Mental Games - 12. Hester

Before the spring semester ended, Adam got another request for assistance. It was early April when he received an email from another co-ed. In her request, the girl explained that she had a problem and didn't know how to deal with it.

“I don’t know whether you can help me or not, but I have nowhere else to go,” it began. “I’m pretty sure I was raped at a Valentine’s Day party I went to back in February. Since I didn’t have any real proof at the time, I didn't do anything about it. Now, I regret that I didn't report it to someone. I'm absolutely convinced I was raped, but I have no idea how I should proceed or even if I can do anything about it now. Is there anything that you think you can do to help me?”

Adam was moved by this request and replied immediately.

“Where was the party held when this happened? Do you know who did this? Who else was present and might have seen something?” he wrote back. After a short wait, he received a reply.

“It was at one of the fraternities and I went to the party with my roommate,” she stated. “I got dizzy at one point and a guy talked me into lying down until I felt better. I think he was the one who raped me after I passed out. When I woke up, I discovered my panties and bra had been taken off. My roommate knows the guy that helped me too, and I'm pretty sure he's the one who did this.”

Adam was impressed with her response, but he wanted to be sure he could help her before committing himself. He quickly figured out how he might be able to do this and wrote back.

“I’d like to speak with both you and your roommate,” he replied. “Please send me a phone number, along with a time when you will both be available.”

Adam was certain he’d be able to get the truth out of them if he talked to each girl over the phone. He already knew that he could get people to do what he wanted when he spoke to them, so he felt this was the best way to know for sure if she was telling the truth and if this was something he wanted to get involved with. About a half hour later he received a reply – a phone number he was to call at 5:00.

Adam was starting to get slightly nervous as he was passing the time, because he considered this to be a very serious case. He didn't want to screw up and let her rapist get away with what he'd done, but at the same time he didn't want to blame an innocent person and ruin his life. The more he thought about this, the more nervous he got. It even began to make his mouth go dry, so he went to the fridge in his room to get a drink and discovered it was empty. What a time for this to happen!

After quickly checking the clock on his nightstand, Adam saw he still had enough time to run to the store so he could pick up something to drink first. He realized he would have to hustle to pull it off, so he hurried down to his car and drove to the nearest grocery store. After pulling into a parking space, he raced inside, grabbed a case of soda from the cooler and carried it up to the checkout. As he was waiting in line to pay for it, he noticed a boy about 5 or 6 years old waiting with the woman in front of him. He also caught the boy taking a candy bar from the rack and stuffing it into his pocket.

‘I saw you steal the candy!’ Adam projected. ‘Put it back now or I’ll tell your mother what you did and have her punish you in front of everyone in the store.’ When the boy hesitated about doing this, Adam sent him another message. ‘Either you put the candy back or I’ll have the store manager call the police to come get you'.

At that point, the boy retrieved the candy from his pocket and tossed it onto the rack.

'Don't ever do anything like that again, because I know your name and where you live. If you steal again, the police will be the ones that you'll have to answer to,' Adam warned, hoping this would be enough to prevent any repeat performances.

Adam hoped he might have prevented this youngster from innocently starting a life of crime and possibly kept the kid from becoming one of 'Fagin's boys', like in the story Oliver Twist. He didn't have time to revel in this minor accomplishment, though, and it didn't bring him any personal satisfaction right away. All he could think about was the upcoming phone call he had to make.

Adam continued to watch the boy as his mother paid for the items she'd selected, and then he watched the boy and his mother leave the store and disappear outside. Adam quickly did the same and headed back to his room. He got there in plenty of time to get settled, have a drink and then make the call.

“This is the person you contacted for help,” Adam began, as soon as the girl answered the phone. “I need you to tell me the truth about everything you remember from the evening in question.” There was a brief hesitation and then the girl began to speak.

“My roommate talked me into going with her to the Valentine party at the Beta Alpha Delta frat house,” the girl began. “We went in and made the rounds to see who else was there and before long one of the lacrosse players began chatting me up. He seemed really nice and even offered to get me a drink. We had been talking for a while when I suddenly began to feel dizzy. That’s when he suggested I should lie down for a while until I felt better." Suddenly, she paused and when she started speaking again, it was in a halting and unsteady voice. "I think I agreed to let him show me where I could lay down, but I don’t really remember much after that. Not until I came to later.”

“How long was it after he gave you the drink before you began to feel dizzy?” Adam asked.

