Chapter 4

TWELVE-YEAR-OLD "PRO"

Lori is colored and comes from a poverty-stricken slum area. There are eight children in her family, and most of them have different fathers. The family has been on welfare for years. It has become a way of life, to be accepted as inevitable as the coming of darkness each day.

We preface this case with this explanation only because authorities feel that Lori is exceptionally typical of the slum child-particularly the girl who learns early that she has a valuable asset in her young, innocent body.

Lori has the unenviable record of being, one of the youngest females in her state ever to be charged with prostitution, although she, and thousands like her, do not consider selling their sexual favors as prostitution. To them, it is just "another job-a way to survive."

How she survived is told vividly in her own words-sometimes childishly simple, at other times as worldly-wise and bitter as those of the most hardened of prostitutes.

"Wintertime was the worst for us. In the summer and spring, we were always hungry, but we weren't cold, too. We could always cool off some by lying on the fire-escape naked, or sometimes the firemen would be nice and would come down and turn on the fire hydrants and let us play in the water. But in the winter, there wasn't enough clothes, and there wasn't heat most of the time.

"Long as I can remember, there was always some man around, eating our food and drinking beer or gin-that's what my mom liked, gin. But they never brought us no food nor any money, and I never liked any of them. Most of them would fool around with me and my sisters-grab our ass or our twat, or goose us. I never paid any attention. I just cussed them so they couldn't hear it, and then got out of their way. They didn't really want us, anyhow-they always slept with my mom.

"But one of them got on top of my older sister one time-I was eight, and I knew what he was doing to her from watching the men that went to bed with my mother. I knew he was shoving his thing up inside her twat, because he was humping his ass up and down, and my sister, Ellie, was moaning and crying-but soft, because he had hit her in the face already when she started to bawl, and she was afraid to cry out loud.

"They never tried anything like that with me-not until after I was eleven, and had titties and a shape to my body.

"But the other men in the neighborhood were different. They grabbed ass too, but they gave us something for it, and they didn't do us no harm. I used to let the man at the liquor store feel my twat, even stick his finger up in it, when I was only seven or so, because he always gave me a nickel or a bottle of pop. He was a black man, but most of the others that ran stores and things were white.

"I don't think I hate white people. They weren't any different to me than black men-no nicer, nor no worse. In fact, most of the white men I let screw around gave me more money than the black ones did, but that was probably because all white men have more money than we do.

"My sister Ellie used to talk to me a lot. She used to tell me not to let those bastards that came to sleep with my mother ever lay a goddamned finger on my body. She told me they were just tramps, bums, and spongers, and even if they promised me money, to not believe them, I didn't understand too much what she was saying when I was real young, but after they started to fool around with my twat, I sort of knew that she was talking about the men that wanted to put their pecker in you.

"The boys at school and around the neighborhood used to grab me once in a while, but I was too skinny and small for them to fool around with much. They never ganged around me like they did with Ellie.

"The first time I ever let anyone do anything except to feel me through my dress was when I was almost ten. I was flat as a board, and I didn't have any shape at all-no breasts or hips or anything. My legs looked like toothpicks, straight up and down, and I sort of knew that boys didn't like me much. I always liked to read, and I got books from the library a lot. I was always careful to get them back on time because I never had any money to pay if I was late with them.

"One day I had three of them that were overdue. The lady said that I owed twenty-seven cents! I never even had that much money in my hand, that I remembered. I was so scared that she would tell me I couldn't get any books anymore, that I began to cry. A man was waiting behind me, and he heard all that went on, and he stepped up and put thirty cents on the counter and said for the lady to take it out of there. He smiled down at me and patted my head and said that anybody my age that liked to read and improve their mind shouldn't be punished if they kept a couple, of books too long. The lady gave me back my library cart and told me to be more careful in the future, but that I could take books out.

"I thanked the man and picked out only one book. I had learned a lesson. At least, I might be able to scrape up three cents if I were a day late.

"When I walked out of the library, it was snowing. I didn't have a coat--just an old sweater that had holes in it, but it helped me keep warm. The man that had given the money for the books was standing there, beside a car that was parked at the curb. He called to me and said, 'I'll give you a ride home, honey. It's pretty cold for walking.' He didn't know that I lived over fifteen blocks away, and I was sure glad he asked me. I had only been in a car a few times, and it was still a treat for me. When I got in the front seat beside him, I was warm right away from the heat coming from somewhere. He had had the car running, I guess, and the heater worked fine.

