Monday, October 25, 2010

Shavon Interview

I met Shavon, street name "Seven", while I was out taking photos in a Northeast neighborhood she asked me not to disclose. The area is a kind of a last stop for street workers who are down on their luck. It's a block far removed from the glamour and allure of some of the city's other sex trade locations. These women are not looking to make big money or feel the rush of the hustle, they're only chasing their next high. The vast majority smoke every dollar they make minutes after they make it. Many are also homeless or something close to it. And most are dealing with serious mental health issues in addition to their drug addictions. In general, they aren't very approachable.

Shavon however seemed friendly and carried herself with an aura of self confidence that made me want to know her story. When I offered to pay her for a quick interview she enthusiastically agreed. We drove to a near by residential neighborhood away from cops and stick-up kids and began to get into her story.

Shavon 1

Originally from Chicago, 43 year old Shavon came to our Nation's Capitol back in 1999 looking to escape some legal trouble that she didn't want to talk about while traveling as an exotic dancer throughout the Midwest.

"I was just gonna stay for a couple weeks until the heat died down but that crack got me and I've been out on these streets ever since."

In her life as a dancer Shavon had snorted cocaine but says she was nothing more than an occasional user. Then shortly after coming to DC she smoked crack for the first time with a man she met and her life immediately changed.

Before smoking crack Shavon was focused on making money and enjoying the lifestyle. "I loved everything about it. I loved the money, the attention. I loved traveling places and meeting people. I went all over too. Milwaukee, all over Iowa, even North Dakota. I was the only black girl out there but I think they liked being with a black girl that had some sense about her. I dated some of the guys back then too, you know, after the shows and shit, and I made a lot of money. I was really pretty back then. I mean I looked good!" she beams.

IMG_1642b

All that changed here in DC. She says that after that first time smoking crack it became the entire focus of her life. She was turning tricks on the street within a matter of days. As a dancer, she would send home money to her daughter who she had left in the care of her mother.

"Whatever my baby wanted, she got. I would send them money every week and when I would go home I would buy her clothes, CD's, candy, anything she asked for. I took care of her."

Once lost in her addiction she began to send less and less money until finally there was nothing at all to send.

"They knew something was up when I couldn't send that money anymore. I mean, they knew what kind of lifestyle I lived but when I stopped sending money my mother knew something was wrong but they didn't really know what until I had my son."

In 2001 Shavon gave birth to a baby boy. She had no idea who the father was and worse yet, they baby was born with cocaine in his system. Social Services was notified and she had to place the child in the custody of her mother to avoid it being placed into foster care.

"That's when they knew for sure what was going on with my life."

Shavon

Since then her life has been pretty turbulent. She started working for a local drug dealer, helping him sell on the street in exchange for freebies. It kept her from having to turn tricks and she says the two of them grew very close and were begining to start a relationship when she was arrested. She had to spend nearly two years in prison, butdecided to use her incarceration as an opportunity to get clean. When she got out she resumed her relationship with the dealer and they fell in love. This time however, she says she was able to stay clean for him.

"I don't know why I could do it for someone else but could never do it to help myself," she laughed. "I guess I'm just fucked up like that."

In total she was clean for 37 months but when they broke up she relapsed... hard.

"That's why you see me out here. I just been fucking up, getting high too much."

She says she used to work another neighborhood near by where the "dates" and the money came easier. But the police cracked down in that area. She works the neighborhood where I found her because the police don't hassle her and because you can work anytime of day. But the money isn't as good and the streets aren't as safe.

"Motherfuckers out here don't wanna pay nothin' and they'll rob you quick. I've had to really degrade myself out here," she says looking away.

The Look Away

At that point things get quiet and she seems to be lost in the moment, lost in her thoguht. She eventually asks me to take her to a nearby beauty supply shop where she picks up a pony tail extension and some cheap makeup.

Throughout the interview she has been open with me but still cautiously guarded. As we talked she's been unconsciously clutching the money I gave her, as though I might suddenly change my mind and try to take it back. But when she gets out of the car to go into the store she trusts me enough to leaves her purse with me and when she comes back she is noticabley more upbeat and at ease.

She begins to tell me a little more about her daughter. "She's about your age," she says. "She went to school. College and all that. She owns a day care, has a house, two cars... her and my mother are doing good. Real good."

"I think I'm going to go see them this year for Thanksgiving," she continues. "You know, my daughter doesn't judge me. I can tell her everything going on in my crazy life and she just loves me. She hugs me a lot. Sometimes we just lay in bed together and talk."

As we drive back to where I picked her up I tell her to promise me she'll actually make that Thanksgiving trip. She responds that it's very hard for her to make plans with the lifestyle she lives. "I never really think past this week but once I make my mind up about something, I do it. I'm gonna go this year."

She gets out of the car and I ask to take a picture of her in a nearby alley where we find a spot of shade to hide from the harsh sun hanging overhead. As soon as I pull the camera to my eye she begins giving me poses like a model, laughing at herself as I snap a final couple of pictures.

Shavon Triptych

As she walks away down the alley I imagine her getting on a bus and riding across country to see her daughter. I think I believe her when she says she'll really go.

2 comments:

  1. Wow that is an awesome story man. VERY well written and a powerful story. Very real.

    ReplyDelete

Blog Archive

Thanks for taking the time to check out the blog. My main interest is portrait photography but I also have a passion for story telling as well and this is my attempt to combine the two genres. I hope you enjoy what you see and read, hopefully I'll have more interviews to post in the near future.

You can check out more of my work on my flickr page here and I can be reached via email: joel.keister@gmail.com