Until her mother died, the beautiful, long-legged, and barely 13-year-old Victoria with a wealthy father lived a life of privilege. However, after her father remarried her life turned for the worse and quickly.

Her stepmother with a year older daughter, but in the same grade was extremely envious of Victoria, a popular cheerleader and straight-A student in the elite private school. By comparison, her daughter was neither very pretty nor popular. Moreover, was only able to enroll in the elite private school through the influence and large donation of Victoria’s father.

Victoria’s success made her daughter seem common and caused Victoria’s stepmother to go into a rage. Therefore, she made Victoria’s life a living hell. First, she forced the school to drop Victoria as a cheerleader because she refused to allow Victoria to attend the mandatory sporting events and the cheerleader training. Next, when Victoria’s father was away on business as he often was, she would give Victoria daily beatings on any pretense.

On the occasions when her father was home and Victoria attempted to talk to him, her stepmother would quickly intercede and say Victoria is at a difficult age. Therefore, Victoria’s father, who was always busy and trusted his wife, would just dismiss Victoria and tell her to listen to her stepmother.

Finally, with her father not listening and after another severe beating, Victoria had enough. Victoria withdrew $2,500 out of the $2,588 in her saving account, packed a small suitcase and some jewelry, and removed what she believed to be an extra credit card from her father’s home office. Then dressed in a white blouse and mini-skirt Victoria took the first bus out of town; paying for it with the credit card.

The trip from Wichita, Kansas to Nashville, Tennessee via Kansas City and St Louis was 18 hours. At first, Victoria sat near the back. However, a gross creepy old man bothered her so she moved to the front and sat next to a Hispanic woman that spoke Spanish but very little English. That pleased Victoria since because with the language difficulties, the woman did not ask many questions.

Victoria ate during stops in Kansas City and Saint Louis paying for her food with the credit card. In Nashville, she stayed at a nice hotel paying for the room and meals with a credit card. However, when she tried to pay for a ticket to Atlanta, the credit card had been can canceled so she paid with cash.

Victoria had taken the credit card knowing that, with her purchases, her father could trace her location and that when her father did that, he would finally listen to her and then he would protect her from her evil and vicious stepmother.

However, thanking that her father canceled the credit card because he did not care for her and would not search for her, Victoria was heartbroken.

The bus to Atlanta would not leave for over an hour so through tears she wrote him a letter and addressed it to his office knowing that he would never see the letter if mailed to his house. As she wrote the letter, her tears would fall and stain the letter.

Dear Father,

I took the drastic step of leaving home, and taking the credit card because I knew you could use the credit card transactions to find me and finally you would listen to me. I never gave up being a cheerleader. The school dropped me because your wife would not allow me to attend sporting events or remain after school for cheerleader practice.

I had hoped that you loved me and would stop the abuse and almost daily beatings I received from your wife. Instead, you canceled the credit card proving that I am just an inconvenience. Realizing that hurts more than the beatings from your wife, some so severe I would cry myself to sleep and the pain would last for hours.

I cannot stop crying knowing my father does not love me. However, I will get over it and I will not be a burden anymore. I would rather live on the streets and sell my body than spend one more day where I am unwanted and unloved by my father and despised by my stepmother. Even though you do not love me, I will always love you and I will not be a burden.

Love,

Victoria

It was three days later and 9:00 am when, Ellen, her father’s long-term secretary who had permission to open all mail, read the tear-stained letter. She had always liked Victoria and the letter brought tears to her eyes. She immediately called and faxed the letter and envelope to Victoria’s father who was in Chicago for business. Victoria’s father, a self-made multimillionaire, has always placed great importance on work but this was his daughter. He scheduled the next plane to Wichita and called his wife.

“Yes,” his wife replied. “Victoria has been gone a couple of days. She said it was a school trip and I did not want to call you at work over a school event.” When he asked about the credit his wife said, “The credit card was missing so I reported it as lost or stolen. The credit card canceled it and will send a replacement with a new number.”

