“Since I started college, there’ve been rumors about this kind of drugging happening at fraternity parties. Some girls reported being assaulted, but the administration always hid it to avoid damaging the university’s image. The campus policeinvestigates, and guess what? In one hundred percent of cases, nothing happens because the victims have no proof.”
“You mean they know assaults are happening and look the other way?”
“Yes. And there’s more. The assaulted girl still ends up with a bad reputation on campus.”
“That’s outrageous.”
“I know. And I found out that particular fraternity has multiple cases like that.”
“Is there no organization that helps these girls?”
“If there is, I haven’t heard of it.”
“Do you know who my brother was? Not Kaled. The other one.”
She looks away, uncomfortable. “The whole world knows, Jazmina. A monster with power.”
“Exactly. With a lot of power. Even so, the victims still came forward. Why don’t the girls here do the same?”
“Can I be honest?”
“Yes.”
“Your brother is probably dead, if the news is true, so maybe those women finally feel safe enough to speak. It’s awful to say this, but when there’s corrupt authorities protecting abusers, the victim is blamed for having ‘made it easy’.”
“The world isn’t a safe place for women,” I say, devastated.
“No, it’s not. In the States, I carry pepper spray in my bag, but here I don’t even know if that’s legal. Though in cases like ours, it wouldn’t help anyway if we were drugged.”
I shake my head, horrified. How do these guys get away with it?
Just like Naim did,a voice inside me whispers.
Money, power, influence . . .They all speak louder than a victim’s cry.
She gives me a sympathetic look, then changes the subject. “Now I want to hear everything about your weekend.”
“It was . . .weird. Rodrick took me to Scotland.”
“Can I say something about your guardian?”
“He’s not really my guardian.”
“Your watchman?”
“I call him my jailer, kidnapper, dream-killer.”
She laughs. “There’s something between you two.”
“Of course not. Why would you say that?”
“Your eyes sparkled when you said his name.”
“You imagined that. Besides, he’s getting married.”
I tell her everything that happened in Scotland, from the plane to the kiss.
And then the ending: the revelation he’ll soon choose a bride of convenience.