All language subtitles for Louis.Theroux.Dark.States.S01E02.Trafficking.Sex.1080p.AV1.10bit-MeGusta

Do you know about this place on the
internet?

Oh, this place right here? Yes, it's
called the 7th Spa.

They got a write -up on a place called
backrub .com or... Oh, Rub Maps. You

up the reviews, it says Mia has breast
size C, she's clean, shaven, nice and

round, that's her butt.

Posterior. Posterior.

And all of a sudden it goes into a
narrative of what they actually did.

me the towel and takes me to the table
shower.

I think she may do Greek.

She told me...

to get on top, and I worked her mish,
which is going to be missionary style,

straight up, straight regular sex.

But then I felt her finger go up my ass,
and that made me blast deep into the

cover. I don't know what that means, but
I'm pretty sure that's your imagination

what that is.

Do you think these women are working
against their will?

Sometimes they are. Sometimes they can
go and come as they please, depending on

the provider.

I was in Houston, Texas.

on the trail of prostitutes and their
pimp. Do you see it? She's making that

choice for what reason?

Some women are just hoes.

You know, they're just prostitutes and
that's all they're going to be.

At a time when the internet has made the
sale of sex easier than ever before, I

was in one of America's epicenters of
sex trafficking.

You okay, Nikki?

You okay?

Getting to know the working women and
hoping to understand a lifestyle in

the line between choice and force isn't
always clear.

It makes me sick how much he can control
me.

And I fall for it every time.

At an hourly motel in the southwest of
Houston, I'd arranged a rendezvous using

a website called Backpage.

Hi, guys, I'm Nicky, looking for the
best of the best. Silky brunette hair,

sexy, amazing curves. I'm a great woman,
outgoing personality, discreet visits,

really, really addicting.

Brunette, Italian, 26.

Call me.

Are you 26?

Hell no.

How old are you? How do you think I am?

27? No.

Not even close.

I think you're 30 -something, aren't
you? Italians age very nicely, though,

don't we?

I'm 37 years old.

Do you get a lot of business through
that?

I get a lot of calls, but I screen
everybody.

If you text me, hey, are you available
or something like that, I'll show you. I

have preset messages.

Hey, sweetie, how are you? Did you want
to schedule a session with me?

And then I have one for my prices.

What are your prices?

They need $150 for half an hour because
the room's $20. I get the rest.

And then $200 for the hour, $20 for the
room. I get the rest. I don't rent rooms

because Houston has hourly rate rooms
everywhere.

Do you pretend to enjoy it?

I try to enjoy it. I mean, if I'm going
to have sex, I want to get off, but I

don't always do it.

Sometimes I hear some really good
-looking men, though, that are very

successful, good guys.

And they're like, do you want to stop
what you're doing and come live with me?

I'm like, no.

If I wanted a relationship, I'd be
normal.

And I'm not even... Do you need to get
that?

Who was that?

Do you call in to your pimp?

I update him on every move I make.

The person that you're with is supposed
to keep you on point, make sure you're

mentally stable.

Make sure you're fed, you've got a room,
you're taken care of in any means

possible. You know what I mean? Like,
that's my daddy. He takes good care of

you know what I mean? He's like your
corner man.

He knows where I am at, what room I'm
in. Like, I give him every information

because my safety's on the line. If I
make a mistake, it could cost me my

Do you live with him?

No.

You have a separate apartment where you
stay, which he pays for.

You give him all your money.

All the money you make.

100%. 100%. So you must have made tens
of thousands for him.

I've made him a lot of money, yes.

Probably over like $150 ,000 total.

When you're with a pimp, anything you
want, you have to ask for permission.

if they say no, it's no.

And if you go against them, there's
consequences.

If you violate the rules, there's
consequences.

And they're not like minor consequences.

He's physical.

He can be if you're out of line.

If you're disrespectful, if you disobey
him.

Why don't we go with a softer one?

Who wants a weak -ass dude protecting
you? What are you going to do? If I can

handle my business and you can't, why am
I with you? What are you doing for me?

Had you been doing sex work before you
got with him?

But just without him. He didn't force me
to do what I'm doing. I was already

doing it. He didn't turn you out.

And I don't want people to
misunderstand.

I'm not forced to do what I'm doing.

People have, like, built this whole,
like, human trafficking thing.

Yes, human trafficking is real, but it's
not realistically happening like they

make it out to be.

I like spending time with people. I like
meeting new people. I love sex. I love

money. And I love to travel. So I got
the best job in the world.

Hello?

Hi, sweetie. How are you?

You want to come see me?

Okay, what is your age and race, baby?

You're from the Virgin Islands.