Next, he called Ellen, his secretary, and told her to ask Mrs. Black, Victoria’s cheerleading teacher, why the school dropped Victoria from the cheerleading squad. In addition, he asked her to bring the letter and meet him at the airport. Then he instructed her to call his attorney, fax him a copy of the letter and ask him to investigate the credit card transactions and to try to locate Victoria. Victoria’s father is not a man that makes rash decisions; he needed the facts first.

When Ellen met him at the airport at 1:30 pm she confirmed what Victoria said in the letter; that the school had to drop her because she was not attending practices and sporting events. Moreover, Ellen told Victoria’s father that Mrs. Black, Victoria’s cheerleading teacher, thought that was odd since Victoria always enjoyed being a cheerleader. Next, he picked up his stepdaughter at the school and he and his sectary got her to verify that often her mother punished Victoria. She did not know why but sometimes she would hear Victoria screaming. Furthermore, she said Victoria has been gone for four days. Victoria’s father was recording the conversation.

Victoria’s father was getting angry. When he confronted his wife she said, “Did I say Victoria has been gone two days? Now that I think about it, it may have been four days, but since it was school related, I wasn’t concerned.” His wife also said, “I would give Victoria mild admonishments but I never hit her and certainly wouldn’t beat her. And, no I never prevented Victoria from attending practices or sporting events and whenever she asked, I would take her and pick her up after practice.”

Victoria’s father was already angry, but with the obvious lies, he got very angry. He called his $ 1,000-an-hour attorney, in charge of one of the two most politically connected law firms in the state, and asked him to immediately file for divorce, to get his wife out of his house, and to get a restraining order preventing her from coming anywhere close to Victoria.

The attorney was able to get the judge they wanted. Victoria’s father had donated $25,000 to the judge and the PAC committee that was instrumental in getting the judge elected and now it was time for the judge to repay that favor. The judge issued an order, stating that the wife has 24 hours to move out and not to come within 500 feet of Victoria or the house. With an ironclad prenuptial agreement, the divorce would go smoothly and quickly despite the efforts of her attorney to delay and prevent it. Her attorney did not care and an implied offer to join the other lawyer’s law firm for more money was more than enough to ensure that he made a minimum effort on her behalf.

Victoria’s father hired a competent investigative firm to find Victoria and they did find the agent that sold Victoria the ticket to Atlanta. He remembered her because it was unusual for such a classy and very pretty girl to be riding the bus. However, he thought she had bought a ticket to Knoxville on a bus leaving about the same time as the one to Atlanta. That mistake made it almost impossible to find Victoria. With the $2,500 she had withdrawn from the bank, she could have gone anywhere in the United States so the extensive search in Knoxville was a dead end.

The chief investigator told Victoria’s father that it was futile to spend more money searching. His firm had entered her name and photos into the databases and posted flyers. However, until Victoria called, was picked up by the police, or someone recognized her from the flyers, there was not much more they could do.

Meanwhile, Victoria with an I.Q. of 147, the top 0.2 percentile, knew her money would not last long unless she could get babysitting jobs, one of the few jobs allowed for children her age. She attempted to pass herself off as 16 and get on as a waitress, to work at a fast food place, and at a small dress shop. With her brains, beauty, and class, several Victoria was willing to hire Victoria. However, each one asked for proof that her age was 16 and they required identification that Victoria did not have. Victoria might find a 16-year-old girl and pay her to let her use her identification, address, and social security number, but for now, she needed another place to stay.

It was easy enough to stay one night at the bus station since she could be waiting on the bus, but the staff would notice her if she stayed there much longer. She left her small suitcase in a coin-paid locker in the bus station and set off to find a place to stay. In the business area in a seldom-used back alley, she found stairs descending from the second floor of a vacant building. The area below the stairs was partially enclosed. Furthermore, it offered protection from the rain. She stacked boxes she found to make a place to sleep. That way no one driving or even walking by could see her sleeping area.

Victoria used her school ID to get a library card and that way she was able to use the computer to find a way to get another identity. To get a delayed birth certificate required school and other records years old and without a birth certificate, she could not possibly get another social security number. Moreover, the Social Security Administration interviews anyone over age 12 and verifies all records with the issuing agencies. Therefore, even if she created fake documents, they would not work. Furthermore, all birth and death records are now cross reference so finding the grave and name of a child that died does not work anymore.

