The TurnOut

In 2008 while in Pomona, a southern California city of Los Angeles county, Eric was on his way to a local swap-meet when he encountered a young black woman crying at the bus stop across the street from where he was headed. Eric himself was a couple years younger than the woman at 19, her being 23. He asked her what was wrong in a gentle voice, yet the woman did not respond right away. Eric almost walked away, but as a man could not find it in himself to leave a woman's side who was obviously in some kind of emotional turmoil. He again asked her what was wrong and asked if she needed bus money and pulled out a few dollars. This time the woman looked up at him and said she was Ok, but she was still sobbing. Eric sat next to the woman and put an arm around her. She sobbed for a few more moments and then asked him if he lived in the area. He told her he lived in Las Vegas and that he was just visiting. She asked where he was headed just then and he told her the swap-meet across the street. She asked if she could go with him and he said it was cool. So they went to the swap-meet together, Eric actually held her hand as they walked.
Once in the swap-meet they engaged in small talk, Eric learned the woman's name was Rena but she liked to be called Star, and Rena learned Eric just liked being called Eric but would be Ok with just "E". Eric was a window tint installer, and auto detailer, very good at what he did and was naturally a people person. Star said she was an exotic dancer and masseuse. Eric was impressed and told her she chose a wonderful field of work because she's literally paid to make people feel better through sight and touch.
They stayed in the swap-meet for close to an hour while Eric bought a few things to last him while he stayed in California for the next week, and he also bought Star some stuff that she picked out. Two cute outfits and two pair of heels that were on sale for $15 for both pair. Star seemed to be enjoying herself and she could tell Eric enjoyed their time together as well. She decided at that moment that she wanted to be with Eric but did not say anything about her decision at the time. Instead she had to find a way to tell him first that she was really a street prostitute, and the real reason she had been crying when he saw her at the bus stop was because she had just left her abusive pimp. Again. She had already left him twice in the past and vowed to herself this would be the last.
Neither Eric or Star had a vehicle but Eric offered to walk Star home, which much to his surprise turned out to be a hotel in Montclair, a bordering city. So they took the bus. Once there Eric told her he should get back to his family's house before they start getting worried. He had left his phone at the house charging. He and Star exchanged numbers and they parted ways for the night.
The next day Eric woke up to see several missed calls and text messages from Star. In her texting she just said, "top of the morning", and another said, "hope your day is awesome". He text her back and let her know he had just waken up but would hit her again when he was dressed and ready for the day. She replied back and told him to take his time.
As he showered and dressed he couldn't stop thinking about her. He pictured her yellow skin tone, light brown shoulder length wavy hair, small frame, about 5 feet 4 inches tall, no more than 105 pounds, nice shape. Her dark brown eyes enhanced by freshly sculpted eyebrows. He wondered why she even seemed to like him so much, because other than dressing nice, he didn't feel there was anything special about his appearance. 5'7, 150-155 pounds, almond color skin tone, slim build. He was handsome, but just as in he wasn't unattractive.
They met up a few hours later at her hotel. From there they caught two buses to get to Ontario Mills, a mall in the bordering city of Ontario. The plan was just to go to the mall, hangout a while, eat, and then catch a movie later in the evening. Eric only had about two hundred dollars on him and was hoping it would be enough for them to really enjoy the day, just in case Star wanted an outfit or two. While he busy thinking about this he felt a tap on his forearm, she was trying to get his attention and apparently had been trying for a few seconds because she laughed when he looked over and said, "wow, what's on your mind?"
He laughed and then noticed she was holding a stack of hundred dollar bills, gesturing for him to take it. He asked her if she was serious and when she insisted he accept the money he took it. Not knowing it came from prostitution, or even suspecting that it could have.

Some info about Eric before I continue; he had never been in trouble with the law before, graduated college with an AA in math & science, and was studying mechanical engineering at the time he and Star met. He had learned how to work on cars from an early age with his father who owned an auto detailing shop in Las Vegas. He was affiliated with a Las Vegas gang, and although he was a gang member he was not a gang banger. He did not come from a sheltered life by any means, but one thing he was not was a pimp. So he could not read the warning signs.

