Diary Of A Pack Whore

Entry2: The Streets

***Approximately 33% of runaways will turn to prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.

The average age for girls to first enter into prostitution is between 12 and 14, for boys it is between 11 and 13.

Most runaways say they turned to prostitution for food or a place to sleep.***

People say absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Well I say distance makes you less likely to run into people you know. 

I took the bus as far as my money would take me.  I made sure my last stop was a good sized city, but other than that I didn't care.  I just wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere but where I had started from.  Maybe if I ran far enough, if I ran fast enough, I could finally outrun the nightmare of my life.

But when you have no plan, things usually take a wrong turn.  My wrong turn came from my conceit. My arrogance in thinking I could do it all by myself. 

I had no high school diploma, no skills, and I could barely read.  Those qualifiers added to my lack of experience and age decimated any chance I had of getting a job.

So with no job, no money, no place to live, and no food I was soon easy prey for the predators that stalked the streets at night.

At first I didn't see them. They stayed in the shadows. Silently watching. Patiently waiting for when I was at my weakest and most desperate.

Sometimes I would feel their eyes on me.  The heat of their desire to own me would settle into my bones and I knew that they were close. The weight of their evil intent driving me deeper into the streets, herding me to where they wanted. Where they could easily take me down.

My senses were on high alert when the first approached.  A businessman wanting a good time. Just a little car ride and some dinner. Wasn't I hungry? He'd treat me real good.

With his rumpled suit and whiskey bright eyes he gave off an aura of desperation. His whole demeanor screamed weak.  He had made his play too early, hadn't assessed his prey carefully enough and lost his chance.

I watched him roll slowly down the street only to stop at the next corner and try again. This time he chose well. His prey scampered into the warm car, shivering in her threadbare, barely there clothing.  The brake lights blinked in the darkness as the weak predator hurried off into the night with his quarry.

He was the first, but I knew he wouldn't be the last. And as time went by I would become weaker as the predators chasing me became stronger.

The girls were next. First cajoling. "Come see Rico, he'll set you up nice." "Zeus will treat you good baby girl. You won't ever go hungry again." Then, pushing me out of alleyways I thought would be safe. Coming at me with knives and bared claws if they thought I would encroach on their corner without signing loyalty to their pimp. Always yelling. Always willing to fight for the little piece of hell that was theirs.

Not wanting to fight with owned girls, I became good at running. Slowly wearing myself down. Making it easier for the real predators to catch me.

I don't know how I lasted as long as I did. Maybe it was my animal nature. Maybe it was my deadened soul. But I managed to stay free for almost two weeks. Then it happened. A stronger predator finally ran me to ground.

I hadn't eaten anything that day but a stale donut that I found in the trash. Sleep was a commodity I could no longer afford. The danger was too great to let down my guard. Listlessly wandering the streets, I tried to stay in the shadows hoping I would go unnoticed for yet another night.

My senses dulled, I didn't notice the beast that was upon me until it was to late to flee.  Turning quickly I tried to keep an avenue of escape open without leaving my back unprotected. 

He wasn't exceptionally tall or built. I had seen many men that were stronger.  But as I stared into his soulless eyes I felt a chill run down my spine.  His face had a deep groove carved into it shaped like a question mark. The skin around it puckered tightly, causing a ghoulish asymmetry.  His cold smile twisting his face into a grotesque mask.

I could smell the acrid stench of gunpowder and see the slight bulges from knives that were hidden throughout his clothes.  His knuckles were scraped and bruised and I had to wonder, who's face had they recently pummeled.  His screamed danger and I knew I would not be escaping tonight.

As he went to touch my face I flashed my fangs at him.  My eyes flashed a warning, telling him to use caution because I too was a predator.

His eyes lit with avarice as he realized I was a were. It probably wasn't often that he had a chance to own someone like me.

"Baby, I'm Zeus. My girls say you been hangin round here."

I stood silently waiting for this pimp to start his spiel. If I could keep him talking I still had a chance.  Maybe I could get away for just one more night.

"Now, this here is my territory little girl. And if you gonna be squattin in it you got dues to pay.  I ain't a hard boss." Zeus paused. This time I closed my eyes in defeat. His hands felt soft against my cheek as he gripped my face. " I treat my girls real well. I leave ya enough money to live on, I even got little apartments for my girls that bring in good business.

All you gots to remember baby is that every piece of you belongs to me.  Anything I want done to it, gets done. Now come on with me. We'll get you something good to eat, maybe a shower, a nice soft bed.  Then baby, you can start paying me back what you owe for being in my home without my permission."

I didn't fight, I didn't run. I didn't make one protest as I took my new owners hand and let him lead me back into the hell I had thought to escape.

One of the remaining parts of my soul withered and died as I laid upon dingy sheets making all the appropriate sounds as I stared blankly at the water stained ceiling above me. A tear fell from my eye with each bang of the headboard hitting the wall.

The numbness that had shrouded me these past two weeks was now a sweet blanket, protecting what small piece of hope I had left.