We picked up a prostitute today.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100813121154/http://theadventuresofsuperwife.com/2008/12/we-picked-up-a-prostitute-today/

Posted by Molly on December 28th, 2008.

No, really.

B and I were on our way to the grocery store, and saw a young girl on the side of the road. She was in high heels, and sort of shuffling down the snowy sidewalk. We looped around a parking lot, pulled over and offered her a ride. She said she was supposed to meet a friend, and they didn’t show up so she didn’t really have anywhere to go. It was about -2° outside, so I insisted she get in the car and at least warm up. She gratefully obliged. I could tell she was younger than me, dark hair and makeup on that was a little too dark for her skin. Her eyelids were covered in glitter and she had earrings going up each ear. We drove around the block and I offered to take her up to the convenience store up the street. We pulled up, and B told her to wait in the car, he’d grab her something to eat and something warm to drink.

As B walked away, she looked at me and said “I’m sure you know what I was doing” I nodded my head. Tears welled up in her eyes, and I could tell that she was embarrassed. I smiled and told her it was okay, we just couldn’t let her stand out there while it was so cold out. She smiled, and started telling me about herself… she told me her name, and that she just turned 23, about how she said she had one of her poems published and how she wanted to go to school to be nurse. She wanted to help other people with addictions, as she is a heroin addict herself.

I could see on her face that she was out of her element, that she was so used to dealing with low lives, dealers and junikes that it was almost awkward being around people on the straight and narrow. It was like a jolt back into the real world.

We talked for about 15 minutes, and she told me she was born in a prison in Arizona, and her mother walked the streets with her and gave her heroin for the first time. She had been through treatment twice, and both times did very well, but fell back into her old ways quickly when she was forced to fend for herself.

I was at a loss of what to say, I felt like I needed to say something profound, to give her hope or a shred of inspiration. I just looked at her, my heart breaking and wishing I could hand her a magic pill that would take away her addiction and keep her from having to have sex with strangers for money.

B got back in the car with a small pizza and a big hot chocolate, and a bottle of power aide for the road. She sat in the car and finished the pizza, and we made small talk. She thanked us again, and walked into the gas station. B and I just sat there for a second quietly, then went on our way to the grocery store.