Victoria believes she could sell her body but that was not an option she would consider and certainly not on the streets. She could pass herself off as 16, the age of consent in Georgia, and move in with a man but too was not an option she would consider nor would she return home and be an unloved and unwanted inconvenience. If all else failed, she would pay a 16-year-old girl up to $1,000 to use her identity.

Victoria used public restrooms to wash and clean up; she knew she could wash and dry her clothes in Laundromats. To conserve her money, every day she would buy fruits, canned food including beans that she ate cold, dry cereal, and a quart of milk that would last a day even when warm.

Victoria purchased a cell phone for $99, marked down from $149, and 60 minutes of cell phone time for another $20.00. Victoria asked someone to use the cell phone and take several pictures of her, and she selected one to put on a flyer she created on the computer. Victoria talked the librarian into printing 50 of the flyers. Victoria will pass out the flyers to get babysitting jobs.

It was a two-mile walk one-way, but she went to a middle-class neighborhood with lots of young married to hand out the flyers. She would knock on the door, introduce herself, speak for a couple of minutes, and, if they had young children, she would give them the flyer. She knew that after they met her they would be more likely to call her and her picture and phone number on the flyer would remind them who she was. Victoria calculated that if she could babysit at least 12 hours a week, she could eat and survive in her makeshift home. Moreover, if she could double that, perhaps by also cleaning their houses and she might pass out for that, she could rent a cheap room.

A pimp had several scouts looking for runaway girls and, if they found one, he would pay them $250 to $500. Most seldom did but it was extra cash if they did find one. One unemployed so-called scout that lived on food stamps, hung around the bus station and noticed that Victoria would often come there and get her suitcase, change clothes, and put her suitcase back in the locker. Victoria did not look like any street girl or runaway he had ever seen. It was obvious that she had far more beauty and class and at first, he was too intimidated to approach her.

Finally, the scout did approach Victoria. Victoria was willing to listen, but would not reveal any information. Nevertheless, he told Victoria that he knows a very nice man that would allow her to stay at his home along with one or two more girls and provide room and board in exchange for cleaning, washing, and cooking. This sounded very good to Victoria who knew that living in the alley in her makeshift home was risky as there was the possibility that some creep may find and rape her or worse.

He took several photos of Victoria, and sent them to the pimp with the text, “Have I found the perfect girl for you.” The pimp called him back and offered $500. However, the scout told the pimp the price is $1,000 or he will sell her to another pimp. The pimp could see from the photos that she was worth it as she would be a $500-a-night girl so he agreed to pay $1,000 if, after he met her, he found her acceptable.

After the pimp met Victoria, he realized she would not be a $20 whore but a $1,000 to $1,500 a night girl. When he found out Victoria was a virgin, he decided to sell her virginity for $20,000 and there was a middle age fat rich white man he knew that would pay for a weekend with Victoria to take her virginity. After that, the pimp would fuck her and sell Victoria for $1,000 to $1,500 a night on weekends and $750 or more on weeknights.

Victoria could bring in $250,000 a year and keep the tips for herself and if she lasted four years, the pimp would earn $1 million. The pimp was taking his time trying to persuade Victoria. He would not even consider showing his other girls, all cheap whores, any respect. However, when he could not persuade her, the pimp started giving Victoria cocaine and other drugs in her drinks and food and after four weeks with the drugs making her high and dependent, she agreed.

The pimp took Victoria to a beauty salon to have her hair done, and then he took her to Saks. The pimp was intimidated at Saks but Victoria was right at home. Knowing what the pimp wanted, she selected a $700 short tight-fitting, sleeveless sexy red mini-dress, a $300 pair of heels, and some undergarments.

Altogether, the pimp spent over $1,200 in the beauty salon and Saks. That was more than he intended to spend. However, a sales clerk was looking down her nose at him implying he could not afford it. Therefore, he had to act like a big shot. However, it was worth it, as he would demand $20,000 for a weekend with Victoria to take her virginity. They have not negotiated the price but the pimp knew the fat rich man would pay.