Star had been involved in prostitution since she was 16, turned out by a man in his 40's who was supposed to be dating her mother. When her mother was killed in a robbery at the convenience store where she worked, the older man told Star he needed her to help with funeral expenses by prostituting. I don't think anyone would have been able to make clear and intelligent decisions in such a time of grief, let alone a 16 year old. So she definitely experienced a mentally and emotionally brutal manipulative entry into the life. That's how it started. That same man was caught transporting minors over state lines in violation of the federal Mann Act, and he was sentenced to 240 months in federal penitentiary. Star was 17 when he got caught, but was in the arms of another pimp within 24 hours of the sentencing. She continued a pattern of bouncing from pimp to pimp until she met her last pimp Fabulous Rick at a truck stop in Fontana when she was 21. He was the second oldest pimp she had ever been with after her turn out (her mother's boyfriend), and she immediately took to him as a father figure. He was also the most abusive pimp she had ever had, subjecting her to beatings with little to no provocation, ice baths, and torture tactics like hanging her out of windows as high as 24 floors up. Once he actually had two men in the room directly below and dropped her. The men caught her, but she had no idea they were there. At that moment she had been psychologically broken. Thoroughly. She left a couple of times only to return shortly each time, welcomed home by a beating on both occasions. This last time would be the last she swore. She had no intentions of leaving the game alone even after all she had been through, but this time she felt that maybe if she had a hand in molding her next pimp from scratch, things would be different. Eric could not have come along at a more perfect time.

As Eric began to count the money, Star stopped him and told him it was $2500 and it was his, just enjoy the day and they would talk about it later if he wanted.
The day went well. On top of doing all they had planned to do at the mall that day, they also both got a few new outfits and some accessories for Star. When they left the mall they caught a taxi to a seafood restaurant not far away and spent almost two hours in there just talking and laughing. Star enjoyed hearing about what Eric considered a boring life, but she felt bad that all of her stories left out the parts where she was paid for sex, replacing those details with massages and dancing.
They head back to Star's room after midnight and she tells Eric he is welcome to stay the night if he wants to. Not wanting to disturb his family so late he accepted the invitation. During the night they made love several times and Star told him she wanted to be with him for real. Eric was single and felt blessed and a little unworthy, but gladly took the opportunity to be with someone so beautiful. She also seemed like a nice person and he still wanted to find out what was bothering when he met her the day before. When he asked she just said it's complicated but that she would tell him soon, she didn't want to ruin the mood. The same was said each time after as well.
They hung out day after day, she even would rent another room on some days for Eric to relax in while she saw her clients in her own room. As far as Eric knew she was either dancing or doing massages. He had no reason to suspect otherwise and never asked. She tried to give him some money but each time he rejected it, which is the only time he would see her in a bad mood for a little bit. What she did ask him to do was get a reloadable credit card from a check cashing place nearby and put the money on there for safekeeping. She would give him the money and he would put it on the card. They did this every 3 days, anywhere from $2000-$4200. He did accept gifts and they went out a lot like a real couple.
Eric decided to stay a full month in California and they planned to go to Las Vegas together afterwards. One day while out walking to the pool hall close to the hotel a blue Dodge Challenger pulls up on Eric, an older man with sunglasses asks if Eric is Star's "new folks". Eric, like many normal Americans thought folks meant family and said yes. Thinking maybe someone had seen them together enough to think they were in a relationship. The older man asked Eric where his phone call was. Eric had no idea what he meant. Normally when one pimp takes a girl from another pimp, the pimp who took the girl will call the ex pimp to let him know the girl chose to be with him, the new pimp. Called a "serving" in pimp terminology.
The older man wanted to know why he hadn't been " served" for Star. Eric told him he didn't know what he meant. The older man told Eric that he was going to "beat the brakes off that bitch when I catch her!" Eric got angry and called the man out for a fight, but he drove off.
Eric went back to his room and text Star to tell her what happened because she was busy at the moment. When she finished with her client she immediately responded and said they needed to talk.
Eric walked out of his room on the way to Star's room when a San Bernardino County Sheriff's vehicle pulled in, followed by several local PD vehicles and unmarked cars. Eric wasn't bothered knowing he had done nothing wrong so he continued to Star's room. As he knocked on her door officers pulled up close and asked him to turn around and place his hands behind his back. He argued why and the officers only continued to order him to comply, offering no explanation why he was apparently under arrest. He was forcefully placed in handcuffs and taken into a local PD SUV. Other officers walked Star to another vehicle. Eric was confused about the whole thing but felt it had something to do with the older guy in the Challenger. He decided to use his right to remain silent.
