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*ring-ring*
I pick up the receiver, "Hello?"
"This is Stockbridge, right?" says a girl's voice on the other end.
"Uh...yeah, I live in Stockbridge. Can I help you?"
"What's your name?" She asks, followed by laughter in the background. "Bob." I lie. "Oooh Bob, you sound hot! What are you doing tonight?"
"Probably watch a little tv, stare into the void...I dunno. It's still early." I reply. "Wait, who the hell is this?"
"A young, horny girl!" She says in a call girl voice. "Was that you that we seen dressing in the window?"
"Uh...I doubt it. I'm not very hot. I don't have muscles." I gloat.
"Suuure. Anyhow, my friend and I are doing a survey. Would you mind answering some questions for us?" She asks.
I play along...without playing along.
"Have you ever been with two girls at the same time?"
"No...I'm kinda digging the whole monogamy thing."
"Okay. Would you pay to watch two girls make out?"
"Not anytime soon, I'm so broke right now. I'm thinking about going down to Labor Ready and getting some temp work."
She tells her partner that I don't have any money.
"Okay, well would you let us into Stockbridge in like, five minutes? We're up north by the Fargodome."
"Well, I have to run over to my friend's place real quick. Just knock on the door and the RA will let you in."�
I try to reason. "Fine." She hangs up. |
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| My breath vaporizes as I step outside the main door to Stockbridge. The moon peeks through the trees, adding to the seasonal vibe most Halloweens require. The snow crunches under my boots while I walk stiffed legged over to Reed to meet Kenny. Kenny and I met when I first settled into NDSU. He comes from a small town on the other side of the state and is from a large family. I like to make friends with people from larger families because in my experience, they make for more attentive, genuine, and outgoing friends. |
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| Before we drive to MSUM, we stop back at my place to pick up the booze and my long johns. Upon arriving to my room, a group of my fellow dorm-mates are gathered around in circle in front of my door. Kenny and I forge through the crowd, only to realize the object of the group's attention. Two girls in housemaid uniforms tease and flash their parts to the soundtrack of monosyllabic male grunts and hoots. The drunken, horny frat-rejects high five each other, only stopping to facially express their contempt for me. Kenny stands by the door and watches this absurd act while I gather all my shit for the night. |
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"Oh dude, she just showed everyone her ass!" Kenny exclaims.
"What the hell is going on?"
"God...I don't know. Let's just get out of here, there's too much testosterone for me to handle." I reply.
As we're leaving, the girls head downstairs in front of us. Then it hits me..."Hey, aren't you those girls that just called me? It's me, Channing."
"What the hell are you talking about? Wrong person." She said. |
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Kenny and I met a motley group of stoners at msum, also bent on locating a party. The first polar expedition was aborted, because the weather wasn't a consideration for their half-baked costume ideas. High again, our pilgrimage brought us to a house party on 10th st. However, only five minutes inside, the owner declared the party out of control and demanded everyone to "get the hell out". |
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| On our way past the Bison Turf, the campus' waterhole for all of-age NDSU alumni, Kenny and I bare witness to a brawl of about 20 guys spilling out from inside the bar into the alley. Only Halloween could've curtailed such surrealism. A rabbit is fighting a cowboy; a priest is beating the shit out of an M&M. The doctor is trying to break up the shouting dispute between the joker and the fireman. In the middle is a girl trying to tackle a 350 lb. guy from behind, who is round-housing at anyone in proximity in just a g-string bikini. |
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The shaggy carpet is an earthy-soil coloration, and there are so many beer cans that you can hardly take a step without coming down on one. The basement is a sleazy dungeon with spray paint all over the walls, and beer cans covering the surface of the floor. Someone has taped down cardboard to the floor, perhaps to break-dance. Drunken coeds are pawing at and gyrating against each other in different parts of the room. This is Sigma Nu, the "animal house" of the NDSU frat scene. Kenny and I look at each other and head back upstairs and outside. |
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| With desperation settling in, we decide to try our luck at TKE, which I?m told is the "hip-hop" fraternity. The basement of TKE is throbbing with rap music and smoke. Drunken coeds gone wild, sweating, grinding against each other in a fog of smoke and humidity. Kenny and I spot a very large black guy in an orange prison jumpsuit thrusting against another obese girl in a corner. We pace around awkwardly watching the crowd from a comfortable distance, holding an unspoken oath to not abandon each other. Then it happens, as expected. A girl grabs Kenny and pulls him up onto the pool table and they proceed to get jiggy with it. I brace myself against the table and look for any friendlies, feeling slightly bookish in my white fisherman's sweater. In the movie, I would be the nerd in the corner- not drinking. |
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| The big guy in the jumpsuit takes a seat next to a friend of his on the couch in front of me. I try to ignore them, but he keeps saying something in my direction. |
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"Who me?" I ask. He nods. He says something again, and the words are lost in sound and smoke.
"What?" I say. He repeats himself. What does this asshole want? I leaned forward towards the 300 lb. black man in a prison suit- eyes dimmed, and he says in a ghetto slur...
"I'm going to fuck the shit out of you."
I pull back and look at him with horror. "Sit on my goddamn lap, bitch." I turn to his friend, who in turn, nods. I must've been as white as a ghost.
"Nah-uh! No fucking way, man!" Without looking back, I head straight for the stairs and out the front door. Leaving Kenny to fend for himself. |
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| Spring is near and I'm trying to keep ahead with my school work. I haven't really gotten out much lately because it's been so cold. My car is dead and when I'm not in class I curl up in bed and watch tv. Every night I stay awake until the sun rises, and then go eat breakfast when no one else is around. Today I flipped through the Fargo Forum during breakfast and the front page featured a FPD announced the dismantling of Fargo's prostitution ring, a year long investigation. The crack team of undercover agents only apprehended two girls in an undercover sting for soliciting sex. The NDSU Spectrum has echoed the same story, of prostitution in Fargo, of all places. One of the alleged prostitutes was a former NDSU student, and across from the article was a picture of a girl's face that burned bright in my memory. We met, but for only an instant, the girl in the stairwell. |
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