KENSINGTON BLUES

Teri, Winter 2008.

Edited Audio Transcript

I first came out here when I was 18. Um, I, I haven’t been out here constantly, I mean like of course you know I was locked up here and there and I got clean a couple of times. The longest I ever got clean was 5 years and um most of, most of the ladies that um, I first knew when I came out are either up state doing time or they’re uh, you know they’re, I hate to say it, but dead, you know they OD’d, or you know, they got killed.

I come from an alcoholic family, and I’ve been doing drugs since I was like, oh my God, I don’t even know 12, 13, and um, you know, I started out you know with weed and stuff, and then I graduated, but I started doing heroin when I was 18 and I came down here and I got involved with that, and um, that just like kinda kicked my butt, and um you know so I, I wound up basically this becoming my home down here.

You know I started trick’n because I had to like you know, take care of my habit, you know. But actually I started trick’n when I was 17, when I, when I was hanging in Lindenfield project up in the North East and um I was doing coke back then, you know but that’s where, that’s how I got introduced to you know prostituting and stuff like that.  I started up there in the North East and um, then it just, and that’s an addiction in itself too, you know because it’s easy money, well, I wouldn’t say it’s easy money cause it’s not easy, huh, um it’s fast money. It’s a, it’s an addictive behavior so I mean, the one time I thought well I’ll go make some money and then I, you know but I don’t have to get high, but once I had the money in my hand it was like, ahh I’m gonna go get high so it kinda led to one thing led to another and I was back out here again doing the same thing.