Page 9 of Running Home to You
“Okay, it’s time for round two of the Insley Initiation Games! I’m your host, Mick McMechan!” Mick procured a microphone and note cards from her letterman’s jacket. “Shupe, if you’d be so kind.”
Jill hit play on a small portable speaker and game show music echoed on the dock. T.K. bopped along, taking a happy pull from her bottle of vodka. She offered it to Kate, but she shook her head, too busy staring at Abby, who nodded at her and mouthed thank you.
“Our first question is for Ms. Izzy Palamino of Denver. What year was Insley University founded?”
“1863.”
“Correct! T.K. will get you your prize,” Mick said as T.K. poured Izzy a shot. “Next up it’s the pride of Carson City, Riley Brookheimer. How many conference championships has the Insley Eagle softball team won?”
“Seven.”
“Correct! Pour some booze for Brookheimer!” Mick turned to Abby next. “Now, for our favorite transfer student, Abby Cruz. Abby, who is Insley University’s current president?”
Abby stared blankly, her mouth in a tight line. They warned the freshmen countless times to study up on school and team history, that a test was imminent, but Abby clearly hadn’t. She probably assumed it didn’t apply to her, though Kate also got the impression that she didn’t study much at all.
“This is stupid,” Abby said.
“How about a different question…” Lauren smirked. “Why’d you get kicked out of UCLA?”
Kate frowned as Abby’s cheeks flushed.
“That’s not on my cards, DeHaven,” Mick said, still impersonating a game show host. “Abby, last chance. The president of Insley University is…”
“Kiss my ass?”
“Brilliant guess!” Mick boomed. “But it’s the incomparable George Urgayle.”
The team laughed, and Courtney sprayed Abby with sickening pleasure. The punishment usually entailed a quick splash of water to the face, but she predictably soaked Abby from head to toe until Mick finally shouted enough.
The next rounds passed in similar fashion. The freshmen class proved their competence, answering their questions correctly, even as the alcohol flowed. Meanwhile, Abby encountered the hose three more times, dripping and trembling in the wind. Kate tried to put a stop to it after the second round, but when Courtney suggested Kate receive the punishment instead, she shamefully backed down.
By round five, the freshmen wobbled, and Abby stood drenched. When Palamino staggered after her correct answer, nearly vomiting at the presentation of another shot, Abby drank it for her. She did the same for Brookheimer, who gratefully passed hers off with a hiccup.
“All right, Abby, I get the feeling this has never happened to you before, but you’re oh for four on the day. Let’s see if we can bump up that average as you show us how well you know your teammates,” Mick said. “What is Kate Hutchins’s hometown?”
To everyone’s surprise, especially Kate’s, Abby answered without hesitating. “Deer Park, Washington.”
“Correct!”
But the hose came anyway. Courtney blasted Abby for a fifth time, and when it finally stopped, the team stood so still that only the river and obnoxious music cooed.
“Fuck you!” Abby moved for Courtney, but Mick blocked her.
“Daddy can’t save you now, can he, Cruz?” Courtney scoffed. “We know Mommy certainly can’t.”
Abby lunged over Mick, swiping Courtney’s hair, before Kate and T.K. dragged her away. Abby seethed, her chest galloping under Kate’s hand. She braced for fists or tears, but neither compared to Abby’s desolate, glistening gaze. It punctured a hole in Kate, deflated the integrity of her chest, sending the walls and roof caving in.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Seaborn?” Mick yelled.
“She needs to relax! It’s a little water from a hose. Back before the university got involved, the freshmen really did have to swim to the island.”
“I’d rather do that than this bullshit!” Abby shouted.
“Then do it!”
The dock fell quiet.
Abby nodded. “Okay, fuck it. We’re going to have to pump the freshmen’s stomachs and I’m going to get hypothermia anyway.”
