She Was A Childhood Friend of My Children!

I was driving through a neighborhood I once lived in… a neighborhood that “I” raised my 3 children in, for about 7 years of their lives.

The neighborhood was drastically different, from when we lived there. Former buildings had been torn down.. old store fronts were replaced with new ones… and old familiar faces, were nowhere to be found.b

But one of the biggest visual differences, was the new busy, buzzing “street life”. Drugs and prostitution were now, very prominent in the area and although none of the new faces were familiar, to me… I wasn’t uncomfortable leaving my vehicle, to go into a once familiar corner store, that now had a new look and new ownership.

I entered the store, looking to purchase a few items to snack on, while traveling back to my side of town.

When “I” left the store, I noticed a young woman standing near the passenger side of my vehicle, with her back to my passenger side door.

I didn’t say anything to her and thought, once she heard me getting into my vehicle.. she would notice and maybe step away.

Once I entered and closed my door, I made sure to purposely close it hard enough, for her to notice.. but, instead of stepping away.. she turned and mouthed for me to lower my window.

I wasn’t going to, at first.. but then I notice that her face seemed familiar and the curiosity to know where the familiarness stemmed, convinced me to lower my window.

When I did lower the window, I asked her what was up.. to which she replied “can I get in”?

Well of course I wasn’t willing to just let some stranger get into my vehicle, so instead.. I said.. “Naah, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.. I don’t know who you are! You could be…”

…before I could finish what I was saying, she called me by my last name… “Mr. Hakim, it’s me… Ree!”

(I'll use the name “Ree”, to protect her identity.)

There was only one person that I knew, that could have fallen into the age group of where I thought this young woman’s age may have been, but seeing that she was Much older than the person I remembered.. I didn’t quite place them as being the same person.

She quickly got rid of my confusion, by verifying that she was, in fact.. the same Ree, that I remembered as a 10 - 11 year old little girl. A childhood friend of my now grown children.

Well… seeing that I did actually “know” her… I allowed her to enter my vehicle, because me initial “guard”, immediately dropped and my suspicions of possible danger were now gone.

I then greeted her with a much friendlier approach.. “Hey, Ree! How are you doing?”

She leaned in for an unsuspecting hug, while answering that, she’s been as “ok, as she could be” under her circumstances.. and of course, you know my curiosity had to ask.. what had she meant, by that.

She begin to tell me how she was a bit “down on her luck” and how she was currently, “lightweight homeless” ..which was kind of surprising and did kinda throw me a little off guard, because I wasn’t expecting to hear that

It was at that moment that I started connecting the appearance of the person that was sitting before me, with what “I” was hearing coming from her mouth… and separating that, from the image of the young 10-11 year old little girl, that use to play with my children.

It was kind of a weird, back & forth transitioning of thought, because… I did, immediately suspected her to be what I initially thought she was, when I first saw her standing by my door… but, kinda forcibly, pushed that thought out of my mind, when she told me who she actually was…

…now, to only have my initial suspicions creep back into my mind, with what she was presently sharing, with me.

I guess you could say.. these were things I just never expected to hear, from one of my children’s former childhood playmates!

She was now 21 years old and had a 6 yr old son, who is currently under legal, custodial, guardianship, of her mother.

She did get around to finally telling me that she was not fully homeless, she was just having “problems” right now, with the people that she stayed with.

She informed me that she was also “working the streets” for money, to support a crack habit.. and to also pay towards a shared rent fee, in the house that she shared with at least 10 other females, that did the same things that she did, along with various other “in & outs”, who would also stay there at any given time.

But, at that very moment.. she was completely unsure of where she would being laying her head, that night because… her and one of the other females, had gotten into a scuffle over the man who ran the house.

The other woman threatened her with physical violence and she didn’t want to deal with that, so she was out looking for an alternative, when she saw me walk into the store.

Now…. ….”nine times out of ten”.. this sort of thing wouldn’t affect me, one way or another… especially, if it was coming from someone that I didn’t know.

