“ She laughed at me . ‘ My job ? This ain ’ t no job . This ain ’ t a career choice for me . What the hell you thinkin ’?’”
I rolled over , back to her . “ I don ’ t care what you think ,” I said .
“ But you have to get out of here .” “ My mom was a hooker , you know .” I grunted . All I wanted was to fall asleep and try to forget how much I hated myself .
“ She got me into this . Been turnin ’ tricks since I was 12 or 13 . I can ’ t remember .” My oldest daughter was 12 . “ She was my pimp for a couple years .
Then she got herself killed .” “ Sorry about that . Make sure you close the door on your way out .”
“ Do you know how trapped I am ? I promise you , my pimp ain ’ t gonna be happy about you makin ’ me walk back . It ain ’ t because it ain ’ t safe . He ’ s gonna miss out of more money ‘ cause I ’ ll be walkin ’ instead of turning more tricks .”
“ I ’ ll give you another five bucks if that ’ ll get you out of here .”
“ Yeah . Why should you care ? You just get to blow your wad and be done . I gotta do six , seven more guys tonight . If I don ’ t , my daddy ’ ll beat me .”
“ Then why don ’ t you just quit your job .”
She laughed at me . “ My job ? This ain ’ t no job . This ain ’ t a career choice for me . What the hell you thinkin ’?”
The girl walked up to me . Moved her face right in front of mine . I leaned back , she grabbed my head and pulled me forward .
“ Nah , you gotta look at this face . And don ’ t you never forget me .”
“ What ’ s the matter with you ?” I asked .
“ You think this is fun for me ? That I get my jollies from screwin ’ guys like you ? Well , let me tell you this ; I hate every single one of you sick creeps . You all make my skin crawly . And you are the reason for my hell .”
“ If you hate it so much , why don ’ t you just get out ?”
“ I might as well slit my own throat .” She sat next to me on the bed .
“ You know what happens if I don ’ t show up to my pimp with money ? He ’ s gonna come lookin ’ for me . Then he ’ ll kill me .” “ I ’ m sure they all say that .” “ He ain ’ t jokin ’. He ’ ll do it . He ’ s crazy , man .” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand . “ And ain ’ t nobody gonna care if they find my body . Just another dead hooker .”
She turned her head , looked away from me . “ You should get going ,” I said . “ Know what would make all this stop ?” She turned back toward me . “ If
“ She laughed at me . ‘ My job ? This ain ’ t no job . This ain ’ t a career choice for me . What the hell you thinkin ’?’”
guys like you could keep it in your pants .” She stood and walked to the door . “ If there weren ’ t all you guys lookin ’ for a quick and easy lay , there wouldn ’ t be any girls like me gettin ’ raped for money .”
She closed the door behind her . Her high heeled boots made a clicking sound on the balcony as she walked away .
And I was alone again . Wondering where I ’ d find the next girl .
Each of the 27 silhouettes above represents a friend of the artist , and is symbolic of the 27 million slaves worldwide . By Ellen Bruex . 4