When he got to the station for booking he saw that the older man was also there in a holding cell already. The older man told Eric, "don't worry youngsta they ain't got nothin on us, our whole operation tight". Keep in mind Eric had never met this man. He said as much but the man continued acting like they knew each other. In an interview room officers told Eric they had been watching the older man whose name was Rick, for about two years. He was going to be indicted for several women. Aside from federal human trafficking charges he faced multiple counts of torture, assaults, kidnappings, and other dangerous crimes. Some against children as young as 14. Some of those children had been around Star. They arrested Rick on a traffic stop to bring an end to their investigation. When Rick was stopped they inquired about the man he was seen talking to near a hotel earlier, referring to Eric. Apparently Rick told the officers Eric was one of his runners. A runner is basically an assistant pimp. They watch the girls, make sure they are safe, and collect money. They are not allowed to be intimate with the girls or violent. Of course Eric was no runner, but as officers explained the situation further and he found out Star was actually a prostitute, the reality set in that he had been watching over prostitution this whole time. Because she was considered a victim they told Star she would not have to testify against the men because they had a confession from one and had enough visual and audio surveillance on Eric to convict him for the minimum of pimping and supervising prostitution. She would only get that deal if she plead guilty to one state charge of endangering the welfare of a minor by aiding in prostitution, a felony, for one of the juveniles in Rick's case. She would receive 3 years probation. She said she would accept that deal, but told them Eric had no idea she was a prostitute. The officers said it didn't matter they had enough evidence to make the case appear any way they wanted to against him. They told her Eric would most likely only do 3 years for his role in pimping her, they weren't buying the story of him being a runner for Rick. Star felt guilty knowing Eric may go to jail when he actually wasn't aware of what was going on so she declined the deal. She said she would testify against Rick and also testify that Eric honestly believed she was a dancer and did massages. Officers then told her that she would be charged in a conspiracy to traffic minors, federal charges. They told her that her credibility would be ruined, and any chance she had of helping Eric would go out the window. They would just paint her as a confused whore torn between loyalty to two pimps. Eric would get just as much time as Rick when they got through with it. They reasoned with her to just let them give Eric the 3 years and move on with her life. She reluctantly agreed.
A few months later Star was sentenced to 3 years probation. Rick took his all the way to trial, which lasted a year, and lost. He was sentenced to a total of 77 years, plus a life sentence. Eric took his to trial believing justice would prevail. He also lost and was sentenced to 8 years on state charges of  pimping and pandering on a minor under 16, by use of force. She was one of the minors from Rick's case also. Eric still doesn't know how they were able to make the evidence so believable. He was also found guilty for pimping Star and sentenced to 6 years. A gang enhancement added another 5 years. Based solely on a tattoo representing a west side Las Vegas gang whose projects were torn down more than ten years ago. Top add insult to injury he was fined half a million dollars total. Mostly for the 16 year whom he had never even met.

Head Down Heels Up

The mentality of the average pimp shown is sickening to say the least. Some have a misconception that the ladies they pimp on are expendable. Almost as bad if not worse than the way our women and girls are viewed by cops and customers. The street pimp mantra of head down heels up has been replaced by happy hookers with head up heels down. While this show of empowerment is indeed empowering, it is disheartening to see that the men they dedicate themselves to wholeheartedly refuse to acknowledge them as the precious jewels they truly are. I realize some on the outside looking in will wonder, why, if these women are so precious, don't the pimps try to talk them out of working completely? While that is a very sweet sentiment there is this thing called reality, and this reality being most of these women are going to continue to be prostitutes no matter who they go home to at the end of the day. In fact for some the mere mention of wanting them to quit sets an immediate defense barrier against you, because now she can no longer be sure you except her in every way. She is aware that you being with her is risky legally even without paying you. Even her asking for a ride to see a customer, while a misdemeanor for her although she will do all of the work and commit the crime on her own free will, is a felony for her significant other. Which leaves them in a position to want to be sure that man really wants to be there.
It is hard emotionally to cater to a prostitute without learning the game from all angles. Meaning you have to be able to understand the frame of mind of Johns, pimps, and prostitutes, and engage with her on all levels socially at least. Then you must also be able to engage with them as a friend, lover, critic, and even therapeutically. A pimp and prostitute relationship should go beyond her getting money from a john and in turn handing that same money to a pimp in order to be with that person. What is being done when the order remains this way is just a cycle of total prostitution. The prostitute becomes a bigger John than her Johns, thereby turning her pimp into a bigger prostitute than she is. She expects sex, love, affection, attention, companionship, full support, protection, intelligent guidance, answers, and so much more from her pimp than she would from any John and makes that clear by wanting to give him more at one time than any John gives her. Also, while the Johns are more likely paying the prostitutes to leave, she pays her pimp to stay. If the relationship only consists of her getting money just to give away with no return on her investment in the ways I described, she will most likely seek that elsewhere. If she stays you can almost be sure there is some sort of force or fear involved. Or she may be tired of starting over and will stick it out hoping for a change that deep down she knows will never manifest.
