Sex workers speak out ~ Interview with a Pimp.

When Joey was 15 years old, he was forced by his grandmother to attend his mother's funeral. This is not something that he wanted to do. He hated his mother. He was glad she was dead. For years he was forced to watch her sell her body and soul. And even on one occasion, her little boy. When he was 9 years old, his mother had forced him into a room with a man who scarred him for life. He was raised with a mother that was a whore. That was normal for him. But the day his mother sold him was the day his life changed forever.

By the time his mother died, he pretty much learned the way of the world. He knew how to support himself. He worked full time, paid all the bills, and took care of his own basic needs, along with the needs of his much younger sister who was only a few years old at the time of their mother's death. In reality, Joey's grandmother was too old to care for them, but he had to make it look like she was the best person for the job. He didn't want to lose his sister. He knew that if they didn't stay with the grandmother that had turned her head to the awful things that her own daughter did all these years, then who knows if he would ever see his sister again.

Joey didn't want to say much about the childhood version of his sister; he doesn't like to associate such a small child with the world of sex. But he did tell me that he never let anything happen to her. He was her protector. He knew that if he didn't protect her, than no one would have. His own mother sold him, and she had been married to his father. They had been high school sweethearts before he passed away when Joey was a toddler. Joey doesn't remember his father's face, but swears that he can remember his love. “When I think of when I was a baby, I can't remember us all as a family. But I remember how much we were loved. My mother and my father loved me. But when my father died, my mother lost it." What would she do to a daughter that she never wanted? She didn't even know who her father was.

Joey grew up and moved on with his sister. Claiming that he never thought about his mother, he worked his way up to being head of sales at a major manufacturing company. He was living in a decent neighborhood where everyone knew each other. He was married and had a couple of children of his own. He kept a wonderful relationship with his sister, though she seemed to never be able to keep a job. "She just never seemed to grow up. She just liked to hang out and do what she wanted. I don't know if she just hated to work or if she just thought it was a joke. One day she would have a job, and then next she just wouldn't." At one point, Joey realized that his sister was spending an obscene amount of money for someone that hadn't had a job in months. He kept pushing her to find out where the money was coming from and she claimed she had a rich boyfriend. One day, he found out the truth and it was his worst nightmare.

When he confronted her, she spilled the beans. His sister had been selling herself on the streets. Even worse, she was doing it in one of the worst areas he knew about. He knew, because it was the same area his mother had worked. This hurt him on so many different levels. He tried to reach out to his sister. His wife tried. No one got through to her. She was young; she had all the attention and money she desired. How would he be able to stop her? She was going to end up dead too. He lost his temper and trashed his sister’s apartment. He told her all about their whoring mother, and all the details he had purposely left out over the past 20 years. He physically grabbed her, held her down and screamed at her. He told her that it was in her blood, that she was trash from birth. And the only thing she has to look forward to in life is the day she can sell her own children. They parted ways with only one promise, to never speak again.

It was a couple weeks of tears and pain later when he got the call. He was informed that his sister had been beaten unconscious and was taken to the emergency room where they admitted her. She was in the hospital for just under a week. When it was all done and over, she still wanted to be a prostitute. That is when Joey made his decision. He was not going to lose his sister. No matter what, he was going to stand by her side to protect her from evil, from the men she sold her body to, from herself.