Houston is home to some of America's
most notorious areas for illegal sex

The nation's fourth largest city, at the
crossroads of two interstates, it is a

magnet for both prostitutes and pimps.

Hey. Hey. Where you at?

I'm at Hill Project 59.

Okay, so... Are you ready?

Yeah, we just got to Bissonnette.

On a Friday night, I was with recovery
coach Kim Isaac.

She was doing outreach in one of the
city's hotspots.

Okay, you got all the condoms? You got
enough condoms?

Okay, let me get this girl real quick.

Hi,

Mama.

I used to be out here. Can I offer you
some free condoms?

Come on.

Want some free condoms?

Where are we?

We are on Bissonnette.

which is a hub for human trafficking on
the southwest side of Houston.

Most of the people that come here have
gone through Louisiana, New Orleans, and

Baton Rouge, and then they come to
Houston.

The girls out here are not out here
alone. They are working for someone

they call families, compiled of a pimp,
and then anywhere

from... Two to five to seven girls.

They can't work out here without a pen?

On this particular track, no.

The thing is that the veteran girls out
here will spot what they call a

renegade, which is a girl that's just
out here on her own, and either

attack her or try to coerce her into
coming into their family.

Renegades really don't make it very long
out in a place like this because of the

brutality of the pimp also.

You were in the life.

I was. When I started out here, I was 12
years old.

Did you ever have a pimp?

Yes, I did.

What were your feelings for the pimp?

It felt good for someone to tell me that
I was a pretty girl.

You didn't view him in a negative way?
Not at all.

Even when...

I was out there with an umbrella and
it's storming, raining and I'm freezing

I'm hungry and I have to wait until I
get my quota to go and get a hamburger.

I still couldn't wait to put that money
in his hand because I knew I was going

to be praised.

How do you see him now?

I see him now as a parasite.

It's like a plague almost.

Kim and her colleagues work out of Santa
Maria Hostel, a shelter offering

treatment to women with drug problems.

Among them are a number of ex
-prostitutes, some of whom have had

past.

Are you working with Cops D?

Yes. Are you taking your medication
that's prescribed?

No.

One of the newest arrivals was 18 -year
-old Savannah.

She was doing a one -month review of her
progress.

with counsellor Tonya Granger.

It's not just the drugs and alcohol that
drives you, and I think you know that.

Your validation comes from all them
folks that want you.

All them johns, all them pimps that are
out there fighting for you because

you're worth a ton of money to them. And
that's where that attention -seeking

comes in, right?

What was the lifestyle that you were in
before you were here?

I was feeling myself.

The fast life of being in that life.

It was exciting to me. I always had
something to do. I always had money. I

always had clothes. I had someone who
was obsessed with me. Was that your

Yes.

You felt he was obsessed with you?

It seemed to you that he was obsessed
with you? Not obsessed.

Yeah, obsessed.

In what way?

He would show me more attention than my
wife at the time.

Your wife. So it was his girlfriend, not
his girlfriend, it was his other girl

that he had, but it was called my wife,
so I called her my wife.

You have to kind of understand what the
human trafficking family looks like.

A pimp's success is directly related to
his top female, because a woman is the

only one that's going to be able to deal
with a room full of women. And so that

would be the wife.

And so if it's his wife, it's her wife.

The pimp seemed more interested in you
than in the wife?

Yeah, because I could make more money
for him.

And I knew that.

There were two pimps in Savannah's life,
the most recent one who she still felt

attached to.

And then there was the man who'd first
recruited her, aged 16, whose street

was Rico Pimping.

Only weeks earlier, she'd taken the
brave step of testifying against Rico in

court.

He'd been given 35 years.

I was curious how he'd got her into the
lifestyle.

How did that go down? You were at a
party.

We were at a party getting high, and all
I remember is coming out of the high

being driven to a hotel.

You were out of it, you were
intoxicated.

You found yourself being taken to a
hotel.

Then what?

Rico explained to me what I was going to
be doing.

And at the time, to me it sounded better
than what my life was.

He explained to me that I'd be getting
cars and a house and all the clothes I

wanted and that I didn't have to ever be
sad again or be hurt.

So it gave me kind of like a fantasy
lifestyle.

At the time, I was okay with it.

A sales pitch?

Yeah.

Then how soon after that did you turn
your first trick?

Within an hour.

Really? Mm -hmm.

So what happened?

He explained to me that the pictures he
took were going to be posted on Backpage

and that... Backpage .com. So he took
pictures there and then? Mm -hmm. Of you

naked? Yeah.

And he said soon after that that I'd be
getting phone calls.

So the calls came in straight away?

Mm -hmm.

So do you remember the first one?

I don't. Was it that night?

Yes. I had five or six that night.

How did the physical side of it seem to
you? I mean, did it seem disgusting?