For some reason, Adam had mentally equated this girl’s situation to Hester Prynne, the main character in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Even though the circumstances were different, Adam could still see her sharing the scorn of others if she were to accuse the boy. From that point on, it was how he referred to her in his mind.

“I don’t know. Maybe about twenty or thirty minutes later,” she answered.

“Do you know the guy’s name?” Adam followed, while trying to get as much information as possible.

“His teammates call him Gator, but I don’t know his real name,” Hester replied. “I think they call him that because he's from Florida.”

‘It could also be because he’s a dangerous predator,’ Adam thought, although he didn’t say this to Hester.

“May I speak with your roommate now?” he asked instead. A few seconds later, Adam heard another girl’s voice say ‘hi’ to him.

Adam said hello and then told her what he expected. “I need you to tell me everything you saw that night and I need the whole truth,” Adam began. “Did you see who your roommate was with or what happened?”

“I saw her talking to one of the lacrosse players,” the girl began. “He seemed really into her and they appeared to be getting along quite well. I didn’t pay much attention to them after that, but later I saw her go off with him and one of his friends. I didn’t think anything about it at the time, at least not until I couldn’t find her later, but then I couldn’t find either of those guys around either, so I could ask them where she might be. When I finally ran into her again quite a while later, she told me about what she thought had happened.”

“So do you know the names of the two guys you saw her going off with?” Adam pressed.

“Only that one is called Gator and his friend is called Hart. I think Hart is the guy's last name,” she replied. “That’s pretty much all I know about them, except they’re both on the lacrosse team.”

After speaking with Hester again, Adam told her he wanted to check out a few things first and then he’d get back in touch with her when he finished. She thanked him for his time and for whatever he might be able to do to help out, before they hung up.

Adam’s mind was reeling when the call ended. He felt awful thinking about what Hester had gone through, but he needed a plan to get Gator to admit to what he’d done in front of witnesses. He wanted to check him out first and see if he had a reputation for doing things like this. He also wanted to learn more about Hart too, since he was with Gator when they were last seen going off with Hester. It was possible that Hart was the one, not Gator, who had actually assaulted her. It was doubtful, though, since Adam was told Gator had been the one who gave Hester the drink that was possibly drugged, but Adam felt he needed to be positive before he began.

Adam was having a tough job finding time to do any of this though, since it was almost the end of the semester. This meant he had projects to complete and he needed time to study for finals too, but he wasn’t about to give up on helping Hester out. He knew he had to confront Gator before the semester ended and school was out for the summer, because he wasn’t sure if he’d get the chance again in the fall. He didn't even know if Gator and Hart were seniors, because if that were the case they would be graduating and wouldn't be on campus in the fall anyway. With that in mind, Adam rearranged his schedule slightly, so he would be able to accomplish this goal before the academic year ended.

Adam started out by going around campus and speaking with others who might know either of these guys. Each time, he used his ability to get the information out of them, but he would also give them a warning when they finished speaking as well.

"Hey, you look like you're pretty close to Gator," Adam began when he confronted a guy he just saw chatting with his suspect. 'Answer my questions truthfully', Adam projected right after he had the boy's attention.

"Yeah, he's a great guy and a fraternity brother," the guy answered. "He's also a tremendous lacrosse player."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Adam agreed. "He's also quite a looker too, so I imagine he's pretty lucky with the ladies too." The other boy burst into laughter after Adam had said this.

"Yeah, you might say that," the boy agreed. "Gator's definitely had his share of conquests."

"So he's the love 'em and leave 'em type of guy?" Adam pressed, hoping to get a better picture of Gator.

"He's had a few steadies too, but he mostly plays the field," the guy responded. "I'm not sure what lines he uses or how he does it, but he sure gets his share of pussy." The guy laughed again after saying this and Adam could tell the boy was impressed by the report of Gator's exploits.

"So what about his friend, Hart?" Adam pressed, hoping to get some information on the other suspect. "Is he like Gator and do they work together a lot, sort of like a tag team?"

"Yeah, I've heard they've shared a few girls," the guy agreed. "They are best friends and Hart will pretty much do whatever Gator wants or tells him to do."

"Whoa! So are they friends or is Hart just Gator's lackey who enjoys the crumbs Gator leaves for him?" Adam shot back, trying to clarify this point.

"Nah, that's not how it is. They're best friends, but Gator is definitely the alpha male of the two," the guy confirmed.

"That's really interesting and thanks for the information," Adam told the boy, as he suddenly switched over and began sending him subliminal messages again.