Wearing heels and her new red dress, Victoria was stunning. The pimp took Victoria to the fat man’s high-rise luxury apartment where he met the fat man outside his apartment on the fifth floor. After six hours, Victoria was still suffering the effects of her slight cocaine addiction but the effect of the cocaine and other drugs had diminished enough for her to reconsider. Therefore, she was thinking about running.

On the fifth floor, after getting out of the elevator, the pimp told Victoria to stay there while he talked to the man. The pimp had promised Victoria a handsome young man. That ugly very fat old man was gross. Victoria took one look and decided to run.

When the pimp and fat man were not looking, Victoria pressed the elevator button. When the elevator door opened, she waited until the door started to close, stepped in, and pressed the ground floor button. The fat man said, “Where is she going?” The pimp looked around just as Victoria was disappearing in the elevator.

“You stop right there,” the pimp yelled as he ran to the elevator, but the elevator was starting to go down when the pimp pressed the elevator button. The pimp ran to the stairwell and ran down to the first floor taking five steps at a time. The elevator was slow so Victoria, knowing that pimp would go to the first floor, pressed the second-floor button and got off there. She went to the stairs that led to a side entrance near the street.

The elevator got to the first floor moments before the pimp and when the pimp looked, the elevator was empty. Thinking Victoria had probably left, he ran to the front door, looked outside, and asked the doorman, if he saw a pretty girl in a red dress. The doorman shook his head ‘No’ and the pimp said, “Where in the fuck is that bitch. No whore is going to take my money.”

The pimp ran to the elevator again and pressed the button. The door opened but the elevator was empty. “Goddammit, where is that fuckin whore? Ain’t no whore gonna pull one over on me. I’ll kill the stupid bitch.” The pimp saw the hallway leading to the side entrance and dashed to it.

Meanwhile, a black doctor just happened to driving by and Victoria stepped in front of his car and motioned for him to stop. Neither the doctor nor almost any man would ignore a beautiful sexy young woman so the doctor stopped his car. Victoria opened the side door, got in, and said, “Go! Please go now.”

The pimp was out the side door just in time to see Victoria get into the doctor’s car. Running as the doctor’s car started moving, the pimp yelled, “Stop, stop right there, you stop that car.” The pimp tried to catch the car but by the time he got to where the car had stopped, it was already going 15 mph and picking up speed. For several seconds the pimp was closing, but then the car was going too fast.

“Dammit, where are you takin’ my whore? Ain’t no goddamn nigger gonna steal my whore! I’ll kill the fucker!”

“Who is that guy?” the doctor asked.

“He’s a pimp.” The doctor turned and looked Victoria up and down so Victoria said, “It’s a long story. If you will stop somewhere and buy me something to eat, I’ll tell you all about it.”

The doctor was certainly curious. “Will Italian be okay,” he asked.

“Yes! Anything; I haven’t eaten since morning.”

The doctor stopped at La Grotta Ristorante Italiano. When the waiter arrived, it seemed that Victoria barely look at the menu. She read it quickly and made a choice. The doctor was closely watching her. She certainly was not a common whore and she appeared too young to be a high price call girl. Wealthy clients would be leery of any girl under 18 and certainly, if she is less the 16, the age of consent in Georgia.

When the waiter returned, Victoria asked what Amarone he recommended. She accepted his recommendation and asked for tea to drink. After ordering and waiting for the food, Victoria started telling her story.

“After my mother died and my father remarried, things got bad. My father was away from home a lot on business and my stepmother would give me beatings almost every day some so severe that the pain would last most of the night. I tried to tell my father but he didn’t care and told me to obey my stepmother. I was a middle school cheerlead and very good at it, but my stepmother refused to allow me to go to the sporting events and cheerleading practice so the school dropped me as a cheerleader.”

“How were your grades?” the doctor asked.

“I have never made any grade, less than an ‘A.’ Not even once.”

“Then what happened?” the doctor asked.