At the time, I was not a virgin, but had
been with only one person. So in our

cell, I was degrading myself in a way to
have to do the job, which only made me

do more drugs.

How did you come to leave Rico Pimping?
I was already reported as a runaway, so

the cops were looking for me. So I do
believe that I made contact with one of

the officers that he was posing as a
trick, and he came and he got me and

me up.

Would you testify against your most
recent pimp?

Right now, no.

He did traffic you, though.

In a sense, it's the textbook
definition.

Because he was moving you around the
country, pimping you out.

You still have feelings for this guy?

No. A little bit, but no.

It makes me sick how much he can control
me.

And I fall for it every time.

Today, Texas' Attorney General announced
the arrest of the CEO of Backpage .com,

calling the website a, quote, grotesque
form of modern -day slavery.

In the week of my arrival, authorities
had attempted to crack down on Backpage.

It was said that many of the ads there
were placed by pimps.

Increasingly, authorities view
prostitutes less as criminals and more

of their traffickers.

Now, you see, y 'all are clear to go
when you're ready.

At street level, to get a sense of what
local law enforcement was doing, I was

out with the Harris County Sheriff's
Office for a sting operation.

Okay, one of the undercovers is a
female, and that's going to be her right

there. Undercover officers would be
attempting to bust the working women by

posing as customers.

I would be listening in with Sergeant
Chapper and Lieutenant Diaz.

Is it a typical morning?

I mean, does this happen every morning?

Oh, yeah. Every day.

The last time we did an operation in
this area, literally right at daybreak,

counted eight before our operation even
started.

We try to speak to them, get their
cooperation, and work on identifying the

pimp.

This guy's walking close to our area. He
may see the camera.

There's another one that's going to
be...

Black female, shorts, pink socks, and a
black jacket.

You all right?

Wherever you want. To heaven.

To my dreams.

Am I

behind him now?

Did she just get out of the car?

You got out? She got out.

No deal on that one. No deal. She
twigged.

How did she know?

I mean, these girls, they're out here
and they do it all the time, all the

And, I mean, unfortunately, they start
knowing that there's parameters of what

an undercover police officer can and
can't do.

Hey, guy.

Hey, bring your ass over here.

What's up?

Get in.

Once the deal is done and a prostitute
is in the undercover car, a patrol cop

swoops in.

The women who were arrested would be
sent straight to jail.

Repeat offenders could be looking at up
to two years.

But it was hard not to feel that the
real culprits were getting away.

You made quite a few busts this morning.
None of them were either trafficked or

willing to say that they were
trafficked, right? What do you think is

in the way of women bringing their
traffickers to justice?

Most of them are likely going to fear
the repercussions of it.

In order to cooperate with us, that
means that they have to stand against

Some simply don't want to be labeled as
a snitch, and others are going to fear

the physical harm that they're going to
suffer from that.

And some sense of loyalty?

Absolutely. Absolutely there's a sense
of loyalty and protection.

My half hour is 150, and my hour is 200.

I'd meet you at an hourly room for in
-call, or I can come to you for $200.

There's a hotel called The Pearl. You
can meet me there. I can send you the

address if you want.

I was with Nikki.

All right, sweetie.

All right, I'll send you the
information.

All right, bye.

How old was he?

50.

You could get, like, 100 to 200 calls a
day, and, like, probably only 10 of them

were legit. The rest of the people were
playing games.

So it's kind of frustrating sometimes,
especially, like, when you're trying to

make money and people are just playing
on the phone, like...

Who

is just calling?

Hi, Daddy.

I can't answer right now, though.

It'll make me, like, really fucked up.
Like, I can't, um...

Because I don't have what he wants, so
he's not going to be pleasant about it.

You okay, Nikki?

Yeah, I'm good.

I just don't like him being mad at me, I
guess.

Why is he mad at you?

Because I didn't achieve my quota
because I was not focused on...

What I was supposed to be doing.

Oh, it's cold.

How long have you been doing this kind
of work?

A little over a year and a half, I
think.

Not that long.

What did you do before?

You had a square job.

Yeah, I worked at Kohl's Warehouse in
the packaging department.

I don't like regular jobs.

I mean, I used to be married. Where did
you grow up?

Cincinnati, Ohio.

You got married in Ohio as well?

Mm -hmm. But you had led a relatively
square life, right?

For the first, you know, 30 years or so.

35 years.

And then to get into sex work, that's a
big step.

And I'm just trying to get a... I was
having sex before that. I was just doing

it for free.

Right.

But you...

No, I bank up on it. No, you bank up on
it. I still enjoyed sex before, but it's

more exciting when you get money for it.
How did that happen? I'm wondering how

that transition happened.

