Page 8 of The Amazing Alpha Tau Fratmas Experience
Casey groaned. “Seriously, Trey?”
“Yes, seriously,” I said. “It’ll be twenty minutes, and we need to get this done.”
Casey peeled himself reluctantly off the couch. “Marty, are you bringing snacks?”
Marty lifted his head off Dalton’s lap. “Can Dalton come?”
“Is Dalton a member of the Alpha Tau chapter executive?” I asked.
It was rhetorical, but Marty answered anyway.
“Um, no?”
“Correct.”
It was like herding cats getting everyone into the office, but eventually we were all in there. Archer, my vice president. Casey, the social chair and pledge master. Knox, the secretary. Connor, the house manager. And Scout, the treasurer.
“Okay,” I said, sitting down behind the desk while the guys crowded onto the couch and the couple of chairs in the office. Scout pulled up a chair beside my desk and opened his laptop. I smiled at him and said to the guys, “It’s gonna be a quick one, don’t worry. Casey?”
“Yes, prez?”
“We’re not doing that,” I said, although it didn’t annoy me as much as I pretended. “Any issues last semester?”
“Nah, prez,” he said with a grin. “All our newbies have settled in great, and the social calendar for the rest of the academic year is already set. Oh, the Zetas want to do another joint charity thing next year, though. Something about a kissing booth for Valentine’s Day? I mean, that could be fun, but also, isn’t that how you get mono?”
“If Dalton was here, he could answer that,” Marty said. How the hell had he gotten in here? He hadn’t even brought snacks. “I’ll ask him.”
“Okay,” I said, and Archer made a note. “Scout, how are we financially?”
“All dues paid and nothing outstanding,” he said. “Our insurance has gone up, but we can still cover it without increasing our fees. I’ll send out the usual begging letter to the alumni in the new year for chapter funds.” He tapped his keyboard. “I’ve sent you our latest bank statements.”
“Does anyone have anything else to raise?” I asked, and the guys shook their heads. We rarely had issues to raise in the chapter meetings because we raised them, and dealt with them, as they happened. “Okay, so let’s talk about the chores chart.”
“Is this about the toilet paper again?” Marty asked.
Casey elbowed him.
“No, I just want to make sure that everyone is pulling their weight,” I said. Before I was chapter president, I was house manager, and old habits died hard. Also, with thirty guys in the house, you had to stay on top of shit. I loved my brothers, but take your eyes off them for two seconds and they’d be happily rolling in the mud with pigs. And in Marty’s case, I wasn’t sure that was a metaphor.
“I’m not aware of any problems,” Connor said. “Everything’s running great, and I haven’t heard any complaints.” His forehead creased. “Everything is running great, right?”
“I think so,” I said. “I’m just checking in.”
Connor gave me a faintly suspicious look, and I hoped he didn’t think I was overstepping on the house management stuff. Like I said, old habits died hard.
“Okay,” I said. “House keys. Let’s do it.”
Thirty guys with thirty sets of house keys was a hell of an insurance liability, so at Alpha Tau we had the brothers sign their keys in with the chapter executive before going away for any extended period. We kept the keys locked in the safe in my office. It meant that a member of the chapter executive had to be the last to leave and the first to get back, but it saved us the headache of worrying about the house while we weren’t here.
Casey pulled a couple sets of keys out of his pocket. “Okay, I’ve taken James Two’s and Jasper’s, since they left this morning. I was gonna grab Briar’s as well, but I forgot. I’ll hand them in when I hand mine in.”
Connor took charge of the keys, checked the labels Casey had put on them, and opened his notebook to record that we had them. Since almost everyone had left, it turned out the only keys left to come back were Briar’s, Marty’s, and the ones from the rest of the executive, which meant at least I wouldn’t have to spend my day chasing anyone up.
“I’m last to leave tomorrow, so make sure you all have your keys in by noon, okay?” I said.
Scout cleared his throat. “Actually, I’m last to leave.”
“Since when?” As far as I was aware, Scout was supposed to meet his folks tonight and fly out first thing tomorrow.