“After a very severe beating, I left home. I was living under a stairway when the pimp offered me food and a place to stay in exchange for household duties. At first, I did not know he was a pimp. However, after a month I agreed to be with a man. The pimp told me he was a young handsome man. Instead, he was middle age, ugly, and very fat. He must have weighed 300 pounds. When I saw him, I ran and so here I am; no place to stay and not much money.”

The doctor could recognize signs of drug addiction, even when minor. “Are you taking drugs?” he asked.

“Not knowingly. However, sometimes it felt like my skin was crawling with ants and I get these awful cravings. I don’t know for what but they are awful, my mind doesn’t function right. I don’t know what is wrong with me.”

“I’m a doctor; I’ll take you to the hospital and run some tests.”

“I don’t have money to pay you or the hospital and I’m not going to ask my father or stepmother. I will not go back to that abuse; not now, not ever.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll treat you gratis and I will instruct the hospital not to charge you.” At the hospital, the doctor gave Victoria a complete physical checkup including blood and urine tests for any drugs and STDs. Of course, Victoria was STD free but she did have several drugs in her system, the worse being cocaine since cocaine can cause biological changes in the brain.

The doctor told Victoria that her health was good but she had tested positive for cocaine and other drugs. He said, “I believe your cocaine addiction is mild, but I will keep you in the hospital for a few days. In addition to craving more cocaine, withdrawal symptoms may include fatigue, sleep disturbance, feelings of paranoia, depression, irritability, and anxiety. There are drugs I can give you that will help the cravings and other symptoms, but mostly you need to want to get over your dependency. Can you do that?”

“I’ll do my best. I promise I will do the very best I can.”

“Okay then. I will give instructions to the nurse to give you some medications to help if you ask but it is better if you don’t need them. The first day or two will the worse and then it will get better.”

Victoria proved to have an indomitable spirit. Knowing what to expect helped. The nurses kept checking on her but she would not ask for help. She would win with her inner strength. The next morning the doctor checked on her and asked Victoria how she was feeling.

“I’ve had much better nights but if this is the worst cocaine can do, I will be okay. I guarantee it.”

The next day, Victoria was better but the doctor would keep her in the hospital for another two days. On the third day, the doctor asks a psychologist to administer an IQ test to Victoria. Victoria was still not feeling up to par. Nevertheless, even though she had not completely recovered from the mild cocaine addiction, her IQ score was 143, the top 0.3 percentile. That removed any remaining doubt that Victoria was very special and had that rare combination of brains and beauty.

Meanwhile, the pimp who had made a note of the doctor’s license plate was able to find his address. Counting the initial $1,000 paid to the scout, $1,200 at Saks and the beauty parlor, about $1,000 for cocaine and other drugs, and food, the pimp had invested $3,500 in Victoria and his anger would override his normal good judgment. He grabbed his pistol and headed out to get Victoria back. “Ain’t no goddamn black ass nigger going to steal my whore. “I’ll rip his head off and shit down his throat.”

As the pimp pulled into the doctor’s neighborhood, a cop that recognized the pimp wondered what he was doing in this neighborhood and pulled him over. That only increased pimp’s fury. He muttered, “Goddamn fuckin’ cops, the shitheads won’t leave me alone.”

Normally, when stopped by a cop, he would quickly hide his pistol under the dashboard, but he was too furious to think. The cop ordered him out of the car. “Put your hand on the car and spread ‘em’,” the cop ordered as he started frisking the pimp.

When the cop found the pistol, he yelled for the pimp to get on the ground with his hands behind his back.

“Officer, I ain’t done nothing wrong,” the infuriated pimp said.

The cop interpreted failure to comply immediately as resisting arrest so he tasered the pimp. As the pimp fell in agony, his jerking and the involuntary contraction of his muscles caused his foot to kick the cop in his groin, which the cop took as assault and called for backup. With charges of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer of the law, the judge denied bail. It would be two weeks before his attorney got him out of jail and the charges dropped. However, the attorney had demanded that he put up his $45,000 Cadillac as collateral for his $8,500 bill and the pimp would have 30 days to redeem his Cadillac or the attorney would sell it at an auction. The pimp had plenty of cash in his safe so that was not a problem.