A friend of mine was posting on there
and she was telling me about it and

telling me what kind of money she was
making. So I just was like, let's give

a shot, you know, see what happens.

Had your marriage already ended at that
point?

Yeah. Because it's quite a big step to
go from... Why do you think that?

It's simple.

I posted it now and I got a room.

And I screamed my cause.

And then what made you come down to
Houston?

Because Houston's like that.

The track, isn't it? It's the biggest
fucking track in America.

And how quickly did you meet?

Same day, within 24 hours.

Your pimp.

What was his pitch?

Trouble doesn't have a pitch.

I don't think you understand, like, I
would never go against what he says. You

know what I'm saying? Like, I respect
him a lot, and I make a lot of

for that man.

You don't really fully understand until
you go through some of the things that

I've gone through, and he's rode with
me. He's staked my ass a few times.

Without him, I would have probably been
really bad off, you know?

Physically, do you mean, like, from
dangerous situations?

And mentally.

Like, some of the stuff that you go
through can really, like, mess with your

head, you know? Like, make you doubt
yourself, and that's who molded me

into a real fucking solid -esque female,
like... It sounds like what you're

saying is he gives you focus.

He gives me everything.

I don't associate with anybody other
than him.

Other than clients.

You must be quite a special person.

Have you had enough to eat, by the way?

I haven't eaten in like two days.

I think you have a little more to eat.

Preoccupied. What is preoccupying you?

Somebody in my family passed away a few
days ago, and

it's kind of been on my mind that I
couldn't go to the funeral and stuff.

It just sucks, you know?

Because I have to, like, keep my
composure. I can't, like, show that I'm

gotta be, like, this peppy, happy little
person for my clients, right?

Fuck.

I think I lost the money.

Maybe it's in the car, I don't know.

At the end of our lunch... Nikki made
the awful discovery that her previous

night's takings were missing.

I'm going to freak out, man. He's going
to kick my ass.

How the fuck did I lose $250 fucking
dollars?

He's going to think I'm fucking playing
with him and I'm like, I was fucking off

all night or something. He's going to be
like, how the fuck you was out all

night and ain't got no money? That's
fucking ridiculous.

This dude doesn't just smack you around.
He'll beat the shit out of you.

Her sense of fear was palpable.

Her dependence.

and vulnerability suddenly laid bare.

Having heard so much about pimps, I felt
I should speak to one.

Human trafficking convictions carry long
prison terms.

Men in the lifestyle are understandably
wary of publicity.

But I had a lead on Shedrick Smith,
convicted in 2009 of compelling

by a minor and now serving a 42 -year
term in Amarillo, Texas.

How are you doing?

Nice to meet you.

His pimp name had been fancy.

How's it going?

I'm all right. How are you doing?

I was made to understand that you had
been and perhaps still are a pimp.

Yes, sir. Would that be correct?

Well, half of it is. I was a pimp, but
I'm incarcerated now, so I'm no longer

pimping. The case that got you
incarcerated involved a girl age 15.

Right. Who in the court documents is
identified as LD.

Right. Do you not see that a minor or a
child is not appropriate,

you know, that it's wrong for them to be
working in that way? It's totally

wrong. It's totally wrong. If I'd have
knew she was 15, I would have never even

got involved with her.

So you're alleging that you didn't
realize she was 15?

I didn't know. She didn't tell me she
was 15.

To be honest with you, she told me she
was 17.

In the account that she gives, she was
more or less recruited by someone called

La Princess Moore.

Well, she wasn't recruited.

She was discovered on the house stroll.

A house stroll is a street where women
sell pussy at.

She was drafted into your entourage.

No, she wasn't drafted. She chose to
come with the princess.

You put them on Backpage, is that right?

Backpage, yes, that's correct.

In her account, she said there were
times she was with you when she wanted

stop working.

And you would pressure her and say, you
haven't made enough money yet.

Well, if you read the documents
correctly, this chick was only with me

days. So that's hardly enough time for
us to even really get acquainted.

You know what I'm saying?

Seven days, I couldn't have been too
horrible in seven days.

Do you think it's a good deal for the
women?

Yeah, it was a good deal.

In what way?

Because I'm a good provider. I'm a good
manager.

And as you see it, she's making that
choice for what reason?

Because she wants to.

But what makes her want to?

Some women are just hoes.

You know, they're just prostitutes, and
that's all they're going to be. It's

like a race car driver. He get a rush
when he's going 200 miles an hour.

They get a rush when they go up in the
room and can manipulate a man out of...

Sell my $800, $1 ,000, $2 ,000, $3 ,000.
They get a rush out of that.

Did they have to give all the money to
you?

Of course I'm getting all the money.