'Don't tell anyone else that I was asking you about Gator or Hart and don't disclose anything we talked about', Adam projected with a great deal of mental force. 'I also don't want you to tell either Gator or Hart that anyone was asking about them or what we discussed'.

Adam felt it was best to do this, since he didn't want word to get back to either Gator or Hart and give them time to think up an alternative explanation for what happened. Then he looked for the next person he could grill for a little more information. That didn't happen though, until later in the day.

"Hey, do you know that guy?" Adam asked another boy that he saw nod to Gator as they passed on the quad. Once again, Adam mentally urged the boy to tell him the truth.

"You mean Gator? Yeah, he's a pretty cool dude," the boy replied, not suspecting a thing.

"I hear he's quite the ladies man," Adam followed, hoping his comment might evoke some more information from the boy.

"Yeah, you could say that," the boy agreed. "He has his share of girls that will do whatever he wants, but he might also be using a few other tricks to get what he wants as well."

"Oh! What do you mean by that?" Adam wondered, hoping the boy would explain his statement.

"Well I don't have any direct knowledge of these things, but I hear he gets some of his friends to set him up with different girls too," the boy stated. "He might even use a little chemical assistance from time to time, to help get them in the mood."

"Do you mean just get them high or is he slipping them something else to knock them out?" Adam asked to clarify what he meant.

"I think it's probably the first," the boy answered, "but I wouldn't be surprised if he was doing a little of the other too. I don't know for sure, but I know that Gator generally gets what he wants. I'm just not sure how he does it."

Now that they had finished their conversation, Adam thanked the boy for his help and then gave him the same stern mental warnings that he had given the other boy. Then, they said goodbye and went their separate ways.

These conversations were giving Adam a lot to think about, but there was nothing to prove that Gator was a rapist. He seemed to be both cute and charming, so that helped him a lot, but he also apparently had a large number of girls that were willing to give him whatever he wanted, so why would he need to rape others? Then there were also suspicions that he might be using drugs too, but it may have only been to get the girls high and in the mood, but no one had offered any proof that he had gone beyond that. Adam thought that maybe now he'd check a little deeper into Hart's background, to see if he might have done the crime instead.

Eventually, Adam found someone who knew Hart pretty well too, so he began to ask the guy questions to learn if Hart might have been more likely to have done the deed than Gator.

"So I take it you must know Hart pretty well?" Adam asked to get the conversation started.

"Yeah, I've know him for years," the guy responded. "We went to the same high school together before coming here."

"So you must know all his dirty little secrets and about the skeletons in his closet," Adam followed, before releasing a little laugh to make the boy think he was merely joking.

"I guess you could say that, but he's changed a lot since he came here," the boy offered, unsolicited.

"Really? How so?" Adam pressed, in an attempt to get the guy to clarify what he meant by his statement.

"When he got accepted in Beta Alpha Delta he started to change," the boy stated. "He would still talk to me, but we didn't hang around with each other any more. He seemed to be spending all of his time with one of his frat brothers, a guy called Gator. They seemed to be together all the time."

"Really? Was it just because they were in the same fraternity or was there more to it than just that?" Adam asked, gently nudging the boy for more details.

"I suppose being frat brothers was part of it," the boy confirmed, "and possibly because they both played lacrosse too, but at times I thought he seemed to be under Gator's spell. He was always eager to do whatever Gator wanted, no matter what it was, so he started doing some stuff he'd never done in high school."

"Like what?" Adam followed, giving the boy room to give him even more details.

"Well Hart never drank much in high school, but that changed once he was in the frat," the boy added. "I think a lot of it had to do with Gator too."

"Is that all, because it's pretty common for a guy joining a frat to start partying and drinking a lot," Adam suggested, hoping this might spur the boy to tell him more.

"That's probably true, but there were other things too," the boy added. "Back in high school there was this girl that Hart had dated since he was a freshman and they were really close. They had even talked about getting married some day, but that all changed when he got here. They broke up shortly after he joined the frat and started hanging around a lot with Gator."

"So you think Gator had something to do with that?" Adam pressed, hoping the boy would answer.

"I think it had a little to do with the fact that she was going to another college, but I think Gator might have had something to do with it too," the boy confessed. "Once Hart saw how Gator went from one girl to the next and had sex without any commitments, I think Hart began to think that was a much better way and started to do the same thing. I was sorry it happened though, because Hart and that girl were such a great couple."

