Now I wait…
I couldn’t just message Hank Matthews—that would have been too convenient. I had to make him come to me. That would give him the illusion of power and the courage to share more details than he normally would with a stranger. After all, I was just some kid—I wouldn’t know anything about the stuff going on in the news until he mentioned where he worked—and he would, based on the conversations he had with others. He loved sharing the details about his life because it was all he really had—he was wealthy and flaunting it made him feel important. When I finally saw him online, I moved to the chat room h
e was in—and waited—and waited—until the message popped up in the corner of my screen that I had been anticipating.
TheHankster: Hey there, beautiful.
SunshineSoul16: Hi!
That was all it took. A simple introduction. He was in my web and he didn’t even know that I was a spider ready to wrap him up. I could tell he was cautious. His sexual innuendos were veiled at first—testing the water to see how I responded. He had obviously seen enough Chris Hansen memes to be wary of a random girl on the Internet, especially one that was underage. I kept the conversation civil on my end until he pushed the envelope enough to ask if I wanted to video chat. Of course, I refused—I told him my parents were home and they didn’t like me talking to strangers.
TheHankster: Maybe we won’t be strangers forever…
SunshineSoul16: Hold on. Someone’s awake.
I logged off immediately. I had pulled that trick before on guys—it gave them a sense of danger—a bit of an adrenaline rush. I had just never been able to see the other side of it before. As soon as I was gone, I watched what Hank Matthews did—who he messaged—what he said. He was striking out all around and most of the girls weren’t even responding to his messages. He would get desperate as more time passed. I stayed offline for about twenty minutes before I popped back on—but I didn’t message him. I waited for him to notice and message me again.
TheHankster: Everything okay?
SunshineSoul16: Yeah. My Dad was just telling me to go to bed and stop playing on the computer. :)
TheHankster: Is it past your bedtime already?
SunshineSoul16: Yep! Oh well! I doubt he’ll wake up again.
TheHankster: You’re the kind of girl that likes to be naughty, huh?
SunshineSoul16: Sometimes…
I had him. I kept playing it cool, pushing back against his advances while giving him a little more each time he tried to take the conversation somewhere that it shouldn’t have been going with someone my age. I pushed distrust—concern—worry about random guys online. He tried to reassure me, soothe my concerns—tell me that he wasn’t like other guys. Eventually, he mentioned where he worked, his job, and how much money he made—all things that he probably thought would impress me—and the exact opening I was looking for.
SunshineSoul16: Oh? Wasn’t your company in the news recently?
TheHankster: That was our CEO. He’s dealing with some bullshit. Corporate stuff. :)
SunshineSoul16: Wow, I’ve never met anyone who was friends with a celebrity!
TheHankster: Ha! I wouldn’t say my boss is a celebrity.
SunshineSoul16: Oh. I’ve seen your building downtown. It was cool seeing it on the news!
TheHankster: You should stop in sometime. I’ll give you the grand tour. :)
SunshineSoul16: Really!?!
TheHankster: Sure, want to come by tomorrow? We could get lunch too.
SunshineSoul16: I have school. :( I won’t be free until this weekend.
TheHankster: The building is closed on the weekends. :(
SunshineSoul16: Oh. Too bad.
TheHankster: But…
He played right into my hands. Once I agreed to meet him, he took the conversation in a very sexual direction. I stopped playing coy—and gave him a taste of what he wanted, but not enough to satisfy him. It was just a tease to lure him into the final stage of my trap—the one that would let me turn him into my pawn. I ended the conversation before it could get good but told him I’d be online the following day—and my parents wouldn’t be home. I told him we could talk on video if he wanted, which I was sure would have salivating as he spent the day thinking about the girl that—just might show him her tits.
I swore I’d never do this again, but it’s what I do best, and it might be the only way to save the Jackson brothers.