Chapter 1

(Click)

"This is Darin Hamner -- wait a minute, let me make sure this recorder is on. Yes, it's okay. All right. This is Darin Hamner. The date is October 21. The time, nine-thirty seven pm. the location is the back room of a bar in Los Angeles, California. This audio recording is research on a study of the sociological and psychological effects of prostitution in America. The recording which follows is an interview with a man who does not wish to reveal his real name or be videotaped and wants simply to be called Spiker. He is black, of medium build and indicates he is thirty-two years old. Perhaps we could start by you telling me why you consented to do this interview."

"Well, you contacted me, but as I told you, I'm a businessman. I ain't ashamed of what I do."

How would you describe what you do for a living?"

(Snicker) "I'm in the entertainment business."

"Oh, really?"

"Sure. I provide men with someone to entertain them."

"And that someone would be... ?"

"A woman."

"And how does she entertain them?"

"Well she don't sing no songs or dance a jig."

"She has sex with them."

"That's what they pay for."

"And you make the arrangements."

"Sometimes I do, especially for the younger, better looking ones. The others work the streets."

"In other words, in the common vernacular, you're a pimp."

"Yeah, okay, I'm a pimp."

"How long have you been a pimp?"

"Seven years."

"How did you become a pimp? Can you tell us a little about yourself?

"I was brought up in the projects. Never knew my old man. He skipped out on my old lady before I was born. Mama had the habit."

"Drugs?"

"And alcohol. She couldn't keep any job long. She worked for a while in a sewing factory and then at a gas station, but toward the end she was too wasted to do much of anything."

"She's dead?"

"Yeah, when I was fifteen. My aunt and her husband gave me a place to stay. They wanted me to finish school but I never liked it much so I quit."

"At fifteen?"

"Yeah."

"But didn't the authorities... ?"

"Oh, they sent letters and once a guy stopped by my aunt's place and told 'em I'd go to juvie if I didn't start back into school. I didn't want to get them in trouble so I left to go out on my own."

"What then?"

"Joined a gang, crashed some flophouses. Started dealin', coke and heroin mostly. Got arrested twice, but because of my age the judge bought my sob story and let me off with a warning and probation."

"Then what?"

"Then I got busted a third time and that's when it hit the fan. The judge that time tried me as an adult and gave me six years of hard time."

"What was it like in prison?"

"I was seventeen and cocky as hell when I went in. Within a week I was almost raped by the Aryan Brotherhood. They said they were gonna make me their bitch. That's when the brothers stepped in and took me under their wing."

"The brothers? You mean other blacks."

"Yeah, they called themselves the Ravens. They were always fighting the Brotherhood, fist fights, shivs mostly. A lot of blood. Manny, my best friend was killed by a bunch of the brotherhood. Caught him alone one day in the laundry. Cut him up real bad. He bled out before they could get him to the infirmary."

"And you?"

"The Ravens sort of protected me after that. The Brotherhood didn't come close when there were Ravens with me and I made sure I was never alone."

"What did you learn in prison?"

"I learned to watch my back. I learned there's nobody you can trust, not completely. Even some of the Ravens ripped me off a few times."

"How so?"

"We managed to save a little money and sometimes get stuff from the outside. My aunt brought me things, just small stuff, food and clothes mostly, but I didn't keep 'em long if any of the Ravens wanted 'em."

"Was that the cost of your protection?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Plus about a year before I got out, I helped 'em jump one of the Brotherhood. He was a tall, mean son-of-a-bitch and one of the ones who tried to rape me, so when three of the Ravens cornered him, I acted as lookout. They beat him up pretty good. If I'd had a shiv Ida cut him, but I didn't, so I just kicked the crap out of him after they finished with him."