"Who was Jack the Ripper?" Professor Lahey asks as he walks around the auditorium. Who was he? Only one of the most notorious serial killers in history. "Anyone?"
I raise my hand. "Yes, Ms. Green, go ahead."
"Jack the Ripper was one of the infamous serial killers in the world. Around the year 1888, he began his killing spree in London. During that spree, he killed at least five women. He did this by mutilating their bodies in a very unusual way." I pause. "What's interesting is that the killer was never captured or even identified."
"Very good Ms. Green." Professor Lahey smiles. "This is certainly a very interesting mystery. Adding to the mysteries of this case, each of the murders occurred only a mile within each other in or near the Whitechapel district of London's East End, from August 7 to September 10, 1888."
"When Ms. Green mentioned that he at least killed five women was because several other murders occurred during that time that were tied to Leather Apron. Another nickname was given to the killer." Professor Lahey pauses. "Allegedly, the killer sent numerous letters to the Metropolitan Police Service. He used it as a taunting tactic, about his gruesome activities and future kills. The nickname he received Jack the Ripper originated from one of the letters he wrote at the time."
"An interesting fact about Jack the Ripper's profile is that he didn't kill his victims with a knife, he mutilated and disemboweled them. He removed organs such as kidneys and uteruses, and his crimes seemed to portray an abhorrence for the entire female gender." Professor Lahey explains. "As hard as it is for you to understand how a person can be capable of committing such horrendous crimes, the way a killer murders his victims speaks volumes of the psychological factors and stressors that contributed to him acting out."
"I believe we have run out of time for today's lecture. For our next lecture, we will be taking a look at a few more cases and you will lead the discussion by attempting to profile the unsub in each one. Participation is required so I suggest that you read the assigned material I sent you this morning." Professor Lahey pauses. "Presentations will begin next week, please come prepared to answer all of my questions. I have given you extra time to prepare so I expect nothing but the best from you. You are dismissed."
After Professor Lahey dismissed us, I put my things away in my backpack and I walked out of the aisle. It took me a few minutes before I could walk out of the auditorium since in this class I sat in the front row and the door to exit was in the back. When I walked into the hallway I met with Stensby, he was taking PSYCH3001 (Introduction to Psychology) in the auditorium across from where I took my PSYCH6008 (Criminal Psychology) class. "Hey,"
"Hey, how was your class?" I ask my best friend as we walk down the stairs of Mackenzie Hall, the psychology building.
Stensby sighs. "The same as always. Today we discussed a report from the Journal of Consumer Research about the Unconscious Preferences for the Letters of Our Own Name. And Professor Dillehunt returned the exam we took two weeks ago."
"That's an interesting topic. At least you didn't spend hours listening to Freud's theory" Something told me Stensby didn't do that great by the face he made when he told me Professor Dillehunt returned his exam. "How did you do?"
"Freud's theory will be discussed in next week's lecture. I was thinking about emailing Professor Dillehunt a medical excuse for the week. What sounds better? A cold or conjunctivitis?" Stensby pauses. "And I got a 71%."
Typical athlete behavior. I roll my eyes at my best friend. "When are you going to stop taking advantage of your privileges Cameron Stensby?"
"You're being an unnecessary pain in my ass Everest Green," Stensby rolls his eyes. "I'm not taking advantage of anything. It's not my fault that Sexton writes medical excuses for me anytime I ask for them. And you know you would do the same. Professor Dillehunt's voice is like Emerson's, the only difference is that it's ten times worse."
"I'm glad I am, somebody has to keep you and Peyton in check," I say. "And I don't think so Cameron, you must have me confused with someone else."
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Stensby pauses. "And I'm pretty sure I don't. If I remember correctly I had to excuse you from one of Emerson's lectures so you could sneak off with Connery to God knows where."
Oops. I had forgotten about that one. "It was just the one time. And I will let you know that we had some important business to take care of."
"Speaking of business," Stensby pauses as he starts to pull out something from his backpack. My jaw instantly dropped. "I found this under my bed and I thought you might want it back."
So that's where my wine-colored bra went. I had been looking for it for the longest time. "Stensby! What the hell? Couldn't you just wait until we got into my car?"
My cheeks flushed as I saw people staring because of the very embarrassing conversation I was having with my best friend. I quickly grabbed my bra from Stensby's hands and I put it away in my backpack. "I could've but where's the fun in that Ev?"
Stensby laughs and I roll my eyes at my best friend as we continued to walk through campus. We got in my car once we reached the parking lot of the Engineering building where my car was currently parked. I had practice in twenty minutes and so did Stensby so I was going to drop him off at the baseball stadium since it was on the same route as the BGU pavilion.
