- [Interviewer] All right. Cookie, Cookie. Where'd you grow up? Where are you from originally? - I'm originally, I'm from LA my family, Arkansas, Little Rock. - [Interviewer] But you grew up in LA and you had both your parents? - No, I grew up with my mom and then she moved me
to Vegas when I was 13. And then I went to when my father at 14, because my mother,
she was schizophrenia and I just made the choice to
move my father when it comes to like my childhood, my dad when I was staying with him, it just he ended up doing drugs
and all types of stuff. - [Interviewer] So how would you describe your childhood then? - I mean, I had a good
childhood up to the point,. I turned 14 when living with my dad,
I had a normal childhood. It was just like my mom she had mental issues and I
just felt like I wasn't happy over there anymore. - [Interviewer] And then at 14, what kind of stuff started happening to you with your dad? - His friend had raped me, so
I ended up getting pregnant and I had to get an
abortion, he's in jail. - [Interviewer] So they caught him? - Yeah. They caught him. - [Interviewer] You were 14? - Yes. - [Interviewer] And then where
did your life go after that? - I was in foster care. I went through the system but I ran away a lot and at 15, 16, I was in the streets too. And that was learning
how to be a prostitute. - [Interviewer] Did you
have somebody showing you the way or. - No, it was just me trying to survive because I didn't like being
in the foster care home. It was very disturbing. There was teenagers that were rolling up. We were Bible paper. It was crazy. I just didn't want to
be in that predicament but I chose the life of prostitution because I could survive
this way and I can, I didn't need much but a trick to get the
rooms that I needed. - [Interviewer] Yeah.
It's an easy solution to your money problem. - Yeah. - [Interviewer] It's hard to get a job. - Yeah. 'cause , you're trying to run away from the system and
you're trying to survive. - [Interviewer] How far do you at school? - I went to 11th grade and I stopped. - [Interviewer] And you
came to LA at what point? - I come to LA? When I came to LA? - [Interviewer] Yeah. - I came to LA when I was 14. I've been in LA ever since. - [Interviewer] Oh. So when you when you kind
of left the foster home, you came out here? Oh, I see. And do you work for the pimp? - No. I don't have a pimp. - [interviewer] And you're
working a South Central figure out mostly. - Yes. I work work in South Central - [Interviewer] Wherever. Yeah. What's what are the ups
and downs of this life? - Oh, the ups and your
monies may, you can survive you can take care of what
you got to take care of but the downs is you're risking your life. And I've had incidents
where a guy has like pretended to be a trick,
but it was a flat guy. You cannot attend a windows. He brought his window down half way. I couldn't see his whole face. As soon as I opened the
door and I was getting in and I saw he was black. I tried to get out the car. He took off with me while
my foot was out of the car and he dragged my leg with the street. Like my leg was getting
dragged on the street and I had road rash on arm, on my foot. So yeah. It is very risky. You're risking your life consistently. So I do still have injuries
from that, but yeah. - [Interviewer] I mean how much do you think,
honestly do you think? - On a daily basis. I say 500. I can make 500 in a daily basis. You can make a thousand on a good day. - [Interviewer] Right? Cool. Do you have regulars or do
you just kinda go by who, who picks you up? - I have regular, so I don't
really work the street as much. So, I try my best to keep off the streets. - [Interviewer] That makes it safer. - Yeah. - [Interviewer] Did you
ever had another job? - No, I like sugar daddies. I had just one sugar daddy
he paid me like 7,000. They didn't even ask for sex. He just wanted to like, give
me money in the envelope and meet me at Starbucks and talk to me, get to know me. Yeah, 'cause like at the time I was doing web cam girls
services and I met him and he just wanted to like,
be a sugar daddy to me - [Interviewer] Offering
getting $7,000 envelopes. - Yeah. He would give me $7,000
- how often that happen in an envelope - [Interviewer] How
often that does happen? - Twice a week. He would just like - [Interviewer] 14,000 a week. - Yeah. He cause he had money,
he was the older guy. So he didn't mind. He just wanted me to like
come and spend time with him go shopping in the mall
with him, like a girlfriend. - [Interviewer] How long does that last? - It lasted for two months. But then he was like, moving out of town and he couldn't really
see me that often the more so but it happened for about two months and I was able to afford my apartment rent and I was able to get furniture because of him and everything. - [Interviewer] You recall
the first time you did this? - The first time I did this, I was 15. This is like a year after
I had the rape incident. I was really running away
from my foster care home. So I went into the streets
and I met this girl and she was selling herself,
but she was young just like me. She was like 16, like
a year older than me. But she just told me
like, all you gotta do is get on the date and
these guys, they pay you for your age. You just let them know how old you is, or gonna tip you. So I would just, work like that. And guys would pay me for
knowing how young I am. - [Interviewer] You been arrested? - I've been arrested, but
I haven't been convicted. So yeah, I've been
arrested plenty of times. - [Interviewer] And are
drugs a part of your life? - Drugs, no, I don't do drugs. All I do is weed and I consider weed.. I don't even consider drug. - [Interviewer] It's legal here. - So do you have kids? - No, I have no children.