The pimp culture that is shown on TV, in the news, and even in most songs only show the negative side, but will not reveal that there are less negative pimp/prostitute relationships than there are positive. Only the positive side never makes the news because it is not sensational enough. They could not get funding to fight all of these phantom abuse and kidnap human trafficking victims if they came out and said that MOST women are in prostitution voluntarily. Not all are on drugs, and most hookers advocate safe sex whereas a lot of square girls will have bare sex just to get her phone turned on. There are men who allow their girl to work and do not take any of the money. No different than a stripper or porn star who has a boyfriend. The only difference is if a porn actress gets a ride to a porn shoot, even though she is being paid to have sex with a stranger on her own free will, the same as a prostitute, her boyfriend will never get in any trouble. So for a prostitute finding someone who actually wants to be there for them and not just the money, is extremely important.
There is a stigma that comes with being a pimp who actually loves his girl/s. They are outcast and called simps, meaning overly sympathetic to the feelings of his girl/s. So it becomes almost embarrassing to express any feelings that would indicate any love and affection. This causes a pimp to talk to his girl/s any kind of way, calling her out of her name, using menacing tones, refusing to allow her to refer to him as anything not pimp related. This especially occurs in front of other pimps and prostitutes. While a pimp may be the sweetest person to his women behind closed doors, you may only see a side of him that makes you wonder why his women stay at all. I have witnessed a pimp lose his mind because his girl called him babe in front of a new girl. I almost had to stop the interview (and would have had it gotten physical), but was honestly eager to see how it played out. The girl, while referred to as multiple different kinds of bitches, hos, maggots, and faggots, never lost her composure and aside from a soft spoken apology, offered no other retort. I was speechless. I was speechless because maybe twenty minutes earlier while we were waiting for the new girl to arrive for the interview, his main girl called him babe many times and he never flinched.
I feel that many pimps purposely follow a stereotype because they truly believe that persona is what attracts the most prostitutes, or a certain kind of prostitute. As crazy as it may sound some of these women want the hardest pimp they can find. Even to the point of provoking violence to seek out an answer as to whether or not her pimp actually cares enough about her to risk his freedom to show it. The same way she risks not only her freedom, but her health, sanity, and life for him. I believe pimps and prostitutes take the same risks for each other. True the dynamics are different, but you can search and see how many pimps have been killed defending their girl. How many pimps have went to jail picking his girl up or just watching her as she works. Yes, you cannot even watch her to make sure she is ok, that is a felony in most places.
When you understand these risks, from both sides, it makes you wonder how a man who has been gifted this dedication from someone who is mentally and emotionally fragile, could possibly not have love and appreciation for her. How can he not feel excited every time she calls, every time she walks through that door alive and well. How can he not want to show the world that she is an amazing addition to his life? In short the truth is they believe they are not supposed to. That's not "pimping".
On the other hand a prostitute will leave the same man who has risked it all to be there for her, at the drop of a hat, for a pretty car, an out of town trip, or just because she likes the way another pimp looks. There's a reason for the saying, " colder than a hooker's heart ", and I honestly think the women in the game can be just as cold as the men if not colder in some instances, but that's another story I may actually write about soon.
So when you see the pimps who do show that love publicly, who doesn't have to be called daddy, or king so and so, mac such and such, and who can just be himself, what you will be witnessing is someone who has accepted his true position in her life as everything, because it takes everything to save and protect these ladies. If you're not willing to be everything then you are not worthy of being anything to these women. I'm not foolish enough or dirty enough to want to separate prostitutes from pimps because I know that is an actual natural combination and no one can complete one like the other. However there is a duty that must be upheld, and it goes far beyond just having your palms out. Definitely much further than keeping her head down and her heels up.

No Prayer for Prostitution

You can go on your search browser right now and type in human trafficking, select news, and even narrow it down to the last 24 hours in the search tools, and what you will see is what appears to be a legitimate fight against trafficking, against pimps, against johns or patrons of prostitution, and even against access to prostitutes. If that is what you see then you have been successfully deceived. What you truly see is a new war. The war on prostitution. The reality is officials actually do not care about prostitutes as a whole, but only those who they themselves can pimp out for grant money, traffic for votes, and exploit for attention to their own agencies and campaigns. On an individual basis these women are considered less than human by many authority figures. In fact it seems as though they do not want anyone at all to show these women affection other than to be screwed for a few minutes at best. You are not allowed to live with one, help one in any way, accept any gifts from one, buy any gifts for one, give one a ride, or aid them in any way, even if it's to save them from harm. Essentially other than just being screwed, prostitutes should have no actual existence in the eyes of the law.