I could easily say.. “Hey, you should maybe think about, making better judgement calls.. when dealing with your life!”… but, this WAS someone that I knew.. and well… I DID feel a little sorry for her and her situation.

But, my ‘always present sense’.. of possibly being “had”, by people who like to take advantage of other people… …is never further away, than my next thought, when situations like these occur.

So, even though I wasn’t readily willing to offer her any money, towards helping her issue… feeling that all of this, could have very well been.. a “story” just to get money, for more drugs… I felt that I should at least, try helping in figuring out a possible plan, for her.

Now, up to this point she hadn’t really asked for anything, so.. I really could put that negative thought process I had in my mind, completely in her lap.

So, what I did do.. was ask her about her mother, or other family members.. people that “I” could possibly drop her off, to one of their homes… I knew that she had two sisters, who were older than she.. and a mother that I think I'd met once.

She told me that she was estranged from her family members and hadn’t really communicated with any of them for over a year now.

So, I suggested that.. maybe this was the time that she needed to consider re-establishing some kinda connection with her folks.

It was then that she asked me for money, so that she could maybe stay at a motel.. and the motel she named, was notoriously known for drug activity and prostitution.

She said that I didn’t even have to take her, if I didn’t feel comfortable going there to drop her off… …she said she would walk there, if she had to.

Like I said earlier.. I wasn’t into the thought of giving out money, for her to possibly use on drugs, so I told her that I did not have money for a motel or anything, for that matter,

I basically lied and said that I didn’t have any money on me, at all… to which she replied.. Ok, you can use a credit card to get them room.. or can you can just… can you Please maybe just, go to the bank and help me out? I really need somewhere to stay tonight! If you can do that for me, I’ll suck you dick And give you some of this good, young pussy!”

Now… I want those of you, who may be reading these words… …to take this moment and pause… .. .. .. .. … ….. … ….. ……. ………. … …and now, I want you to imagine your child, if you have children… ...imagine your children, at ten years of age.

Imagine that your children had a good friend.

A friend that came over to your home, on a pretty regular basis… to play and spend time, with your children! Where they would play things like… “the cooking show” with toy kitchen sets, on your front porch… or, “jump rope” and “hopscotch” ….or any other games children play, at the age of ten.

Now, I want you to imagine that it’s 10 years later.. and that same little girl that use to come over to your house to play with your children… just told you, she would suck your dick and give you some “good, young, pussy… …for money for a “hotel room”.

It was a bit unnerving and Yes… I did sense that it was leading towards that uncomfortable area, which is why I brought up taking her to a family members home, or something.

But, I was still hoping that it wouldn’t get there… based on the fact that she KNEW who I was and that she had been friends with my children!

And maybe she would have some sort of… hesitation or reserve, based on those facts!

But.. NO. There was NO reserve! Seemingly NO form of embarrassment! And it was kinda fuckin' hard hearing that coming from her, because there was STILL… this picture, in my head… of a ten year old, girl… that use to play with my children!

So I stopped her with.. “Yo'… YO'.. don’t say stuff like that, to Me!” …and she’s like.. “But, I will.. Mr. Hakim! It doesn’t bother me! I don’t care! I’ll do it.. I’m desperate and I really need some help, even if it’s just a place to stay, for One night!”

Again, I told her.. “Hey! …Stop! Don’t talk that way, to me!

NOW.. I'm not asking you… I'm TELLING you, not to speak to me like that!”

It was then that she totally stopped talking… and just stared at me, like a little kid. It also looked like she was expecting me to tell her to get out of my vehicle.

Now, I know there’s probably a few of you who wouldn’t do what I did next, but… I Am who I AM and, it Is what it IS, so… I told her, straight Out.. …that I wasn’t giving her any money.. and I wasn’t paying for any motel rooms, especially the one she recommended. But.. that I would open my home to her, for at least that one night… ONLY with the conditions that she bring absolutely NO drugs, in my home… that she absolutely didn’t thief anything… and no calling people and giving them the location of my home.