- [Interviewer] And you're 21? - I'm 20 years old. - [Interviewer] 20. Okay. And so, I mean, do you enjoy this work? I mean do you get depressed
about it? I mean, is it. - You know what. - [Interviewer] It's a self-esteem boost in one way, but it also
knocks your self esteem down. - It became a way for me to know my value because at the end of the day, like I was feeling very low self-esteem after getting
pregnant by a older man. So it's like, now I'm gonna
make men treat me better. They're not just gonna take my stuff. They're gonna pay for me. My mind switched at an early age. - [Interviewer] So does this
get you depressed sometimes or no? - I don't get depressed
because at the end of the day when I'm counting all
the money that I make and I'm ready to go pay for my items I don't get as much depression
no more because I'm like everybody has something that they do that they may not be proud of. And nobody likes the work that they do in a normal job either - [Interviewer] That's true. So how many bankers? - Right. But you know, you don't like getting up in the morning and don't go into work working nine to
five for $12 an hour and shit. You don't like that. - [Interviewer] Are you saving money? - Yeah, I'm saving my money. I'm putting my money up. So when I have the right stuff to do with the money, I will. - [Interviewer] Have any
dreams of what you'd like to do with your life? - Yes, I do. My dreams is to become like
either a nurse one day or to like just, I want to be
a business woman in general. That's how I that's how I look at
myself as a business woman - [Interviewer] And the
childhood that you had, especially after 14 that just kind of, do
you blame, do you connect you make a connection with that as to why this
became your lifestyle. - Yeah, I think it was because my dad has led me down as a father. So I just feel like a
craving for male attention because I had a lack of a
father protection in my life that's why I think I'd be doing this too. - [Interviewer] Do you ever, you mentioned that one bad experience does that happen more than a few times? Or do you get into situations with some of
your, some of your clients? - Oh yeah. I mean, of course I've had
incidents where men have tried to hurt me and like, or
take their money back or I've had crazy incidents, but at the end of the day, I'm not like I'm not scared
because I do protect myself. I take lengths to make sure I
don't get killed doing this. I always have, I do a
lot of in call and stuff. So I make sure that I'm
in control no matter what. So that a man can't just do anything like choke me out or do anything that's
gonna, take my life away - [Interviewer] And is
going to Vegas and working in the casinos and a temptation for you. I mean what will be
easier to get out one day or just dig in deeper and start doing things
to make even more money? - It probably will be
easier for me to like get out the situation once, I've settled myself
down in like a nice home where I know I don't have to go back to the streets. I like that. I know that I own this place. Like I'm trying to own a house. So I don't ever have to worry about anybody kicking me out or anything. Or I have, I like to have
my I'm very independent. I like to have my own shit. Once I get established
I'm down with the streets. That's how I am. And I'm, don't plan on
doing this any longer. Like it's probably gonna be next year. It is my last year. I'm not continuing to stay in it. - [Interviewer] So you're
doing it purely for the money. - Yeah. That's purely for the money. - [Interviewer] Do you respect
the guys that pick you up? - Oh I don't respect them? No. Yeah. - [Interviewer] What do you
think people that are not in this lifestyle don't understand
about this line of work. - They think that we're doing this because we love being prostitutes. It's not because we love being prostitutes is because we have to survive
just like anybody else in a normal working days,
we have to keep ourselves, some of us have kids, some of us don't, we were just trying to survive
and keep ourself above water just like everybody else on a daily basis - [Interviewer] You didn't
have the role model. - And I want people to understand that. - [Interviewer] You
didn't have role models that kind of led you into nursing or anything else that
was more respectable. - Oh, like, do I have role model? - [Interviewer] Yeah I mean
you never had role model. Like your dad was on drugs, your mom. - I didn't have no role models. - Yeah. Like I said, yeah my dad was on drugs. So I didn't have anybody telling me that this wasn't the
right way to go either. - [Interviewer] What do
you wish was different about your childhood, but what would have made the biggest impact? - The biggest impact
probably is if my mom didn't have the mental illness and she was able to talk to me as a woman, but you know she's dealing with her own mental illness. How can you spend for a child when you can't
fend for your own self? Right now she has schizophrenia. Yes. - [Interviewer] Do you have any siblings? - Yeah, I do. - [Interviewer] And where are they? - They're grown, but they're
