Mental Games - 9. Building Confidence

Mike, Adam and Mike's dad all stared at the banker, as they waited to see how he was going to respond to this request. After an awkward silence, the man opened his mouth and began to speak.

“After we chatted the last time, I looked up your file and realized what a good customer you’ve been. Therefore, I am willing to offer you the same deal that I recently gave one of my relatives. I will give you the lowest rate the bank offers on mortgages and extend the length of the mortgage as well, if you want. I’ll also waive as much of the closing costs as I can and the rest we’ll roll into the mortgage, so it won't cost you anything out of pocket.”

“Thank you,” Mike’s father replied after spending a few moments being too stunned to speak. “That would be very helpful.”

The two men then discussed the details of what they were agreeing to, before the banker spoke again.

“I’ll have the paperwork drawn up and then we’ll meet tomorrow, so you and your wife can sign everything,” he stated. “I’ll call you back later and let you know what time this will take place. Before I can do that, however, I’ll have to check to see when the bank’s lawyer will be available to join us.”

They left the office after this had been agreed to and Mike’s father was as giddy as a schoolgirl all the way home.

“I can’t believe he changed his mind!” he exclaimed. “I’m so glad you boys talked me into trying this again.”

“We’re just glad it helped,” Mike replied, as he glanced over his shoulder at Adam, who was sitting in the backseat.

When they got back to the Berman house, Mike pulled Adam aside, while his father went into the house to tell to his wife the good news.

“Damn, I didn’t expect you to get him such a great deal!” Mike exclaimed. “How the fuck did you do that?”

“I just told the guy that I knew he had given others a better deal, so he should do the same thing for your dad,” Adam answered, without showing any emotion. “He must have felt that we knew about what he had done for his relative, so he decided to offer your dad the same opportunity.”

“Did you really know about the relative thing?” Mike pressed.

“No way! How the hell would I know that?” Adam responded. “I just figured he must have done a favor for someone he knew, so I took a chance. I’m glad I did, because it worked out really well for your dad.”

“It sure did and I owe you big time,” Mike agreed as they walked through the front door and went to see how Mike's mother was reacting to the news.

As expected, she was just as thrilled as her husband, so they told the boys they were taking them out to celebrate. The boys told them they didn't need to do that, but Mike's parents insisted. During dinner, which they had at a very nice restaurant, Mike's mom and dad also asked Adam to start calling them Judy and Dave, since he was now part of the family. The boys not only celebrated with Mike's parents, but after they got home Mike gave Adam a special thank you of his own and they spent the rest of the night making love.

The next afternoon after Mike's parents returned home following their meeting with the banker, they both appeared to be in a very upbeat mood. Mike and Adam couldn’t help but notice the relief and joy that lit up their faces, so the boys assumed that everything had gone according to plan. Adam thought it was nice to see Dave and Judy so happy again, especially after how depressed they had been when they first told Mike and him about their problems.

“So I take it everything went well?” Mike asked as a conversation starter.

“It went brilliantly,” Dave replied, sporting a huge grin. “I’m really glad you boys talked me into going back to the bank about refinancing the mortgage yesterday. I probably wouldn't have done it without your urging.”

“Yes, it went extremely well,” Judy added, smiling broadly. "The loan officer gave us the bank’s best rate, extended the length of the mortgage slightly and we didn’t have to pay anything upfront."

“It’s going to save us just over $400 a month in mortgage payments, so we’re going to be fine now,” Dave chimed in.

Mike and Adam were thrilled this had worked out so well for them. Even though he’d been a little hesitant to use his ability at first, Adam was truly glad he had finally given in and done this for them. The banker had obviously offered the identical deal to one or more of his relatives and friends, so why shouldn’t the Bermans receive the same treatment as well? They were good people and just needed a break, so this gave it to them.

Even though it was too late to make any vacation plans at this point, the boys figured Dave and Judy probably didn’t have the extra cash to spend on such things right now either. That didn’t bother Mike and Adam though, because they were just happy they’d been able to help improve Mike’s parents’ situation before they returned to school.

The time the boys spent at Mike’s house seemed to go by much faster than they expected. They took a few short trips with Mike’s mom and dad on the weekends, as they went to visit some of their friends and attended a nearby theater group's production of 'Rent'. They also enjoyed a BBQ in the backyard and spent time at the county fair with Dave and Judy too.