I also made sure that, she completely overstood that this wasn’t an offer for “sexual favors”… this was simply an offer to help her out for at least one night!

I was half expecting her to fall for the bluff.. (which I admit, it light weight was..) …and refuse the offer, figuring she was really only interested in the money or the room, so she could make money in it.

But, surprisingly… she accepted the offer! Her eyes immediately began to tear up and she quickly leaned over and hugged me again. This time, it was a much tighter and longer hug… giving me the impression that, she really was grateful for my offer.

I started my vehicle and began driving towards my home, which was about ten miles from where we were, but the suspicious side of me.. kept driving the thought of testing her addictions, at least one more time.

So I decided to test her honesty again, with one more thing.

Now earlier, I said I wasn’t willing to give money, knowing that I'm a possibly being “scammed” out of it, with false stories… but, I am willing to voluntarily, loose a little money.. if it means I get to flush out falseness in people.. at my own, knowing expense.

I'd much rather lose $50 dollars, to save taking a thief to my house... than to lose a couple hundred dollars, or more... to find out, I never should have taken this thief to my house".

So, I stopped at a grocery store that wasn’t too far out of her neighborhood and asked her if there was anything particular that she would like? She asked for a few cheap items like, potato chips, soda and candy.

I said to her.. “No, like REAL food! What do you like to eat?” ..to which she replied.. “Regular stuff.. I really don’t mind! Whatever you get, will be fine with me”.

My vehicle is a conversion van, with different compartments and shelves in the rear area.. so, I asked her to go in the back and get something.. I don't remember exactly what I asked for, but while she was getting it and not paying attention to me.. I put three $10 bills and four $5 dollar bills, in a small opened compartment, on my dash.

When she returned with what I asked for, I said I'd be back in a few and got out to go into the grocery.

I figured, she would take the money and bounce…

I truly wouldn’t have been surprised or bothered by it because, even though I knew who she was, as a little kid… I also knew, what she had become.. as an adult. And even though I didn’t want her to come to any harm, out there in the streets… I really wasn’t “feeling” or “liking” the idea of having someone who smoked crack.. staying the night, in my house!

Yea, I know… I had plenty of time to think about that and should have made that decision before getting this far into it, if that was the way I felt…

…but like I said earlier… there was a lot of different “mental processing” going on… jumping between, wanting to help the “little one”, that I once knew -vs- me now picturing her being a possible, thieving, crackhead!

Anyway, I did my little shopping and came back out, expecting her to have taken the $50 and been OUT!… but she was still there!

And when I got in, I noticed that the money had been moved.. but, none of It was missing!

I looked at her, as she looked out the passenger side window and I guess she felt me looking at the back of her head because, she turned and looked at me and asked.. “What?

I just gave a little “hmm”… to which she replied.. “What, you thought I was gonna take your money, didn’t you?”

I said.. I did! I really thought you would just… “keep it REAL” and take what you really needed… and would probably be gone, by the time I got back! So, yea… you surprised me!”

And then she surprised me again, by saying.. “It looked kinda like a “trap”.. and well, even though I am a thief… and I have.. and WILL steal stuff, that I need… I didn’t want to steal nothin’ from you.. because you’re doing something that’s helping me! And Why would I mess that up for myself, for $50 dollars?”

I said.. “Oh, you counted it, huh?” She said.. “Yea, I did!”

I chuckled a little and said.. “Well.. it’s nice to know that you didn’t take it and I appreciate that you didn’t do what I expected you to do. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome”, she said. I started my vehicle and proceeded to drive on, to my home.

It was mostly a silent drive, but on my way there, I began to wonder about, all of the possible things.. that could possibly happen to a young woman, that would have them getting into that type of lifestyle.

I didn’t mention any of my thoughts while on the road, but I did decide I was going to ask a few questions and see if she would even be comfortable enough to talk to me, about any of it.