After I dropped Stensby off at the baseball stadium I headed to the BGU pavilion. I honestly was dreading today's practice. We moved on to the next round and as we progressed practice was only going to get more intense. All eyes were on us and the pressure was now more intense than ever. You would expect the media to react positively to our win last week but oh how contrary the response was.
Instead of receiving praise just like the rest of the teams in the league, we were only questioned. We've seen this before. Can we really count on BGU to get the job done? Is Coach Jennings nearing the end of his coaching career? Are the swimmers the problem or is it the coaching staff? What will become of BGU if they fall short this season? And so on.
Coach Jennings was fuming the next morning when we were on our way back to Bowling. They have never questioned him or his coaching abilities before, but with all the buzz around our comeback season, it was inevitable.
I spotted Connery grabbing his swimming equipment out of the trunk of his car and I parked my car next to his. When he noticed, a smile curved on his lips and he walked up to my car. He opened the door for me and when I got out of the car, he instantly pulled me in for a hug. "Hey baby girl, I missed you today."
He planted a sweet kiss on top of my head. "I missed you too. How was your day?"
"It could've been better, I don't think I did how I expected on my genetics exam." Connery sighs. "And I met with Coach Jennings earlier today."
"You're probably overthinking it, I asked you every possible question about the material and you answered each one without hesitation," I reassure Connery. "What did he say?"
"I did, but I'm not all that confident," Connery says. "We just went over the footage of last week's meet, there are some things I need to work on today during practice. We also discussed a few of the things being said in the media."
"Babe, you did great last week. You continue to exceed everyone's expectations every time you hit the pool. I know there's always room for improvement, but you should be fucking proud of yourself." I smile trying to cheer Connery up.
It gets a little hard at times. For him I mean. Being the leader of this team comes with a lot of baggage and not necessarily the good kind. Most, if not all of the pressure falls onto him. If the team fails then it somehow has something to do with him. Being criticized and not praised for his achievements takes a toll on him. He tries so hard to live up to everybody's expectations of him and sometimes he forgets to remember that sometimes you will never be enough for some people, no matter how hard you try. He needs to acknowledge how proud he should be of all of his accomplishments, that's why just like he is, I'm his biggest cheerleader.
Connery smiles. "How did I get so lucky? Thank you for always being my biggest cheerleader Everest Green."
Connery and I walked inside the pavilion, we parted ways when we reached the locker rooms so we could both get dressed for today's practice. I changed into one of my old BGU strappy back one-piece swimsuit uniforms and with my swim equipment in hand, I walked over to Connery and I's lane. "Listen up everybody!"
Coach Jennings's voice echoed throughout the whole pavilion. "We will be facing North Carolina in the next round. Now, it's a team we've faced before and have had the chance to study. The fact that we have easily beaten them before does not mean we will be underestimating our opponent. On the contrary, we're going to compete as if we were up against BGU. Securing next week's win means that we're one step closer to reaching our goal."
"I know you've heard all the outside noise regarding the capability of you as a team and my capability of me as a Coach. It's nothing new for us, the same thing happened at the beginning of the season." Coach Jennings pauses. "It's no secret that the outside noise can get to you and discourage you, but to the best of your ability, block it out. Having our name in their mouth means we're doing something right."
"We have to keep working hard, which means that practice will continue to challenge you in ways that you're both used and not used to." Coach Jennings says. "No great victory came without any sort of sacrifice. To start your warm-up you will begin with 400 meters of freestyle. Coach Tanner will be giving you further instructions when you're done."
We all got in the pool and after placing and adjusting my goggles I was right behind Dant swimming the warm-up. After swimming the first 400 meters freestyle we continued the warm-up with 3x50 meters freestyle at :45 followed by 2x75 meters of kick/swim/ head up kick by 25 at 1:15.
Subsequently, we moved on to Coach Jenning's main set. 8 x 100 meters free ( 25 right arm, alt breathe/25 swim/25 left arm, alt breathe/25 swim ) @1:50. 1,000 meters divided in the following way: 150 kick – 50 swim – 150 large paddles – 100 swim – 100 kick – 100 swim – 100 large paddles – 100 swim – 50 kick – 50 swim – 50 large paddles. 4 x 50 Freestyle swim Desc 1-4 @:50. We repeated the 1,000 meters in the following way: 150 kick – 50 swim – 150 freestyle paddles – 100 swim – 100 kick – 100 swim – 100 freestyle paddles – 100 swim – 50 kick – 50 swim – 50 freestyle paddles. Finally to conclude the main set we swam 4 x 50 Freestyle swim Desc 1-4 @:50.