During those trips with Mike's parents, Adam got to use his power a couple more times. The first happened when they were invited to a birthday party for Mike's godfather, Ralph. Ralph was one of Dave's oldest friends, so it was only natural that he and Judy asked Ralph to accept the honor when Mike was born. Ralph was eager to do this, but he went above and beyond the call of duty and did many other things for Mike when he was growing up as well. Ralph would take Mike to do different things, from going to the movies, attending sporting events and he even took Mike camping a couple of times. Mike still felt very close to Ralph, so he was eager to join his parents and go to see him again. Mike also wanted to introduce Adam to Ralph as well.

The birthday party was actually a cookout, so there was plenty to eat too, and there were quite a few others in attendance as well. When Mike introduced Adam to his godfather, Ralph was very nice to Adam and didn't seem to care that Mike had a boyfriend. This definitely made Adam feel comfortable being around him and he immediately liked Ralph too.

In addition to Ralph, Adam also got to meet Ralph's wife, Beth, and her brother, Jim. It didn't take long before Adam discovered that Ralph and his brother-in-law had a fairly volatile relationship, which Adam learned had stemmed from a joint business deal they'd once been involved in together. Needless to say, it had ended badly and Jim blamed Ralph for it. He claimed that Ralph had cheated him and stole his money, although Mike and Dave both told Adam it wasn't true. Unfortunately, this was how Jim still perceived what had gone down and this caused some very bitter feelings between the two men. Ralph only put up with Jim for Beth's sake, and she did her best to keep the peace between them, but it was a very tense situation.

Later in the evening, the uneasy truce started to fall apart. No one could say for sure what started the problem, but something that was said had caused Jim to start screaming at Ralph and arguing with him. Ralph was doing his best to avoid a confrontation and tried to defuse the situation, but Jim had decided to have it out, once and for all. At this point, it appeared as if Jim was going to turn this into a physical confrontation and it looked to Adam that Jim was going to throw a punch, so he rushed forward and jumped into fray.

"Hey, this is a party, not a brawl, so let's all calm down here," he stated in a calm and reassuring voice. "I'm not sure what the problem is, but this is definitely not the time or place for it."

"Get the fuck out of the way. This is none of your business!" Jim hissed, as he tried to shove Adam aside.

"Stop this nonsense right now!" Adam screamed, losing his patience and focusing entirely on Jim. "If you can't act civilized and enjoy the party, then leave! Don't ruin the birthday party your sister is throwing for her husband!"

Jim looked stunned by Adam's actions and shook his head a few times, as if he was trying to shake Adam's admonition out of his brain. Everyone else was holding his breath and waiting to see how this was going to work out, when Jim suddenly turned around, walked out to the street, got in his car and drove away. When Adam looked around, everyone else was gawking at him with their mouths open in stunned disbelief.

"I'm not sure how you did that, because Jim doesn't like to back down once he gets going, but thank you," Ralph told Adam sincerely, as he also placed a hand on Adam's shoulder.

"Yes, thank you very much for doing that," Beth added. "Since you obviously don't know my brother, you also aren't aware that was very brave of you. Jim is such a hot head and has such a short fuse that any other time I would have expected him to turn on you instead and start throwing punches. I was totally stunned when he just turned around and walked away. I almost didn't invite him today, but he is family after all and I didn't want to make the problem worse by leaving him out."

"I understand, so I guess he must have done what he did for you, since I reminded him that you were the one throwing the party and he shouldn't ruin it for you," Adam responded, hoping that might explain why Jim uncharacteristically backed down from a stranger.

"Maybe, but that's still not like him," Beth admitted, as she continued to ponder how it had gone down.

After Jim took off, the party went fine and everyone was a little sad when it was time to go home. They all thanked Ralph and Beth for the great food and good time, and then they wished Ralph a 'Happy Birthday' once more before leaving.

The other incident that happened was when Adam used his ability while they were with Mike's parents at the county fair. They were all walking around together and checking things out when they passed by a group of rowdy older teenagers. One of the guys was horsing around with one of his buddies and pushed the guy with his left hand. This caused him to lose his balance slightly, and before he could regain it again, he accidentally backed into Mike. When that happened, he spilled part of his drink that he was holding in his right hand.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" the guy snarled as he spun around and focused on Mike.