Why do you say of course?

I mean, that's just how the game goes.

I'm the manager.

It's my company.

And if they leave, you give them some
money back or not?

Yeah, I give them some money back.

How much?

Nothing.

Do you see why other people on the
outside would view pimps as predators?

Yeah, because they're ignorant.

Meaning they lack knowledge.

She want a family, a team.

So she choose to come over here and mess
with Fancy.

And be a part of Fancy's family.

It's an emotional thing.

You think it's emotional?

You know, you could be right.

She might want a father figure.

It's like a little cult almost.

Is that what it is?

Kind of.

Several weeks had passed, and at Santa
Maria there had been changes.

Savannah had been going in and out of
recovery.

During one relapse, she'd gone back to
her pimp.

It was also being said that while in
treatment, she'd been prostituting.

Are you Jack?

And there were two new faces, ex
-roommates of Savannah's, who were said

romantically linked, Danisha and Jack's.

So I understand Savannah's one.

Yes.

She left yesterday like she snuck out
the gate. What was that about?

She's not done.

She's not done. She relapsed in her
mind.

Do you think she was turning tricks
while she was here?

Yes. Of course she was.

She was.

She was.

The whole time.

Are you serious? Yes. When she was on
her side.

Yes, that's what she does. The
transitional part.

Wow. That's quite a shock.

Is it?

Why? Because when I was talking to
her...

She seemed very authentic in her desire
for recovery.

She's been talking to this guy from her
past, but she told me he used to beat

her and stuff.

But I can't, one thing I don't do is,
I'm not a hypocrite, because just as

as she's talking to him, I still talk to
the same guy that hit me so hard in my

face one time that it looked like I had
an extra something growing from me in

the lifestyle that we live.

It's like we... I don't know, do we find
comfort in that?

I'm never going to say that it's good to
let a man hit me, but that's just

something that I like.

All right.

Denisha's pimp, T -Money, had been her
boyfriend.

Under his influence, she'd first
prostituted.

In her room, she had his letters from
jail.

OK, this one is from...

This month.

It says, hey, baby, I've been going
crazy and stressing like hell since

been out of touch, baby.

Since I've been in love with you, I
can't stand to go without seeing nor

from you.

I'm so ready to see you, baby. It don't
make no damn sense.

This is going to be the happiest day of
my life right now.

So what I'm struck by is very
affectionate, isn't it? It is.

Was that the sort of relationship you
had?

We did.

What was in it for you?

I guess just him.

Him needing me.

You liked giving him your money?

I would watch other females that were
doing the same thing I was doing, and

would be happy to pass the cash off to
their daddy or their pimp. They would be

happy. So I just figured it was what I
was supposed to do.

Even though when we came to Houston, it
kind of got worse.

It got bad.

In what way?

Because that's when all the physical
abuse started happening.

When we were outside, you said that you
quite liked that.

I like roughness. I like to be roughed
up. In general? In general.

In sex or just in general?

Like if I get in trouble with my
boyfriend and he hit me.

That's like a turn -on to me. I don't
know why. Don't ask me.

But with T, it was too much. It was
beyond what I like, my limitations.

Like, I had boundaries to it. Did that
not make you want to leave even more?

It did.

It did.

I was afraid. Like, he's a dangerous
man.

Hang on, but you're still saying you
love this guy.

I know.

It's complicated.

You're right to him as well, don't you?
I do.

And what do you say?

I'm not here for you anymore. I can't be
that woman you want.

I can't be her.

You said that to him? Yes.

That's not what I'm getting from his
letters.

This is from the third of, like, I
think, wait. Is that a recent one?

Stop doing me like that, because I'm
starting to think you up to some with

bullshit. I mean, Dan sat there and
wrote me a whole letter about, I don't

with you.

I love you so much, baby. I miss you too
much, and I'm most definitely not

trying to lose you for none, nor cut you
out, so stop with that talk.

You're mine.

You're mine.

He wants to make you his wife?

Yeah.

I don't want to marry him.

That's not the man God intended for me
to be with.

We knew what the rules of the lifestyle
was.

It's amazing how we follow the rules of
the game.

But people got to understand the word
game.

Games are made to lose.

You do not win the game every time.

So we were gambling and throwing the
dice with our life at every turn.

Every car we got in.

Even if you were on back page.

Or you were doing phone sex.

Where did it get us?

What did you end up having to show for?

Hello. How are you doing?

Nice to see you.

A few days after she disappeared,
Savannah was back.

to pick up some of her things.

You sure you don't want to stay?

I'm positive.

You know I love you, yes?

Yeah. And we're going to fight no matter
what.

But I don't want you to die.

So I'm here.

Oh, man.

I know exactly what she's going to go
do.

