#006 - Lonely
Segment Notes: Watching a 1940s flick set at a college really did inspire this little piece. I'd forgotten I wrote it, but then I found it in the short story document!
Sometimes, if Kalin and Radley wanted to do something very different some night, they would bring up a random streaming service and watch a strange old movie. One night, after a venture into a 1940s flick set at a college, Radley seemed to be in an irritated mood.
"What is it?" Kalin frowned.
"Oh, I was just thinking about those idiotic fraternity and sorority initiations," Radley said. "I wonder why people wanna do those. Are they that desperate for friends?"
"Apparently," Kalin grunted.
"What kind of real friend can you only win if you stand outside all night in your underwear or climb the library building at 2 A.M.?" Radley snorted. He rolled onto his back and clasped his hands on his chest as he looked up at Kalin.
"I take it you never tried to get into a fraternity," Kalin said. Strange, but he had never even thought about it before.
"I'd grown up with kids wanting to be my friend to get my money," Radley said. "Why would I want to try to win friends by acting like I've gone loco? I wanted real friends who'd like me for me. I shouldn't have to prove anything to them, especially not a willingness to do stupid things."
"That makes sense," Kalin said. "Now that I think of it, I wonder if I used to think you ran initiations for membership in the Bunch."
"Nah," Radley said. "I sought out kids who needed a healthy environment and good friends. I just wanted them to be happy, and I wanted to be happy too. To be honest, the Bunch kinda got formed by accident. There were so many of them that they suggested we be a club. It was Scotch who said we should call the club 'Radley's Bunch.'" He smiled at the memory.
"He really loves you," Kalin remarked.
"Yeah. Good ol' Scotch. Everybody seconded the motion, and well, history was made." Radley looked thoughtful. "I've heard there's some sororities that do good things, charity drives and stuff like that. There's probably fraternities like that too. I always wonder if those kind hold the traditional initiations or if they do it different. It's hard to picture those kind making kids do crazy stunts."
"And you don't know what the ones on your campus were like?" Kalin asked.
"I know that it sounded like they did the usual kinds of initiation stunts," Radley said. "That was all I needed to know." He looked curiously at Kalin. "So now I've gotta ask, did you hold initiations?"
Kalin shook his head. "We all formed the Enforcers at the same time; there wasn't any need." He hesitated. "We never really wanted any other members, but I do remember suggesting that if we ever did, we should have some kind of initiation ritual. It was more logical, though, like a duel."
"That makes sense," Radley agreed. "I ran duels to choose who was worthy of dueling for me."
"I remember that," Kalin said.
"Yeah, we made quite a first impression on each other," Radley said. "Well, it was more of a second impression, but we scarcely realized that at the time."
"And that was different than fraternity initiations, since you really did need to weed out the best Duelists from the subpar ones under the circumstances," Kalin said.
"Exactly." Radley paused. "You don't seem as disgusted with fraternity initiations as I am, though. So I have to ask, do you like the set-up?"
Kalin shrugged. "I think you reap what you sow," he said. "If they're so desperate to win friends that they do those idiotic stunts, they deserve what they get."
Radley had to chuckle in surprise. "Well, that's an awfully cold attitude. A lot of those poor guys and girls . . . they're probably just so lonely and they think that's the solution. The people who run those things take advantage of that."
"Maybe," Kalin said. He frowned. "They weren't lucky enough to have you in their lives. And yet after all I did, instead of reaping what I sowed, I have you."
"And I have you," Radley smiled. He sat up on the couch, facing his friend. "So does that mean you're what I sowed?"
"Our friendship is," Kalin said. "You planted seeds and finally they took root. And I'm so happy I was finally smart enough to see that."
"Me too," Radley said fondly.