"I'm sorry, but you bumped into me. I was standing still at the time and you were the one that stumbled into me," Mike countered as he looked the guy in the eye.

"No, you walked into me and bumped my arm, which made me spill most of my drink," the guy shot back. "Since this was your fault, I expect you to buy me another one now."

"I'm not buying you anything, since it was your fault, not mine," Mike replied. Adam thought Mike was acting braver than he should, since the guy had four friends with him, so he decided to use his ability to defuse the situation.

'You guys with this jerk have to convince him it was his fault,' Adam addressed them. 'You all saw what happened, so don't let this turn into a fight. The two deputies standing over by the food stand will just end up arresting your friend and hauling him off to jail, and that would really ruin your night.'

"He's right," one of his buddies told the hothead after he'd received Adam's telepathic message. "You were trying to shove me and then lost your balance and backed into him, so just come on. We'll all chip in and buy you another drink if that's what it takes to clear this up." The guy didn't look happy or totally convinced, but he did what his friend told him and they walked away.

"Thanks," Mike whispered to Adam while giving him a sly grin. Adam merely nodded, although he wondered if his ability was the reason Mike had acted so bravely, since he figured Adam would be able to help him out. No matter what Mike had been thinking, Dave and Judy were happy to put some distance between them and the other group, as they headed off in the other direction.

Before Mike and Adam were ready for it to happen, their time at Mike’s house had come to an end and they had to get ready to spend the rest of their summer vacation with Adam’s family. On their last day with Dave and Judy, the boys packed their things into Adam’s car and said goodbye to Mike’s mom and dad. It was a tearful farewell, especially for Judy, and Dave thanked both boys again for their encouragement when he refinanced the mortgage. Then, Mike and Adam hopped in the car and waved goodbye as they drove away.

During the ride, Adam decided to talk to Mike about something he now wanted to do. He had already made up his mind to give it a try, but he needed Mike’s help to pull it off.

“I’ve decided it’s time to set up the stuff you mentioned before so I can start helping people,” he began, while looking over at Mike. “We should limit it to just the campus to start with, but I think I’m ready to do this.”

“Are you talking about the Facebook page, blog, twitter and email accounts?” Mike asked, just to be sure.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” Adam concurred. “Now that I know the campus better and feel comfortable with my studies, I want to start helping out the other students. We can limit it to the campus by using @JHU, so I won’t have to go very far to do this. I also assume there probably won’t be too many requests, so it shouldn’t really interfere too badly with my studies.”

“I agree that you shouldn’t waste any more time before getting started and this sounds like a good idea,” Mike agreed. “I got a kick out of what you told me you did to the Westboro callers last semester, as well as the other stuff you've done, like saving me from getting beat up, so you’re definitely ready. It shouldn’t cut into your study time too badly either. If it does, you’ll just have to tell the people contacting you that you’re busy and unavailable.”

“I hate the thought of turning people down, but I realize I might have to do that once in a while,” Adam conceded. “I certainly don’t want to jeopardize my goal of becoming a doctor just so I can help someone with a problem.”

“No, and you shouldn’t feel badly if you have to tell someone you can’t help them, because you have to do what’s best for you first,” Mike replied, to let Adam know he should never put himself second while doing this. “We’ll get started on this while we’re spending time at your place.”

Upon arrival at Adam’s house, the boys received a nice greeting from Adam's parents. George and Rita were obviously eager to enjoy the time they had with them, no matter how short it might be.

In between the hours they spent hanging out with Adam’s mom and dad, Mike and Adam set up the various accounts and materials that would be needed for Adam to start helping others. Everything they set up, including the blog, indicated it was only for those on the Johns Hopkins University campus, so he shouldn’t receive requests from anyone else. Mike even set up a filter to delete any emails coming to this account that weren’t from @JHU.edu, but if something managed to slip through anyway, Adam would just have to tell them he wasn’t available.

The two weeks with Adam’s parents came to an end very quickly and the boys were busy getting ready to leave for their campuses. Unlike the previous semester, this time Adam’s classes were starting first, so Mike was going to stay with him for a couple of weeks. Then, Adam would drive Mike to Georgetown on the weekend before his classes got underway, so he'd have time to get organized too.