"He began to talk to me about my school, the kind of books I liked-things like that-and finally I was telling him all about my family-my mother and the men that came, my sisters and brothers. I just ran on and on. I hardly noticed when he put his hand on my leg-up high-and said, 'Poor baby,' because nobody ever listened when I said anything. I guess I was as hungry to talk to somebody as I was for food.

"Pretty soon, he parked the car and left the motor going so the heat would still come out. By that time he had his hand under my dress and up near my thing. I know it gave me a little tingle when he ran his finger inside my panties and touched my twat lips, but I pretended that I didn't even notice. I was having too good a time.

"He moved over closer and put his arm around me, then he took one of my hands and put it on his pecker. I hadn't noticed him open his pants and take it out, and it was hard and standing straight up. I looked at it. It was the first white pecker I'd ever seen. I'd seen my brothers', and of the men who slept with my mom, but I'd never seen a white one.

"It felt good when he rubbed his finger over the lips of my twat, and I began to rub his pecker up and down, holding it tight and moving my hand faster and faster. I could feel his finger going into my slit, and pretty soon he hit a little spot that made me jump and tingle all over. He began to rub it, and I worked faster on his pecker, and, pretty soon, he shot some whitish stuff from the little hole in the end of it. It squirted all over the car, and he grabbed his handkerchief quick and wiped it off. Just about that time I felt a funny feeling begin inside my twat, and in a couple more rubs of his finger, it spread all over me. I didn't know what 'come' meant, but I sure knew it was the nicest feeling I'd ever had.

"He asked me if I had ever had anybody kiss me between the legs, and I shook my head. He asked me if I'd like him to kiss me there, and all I could do was to nod my head 'yes-'

"He crawled over and got on his knees and he moved me and took my panties off. He spread my legs wide, and then he used his fingers to open the lips of my pussy real wide. I could feel his hot breath on my legs and then he stuck his tongue in. I jumped, but it felt so good. He began to lick it, and then he found the right place with his tongue-I know now that it was my clit-and he massaged it with his tongue, up and down, down and up, until I was jumping all around with the hot, good feeling that it gave me. I felt his teeth nibbling at it, and then he just began to suck it, hard and long. He made funny noises when he did, and he was moaning. When I looked down, I saw that he was playing with his prick with one hand and using the other one to shove his finger into my cunt.

"I got that feeling all over again, and a few seconds later he shot some more of the white stuff, only this time he caught it in his other hand and then wiped it on his handkerchief. He zipped up his pants after that and told me to put my panties on. I did, and he started the car and drove toward my street. He let me out a block from my house, and he shoved something into my hand! I didn't know until I got in the light that it was a whole dollar!

"He asked me to meet him at the library on Tuesday at the same time, and I said I would. I fell asleep that night, even though I was cold, with a real warm feeling. It had been so good, having somebody play with my cunt and put their arm around me, and even kiss my pussy! I told him I would meet him and he waved and drove off. I never had to worry about getting out of the house. Nobody cared. Even though there were a lot of us living together, nobody ever thought of anybody but themselves. I know I didn't. I had enough to do to manage to get something to eat once a day, and I was lucky if I could squeeze in between my sisters and brothers on the mattresses we had on the floor. We didn't have much covers, so I used to just squeeze in between two of my sisters or brothers and keep warm from their bodies.

"I hid the dollar in a crack in the bathroom wall, and I never told anybody I had it. Later, little at a time, I spent it for soup at school, or cookies at the corner grocery. One nickel I used to buy a chocolate bar, and it tasted like heaven to me. It seemed like I had found a real fairy godmother. I could have that good feeling in my pussy and have money for letting the man do it to me. I wanted to talk to my sister Ellie, so that she could maybe get some money, too, but I didn't. I was afraid that something would spoil it for me, and I wanted a lot more.