So, after she had eaten and engaged in light, “comfortable conversation”.. I decided to delve into a more personal topic and ask her what happened to her, to make her turn to the life she was living.

MAN!!! Talk about an “open book”! She had absolutely NO problem telling me about EVERYTHING..

:she had been through…

:what started it all…

:why it hasn’t stopped…

:the situation with her mom & child… Everything!

She even told me some of the wildest things about OTHER people and the crazy things that she’s seen and learn, while being in the streets.

And THIS is where the namesake of this challenge… ‘(Un) common knowledge’… enters into the storyline, in a ‘BIG’ Way!!

I learned something about the life of certain “streeters”, that night… that I never knew existed and never even imagined!

First, let me explain that “Streeters” is a title that I've always used, to refer to women that work the streets.

To me, it sounds less “degrading”.. in contrast to words like “whore”, “Ho’s”, “strawberries”, “hookers”or “prostitutes.

The (Un) common knowledge part of this story, as it was told to me by “Ree”, was that… a number of streeters, throughout the different neighborhoods and locations, in Cleveland, Oh… ONLY preferred dealing with white “johns” (men that solicit prostitutes).

However… even Those “johns” had to fall into a certain category, for these certain streeters to even be interested.

They would ONLY deal with the johns who appeared to have “large sums of money”.. and they would actively look for these differences, for a “specific” reason.

That reason was not for what you’re probably “thinking” it would be!

It wasn’t simply for the purposes of getting bigger payouts, for the services the streeters provided… it was more for the possibility of ensnaring unsuspecting johns in what they referred to as “The 4ever Trap”.

“The 4ever Trap” consisted of making themselves up to look much nicer than your typical neighborhood streeter.

They would then go to areas that were highly visited, by white men with big money potential… like the Downtown Cleveland area, on weekends.. (THIS, I specifically know about, because of street life activities and experiences that took place, at an earlier time in my life… but, that’s another story.)

The streeters would work the areas outside of popular downtown clubs, without going in.. unless possible johns requested their presence and payed for them to accompany them, into the clubs.

‘Jacks Casino’ in tower city, was one of the favorite places, for a lot of streeters to work, because of the amount of men spending money, on gambling.

The objective was, to get these guys to pay for hotel stays and sexual encounters and when the johns weren’t paying attention or were distracted by ANYTHING… the tv.. a phone call.. using the bathroom.. removing their cloths…

…the streeters would take the condoms and puncture them push pins, or safety pins… in the hopes of possibly getting pregnant by one of these johns, who they suspected had large sums of money!

And that was bases of “The 4ever Trap”! While they were in the rooms with the “johns”.. they would any and all information, that they possibly could.

From license ID’s/work ID’s, or anything with the johns personal info on it… they’d ask for or copy phone numbers and/or contact info, for future dates… and in the future.. If the streeters Did end up actually getting pregnant.. they would contact these johns and inform them of the pregnancies! And so began the “The 4ever Trap”!

For some of the streeters, it worked.. for others, it didn’t. For some of the johns, they escaped.. for others, they didn't.

Ree informed me that some of the streeters wouldn’t even use the more permanent “pin/condom” trap.. they would simply pick very drunk johns and lie to them about being pregnant!

She said most of these type johns, wouldn’t even remember the faces of the streeters they had been with, so the streeters would even use different streeters, or even friends, who were actually pregnant with whomever they were pregnant by… and fool the johns into believing THEY were the fathers of these pregnant women!

And for a split second, I thought.. “why wouldn’t some of these dudes just force the streeters hands and ask for proof of paternity… and within the next second, it occurred to me...

Most of these men were probably completely terrified.. of ANY TYPE of possible connection… or informative info, linking them to involvement with streeters!

They were probably horrified of ANY potential leaks, or possible rumors, getting out… connecting them to that lifestyle!

And even worse… the possibility of a streeter actually getting pregnant by one of them!

