friends, but never by himself.

“Me, either. And I don’t believe for a second that he went to the movies alone Saturday night. Which means,” Candie said triumphantly, “that he could have been
here.”

“Here?”

“You said the phony Tia Maria was tall and had wide shoulders, right? Well, Graham’s tall and has wide shoulders. Why couldn’t it have been him?”

“Candie, why would Graham want to hurt me?”

“It’s not
you
he wanted to hurt,” Candie said impatiently. “It’s this sorority. When I first started turning him down, I used stuff that was going on here as an excuse. It really made him mad after a while. He started making cracks about this place, about how we all stuck together and didn’t want anyone else in our lives. Like …like he was jealous.”

Just like Brendan, Maxie thought. And even Jenna.

She thought about that for a minute. Graham behind all that makeup and cranberry-colored hair? Possible. He was the right size.

“I’m going to nose around,” Candie promised. “See if I can find out anything about Graham that we could take to the police. Want to help?”

Maxie shook her head. “I’m no detective. Let the police handle it, Candie. If Graham
is
the person who pretended to be Tia Maria, he’s dangerous.” Remembering that iron grip on her wrist as she hung suspended in the laundry chute, she shuddered. “Stay away from him, Candie. Promise me.”

“Okay, okay, relax!”

Maxie suppressed a wild urge to laugh. Relax?
Relax?

Not in
this
house.

T
HE HOUSE PAINTERS ARRIVED
early on Monday morning, setting up an intricate scaffolding system on one side of the house. A thick wooden platform supported by fat white crisscrossed rungs resembling monkey bars in a playground, it held the painters high above the ground as they scraped away the old paint. When Maxie arrived home and sat in the kitchen soaking her throbbing ankle, she found the sound of their tools comforting. As Mildred had said, having people outside, especially people who had been carefully checked out by the university security force, made her feel safer. Who would be stupid enough to try anything with half a dozen men and women surrounding the house?