"I met Ted a lot of nights after that, and we played like we had the first time. He would suck my pussy and I'd play with his prick until he shot all over. Sometimes he would just work his finger up inside my cunt while I jerked his pecker, and then he would ask me if I'd like to put his cock in my mouth and suck on it so he could have a good feeling, too, I was afraid it was too big and it would choke me, but one night he took out a dollar and said he would give it to me if I'd just put my lips around the head of it.

"That dollar was all it took. I wasn't afraid of Ted by then, and I knew he wouldn't try to hurt me by choking me with his cock. I remember thinking that if he did, I'd just bite it hard -maybe bite the end of it off! Anyhow, I got on my knees like he did when he sucked my pussy, and I put my hand around the thick pecker, holding it down low. I could see his balls and a lot of hair, and I began to get pretty wet between my legs. I fooled with it a little, and then I stuck my tongue out and washed all around the rim of his pecker. It made Ted jump around, and all at once he grabbed my head at the back and shoved my mouth down over his cock! It scared me at first, but when I began to run my mouth up and down it, over the head, and then licked it, it wasn't bad. He was jumping and pushing my head up and down, and I began to want to make him have that feeling. I didn't even think about the white stuff that shot out, so it surprised me when he did.

"His sticky juice felt like a whole mouthful, so I swallowed most of it. He kept pushing my mouth down so I had to keep swallowing, and after a couple of shudders he took his cock out of my mouth. He was smiling at me, and it made me glad. Anyhow, I had the dollar tucked into my shoe, even if I hadn't liked it.

"Ted went down on me again that time. He used his finger and his tongue, but then, with his other hand, he did something he'd never done before-he ran one finger up my asshole while he was sucking my cunt! It made it seem as if his tongue was going a foot up into my pussy, and I began to wiggle my ass so that he could stick his finger up it easier. I didn't know it then, but he was getting ready to shove his prick up there, and I guess he was sort of seeing just how big my asshole was.

"When I got that feeling real good, he got up and took a little jar of white jelly out of his pocket. We were in the back seat of his car, and he told me to get on my hands and knees, that he wanted to try something different. He said, 'It might hurt a little at first, baby, but don't get scared. I'll get a real good feeling, and after you get used to it you'll like it that way.'

"I would have done anything he asked by that time, so I got on my hands and knees and he positioned himself behind me. I could feel his cock rubbing against the cheeks of my ass, and then he smeared some of that jelly all over my asshole-even up inside it. He put a big gob of it on the head of his cock, and then he began to work the head of it into my asshole. It did hurt some, but it slid in after a few tries. All it felt like was when I had to go to the bathroom to shit real bad. It didn't hurt too much, and he began to pump away, holding me by the hips and pulling me back to meet his thrusts. After it began to slide in and out real good, he reached around and began to massage my clit with his finger, and I began to really like it, I got hot and came, and he just kept on shoving his prick in my asshole, faster and harder. Then I felt a hot stream shooting up inside my shit-hole, and I came again.

"Ted was panting and groaning, and when he had finished with the last little shiver of his cock, he took it out and laid back on the seat, as if he was tired. I knew he'd liked it, though, by the look on his face and the way his cock went all soft right away.

"He gave me two dollars that time, and after that he used to fuck me in the asshole almost every time, after I had sucked him hard or all the way until he shot in my mouth.

"One night after school, we were at his place, in the living room, on the couch, and I was on my knees, sucking his pecker when, all at once, the door opened! I was so scared I began to shiver! It was another white man. He looked about as old as Ted, only he was a lot balder and he had a funny leg-shorter than his other one.

"I didn't know what to do, so I just let go of Ted's cock and scrambled up onto the couch. I started to put my panties back on, but Ted stopped me. He said, 'It's only Fred. He won't hurt you.'

"Fred came limping into the room, staring at the hard cock Ted had waving in front of him, and at my cunt. His eyes sparkled and he chuckled real low. 'You're doin' pretty good, Ted,' he laughed. 'I got to git me some of that stuff. How about it?'

"Ted looked mad for a minute, but then he shrugged and said to Fred, 'I suppose if I don't let you, you'll spread it all over the neighborhood, you old sonofabitch!'

"I knew what they were talking about, and I didn't like the looks of 'Fred.' He looked dirty, and a lot older than Ted-and besides, nobody had said anything about money, or even asked me if I would do it for Fred.