After we were all out of breath and on the verge of passing out after that horrendous main set, we swam 200 meters to cool down. Usually, we swim our cool down freestyle but Coach Jennings gave us the liberty to choose whichever style we preferred.
As I swam the cooldown right behind the boys, all I could think about was the sushi that waited for me downtown. I haven't talked to Connery about what I found out about Dant and I was planning on telling him today. I wasn't planning on putting it off any longer, I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. So when Connery texted me this morning that he wanted to grab sushi with me after practice I knew it would be the perfect moment to tell him all about Dant.
"Ev," Connery sighs annoyed. "I asked you if you wanted spicy king crab rolls and you said no. You know they're my favorite."
After we finished practice, Connery and I headed over to the sushi place downtown. We planned on eating at the restaurant but the thought of being curled up in bed watching a good movie while we ate sushi in my apartment sounded much more appealing. Besides, with what I have to tell him, I would much rather for it to be here than in public.
I laugh at the annoyed expression on Connery's face. "Babe, I know I said no when you asked but I changed my mind. They look really good."
"Well, I'm sorry to inform you that you are thirty minutes too late," Connery says and my jaw drops in disbelief. I just asked for one out of the five spicy king crab rolls.
"Connery," I give him a look. "I asked you for one, you will still have four left. Is it that hard to share?"
"Baby girl, it's not that. I don't mind giving you the spicy king crab roll. It's the fact that I asked you because I knew this would happen and you said you just weren't feeling the spicy king crab rolls for today." Connery explains and I begin to laugh. "It's not funny? Do you find it funny?"
"A little," I reply trying to contain my laughter. His face? Priceless. "I'm just messing with you babe, you can keep the roll. I'm good with my poke Naruto rolls."
Connery shakes his head. "You're unbelievable."
I grin at the very annoyed Connery sitting in bed next to me. "Babe, in all seriousness, I have to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" Connery asks as he turns his gaze from the TV to me. "Did something happen?"
"It's about Dant," I say and Connery instantly looks worried. "What I'm about to tell you, I've known for more than a week now but I didn't say anything because I wanted to give him the chance to explain."
"You're starting to worry me, Ev." Connery pauses. "Explain what? Did he cheat on Peyton?"
I shake my head. "Remember the trip we took to the lake house?"
Connery nods. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"We were at the house playing in the living room that night. Stensby arrived with Kelsea and Dant got up to open the door for them." I pause. "When he got up from the couch, I noticed a particular tattoo that I hadn't seen on Dant before by his right hip. It was a name, Azrael Sylla."
"The rapist factory. Maddox's gang. The gang Tommy's a part of." It was all Connery managed to say as a heavy sigh escaped his lips. "Fuck."
"I instantly made the connection with the case, I remembered how we had discussed it at the law firm when we were investigating the rape cases on campus," I tell Connery and he runs his hands through his hair. "I confronted him about."
"Ev, you should've come to me first," Connery says. "I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt you but the people he's involved with could. What did he say?"
"He explained everything. From beginning to end." I reply. "How it all started when Tommy introduced you to the races. He told me about how Maddox fit into the picture and how he started owing him money because of all of the races he lost. He also talked about Fai."
"What did he tell you about Fai?" Connery asks and I could see the anger building up at the mention of Fai's name.
"Nothing specific, I promise. Just that Fai also owed Maddox money but for different reasons and that he knew he had to pay up or else he would end up just like Fai." I reply. "He told me that he joined the gang shortly after Fai was killed in the accident. That guaranteed him his safety and that way he could pay his debt in his own time."
"Did he?" Connery begins to ask. "Did he rape those girls too?"
"No," I reply. "He told me that he just did drug runs with the guys and collected money that people owed Maddox. According to him, the raping came after Tommy came up with the idea that the initiation had to be harder for the guys to join."
"That sick son of a bitch."
"It was only Tommy though, the one who did the rapes. Dant told me that everyone has their style of initiation. And I did ask him if that broke any codes." I tell Connery. "He told me that it does but since Conrad used to be a member when he was in college, Tommy could bend the rules. He's untouchable."
"I don't even know who Dant is anymore," Connery says in disbelief. "It has all been a lie, a big fucking lie."
I could see the disappointment and anger in Connery's eyes, one of his best friends, turned out to be exactly what he hated the most.
And it's inevitable, sometimes, the person you'd take a bullet for without hesitation turns out to be the one holding the gun.
ps. a little picture of Ev enjoying her sushi (;