Shades of Difference

Valery woke up earlier than usual and decided that she would take a quick bath and then awaken Charlene. Today would be the day that the freshmen would see how much power underclassmen really had on the campus. Charlene had chosen what clothes she would wear the night before so it would not take her long to prepare once set got up. “Good morning.” Charlene rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. She had slept well but lightly. “Good morning to you. I hope you slept well last night.” “Yes, I did, and you know why.” The girls looked at each other and snickered softly. As the two were walking towards the dining hall for breakfast, there were signs of the day’s election for the Homecoming Queen election everywhere. At breakfast, it felt like some sort of secret faction was about to take place. All the freshmen were on time for breakfast and to emphasize the day to elect the new ‘Miss’, the student government president made an announcement reminding everyone to vote just before the grace was sung. There was applause from all the students as Janice Holly Jones, the fair-skinned candidate, stood amidst the applause to acknowledge her expectation of majority vote. She waved to her constituents while Beverly Stewart sat demurely smiling and wondering if she had made a big mistake by running against tradition. As the student waiters prepared to bring distribute platters of food to each table, Valery noticed Rodney Biggs, lumbering his way toward the empty seat at their table. His appetite was always voracious, and he rarely cared about social mores. It took a few minutes before their table waiters arrived with a platter of eggs, grits, sausage, and toast. As soon as the platter of sausage left the waiters hands, Bruce immediately grabbed it and scraped half of them onto his plate, leaving only four sausage patties for the other seven people at the table to eat. Valery decided that she was in no hurry and would wait for the next platter of sausage to arrive. The platter with the grits had been placed on her side of the table. As she looked down at the white fluffy grits, she noticed something dark in the bowl and realized it was a brown kitchen roach. Charlene saw it too. Bruce was busy chopping up his sausage patties and asking if someone would pass the grits. Valery readying to tell him that there was a bug in the food but stopped when Charlene elbowed her in the rib cage signaling her to be quiet. Charlene reached pass Valery and proudly passed the grits to Bruce who never looked down as he spooned several serving of grits, roach included, into his chopped-up sausage patties. Without knowing the roach was there, Bruce ate heartily consuming everything on his plate. Valery felt nauseated but Charlene began laughing softly, then more loudly until the cafeteria manager came out and asked her to stop or leave the dining hall. Charlene left with Valery following right behind her. For the rest of the day, students found time between their classes and meals to go to the gym where the voting booths were set up. There were students designated from both Janice and Beverly’s campaign to make sure that no one did anything illegal. The voting closed at five o’clock that afternoon giving all participants an opportunity to vote for the ‘Miss’ of their choice. All votes would be lock up and tallied the next day. Since no one was sure who had keys to the room where the ballots were being housed, both campaign managers decided that they would take turns posting someone from their headquarters to stand guard outside the door all night. The next day, by noon, the votes were counted, and the final tally revealed the winner. For the first time in the history of the school, the new Miss Blue Keyes State College was Beverly Steward, darkly pigmented, intelligent, and proud that she had achieved with the help of the freshmen class, the distinct honor of representing Blue Keyes State. The upperclassmen demanded a recount of the votes and even President Lee was concerned. He called a meeting with the student government president to discuss the matter. When Steven Cook arrived, the president’s secretary told him to go right on in. “Steven. Please sit down.” Steven had been caught off guard by the results of the election and was uneasy not knowing what President Lee would say. “Yes, sir. How are you today sir?” President Lee was in no mood for small talk and got right to the point... As the evening approached, more and more freshmen were seen leaving Frazier Hall headed in the direction of the gym. Word and rumors of an early probation release had reached the ear of Steven Cook. This terrified him as President Lee had given a stark warning of the loss of revenues Blue Keyes State could face from big business supporters if adherence to their requests were not followed. Steven had to act. Ten minutes before eight o’clock nearly all freshmen had assembled behind the gymnasium. Some of the girls who were more than ready to be alleviated of the disgusting probationary measures were already wearing makeup. Valery met Charlene there and placed their dog tags, beanies, and placards outside amongst the pile that had already accumulated. At exactly eight o’clock both Leon and Lester appeared. At the very sight of the two young men, the freshmen began clapping. The two men held their hands up and the crowd fell silent.