"So did Hart just follow Gator's lead and start dating a lot of different girls or did he and Gator share them?" Adam followed, since he now wondered if maybe they had both raped Hester.

"Oh, I'm sure they've shared more than one girl," the boy confirmed. "Hart follows Gator around like a faithful little puppy dog and I think sometimes Gator uses Hart to get the girls that are leery of spending time alone with Gator."

"So do you think Hart is doing this willingly?" Adam wondered, to clarify the relationship.

"Oh, yeah. He'd do whatever Gator wanted," the boy replied. "He always seems to want to please Gator, although I haven't quite figured out why."

Now that Adam had a better picture of the relationship between those two, he gave this boy the same mental admonition he had given the others. Then Adam went back to his room and started to plan how he was going to solve Hester's problem.

Now that Adam had finished doing his research, he came up with a plan about how he was going to have Hester confront Gator about what had happened, so he contacted her again and told her what he'd found out.

“I’ve done some checking up on Gator,” he began, “and although I couldn’t find any specific information that he has raped anyone else or was known to physically assault girls, I did learn that he is definitely a sexual player. He has bragged to a great many of his friends about his numerous conquests, but there is no evidence that any of those encounters were unwanted or forced.”

“So you don't believe me now and you aren’t going to help?” Hester countered, thinking Adam had said this because he had changed his mind.

“Don’t worry, I’m still going to help you and I believe you too,” Adam replied, in a soothing tone. "Even though there's no proof that he has forced anyone else before, it certainly doesn't rule out that possibility either. I heard some rumors that he has used drugs to accomplish this too, but it seems it was mostly just to get the girls high and put them in the mood or to lower their defenses."

"But he drugged me, I’m sure of it! And it wasn't just to get me in the mood either. It was so I wouldn't know what was happening to me at the time and to make it so I couldn't fight back. I think it was also to make sure that I wouldn't remember what he did later, so I couldn't report him or press charges," Hester insisted, still not convince that Adam believed her and was going to help.

“Yes, you're probably right about that," Adam agreed, "so it means I’m going to need you to confront him about what happened, if we hope to prove anything. I want to see how he responds to your accusations in front of witnesses and then we’ll proceed from there. Do you think you’re up to doing something like this, because it's not exactly going to be easy?”

There was a momentarily lull while Hester thought this over, but then she eventually spoke. “Will you be there? And can I also have my roommate come with me when I confront him?” Hester responded. She sounded terrified about the prospect of doing this, so she sought to clarify exactly who else would be there to support her at the time. “I really don’t want to have to do this alone.”

“I understand and that would be fine,” Adam confirmed. “You may have your roommate accompany you, if you want, and I’ll be there as well, although you probably won't know which one I am. I've planned this so there will be a lot of other people around when this happens too, because I want plenty of witnesses. Are you ok with that?”

“If it will make him pay for what he did and stop him from doing it to anyone else, then I’ll do it,” she replied in a trembling voice.

“Good, then this is what we’re going to do,” Adam advised her.

Adam then explained when and where he wanted this to take place and he made certain Hester would be there at the appropriate time. He had decided to do it after one of the home lacrosse games, when there would be plenty of others around as well. This way Gator would be unable to attack Hester or try to stop her before Adam could react, because there would be too many others around. It also meant that Gator would be more relaxed and totally unprepared for such a confrontation to take place, so there was a greater chance of being successful.

At first Adam had planned to do this after one of the lacrosse team's practices, but seeing the only other people that would be there would be mostly Gator's teammates, Adam didn’t think that would work as well. Even if Gator confessed, his teammates might stick up for him and deny he'd ever admitted to anything, since he was one of the better players on the team. No, they needed others there that had no stake in the outcome to hear what Gator said, if anything, that's why they'd do this after a game.

After he explained his plan to Hester, she agreed. Adam then told her which game they would do this at. He had selected a weekend home game, since he was sure they’d both be free then, but it also wouldn’t cut into his study time as badly. He told her they’d wait and do it after the game ended and explained how he wanted it to go down. He then gave her a few suggestions about how he thought she should confront Gator about what he'd done.

Since he could sense from the tone in Hester's voice that she was getting nervous, Adam assured her that he'd be there, in case things didn't go quite as planned. He also explained that there would be plenty of security personnel around for the game, which was common for major sporting events, so they would also be able to call on them if things got out of hand. Once everything was set and Hester had no further questions, Adam confirmed the time he expected Hester and her friend to show up.