running their own life. I don't really think in contact with them are bothered them
with my problems in life. I'm very, like I said,
I'm very independent. So, I don't go asking for help or a handout
from my family whatsoever. - [Interviewer] You're
doing it all on your own? - Yeah. When it comes to like any
type of pimp or anything there was this guy that I was
with like a few months ago but he just didn't give a fuck about me. I say, never have a pimp ever, 'cause guys will like
literally your record up. If you don't have a record they will literally
make you have a record. They're very reckless. They don't care about
your life as a woman. - [Interviewer] What kind of
guys pick you up or are these how would you describe
your typical client? - You know what I was
describing my typical client is usually the guys that like look for young women. Like they don't know my age sometimes. So I, it would usually be guy that's looking for a young woman that picked me up thinking that maybe I might be an under 18. - [Interviewer] These are
professionals that have money, or these are? - Well, when I'm on the street, it's just guys looking for a young woman. But I worked at a stripper when I was
working out at stripper. Now those are professionals but when you're talking about
the street, it's kind of like just guys who are married,
looking for a fare. - [Interviewer] Yeah. - Yeah. - [Interviewer] How
would you compare working in a strip club to doing this? - I would say the strip club is better. I would say the strip club is better. If you have action at being inside a strip club, I say, take the strip club over prostitution. - [Interviewer] Because there's
action at the strip club in the back rooms and stuff like that. - Right. But at the same time you're in a safe environment
where nobody can kill you 'cause it's a workplace. - [Interviewer] The streets are just. - The streets are just free and you do whatever is GTA
five when you out here. - [Interviewer] No, there's no. Nobody watching your back. - No body. - [Interviewer] Yeah. Has this changed the way
you view men you think? - Yeah, it has changed my way. I've you, man? 'Cause I'm like, I don't look
at them as a relationship. Like love type. I look at it like business now. I don't really believe in
love at this point in my life. Like, it's like, you
can care about someone but she's not love. It's not gonna get me nowhere right now. That's how I feel. - [Interviewer] What if that meant that you had a relationship
with was supportive and helped you achieve
some of your dreams? - I mean, I have people
that, that's what I'm saying. Like there's a man in my
life that I care about and I respect and like, I really do care,
but I mean, it's not I just want to right now focus on myself. I'm not really trying to
look for a man to love me. If you care about me,
you would just want me to do the right thing in
life and be successful. You wouldn't try to, you wouldn't try to change my mindset. You would want me to continue
to be, I'm going for my goal. That's all I'm saying. - [Interviewer] And do
you, do you have friends? - No. I don't have friends. It's very lonely for me right now. I don't have friends. - [Interviewer] Do you
stand back and just look at what you're doing and go, man, this is
so crazy and dangerous that, it's not a typical
life for a younger. - It isn't, - [Interviewer] You get accustomed to it because you're doing it night after night and it becomes
like your norm, but it's definitely not the
norm for most people. - It isn't the norm for most people. I mean, I ain't gonna lie. I got times where I look
in the mirror and I cry. I ain't gonna lie. Like the Gary prostitute had that moment but I mean, it's just, I see myself as a strong woman that
can overcome anything. If it's not this is gonna
be another situation, it could be motherhood. It's just as a woman, I know that I got to go through trials and tribulations in my life. No matter what - [Interviewer] How how do
you think it was doing this for a living has changed you. You you've been doing it
for like five years now. - Yeah, it has changed me
because I'm not scared. I have no fear in me. I fear no, man. I fear no woman. I'll just, I have no fear. I don't fear death fever
because I faced it so much. So I just know was something that's gonna come with eventually. So I just hope it's not gonna come through being in the streets. I just hope it's a natural death for me but I'd take precautions though,
to make sure I don't die. That's that's what I do dude. - [Interviewer] What
precautions do you do? I make sure I have weapons? Like, make sure I have my
defense, my maze, my taser on me. I make sure I have my life. I don't carry too much but I carry enough to where like I would not let nobody
just try to kill me. It's not gonna be easy for you. - [Interviewer] Yeah. Have you had to use those, those things? - Yes. I know how to use those. Have you had to use them though? - Oh yeah. I've had to use it. Yeah. Like this guy that I was talking about 'cause I was telling
