I know that Keon means well, and this is for the good of everyone in the end, but the issue is whether or not everyone else sees it that way. Sienna obviously didn’t, and what Carmen said about lowering morale might be right. I worry that those who don’t see it that way might be brought closer to the brink by losing some of the few comforts that we have in our dorms. Not being able to take ibuprofen, shave, or clean the toilet without needing to check it out like a library book is definitely going to upset people. I should ask her what she thinks about the situation.

“So, Marin. What do you think about having these items labeled as contraband?” I asked while she was grabbing the pens and pencils from the nightstand.

Marin turned towards me and said, “I definitely don’t like that a lot of stuff that we can’t live without in our home lives will be more difficult to use here. Almost seems like adding insult to injury…but I do think Keon is right in the end.”

“How so?”

“It’s definitely true that some people might not like having to go without some of this stuff, but preventing a murder is what we should really be worrying about. Getting rid of the stuff that can be used as weapons is the right answer in the end, and he did promise that we will still have access to them, so I think it’s a good compromise.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I definitely can’t think of anything better. I worry that most people will think that Keon is a dick because he’s taking charge and dictating what can and cannot stay in our dorms, but he must be okay with being the bad guy if it’s for the greater good,” I said.

“I was catching those same vibes,” Marin said. “I’d prefer not to make his life harder if I can help it. He’s obviously taking on the burden that someone has to do, but no one wants to do.”

“We should cooperate with him the best we can then,” I said.

I’ve got a kind of pessimistic way of looking at things, so I’m glad I asked Marin her thoughts. I didn’t even think about how he might’ve taken this role not because he was power hungry, but because someone needed to for us to survive. Taking items away from our dorms, but still making them accessible, that’s what we call compromise.

We gathered the items and left the room to take them to the cafeteria. When leaving we saw that more people had come out of their rooms and were talking to Keon. The group surrounding Keon now consisted of Carmen, Emma, Conrad, Maya, Mia, Miles, and Louis but he was sitting against the wall holding his head, so I wouldn’t say he was participating much. Maya, on the other hand, definitely seemed to be tearing Keon a new one. It was hard to hear everything, but I could definitely make out some colorful language that was probably related to the items being banned from the dorms. We heard the murmur of voices in the cafeteria as well as we got closer. They seemed to be being a lot more cordial than the conversations Keon was sitting through. Walking inside with our arms full, we saw Amber, Sienna, Sabrina and Cyrus surrounding a pile of familiar objects that were sitting on the closest table to the door.

“Hey!” Amber called, waving at us. “You guys here to add to the pile?”

“You know it, girl!” Marin said while dumping her share of our contraband onto the table. I then dumped the rest.

“I still can’t believe we have to get rid of this much! It’s absurd! I mean how much ibuprofen does one need to take before they die? Doesn’t seem like an easy thing to use for poison,” Sienna said.

“Yeah, I know, but I promise that Keon means well. He’s not trying to tear us apart or make our lives more hellish. He’s just trying to keep everyone safe,” Marin said.

Cyrus scoffed at her words.

“No matter what he does, it’s just going to make everything worse. Did you hear that he wants to make a library system for this stuff? There’s no way that’s going to work in a way that doesn’t get someone killed,” he said.

“And why do you think that?” Marin said in an annoyed tone.

“Putting the most dangerous items from our dorms in one place, and trying to use everyone here to police it, is only going to make murder easier. Now everyone knows what the most dangerous items are, and they know that they’re all going to be in the same place. There’s no way we can make a perfect system that prevents items from sneaking out, and with them coming from a neutral location, it will be more difficult to tie someone to the murder weapon. If they were all in the dorms, then it would be much easier to see whose items were missing or had been used to see if they are related to the murder,” Cyrus explained.

“Even if that’s true, leaving them in a place where they could easily be taken like our own dorms would make them even easier to smuggle out. Also, we haven’t even decided what our system is going to be, so you can’t go tearing it down yet saying that it won’t work!” Marin said, pointing right at Cyrus.

“What I do know is that Keon thinks his plans are indestructible when in fact they are full of easily exploitable holes. I’m just trying to play devil’s advocate. Someone needs to,” Cyrus said with a shrug.

“There’s probably not going to be a perfect plan here. There’s no way they haven’t thought of everything we could come up with. Who knows what tricks they have up their sleeves to get their way. Whatever we all come up with needs to be supported by everyone or else it’ll fall apart before we can even give it a try!” Amber protested.

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While they were all arguing, I once again caught Sabrina staring at me every couple seconds. I still don’t know what her deal is. She hasn’t said much since her outburst during our discussion of the rules. I wouldn’t want to judge someone for not talking much though, it’s just that as a professional softball player, you’d think she’d be a bit more outspoken. You can’t judge a book by its cover though so I will withhold judgment on her, especially since I know next to nothing about her.

“I don’t trust Keon as far as I could throw him,” Sienna said, once again checking her nails. “If he really wants what’s best, he wouldn’t fight us all so much on pillows and plungers”

“I know this isn’t ideal, but making murder impossible should be the first thing on everyone’s minds. Especially since everything in this stupid place is trying to push us all that way,” Marin said.