After releasing Victoria from the hospital, the doctor, who learned that she was a virgin, believed she would be a good girlfriend and, in a few years, be the perfect wife for his 16-year-old son. The doctor wanted Victoria to live with them but his wife was not agreeable. Instead, the doctor talked 80-year-old Jessie Kate White, a well-to-do patient of his who lived all alone in a big house to let Victoria stay will her as sort of a live-in-maid and companion.

Thirteen-year-old Victoria considered the opportunity and immediately accepted. She knew the child labor laws had nothing to do with protecting children. Instead, their purpose is to protect unions from low-wage workers. Babysitting, acting, and modeling are about the only jobs legally permitted for a thirteen-year-old. That may not get Victoria off the streets and into decent housing. Victoria knew that she was young enough, thin enough, tall enough, and had the stunning beauty and style to a be runway model and/or could model clothes. However, that would require her father’s approval.

Therefore, Victoria realized she did not have a better opportunity and she truly did appreciate what the doctor has done for her. Victoria would prove to be a near-perfect companion for Mrs. White. Victoria spent the first two days, about 20 hours, cleaning the house from top to bottom, and she would cook meals. Victoria went shopping with Mrs. White for groceries, making a few suggestions on things they would need.

It had been 20 years since anyone painted her house so if Mrs. White would buy the paint and supplies, Victoria volunteered to paint the house. They selected colors for the walls and trim and Victoria spent the next five weeks painting the house. On the inside, she only needed a step letter. It was a brick house but outside the doors and trim needed painting. Her late husband had left Jessie Kate White the ladders and tools that Victoria would need.

Outside, under, and along the edge of the roof, Victoria used a twelve-foot ladder. She would scrape and sand several feet of loose paint, move the ladder, and scrape and sand several more feet. Then she repeated the same process for painting. To scrape, sand, and paint, Victoria would move and climb up and down the ladder almost 200 times. The painting Victoria did for only $500 in paint and supplies would have cost over $6,500 if Mrs. White had hired a painter. Furthermore, Victoria did a better job because she removed all the electrical outlet covers and doorknobs, and she did a more complete job of scraping and sanding.

By then Mrs. White trusted Victoria and let her view her bank and stockbroker accounts. Immediately Victoria noticed that her brokerage account was losing her money. It was no wonder due to churning. Victoria did not yet know much about stocks, but one thing her father had told her is you do not do frequent buying and selling because the commissions and spread between buy and sell prices will eat you alive.

Victoria talked Mrs. White into transferring her account to a low-cost, no advise, stockbroker. Victoria also got her car insurance reduced because Mrs. White drove less than 3,000 miles per year and not the 15,000 she was paying for. In addition, Victoria got her home insurance reduced because her house value was overinflated and it was not necessary to include and insure the value of the lot.

After twelve days, when the pimp did not return, one whore decided to leave. Thinking she could hock the wall picture for money, found that behind the picture was the pimp’s wall safe. That got the interest of all the girls. One girl noticed some numbers written on the back of the picture and the girls decided that could be the combination. They spent hours trying different combinations of one and two numbers for the combination. Finally, one girl thought the combination might be in reverse order and the safe opened.

In the safe were $72,000 in cash, eighty 1-ounce gold eagles, and some jewelry. The girls divided what was in the safe and vanished in different directions. Before leaving, one girl squirted super glue in the holes and on the bolts that locked the safe. Moreover, after closing the safe, she squirted super glue behind the combination-turning knob. It was early the next morning when the girls were packed and called taxies to take them to the bus station and airport three hours before the pimp arrived home and muttered, “Where are my damn whores.”

However, he would worry about that later, the important thing was to get $8,500 in cash from his safe and redeem his $45,000 Cadillac. He tried to open the safe but the combination would not turn. “What the fuck is the matter with my safe?” The pimp twisted and struggled trying to turn the combination. Finally in frustration and because he had not had enough sleep in jail, the pimp went to bed.