Mystics of the Tuolumne

Abecedarians #

"Albert, I didn't know you were in my class.  That is so surprising."  Dahlia was bubbling like fresh champagne.

'Calm down my love.  All new freshmen have this same class." Albert was chuckling to himself.  Her innocence was part of the package that made her irresistible.

"The other freshmen must think I'm stupid." She whispered.

"Good morning gentlemen, please rake a seat and answer when I call your name and stand so I can see who you are."  The professor had gold rim glasses, a sweater vest, and sleeve garters. He droned through the names.  "Dahlia Vaca"  Dahlia stood.  "That is a Spanish name."

"Yes, sir. My father was Spanish." She was alert and bright eyed.

"Do you speak Spanish?  I don't mean the Mexican lingo."  He looked down his nose at her.

"Si, senor.  Castillian,"  She was proud of her language abilities.

"And I would imagine by your looks, he bred with an Indian."  The professor spoke bluntly.

Albert started to rise from his desk with a look that could kill.  Two  male students and also one female student rose to their feet.

"Oh, calm down you, young aesthetes."  The professor was smiling now.  "I am trying to assess the language abilities.  My name is Professor Greg  Johnston.  I am an anthropology professor and I sometimes I need translations."

"I speak Miwok and can read the symbols."  Dahlia volunteered.

"Sit down miss.  I have the information I need."  The professor was short and curt with her.  "I want you to introduce yourselves."  The class quickly and silently obeyed their instructions.  "There are 42 of you present today.  In two weeks, 12 of you will be gone.  By the end of the year, only half of you will be here."  The class was shocked by the blunt truth.

Albert and Dahlia knew that they would be there.  They both knew how to study and they would not get involved in the usual courting rituals that send so many freshmen home. Four older students came into the room with a wooden box.

"I will need your attention to these seniors.  Take it George."  The professor had a smirk on his face.

The one called George stepped to the front of the class. "From now until the end of the year, you will be known only as 'Scrubs'.  You will do anything an upperclassman tells you to do.  You will not enter the dining room to eat until every upperclassman has been served unless you are invited in to serve an upperclassman.  Is this understood?"

"How do we tell who is an upperclassman?"  Albert was incredulous at this turn of events.

"I am glad you asked, scrub." The other upperclassmen started passing bizarre looking beanies. "You will wear this day and night any time you are on campus."  George had a sardonic grin.  "You will wear this all day every day.  Now scrub can you see how you can tell who is an upperclassman?"  All the scrubs placed their beany on their head.  It was a bizarre sight.  "It is time to go to your next class."  The scrubs all filed out feeling ridiculous.

As they walked across the quad to their next class.  They were under the constant glare of all the upper c;assmen.  Dahlia fell back from the group.  She played her first college prank.  She concentrated on each person shifting her attention from one scrub to another.  Without too much effort, A wind gust came and all their beanies flew in the air three feet above their heads.

"What do you think you're doing!"  George screamed.  Other upperclassmen were joining in the din of reprobation.  The scrubs were jumping up and down trying to grab their beanies to no avail.  

Dahlia started laughing so hard she thought she was going to pee in her pantaloons.  Albert was incensed.  "Stop this show, Dahlia, it just isn't funny."  He knew exactly why their beanies were floating in the air.

"All of you scrubs have earned special class this evening, Except the young lady wearing her beany,"  George announced in a voice that could be heard all the way in San Francisco.  

In the next class which was English Grammar, Albert heard nothing the professor said because he was seething through the entire class.

"Aren't you going to walk with me?"  Dahlia asked in her sexiest huskiest voice while sashaying in her pretty pinafore dress.

"You are capable of getting to class without my company.  Why don't you just fly yourself there?" Albert was obviously still miffed.

Dahlia rode the trolley home while Albert scrubbed the library steps on his hands and knees.  Everyone was sitting at the dining room table awaiting Alberts arrival.  "What kept you, little brother?"

"Why don't you ask this female Svengali here?"  Albert was a little more civil.  "She arranged the party."  Everyone turned to Dahlia.

'We are now called scrubs.  We have to wear a beany.  If you take it off, you are in trouble.  Albert and his other classmates were caught by a gust of wind.  It missed me.  It blew their beanies off their heads at the same time.  The upperclassmen were quite perturbed."  She told her story so sweetly and innocently.

"I had to scrub the library steps on ,my hands and knees."  Robert Jr., Marie Therese, and Dahlia all burst into laughter.  Even Albert laughed after finishing his appetizer of baked crow.

"You two are going to have an exciting life."  Marie was still laughing.