"I pulled my panties on and then my dress. I stood up and talked right to Ted. I said, 'I ain't gonna do it for him. He didn't offer me no money!' They both busted out laughing at that, and I didn't know why.

"Well, baby," Ted said, "if we don't let him have some, he's just liable to tell your mama or tell the police on both of us! We don't want that, do we? Besides, old Freddie will pay-won't you?" He turned and looked at Freddie, and he nodded his head.

"When?" Fred asked. "Now?" He was licking his lips like he was thirsty, and he kept looking at me so funny.

"Ted shrugged and pointed at me. 'Ask Lori.'

"Fred walked over towards me and asked, 'Do you want to now?'

"He reached in his pocket and pulled out a dollar and held it out to me. I looked at Ted, and he nodded, so I took the dollar and shoved it in my shoe with the other money I had. I guess I was feeling light-headed, with all the money I was getting lately, and for something that I liked to do. I remembered that, once, my mom had told me that she had a job scrubbing floors in a big office building, and how hard it was. I knew I would never have to do that kind of work-not as long as men wanted to pay me to have fun with me.

"Ted put one hand on Fred's chest. 'Just a blow job, buddy. No ass fucking. That costs three dollars!' I knew he was making the price higher for Freddie, but I didn't let on. I just took off my dress and panties again and laid down on the couch. Fred unzipped his pants and took out his pecker. It was a lot smaller than Ted's, and it wasn't hard yet. He came over and sat down beside me and began to play with my cunt. All the while, he was jerking his cock to make it get hard.

"Ted laughed and called, "Give her a suck job, too, Fred. That'll really get her warmed up for you."

"Freddie bent over and spread my pussy lips with his fingers and began to lick my twat with his tongue. After a minute or so, he stopped playing with himself and just worked his fingers and his tongue into my cunt. I began to really get hot, and, inside a few seconds, I had a come. When I looked down at his prick, I saw it was stiff and straight, so I leaned over and grabbed it, lying so that Fred could still lick my cunt while I sucked him off.

"He really went at it, too. He acted like he'd never get enough of my pussy in his mouth. He sucked the lips and my clit and all into his mouth. He chewed on it even, and I began to really work on his cock. We both forgot that Ted was watching, but later on I noticed that he was sitting in a chair, jerking off while he watched.

"I had Fred and Ted a lot after that. Later, Fred used to screw me in the ass. He paid me three dollars, and I never let him know that Ted got it for two. That went on for almost a year, and there were a couple of others that I let do it to me, too-not for money-just because I liked them. There was an old colored man that lived in our tenement, and he was blind. I felt sorry for him. I used to read to him from my library books, and one day he began to feel me up. When I saw his cock getting hard, I just unzipped his pants, took it out, and began to suck it. He took a long time to come, and then he sucked my cunt for me until I came. I didn't do it too often with Old Joe, because the others were always after me to do it for them.

"I was almost twelve when I got my first real fuck! Even then, it happened funny, because I didn't want to be fucked-not even by Fred or Ted-but I had to!"

A strange blight has fallen on the country, particularly in the large cites. There are thousands of fatherless families who exist on welfare. For the most part, they must, of necessity, live in ramshackle tenements, with little heat, clothes or food. These families are technically 'fatherless" for a very good reason. If there is a man in the household who is able to work, the welfare funds are cut drastically or eliminated altogether. So, the mother hides" her man, husband or lover, on the days when a welfare worker is scheduled to visit, thus fulfilling the strange laws that govern her livelihood.

That these men are leeches for the most part is undeniable. Often, they are not a father to any of the children in the family, but simply serve as a sex outlet for the harassed mother and drink up a considerable amount of the welfare funds.

If a welfare worker drops in unexpectedly and finds a man there, the woman will use any one of a hundred dodges to explain his presence. He may be the "janitor," there to fix the toilet, or a "neighbor," who just dropped in with a little extra food for the kids. Wedding rings are never seen in such surroundings, for if a woman were to admit to having a husband nearby, her welfare funds would stop.

That this pitiful condition creates a very poor atmosphere in which to raise children is beyond argument. The agencies involved know it, but they can do little. If they relent and look the other way, the woman will usually either give her man welfare money that should be used on her children, or else he will bully it out of her.