you, like I had this pimp that a couple of months ago
that I was with this guy like I had a clean record
and he was like taking me to different States and he
ended up getting me arrested. So it did put a little smile on my record but I'm gonna get it
clear, but it's just like I want to let the females
know like do not pay nobody, do not pay no one, pay yourself. - [Interviewer] You could
get guys coming on to you with like as a boyfriend or as a manager or something like that. But they're actually
operating as with them. - I get guys coming in. Like they want to be my boyfriend but they're really awesome. Taking your money. Yeah. - [Interviewer] Is is it
hard to live this life where everybody that
you're interacting with from the pimps to the
tricks to the other girls on the street to everybody even the cops are doing something shady. - Even the cops are shady. - [Interviewer] You know what I'm saying? Everybody you're in. I mean your your entire life exists where
everybody's on the tape. - Yeah. That's why I say trust no one? - [Interviewer] Do you have nobody that's really like got your back or would help you in a pure honest, - No, the police are
really not your friends. - [Interviewer] It's a hard
way to go through life. - Yeah. It is a hard way, it is. - [Interviewer] I think that's maybe, I mean the danger is certainly a big thing but just having nobody in
your life that you can trust that you really can rely on,
it must be very difficult. - Yeah. I mean I've seen the police literally
capture a 17 year old girl. It'll let her go right back on the blade. Don't even care because
at the end of the day they're not here to protect and serve they're here to get paid. So they don't care about
if the miners are out there they know who's miners and
they still allow them to work. I honestly just want females to know that the prostitution is
not bad, but it's rigged. And it's like people are making it
one way, but honestly, we're trying to keep ourselves
safe while doing this. If y'all could make it legal we'll be very appreciative
because we could be in a whole building doing
this without risking our life. And you try to make it seem like prostitutes are all
disease and all it is. But I have, we're using condoms, we're using condoms. So when people try to make it seem like you're selling your body you're gonna catch something out there. It's only if you're being
a female, that's just dirty but I'm not doing nothing without condom. So how do I period, like, and we do get our checks up. We go to the cleaning,
just like any normal other female in this crazy 'cause some of these
women, what we call squares they go on one night stance. But that's okay though. And they don't use
condom but that's normal - [Interviewer] You guys are
all normal for the most part. I think you guys are
probably very professional and making sure that
everyone's using a condom and you're you're you're business women. - We check our, we go to the cleaners we get our blood drawn way more than a lot of people
in their own marriage. - [Interviewer] Yeah. Yeah. So legalizing this would be a great thing for the women, right? - Yes. Because I believe that
the miners will be out of the game and the
females that are legal, they can be put in a nice brothel or they could be put somewhere where they could be safe and monitored. You know, they don't have to worry about a trig doing something to them. And we are very safe about having sex. A lot of these prostitutes
they're using condoms are keeping safe. It's not no reason why as an adult they shouldn't be able to legalize it. And a woman can have consensual sex with the trick or the. - [Interviewer] Yeah. And the stigma of you being
bad or doing something illegal Yes you don't want this
little kids i in the game you don't want these
kids walking the streets legalize it so that the
adults can be in the game and they can still make
their money legally, see that we're struggling. And we're always getting
found in dumpsters. We're getting found all types of up ways because we don't
have no protection. It would be nice to have
a security guard just like in the strip club. It's nice to have security around them. - [Interviewer] You would
not have shady characters that's just. - Yeah they are out here just doing some cereal (mumbles) I want that to stop. - [Interviewer] Yeah, you're not kidding. I want to keep the kids safe. I don't want them in the game. They shouldn't have to even be able to run outside their home and
go to figure out what - [Interviewer] And what's
the most important lesson you think you've learned? - What's the most important lesson. - [Interviewer] In your 20 years? - Don't trust nobody in the streets. That's the most important. Yo trust is very important. The end do not put your trust in anyone. If you really care and love yourself should not trust anyone. - [Interviewer] All right, Cookie, thank you so much for coming
in and sharing your story. And I wish you the best of luck with whatever you do in life. And I hope you stay safe. - Okay, thank you - [Interviewer] Thank you, dawn.