Adam had a single room again this year too, so he wouldn’t have to convince a roommate that it was all right for Mike to stay with him. He was afraid he might have had to use his ability to get a roommate to agree to something like that, but now it wasn't necessary. Having a single room was just so much better, because it would also allow them to have a little privacy, if they wanted to be intimate.

Even though Mike knew Adam would be spending much of his time in class or studying, he didn't feel it would be a problem. Mike was planning to use his time to make improvements to the various tools he’d set up for Adam. He also planned to spend some time double-checking his work to ensure that everything was ready for Adam to get started, because he didn't want Adam to suddenly discover a problem after he left.

On the middle weekend, the boys decided to get out and see some of Baltimore, since they hadn’t had a chance to do it before. Seeing Adam was an avid reader and big fan of Edgar Allan Poe, he talked Mike into going to visit the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, since it was nearby.

“Wow, this place is really tiny,” Adam noted as soon as they arrived.

He was right, the house was a rather small two and a half-story brick structure that had been built around 1830. As soon as they entered the place, they read a flyer that explained how the house had come into the possession of Poe’s aunt a few years after it was built. It also said that Poe had lived there with her, her daughter and possibly even her son, along with Poe's grandmother. Poe stayed there until 1835, when he moved to Richmond, VA. He later proposed to and married the cousin he had lived with there at the time, and when they got married, she and her mother went to live with Poe in Virginia and others took possession of the house. The boys also learned the house was saved from demolition in 1941 and was turned into a museum in 1949.

“I’m glad we came, but I’m a little disappointed too,” Adam stated, after they finished going through the place. “I definitely got a feel for how Poe lived while he was here during those early years, and I even got to see some of the things he may have used. I was just hoping for something more than that. I wish they might have had at least a few of Poe's original handwritten manuscripts for us to see, especially those from some of his most famous works. I would have loved to see if he had scratched out a lot of words or made inserts, or maybe there were even whole sections that he had completely crossed out and not used. I doubt he would have got it all right on the first try and been satisfied with it.”

“Yeah, I suppose they could have done that,” Mike agreed, “but where would they have put all that stuff? This house is pretty small, which means it's also very crowded. There isn’t very much room left over for them to stick anything like that. If they put it where Poe slept and wrote, which was in the attic, or the garret bedroom as they used to call it, there wouldn’t have been very much space for anything else. That room was really narrow and kinda cramped already, because the bed and writing desk he supposedly used took up most of the space. It was kinda neat seeing that stuff though, but that was about all that was worth seeing. It was also awkward to move around in there. I had to keep ducking so I wouldn’t bump my head on the ceiling.”

Adam had to agree with Mike about those points and they were soon ready to leave. Since they had done what Adam wanted, Adam was willing to do what Mike suggested next. Seeing Mike was a history buff, he was eager to visit Fort McHenry. As the boys walked hand-in-hand back to the car, Adam decided to ask Mike a question.

“Why are you choosing to go there?” he wondered, purely out of curiosity.

“I just want to see the fort that became famous when it was attacked by the British during the War of 1812,” he replied. “It was that event which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words that eventually became the lyrics for the ‘Star Spangled Banner'. Even though he wrote it as a poem, it was set to music later and then adopted as the National Anthem in 1931, by an act of Congress.”

Adam could see this was important to Mike, so he didn’t pursue the issue further. Before they went to the fort though, they stopped to grab something to eat first. Adam told Mike that he’d like to try some of the crab cakes he’d heard so much about from others on campus and Mike thought it sounded like a good idea. Since Mike approved, Adam drove to one of the places his friends had told him about, which was down by the water.

Mike and Adam were mildly pleased and surprised when they were assigned a cute waiter, rather than a waitress. The guy was most likely straight, but he was very friendly and definitely efficient. Before long their order was delivered and the pair eagerly dug in. After they tasted the crab cakes, both boys decided the local delicacies were absolutely delicious, as well as quite filling, so they were pleased they had decided to do this.

After turning down the waiter's suggestion to have dessert, they paid their bill. Of course, they left him a decent tip too, since he'd been so nice, and then they made their way over to Fort McHenry.

“Isn’t this kind of an odd shape for a fort?” Adam wondered as soon as he saw the layout.