She's going to go trick.

She's going to go ho again.

She's going to go you. She's already, I
mean, she looked messed up when she came

in.

I'm scared for her.

Because of her case or just because it's
a high -risk lifestyle?

It's a high -risk lifestyle and then the
case.

Savannah had signed up as an outpatient
in the programme, but there was some

doubt as to whether she'd follow
through.

And either way, being on the outside put
her at risk of reprisals from her first

pimp, whom she testified against.

Why are you leaving?

I'm tired of being here.

So you were turning tricks while you
were here?

When I got on the hot side, yes. And
while I've been in treatment, yes.

Not as much as I was.

I'd go and pass like they are now, going
to the bus stop. I just wouldn't go to

the meeting and go work and then... Go
work where?

Right here.

How?

Just walk.

Wait until somebody comes pick you up.

Someone you know?

No. Some random person rolls down the
window.

Have you been in touch with your pimp?

No, I lost all connection.

I did go back to him.

The reason some women are with pimps is
for protection.

I started getting scared that the one
that got locked up was going to find me.

was there for about three days.

Him and his other girl that he had there
were constantly fighting, and I have

bad PTSD, so when people start yelling
around me, I start shaking.

So I told him, I can't do this, I need
you to buy me a bus ticket home.

Are you worried about your safety, given
the case and your role?

He sent death threats out to all the
females that testified, but at the same

time...

Me testifying, I got my power back that
he took from me.

And so by me being scared for the rest
of my life that he might find me, he

might do something to me, that's him
also having my power.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Successful recovery at Santa Maria often
takes numerous attempts.

In spite of all the training and
support, the ties of the old life do not

easily.

The boredom of months of therapy and
limited options in the square world

many to go back to what they know.

is the thing that we work on in
treatment. We work on your bio, psycho,

We start with you biologically, we deal
with you psychologically, and then we

address you sociologically.

It was Thursday night, and Councillor
Tonya was teaching her weekly family

class. Now, I don't know how many of y
'all dropped your family member off to

treatment, and I don't know if you
remember what she looked like when she

here, right?

OK, but she has a very distinct walk.

Let me show you that I'm coming to
treatment. Walk.

All right?

What's dragging behind me is my plastic
bag of clothes my mama gave me. Among

those in the audience were Denisha and a
male visitor.

Keith. Keith. Louis.

Nice to meet you. How are you doing?
Good. How are you and Denisha connected?

I've known Denisha about six months.

Roughly six months now. I left my wife a
year and a half ago, and I've been

living in a hotel.

Because I'm a local truck driver.

And I met her at the hotel I was staying
at.

When I found out that, you know, she was
sort of prostituting, I found her

attractive, so I became one of her
clients.

Had you used the services of a
professional sex worker before?

No. Because I was married for 13 years.

And you were faithful to your wife?
Totally. Was she with...

A... I was not.

It was after that.

No, he's about to say a pimp? Yes.

No, not at all. I would never fool a
girl to hit a pimp. Why is that?

Pimps are too aggressive and too
dangerous.

They'll set you up, rob you.

Can't be trust.

If you would beat up a woman, how can I
trust you?

So, Keith, you knew that Denisha used to
have a pimp? No. No. You didn't know

that?

That's news to you. Mm -hmm. Are you
surprised?

Not really.

Not really.

Good thing she don't have one no more.
No. Because then it's not healthy for,

you know.

I know. Yeah.

I'm done.

Right. Right.

How did you feel about the relationship?

Was it even a relationship?

I would say no.

What was it? Because we barely knew each
other. It was just like a casual

encounter, you know, a casual hookup.
Over how many? Two or three times a

For how long?

Oh, that probably went on for about
three weeks to a month. Yeah.

And then? And then she got arrested.

You enjoyed it. That's why you were
paying for it. Mm -hmm. And did you

it?

Yeah, I did.

Do you have to say that or?

I did. I really did. I didn't show him.

I might have didn't tell him.

But in my head, I was like, oh, my God,
this is the best.

You're right.

I'm serious.

You're right.

Do you have trouble believing that?

Not really. A little bit.

Sometimes you second guess.

I take a word for it.

Yeah. But I'll be honest. I don't know
whether to believe it or not.

Right.

I'll give it a benefit of the doubt.
Because it could be part of a hustle,

right? It's not, though. I mean, I don't
look for satisfaction, but if it's

good, it's good. I just don't let it
show or let it be known. Right, strictly

business. So what's your relationship
now, then?

Just good friends.

Just friends?

Mm -hmm.

But would you like it to be something
more, Keith?

You know, I really don't even think
about that.

Do you still bring her little gifts?

Mm -hmm. I come every week, give her
$30, you know, to keep in her pocket.

