Tough Love

Chapter 1

Luna

"What's your name?" The man asks as he sets the camera up.

"Luna Walker...but they call me Venus."

I sit on the stool and hear the sirens coming from outside. I'm getting paid a thousand for this interview. A white man filming a documentary about skid row. And I just happened to be there this morning.

"How was your childhood? Both parents?"

"Nah..." I wanna leave it there but he looks at me, wanting me to say more "my dad was in jail most a the time, my mom a crackhead."

"Same old huh?" He asks, I only nod in reply.

"Any abuse?" He intrudes.

I nod. "Yeah...from my mum mainly, and her sister."

I don't wanna elaborate. Because I loved her, and I still do.

"Why was your dad in prison?"

"Gang shit." I say and laugh. But he doesn't laugh.

"So you're involved with gang stuff too?"

I shake my head. "His gang don't know I exist...as his daughter at least. They don't know me."

"And when did you get into this business?"

"Young..." I think for a moment "must've been around thirteen."

"How old are you now?"

"I turn nineteen in a couple months."

"How do you feel about that? Are you excited?"

How do I feel about that? Am I supposed to feel something about that?

I shake my head "I know that if I'd had a better life I'd feel immortal at this age...the way some of the wealthier kids act in LA, they've got to feel immortal or sumn. But unlike them I can't afford to think about anything very profound. Tomorrow isn't a promise in my world, you know? I don't feel no ways about turning nineteen."

He nods. I wonder how many a these interviews he done.

"Are drugs a part of your life?"

"As in do I consume them?"

He nods.

"Not habitually no...I done stuff here and there but I ain't a addict. I'm very scared a that."

"Why're you scared of it?"

"You seen what it does? Course you have. People ain't people anymore, especially on crack. I never truly knew my mum cuz of it, I don't wanna lose myself too."

"How did you get into this business?"

"I didn't do it willingly. Not like some o these hoes out here seeing it as just racks. It ain't. I used to run away from home a lot...an one day when I started to look more like a woman and less like a child, no one took me back home. So I stayed out, got caught in it and yeah...it saved me in a way. But I hate it." I smirk to relieve the tension but he don't.