“The fort was constructed in the shape of a five-pointed star, which was a popular arrangement at the time,” Mike answered. “The fort was also surrounded by a dry moat, so the soldiers could see who was approaching. The design also allowed for overlapping lines of fire, so different soldiers were able to shoot at the same target from multiple locations. The original architects chose to build the fort on this small peninsula because it jutted out into the Baltimore harbor. From here, it would be possible for the troops housed there to stop any unwanted ships that tried to enter the harbor and could prevent them from sailing inland.”

Once inside the outer walls, the boys spotted the four brick barracks. They were told there was one for the commander, another for the junior officers and two more for the enlisted men. It didn’t take long for them to look around and check everything out though, so they were soon ready to depart.

“It was ok and kinda nice to see, but I think I would have survived just as well if I’d never come here,” Adam noted as they were leaving.

“Maybe there wasn’t a lot to see,” Mike countered, “but think about what the fort meant. Not only did it protect Baltimore harbor, but the British were unable to defeat those inside and capture it, even after bombing the fort all night long. Can’t you imagine the sight of ‘the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air’, just like Key wrote? I mean just think about how proud the soldiers defending the fort must have felt afterward, when they saw the flag of their young nation still flying proudly in defiance over the fort the following morning. It meant they had survived many hours of being under attack and stopped the British from advancing.”

“Yeah, I guess thinking about it that way does sort of make it more impressive,” Adam conceded.

As they were making their way to the car, Adam noticed a man bump into a tourist who was walking from the parking lot and on his way to the fort. Adam also realized this ‘accident’ hadn’t occurred randomly either. The first man had used the incident to swipe the other man’s wallet.

‘Give the wallet back to its owner!’ Adam communicated mentally, as the thief was moving away. When the pickpocket merely hesitated and didn't immediately respond to the warning, Adam sent him a stronger message.

‘Do it now or you’re going to jail!’ Adam projected.

This caused the crook to stop dead in his tracks and then he spun around and ran after his victim.

“Sir, hold up a second,” he shouted as he caught up to his mark. “I think you may have dropped this when we collided."

The victim looked at the wallet being offered to him and then hurriedly groped the pocket where it had previously been located. When he realized it was indeed his, he reached out an accepted the wallet.

“Uh, thank you,” he replied, as he took it.

He then quickly opened the wallet and checked to make certain that everything was still inside. Before he had time to offer the ‘good Samaritan’ a reward, however, the man had already taken off. The thief had done this because Adam had issued him a parting warning:

‘Get out of here now and don’t do anything like that again!’ he mentally ordered. ‘The police know your name, have your description and know your address, so the next time this happens they will pick you up and lock you away.’

The pickpocket was actually sprinting as he fled from the park. When he flew past Adam and Mike, Mike turned to Adam and spoke.

“Did you have something to do with that?” he wondered, after seeing the man race by. Mike didn’t realized what had transpired prior to this, but he knew it looked unusual and suspicious.

“Uh, maybe a little,” Adam responded, as he grasped Mike's hand. “The guy was a thief and I just gave him a little career advice.”

Mike looked at Adam quizzically for a few moments before the image finally sank in. Then, he began to chuckle as they continued walking to the car.

After they left Fort McHenry, the boys stopped to grab dinner and then drove over to finish the night at an LGBT friendly bar called 'The Drinkery'. One of the other alliance members had told Adam about the place previously, so he decided they should stop in and see what it was like. He figured they would have a couple of drinks, maybe even dance a little and see what else was going on.

Since Adam was driving, he had his two drinks early and then switched over to soda. There was no band, but there was a jukebox, so he, Mike and some of the other customers played some songs on it. Adam and Mike then moved to a clear spot on the floor to dance. Although most of the music that had been selected was primarily at a faster tempo, Mike and Adam had chosen a few slower songs as well, so they could slow dance with each other. It was a nice and even a romantic way to end the day, before they headed back to Adam’s room for the night.

Seeing they were still in a very loving mood when they reached there, they began kissing and their lust grew. This led them to trying to out-pleasure one another, as each one brought his lover closer to his desired release. Before long, both of them had experienced their own visions of ‘the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air’ going off in their brains, as each of them was catapulted into a body-wrenching orgasm.

