street prostitute 19: photographing Ronda

After hearing about how a knife-wielding trick had threatened to slit her throat last night, I say to Ronda:

"Well, the reason I was calling was to see if I could do a couples interview tomorrow with you and Melvin. ... You think that would be a good idea?"

"I don't know whether it is or not. We'll try it and see. ... It will prove that everybody in this world needs someone they can love and trust... Even people like us."

"Will you be there when I come?"

"Unless God takes us away."

…..

When I arrive, Ronda and Melvin are napping. They're lying on the bed, snuggled in each other's arms, and neither says a word as I bring out my camera and begin clicking away.

In a minute, Ronda sits up. "In the caption," she says, "put: 'This is Ronda and her son.'"

There is a melancholy in her voice.

"Is that the way you feel about Melvin?"

Without answering, she gets up and shows me some jeans she's just bought for him.

"No," she says then. "In the caption, you can put: 'This is Ronda's son, best friend, her father, her brother...lover ... enemy...'"

Melvin stirs and lifts himself up on an elbow.

Ronda leans down to him.

"This is Ronda's everything."

And she gives him a little kiss on the face…

______________________________________________________Photo and text excerpted from RONDA: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF A SOUTHERN STREET PROSTITUTE

Volume one
www.amazon.com/dp/B0755CS9ZJ/

Volume two
www.amazon.com/dp/B07558G1Z6/

Taken on: January 25, 2017

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Sets appears in: • STREET PROSTITUTE: PHOTOGRAPHING RONDA

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