Today I brought her all kinds of
toiletries.

I mean, is it possible you're still
being hustled a little bit?

How dare you? Probably not.

You didn't like that?

No. Why not?

Because that's not what's going on.

She calls me at least every other day.
Denisha calls you every other day?

Sometimes two, three days in a row. To
what?

Just conversate. Have somebody to talk
to.

So you like him? I do.

For a stranger that I met in my hustle
to still stand by my side,

I wish it was more people like him in
this world.

Thank you for that. That was quite
heartwarming. You're welcome.

Thank y 'all.

You good, baby?

You're good, darling. You're good.

It was the early hours of the morning,
and I was back on Bissonette.

Nicky was on shift, under the ever
-watchful eye of her pimp.

I don't really look at myself like I'm
drop -dead gorgeous, but I know I'm not

ugly. I think you look great.

He said I look like a rock star today. I
was like, what? You do. He's like, now

go get some rock star money.

See,

another thing about a pimp, they have to
motivate you and keep you feeling good

about yourself because if they're
ragging on you all the time and making

feel like shit, then that's how you're
going to feel.

Are we good to go?

Yeah. You know, before when we spoke to
you and you became distraught, do you

remember?

You were upset because you'd lost some
money.

And you started... I was honest with him
about that. You got into a tiff. Do you

remember? Yeah, because there's
consequences to my actions. You know

mean? You were really upset and you
seemed scared.

I mean, nobody likes being punished.
Nobody likes being in trouble. Is that

it was about?

I mean, I was texting him, talking shit
the other night. He pulled up and picked

me up and punched me in the mouth.

Because I was disrespectful, you know
what I mean? Like, they take that shit

seriously. Would you be able to read out
some text to get a flavor of how he

talked to you?

And how you talked to each other?
Because you just said you were being

disrespectful.

The first message I have, it says, I'm
your little Italian soldier. He said,

fucking right, bitch.

And then I was on the track.

And I was walking and talking to
somebody and he drove by and he texted

said, this is your first warning. Stop
talking, bitch, and get active.

I said, I am, daddy.

He said, get picked up.

I'm getting pissed because I was out
there for like three or four hours.

I said, I do good when I'm in good
spirit, not a hot mess. You feel me? He

yes, bitch.

Was that after he punched you?

Mm -hmm. So you're putting a marker down
saying that you don't appreciate him

putting his hands on you, right?

Mm -hmm. He knows that, though.

You said you've only been doing this a
year and a half, but you feel okay with

it. I love what I do. I accept it. I'm
not ashamed of it. Like, I feel

like in some aspects, I help people.

I mean, pleasure is good.

Who don't like to have sex? Like, come
on. I mean, I hear you.

And at the same time, you know, I've
been talking to other women involved in

work, and almost two are one.

But the pimp thing is not good, that the
pimps are... It depends on the way you

look at it, though. ...hereditary and
parasitic.

It just depends on who you're with.

He makes me a better person.

How is he making you better?

I'm smarter, I'm stronger.

And he takes all the money.

He doesn't take it, I hand it to him.

But if I want anything, I just ask him.

You wouldn't rather have your own money?

I don't know. I'm really bad with money.
I'm not a financial person.

Like before I was married, my husband
did all that stuff.

But it seems quite precarious. If he's
got all your money, in a year or six

months or ten years, see if something
happens, right? And you have a falling

out. And then you leave. And what do you
have to show for it?

Not much.

There's no part of you that wants to get
away from him.

Uh -uh.

Not even a little bit. Really?

I'm devoted and dedicated.

I left, convinced of the wrongness of
Nicky's choices, but also baffled as to

how to break through.

By now I'd realized that for all the
women I'd met who'd been trafficked and

pimped, there was a pull deeper than the
money or the drama, or in some cases

the drugs, a need to feel valued and to
show love.

In a role of providing professional
intimacy, it struck me that the women

also at the mercy of their own feelings
when it came to their pimps.

Perhaps none more so.

than Dinesha, caught between her
roommate Jax, her old pimp, and Ki.

You know, it was nice meeting Ki.

Was it? What are your feelings for him?

I mean, I appreciate him and I... I got
love for

him.

I wouldn't necessarily say that I could
right now at this point see myself in a

relationship with anybody.

You seem to be in relationships with
three people.

Who?

I am not in a relationship with anybody.
Of a sort. Well, there's Keith.

There's also your old pimp who's in
prison.

Okay. And then there's Jack. Okay.

I'm not in a relationship with Jack.
Jack is like my best friend.

Which one are you most attracted to?

You want me to be honey?

The one in jail.

Yeah.

He's the one who's treated you worst, I
suppose.