On Sunday, Adam took Mike around and introduced him to some of the other members of the LGBT Alliance. Of course, nearly every one of them wanted to tell Mike about what Adam had done at their fundraiser the previous year. Even though Mike had heard all about it already, he was considerate and listened intently to their versions of the story. Each person embellished different parts of the tale in his own way, so they all managed to elicit a few laughs as well. Mike also thought it was neat that he got to meet some of the other people Adam would be hanging around with when he wasn’t there.

Over the next few days, Mike and Adam weren’t able to spend very much time together. Just as had happened the previous week, Adam had classes to attend and studying to occupy his time, so Mike wandered around the campus and checked things out on his own. He wasn’t as bored doing this as he thought he might be, because at different times he ran into one or more of the others that Adam had introduced him to. Quite often, they would spend some time together, so all in all it worked out fairly well for each of them.

On Friday evening, Adam drove Mike over to the Georgetown campus, since his classes were set to begin on Monday. The two campuses were only about 50 miles apart and it took just a little over an hour to make the trip, so it wasn’t a big deal. Once there, Mike and Adam spent the remainder of Friday night and all of Saturday together. This allowed them to enjoy an intimate dinner together each evening, followed by some private time alone in Mike's room before Adam made the trip back to Baltimore on Sunday.

It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that Adam got his first request for assistance. It came from a young woman in the nursing program. In her email, she informed Adam that one of the male students was making inappropriate comments and unwanted advances toward her, so she wanted it to stop.

When Adam first contacted her, he asked for a phone number he could reach her at. He did this because he realized a female wouldn’t be eager to give out the sort of details he was going to need over the internet, so he would have to use his ability to convince her to divulge this information. When they spoke, she gave Adam the details he required, along with telling him her name was Lisa and sending him her photo. He required the photo so he would be able to recognize her and make his own observations of the situation first, before he decided on an appropriate course of action to take care of the problem. Lisa also provided him with her schedule for the week and advised him that she’d be studying in the library most of the weekend. She had mentioned this because she said the guy often approached her when she was there. Once he had heard this, Adam planned on going to the library and studying there as well, so he could see what was taking place.

On Friday night, Adam lugged his textbooks and laptop over to the library. He then walked around until he spotted Lisa and then he took a seat at a table where he could observe what was going on, without being conspicuous. Nothing out of the ordinary happened that night, so he planned on doing the same thing the following day.

Sure enough, about an hour after he got there on Saturday, Adam noticed a boy approach Lisa’s table. When Adam saw her reaction, he knew it was the guy she’d complained about, so Adam began to mentally send the guy a message.

‘You in the blue hoodie! You are to stop what you’re doing and leave Lisa alone. Just walk away and never bother her again,’ Adam thought. The boy stopped momentarily and glanced around the room nervously, since he was confused by what had just happened. After a few seconds, he seemed to shake off Adam's warning and began to talk to Lisa again.

‘I told you to leave Lisa alone and never bother her again!’ Adam thought, but much more forcefully than before.

This time the boy stopped in mid-sentence and hurriedly turned away from Lisa. He looked around again, but this time he walked away like a whipped puppy. Lisa looked relieved, although mildly confused, but then she seemed to brighten. After seeing this, Adam felt she must have concluded the boy had seen the person she'd spoken to and had warned him to leave her alone, so that was why he suddenly took off. Luckily for them, the boy didn’t return during the rest of the time they were there, so Adam and Lisa both hoped this had taken care of the problem.

On Sunday afternoon, Adam went back to the library again, but Lisa wasn’t there when he arrived. About a half-hour later he saw her wander in, so he sat down nearby and watched her until she left. He didn’t see the boy again that day, so he felt her tormentor had gotten the message and wouldn't bother her again.

Things went fine for the next few weeks and then Adam received another message from Lisa.

“He stopped for a while, so I know you were able to help, but he’s doing it again. Will you please get him to stop for good this time?” she wrote.

After thinking about this for a little while, Adam concluded his mental suggestions must wear off over time. It appeared he would need to devise another way to handle the situation that would leave a lasting impression on the boy. If not, his effectiveness at doing things like this would be put in doubt and his overall usefulness would come into question.

After contemplating the situation further, Adam decided he would need to plant a suggestion of dire consequences in the stalker’s psyche in order to get him to leave Lisa alone. Adam felt this would be the only way he’d be able to convince the boy to stop for good. Before he could do this, however, Adam needed to do a little discrete digging into the boy’s background first. The problem was, he had no idea how he was going to do it.