The worst aspect of the surrounding circumstances are, of course, the blatant sex episodes that take place almost daily. Because of limited space that may be afforded at such low amounts as the best of welfare agencies allow, the children are usually crowded into a room that is intended for two at the most. Seldom do they have beds enough to go around, and, more often than not, several of the young children must sleep in the same room with the mother, where they are able to see and hear the sex acts taking place.

Little wonder that they come to accept sex as a normal function of survival. Often, they are "broken in" by the man who occupies the mother's bed-as Lori's sister, Ellie, was.

Many programs have been advanced and touted to solve this vicious merry-go-round of chicanery and sexual degradation, but thus far, none have proven satisfactory from a financial or social point of view. The answer might be in a guaranteed annual income, but taxes being what they are, no citizen is willing to overburden himself so that "those goddamned worthless welfare regulars can fuck away my dough." That's the attitude of many, often even of those who are most familiar with the unhealthy and immoral conditions that the welfare program reluctantly imposes.

We who are more fortunate cannot ignore those who are helpless to help themselves and who live in shameful rattraps that are breeding grounds for disease, despair, and sexual promiscuity that approaches utter depravity. There seems to be no answer to the problem of Lori and her kind who grow up (hardly the phrase to use, because most, as she is, are hardened sex-pots long before they approach their puberty or teen years).

Although we have used Lori to illustrate this horrible pit of sex that exists in all our cities, she is a composite of many cases we have culled for information on this subject. In case we ask, "What about the police?" it must be remembered that most of these young girls are hungry, cold, threadbare. To testify against, or even to report men who use their bodies as toys, would be to add to their own misery. Their only dream is one day to "get out of the rat race" they were born into, and the one way that they believe holds any real promise of escape is by selling their bodies.

That the largest percentage of such girls are Negro, Puerto Rican, or Mexican, is no accident. It is simply because they are the minority groups and are the last to be given productive jobs that will allow for the needs of a large family. Another factor is that, in this group, little birth-control information or methods are available, and the circle grows larger each year as more and more illegitimate children are born to slum-dwellers.

As pointed out before, we have no axes to grind, but feel that we serve a good purpose if we can limn and accentuate the dire needs of slum families. That Lori is typical is easily proven by police and welfare records. That she shall continue to be a blot on America is very likely-until a major change is effected.

To return to the sordid story of Lori as she enters into a life of prostitution while only eleven years old, we pick up her account of her sacrifice of her virginity, in the real sense of the words.

That such unfortunate children must "sacrifice" their treasured virtue is shameful. It is usually not taken from them by rapists, but, rather, it is given-merely so that these youngsters can survive in a bitter world of men to whom sex is a commodity to be bought as they might buy a pack of cigarettes.

"There were quite a few men in the neighborhood that seemed to be just waiting for girls to grow up and sprout titties and get hair on their runts. That is the sign that you're ready because, in my world, all the guys think the same way: 'If they're big enough-they're old enough!'

"But I didn't expect to get it from the man that finally did bust my cherry.

"I did real good in school. I think it was because I liked to read books so much. I used to read history and books that were about real people, and it helped me a lot in school. I was always daydreaming about the faraway places I might go to someday, and I'd study about them, too. That helped me in geography. The one thing I couldn't do very well was arithmetic. I always flunked in it, and the teacher began to make me stay after school to get some extra help from him.

"One night after school I just couldn't get one of the problems and he kept getting madder and madder at me. When he hollered at me, I started to bawl. He was sorry right away, and he came to my desk and put his arm around me. When he did, his hand touched my titty. They were getting pretty round and they stuck out a little. When his fingers touched the nipple, he started to pull his hand away, but then he stopped. He began to squeeze it, rolling the nipple around in his fingers. He bent over and kissed my neck-in the back-and it sent shivers up and down me. It felt good to have a nice man like Mr. Evans touch me. He smelled so good-not like Ted or Fred or the other old men. They always smelled of beer or tobacco smoke. But Mr. Evans was different.

"I began to get hot, and without even thinking I turned around and grabbed for his neck and pulled his face down close. I kissed his mouth, and I left my lips open and he stuck his tongue in. We began to kiss each other hard, and he played with my nipple while his other hand went down between my legs.