“The last thing we need is division between us,” Amber added.

“I’m not trying to divide anyone. I’m just being honest. Someone has to be honest in these situations,” Cyrus said. “We can’t create a utopia.”

“And I’m just trying to keep everyone’s rights intact!” Sienna added.

“I’m sure everything will work out in the end! We just need to stick together!” Marin said. Amber, and I both nodded in agreement. “We should head back towards the others. I’m sure everyone is close to wrapping up by now.”

Sienna and Cyrus definitely seem to be against Keon and his handling of this situation while Amber, Marin and I are supporting him. Obviously, I’m not sure where Sabrina is leaning though. I just hope we don’t all break into factions that are constantly at war, because at this rate, I’m starting to worry, especially with how Maya was yelling at Keon when we walked by them. Heading back towards Keon, we saw that the heated conversations seemed to have ended, and everyone was talking at a normal volume. Everyone seemed to be accounted for once our group met up with theirs.

“Okay everyone, listen up,” Keon commanded. “Now that all the items that are too dangerous to have easy access to have been removed, we should now talk about the next step. There are some complaints I have been hearing about the items that have been taken away, so we should all discuss how we are going to keep access to these items while also keeping them out of people’s hands unsupervised. I have an idea if you’d all hear me out and give me your thoughts.” Most of us nodded for him to go on. “Alright, so we need to keep these items in a neutral location, have them used under supervision and returned immediately after the person is done using them. How I propose we achieve this is by using the cafeteria as the neutral location and having the guards who are scheduled that day be in charge of distributing and monitoring the use of items from the cafeteria during the two hours that the cafeteria needs to be guarded.”

“So, we’d only be able to use anything during the two hours that the cafeteria is being guarded?” Sienna asked.

“That is correct. We can adjust times to have guards be posted before the cafeteria stops serving food, if we find that we cannot fit everyone’s needs within that time frame. I do urge people to be quick when using these items though.”

“How are the guards supposed to guard the cafeteria and the person using the item simultaneously? We can’t leave one guard behind. They could easily take stuff for themselves!” Maya asked, throwing her hands in the air while her sister once again started tugging on her sleeve.

“There are a few ways we solve this problem,” Keon responded. “First of all, all of the items will need to be used within the bathroom next to the cafeteria, or in front of the guards themselves. That way they can continue guarding the entrance to the cafeteria and monitor the person simultaneously. Once the person leaves the bathroom, they must return the item to the guards who will inspect it to make sure that nothing is wrong with it. For medicine, the needed dose will be grabbed by the guards and the bottles will remain in the cafeteria. For instance, if someone wants two pills of ibuprofen, the guards will walk to the table and grab two from a bottle and then bring them to the person requesting it, where they must take the medicine in front of the guards.”

“Okay, but what if someone manages to slip an item past a guard and take it with them to their dorms?” Cyrus asked. “There’s no way that every guard is going to be able to be perfect.”

“There will be inventory taken by me during the final thirty minutes of the cafeteria being open. If someone takes an extra pill, or removes a razor blade, I will know. And if something is missing, then all dorms will be searched from top to bottom until we find what is missing.”

“How can we trust you not to take anything? You act like we all trust you unconditionally when most of us actually think you’re a cockhead!” Sienna said.

“You’re just going to have to trust me. I only want what is best for us all,” Keon said.

“That’s not good enough!” Sienna responded.

“You can’t honestly believe everyone trusts you enough for that, Keon.” Cyrus added.

“I’ll go with him. Everyone chill out, Dios mió,” Carmen said with her hand on her forehead. “Everyone happy?” No one objected.

“Okay, that’s fine. If that makes everyone more comfortable, then so be it,” Keon said. “Also, to make inventory easier, the guards must use a notebook to log who took what, and when they took it. They must also record when items are returned, if it’s something non-consumable like a razor. Now, the final part of this plan, starting tomorrow night, once we all meet up for a headcount before bed, everyone will be searched to make sure that there is not anything dangerous on them before we go to sleep for the night.”

“How in depth of a search are we talking?” Miles asked.

“It’s not going to be super invasive. Just clothing and pockets. No cavity searches.” Miles looked slightly disappointed. “I doubt there’s anything dangerous someone would be willing to smuggle in that way, but regardless, with this method, it will be impossible to have someone slip something past us all.”

“Wait. With all of this how is someone supposed to use items like toilet bowl cleaner and plungers?” Sienna asked.

“Some items will be ineligible for this system and therefore will not be able to be used. Those items are included in that group,” Keon said.

“That’s bullshit! Have you seen my roommate!?!” Sienna said, obviously angry. Atticus gave her the finger.

“That’s just how it has to be,” Keon responded.

“This is so fucked up,” Sienna said, turning away from us all.

“Other than that, does anyone have any problems with this system?” Keon asked. No one said anything. “Alright, well it is about time for dinner to be served so we should all reward ourselves with some hard-earned food. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Everyone started towards the cafeteria.