I have watched the way police in certain areas talk to prostitutes and it is much more demeaning than anything a pimp can say, because you expect officers to actually be concerned. Oh don't get me wrong, they will appear on the news very concerned for the well-being and safety of these women and girls but when the cameras go off they are the biggest victimizers of these vulnerable people. Often they will use force, fear, fraud, and coercion to induce a woman into lying about her activities. Threaten them with long jail terms if they don't give them a pimp (just a pimp or someone to take the fall as one, it doesn't matter if there is any truth in the accusation and allegations), and sometimes even sexually abuse the same victims they swear to protect. I have done extensive research and have become aware of an outlook from society and officials that will make your blood boil.
Prostitutes are not human. To anyone. They're not allowed to be. If you decide you want to accept one for everything she comes with, all the emotions, pain, depression, insecurities, fear of abandonment issues, inferiority complexes, and general lack of self worth and inherent value, then you are a pimp. You must be, because to authority and society there is absolutely no way these women deserve to be loved just because. There is no way any man should be able to find it in his heart to love what should only be considered a disgusting, bottom barrel, disgrace to human nature. If you're with her then you must be being paid to be there. There's no other way. They are hell bent on scaring these women out of any human contact other than that from johns. For example a prostitute can go out on her own and service a thousand clients and it is always a misdemeanor, but the moment there appears to be someone in her life who she goes home to, her misdemeanor becomes his felony. Until or unless he's proven innocent of course. The goal is to make you not want to be with these women much past 15 minutes. The john can actually get caught with his penis in her mouth, a $50 bill taped to the back of her head, with a hand written note that says, "I just paid for this bj", and it is a misdemeanor, maybe even an infraction. The message is clear. They now even have laws in place that can see families of these women facing criminal charges for accepting any part of money or gifts that come from sex work if they are aware of what the woman does. So even if a prostitute does not have a pimp in the traditional sense, lawmakers have found an ingenious way to create one for them. Thereby severing the last of a prostitutes ties to being able to do at least something positive with her earnings.
That is where the violent pimps come in, the drug use, the depression and lack of self worth. Society has forced these women to shut out anything good because no one who is not a criminal or criminal minded would dare dedicate any part of his life to one of these walking prison sentences. Whether you accept her earnings or not, whether you are unhappy with what she does but knows she will do it with or without you and you just choose to be in her life, you will be deemed a monstrous pimp, human trafficker, and general scum. Because how dare you care about someone who has been cast out (yet kept close enough to still be usable by the very same people who label her undesirable) and left to rot alone?
They claim to be hard on sex work because they want to stop illegal sex work as a whole, and that sounds awesome right? Well do me a favor and take a moment to see how many public officials are busted for patronizing these women. I'll wait.
From local law enforcement to secret service these women are merely seen as products, not much different than drugs. Only they are worth less than their weight in cocaine when it comes to the men in power who abuse them. All over the world athletes and entertainers, even judges, use the services of these women illegally. With no regards to the actual person. I promise these men see it with the same perception as snorting a line of high priced Peruvian flake, or even some of the cheap stuff depending on who they are patronizing.
There are online worlds of customers of these women who discuss the flesh trade as if they are describing bacon at their local grocery store. Complaints of women who use protection, those women are actually talked down about and negatively reviewed, which hurts business enough to compel some women to want to shun protection themselves. This is happening every day. Prostitutes are not allowed to care about even their own safety.
Riverside County, an Inland Empire area of Southern California has been known for its corruption and greed when it comes to the way they treat (or mistreat) sex workers. The way they falsify and enhance charges, actually watch and allow prostitution to occur in order to make an arrest, and in some cases use force, fear, fraud, and coercion to retain guilty pleas for pimping and human trafficking. They don't care who is actually guilty, they just want a conviction. More convictions mean more revenue. Which is what this war on prostitution is really about. Revenue. Grants. Funding. There is no actual reform. Not enough anyway, and the effort for actual reform is miniscule compared to the loud cries for reform.
Recently in an effort to curb online prostitution several credit card companies have stopped processing payments on a popular classifieds site's adult entertainment section. The idea was to shorten the access to being able to engage in illegal sex work online. However, this site in turn made posting ads free temporarily. If I need to explain the obvious and immediate danger then you haven't been paying attention. Even those who may have had no previous interest in working online may now feel enticed and intrigued by the prospect of free. Especially with the potential earnings to be made. Any high school girl can post an ad as she walks home from school.
Until society, law enforcement, and public officials actually start caring about the person a prostitute is and not just the product, there will be no real change.