"We never even stopped. He just picked me up and took me into the cloakroom. He laid me on the floor and took off my panties. Then he took off his pants and shorts, and he got on his knees between my legs and aimed his hard cock at my slit. I wanted it inside me. He was the nicest man I'd ever known, and he was clean and good, and I knew that it would be the best thing that ever happened to me if he fucked me-my very first real fuck!

"I spread my legs wide and he lowered himself onto his elbow, and with his other hand he guided his prick-into my cunt! It sent me to heaven. It was ten times better than a tongue or fingers. I spread my legs as wide as' I could and tried to lock them around his body. He raised my ass by both cheeks and almost pulled me onto his rod! It wasn't as big as some of the others, but it seemed to be all over the inside of my pussy, tickling and thrilling me. I couldn't get close enough to him, or he couldn't put it in deep enough for me. I knew he was coming after a while by the look on his face, and because his plunges were coming faster all the time. I just let myself go, and he controlled my body, and then we went off together!

"It was like something I'd never even dreamed of or imagined, and when he had finished shooting into my cunt, he let his weight down on my body and began to push it in and out some more. I wiggled and moved my ass up to make it go in deeper, and I spread my legs out and let him dig it into the deepest part of my cunt! We came once again, and this time we just collapsed, with his prick soaking in his and my juices. We kissed each other a lot, and he said he loved me. That was the first time any man had ever said that. Come to think of it, it was the first time any human being had ever told me they loved me!

"I didn't want to let him ever take his cock out of me, but I asked him if he wanted me to suck it. He looked sort of surprised, but he drew it out and wiped it on his handkerchief. He laid on his back on the floor, and I took his half-soft prick in my hand and really kissed it. I rimmed the head of it with my tongue, then licked it up and down, and finally I began to plunge it deep into my mouth, sucking and licking and trying to show him that I loved him, too.

"When he shot into my mouth, I really enjoyed swallowing his come. I felt like a woman! I had heard somebody say they loved me.

"We stopped after that-for that night, but there were a lot of other times. I didn't care if Ted or any of the others ever came around again. I liked the money they gave me, but I never felt like I did about Mr. Evans.

"I used to go to his apartment some nights, and sometimes I would stay all night. He loved to kiss and lick my whole body before he would fuck me, and I just loved the touch of his flesh on my mouth. He was a real light coffee color, and he was beautiful. Now, the blacks go around saying 'Black is beautiful!' but I could have told them that a long time ago.

"Then it happened-I stopped menstruating and found I was going to have a baby! I was twelve and going to be a mother. Funny, but it thrilled me to think of having Don's baby. I knew it was his, because I had never fucked anyone else. But he was mad-and scared as hell. He told me he couldn't marry me, that it would spoil his whole teaching career. He was studying nights and summers to get his master's degree in math, so he could teach in college and make good money. I couldn't see why I would make any difference. I didn't ask him to marry me-just to let me nave the baby, but he wouldn't listen.

"I threatened to tell my mother or the welfare worker or the school principal, and he got mad and hit me. He knocked me down and kicked me, and I woke up in a hospital. The baby was gone. I'd had a miscarriage, and later I found out that I had syphilis. I knew I hadn't gotten it from Don-it had to be from those dirty old bastards that had cornholed me and made me suck their pricks! I told the police that it was Ted that had made me pregnant and then beat me up. I didn't want to hurt Don. I knew I had lost him for good, but I had to send him a note and tell him about the syphilis. I hope he started taking treatments for it, that he believed me.

"So-here I am, almost thirteen-with syphilis, in a hospital ward where there are guards outside the door and bars on the window -as if I were a murderer or something.

"I don't know when they'll let me out or what they will do to me. One of the doctors here says that they will probably make me a ward of the state, and put me in some kind of a home for delinquent girls.

"But I'll get out someday, and then I'll find a new way to live. I'll get out of that goddamned flesh jungle I came from. I'll find a man I'll love-like Don-and maybe I'll have babies of my own. That's what I dream about, and that's what I'm going to make come true."

The doctor's prediction came true for Lori. She was pronounced cured and then committed to a girls' home. She is once again a good student, and, at this writing, there seems to be a good chance that Lori will indeed escape the shoddy surroundings from which she sprung. She has a dream and she's willing to work hard for it.

We hope it comes true.