Yeah. And he pimped you out, right? If
that's not the right term.

He put you out on the track, right?

And he was physical with you?

Yes. What has he got that you don't get
in the other two relationships?

When Keith talks to me, Keith talks to
me about always wanting to have sex.

I can't wait till you can leave so I can
come and get you and take you out to

eat and, you know, do this and do that.

But with T, what does he talk to you
about?

He loves me and...

He don't want to lose me. He want me to
be a part of his life. No, I'm his life.

You had a physical relationship.

Yes.

But it's more emotional now with him.

Do you think that's true of pimps in
general?

Well,

that they can push your buttons
emotionally, and part of their control

is that...

You can't manipulate them sexually.

I can, though. I have.

With T?

Yes. He likes the way I do things in
bed.

T does?

Yes. There's not a day we didn't sleep
in a bed together that we didn't have

sex. You and T?

Yeah.

When you look into your heart and you
see that there's a part of you that

that, right?

Or wanted it. Wanted it. What is it, do
you think? Is it just a sort of an

emotional, you know, it's a sense of
pleasure that you get in providing for

someone and taking care of business?

It is, because it makes me feel like I'm
in control.

You can see how, looking at it another
way, it's almost a kind of

servitude, you know, a kind of... Being
submissive. Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

If you know my background, me growing
up, I always had to be submissive.

I started being molested at the age of
three.

No, no, I don't want to. I don't want
to. If you tell you're going to be in

trouble or I'm going to kill you, put
fear in me.

Who did it?

A lot of people.

A lot of people.

My mom even knows.

It was two of her boyfriends.

I hate for people to try to judge me
about my lifestyle.

I really do, because no one knows what
I've been through. No one knows where I

come from.

And I just thought that the person that
I loved was the one who was going to

save me, rescue me from all of the
feelings and the emotions that I endured

inside of me.

But now when I sit and I explain it to
you guys, in my head it's like, no,

that's not what was happening.

You mean with tea?

Yeah, I was being used.

I'm being used by Keith.

I'm just being used.

I don't know if that's true, you know. I
mean, I hope that's not what you think

I've been saying.

I think, um...

You know, relationships are complicated,
and I think your relationships with

Keith and T and Jax, they're all two
-way streets, and in your

own way you have been powerful in those
relationships.

With my time in Houston nearly up, I had
one last appointment.

How's it going?

It's going good.

Savannah was now back on her own in the
world.

We'd arranged to meet for coffee.

So the sense I have from Santa Maria is
that you're at risk out here of relapse

into drugs and relapse into sex work.

How does that sit with you, that image?
Is that accurate? Is it there?

No, I am in recovery.

And I do care about my recovery.

I felt like I was going nowhere in Santa
Maria.

But out here?

Where do you feel you're going out here?

I'm getting a job.

I'm going to start working.

Where?

I'm going to go apply for applications
tomorrow.

What kind of job?

Any job.

Subway, applying to a bunch of different
places, front desk, clerk, and the

going back to the life. I mean, maybe in
another person's eyes that would be

relaxing, but I never promised that I
wouldn't go back and do it.

What is it that is making you think a
little bit like it's still an option?

I don't have a job.

And it's easy.

It's easy.

Is it a little bit exciting?

Mm -hmm. Oh, it absolutely is. The rush,
it's like another addiction. It really

is. Do you think there's a way of doing
the sex work in a healthy way?

I don't know. There's a part of me that
just completely wants to just stop it

because I know that I'm better than that
and that that's not what I need to be

doing with my life.

I could absolutely be doing a whole
bunch of other things, but then another

of me is like, for some reason doesn't
want to let that go.

Why?

A big part of me is scared that I'm not
going to be successful, that I'm going

to fail somewhere, and that I might as
well just stick to doing this

instead of go and fail. But at the same
time, I just, I don't know.

Do you think you'd ever get back with a
pimp?

Mm -mm.

No, I don't.

No longer will I allow a man to tell me
what to do or

to disrespect me or to hit me or I give
my

money to them.

I will no longer allow that.

Because I know when I was out here, I
didn't think there was any hope.

I thought the older I got, because I was
out here for 21 years.

I had a baby over on the 40th and a
half. It may be that as long as there

extremes of vulnerability, coerced
prostitution will be with us.

Thank you all for coming to see me. Bye,
baby.

In Houston, I'd seen women from
backgrounds of abuse meeting the most

human need.

by seeking out what they knew best. You
have a vision.

You just can't see it because it's too
dark out here.

Cruelty that felt comfortable.

What time do I need to pick you up
Monday?

It had struck me as both bizarre and
deeply understandable.

But it was also true that a few were
finding their way back to the light.

Got her.

I love you.

You're going to be fine.