Of course they were probably totally devastated by being “trapped”… but, quite a few johns readily accepted the trap, over being exposed and connected to the seedy life of johns and streeters. They would simply rather pay… and keep EVERYTHING secret!

They didn’t want the risk of… divorce, because of their wives finding out… the risk of losing their jobs… …and I could imagine, the johns actually going through the actual paternity test, a literally knowing for a fact, with backing proof.. that a child.. born from a streeter, is actually their child!

To some of the johns… “The 4ever Trap’ payments, were the easier courses, to take.

She told me that, she personally knew a few streeters, who were receiving monthly payments for whatever price they had trapped the johns into agreeing to give!

She even new former streeters, who were never into drugs, just the money they’d get for sex.. that had actually quit the street life, because they were finally able to live off of “The 4ever Trap” money they were now receiving and didn’t need to be in the streets anymore.

It turned out to be a very long and interesting, conversation, that lasted until after 2am.

Following our long and very informative conversation, I noticed the sleepiness in her eyes and told her to go ahead and get some sleep.

Afterwards, I simply kinda started doing things that I would normally do, if I was alone, like.. getting on my computer.. checking social media and the like. After awhile, she just fell off to sleep.

She slept well into the next morning/afternoon, rising at about 1:15pm.

I offered to take her to lunch if she wanted.. and she asked if we could go to McDonalds.

She later told me that, she had the most comfortable sleep she'd had, in so long that.. she couldn’t even remember how long it had been!

She informed me that, there was no such thing as “sleeping comfortably” in the house she stayed in, or anywhere else she’d have to lay her head, for the night, because everyone was always on the “take”.. always looking to take something, from someone else.

She also said that on many occasions, random guys would sometimes try to physically sexually assault the sleeping streeters… or rummage through their personal things, looking for money or crack.

Other times, fights would just jump off in the middle of the night, indoors or outdoors.. it didn’t matter.

She said, there would be gunshots ringing outside, on a regular basis… or ”bitches jumpin’ on you, on the inside.. for “whateva reason”, as she put it.

It was just impossible to “sleep”, without having “one eye open”, for All kinds of mess, constantly going on, around you.

After I took her back down to her neighborhood, she thanked me for letting her stay the night… thanked me for getting what she called ‘REAL Rest’… thanked me for the food… and said that she really respected and appreciated the fact that I request any sex, from her.. and respected that I didn't try to “get some”, while she slept.. …and how, even if I had just laid down in bed, next to her... she probably would have been the aggressor and tried taking it from me, instead. …but, I never got into the bed.

She told me that she felt refreshed and upbeat and that she would be alright after I dropped her off.

She said that if she had a phone she would offer me her number and take mines too, just to keep in touch.

I told her, now that I know she’s out here, that I may drive through now & again, to check up on her.

We said our goodbye’s and she went into the same store I had come out of, when she stood by my vehicles door. …I drove off.

I'd seen her a few times after that day… and pulled over to asked how she was doing.

A couple of those times she said she was doing fine… a couple of those times, she was again, stressed out. But, even with the advice that I had given the night she spent at my home and all of the advice I would give, when I'd see her, those few times… it did nothing to make her leave the life of being a drug abusing streeter.

Many times, I advised her to just go to her mom!

“She has your son and I'm sure, she would probably be interested in helping get you through some of these issues”.

But, she seem to never be interested in taking that road and one time, during one of our last conversation.. …she even admitted to loving smoking crack and told me that, at that particular time in her life.. she wasn’t interested in trying to get any help, or even interested in getting custody of her son. She wasn’t ready to leave the “street life” alone and didn’t want to really even talk about it, anymore.

It’s been about six years since I've seen her on that block, in that old neighborhood.

Even the house that she and the other streeters lived in together, was no longer there.

Now... the only thing left of that encounter is, this story... the story of an (Un) Common Knowledge… shared with me, by a 21 year old, female.. crack addicted, “streeter”… …that was once, a childhood friend.. of my children.

How’s that, for ‘(Un) Common Knowledge’!?