Libra
As today's witness was wheeled into the courtroom, I had no idea her small, gaunt frame would so assault my senses. Her name was Gina Alice Houston, and at 39 years old, she is suffering the ravaging effects of cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.
She met met Pickton for the first time in the early 1990's when she was living at Main and Hastings (ground zero of Vancouver's drug-riddled war zone). She had been walking with a friend who was a sex trade worker and also knew him. They all went for a ride to the Robin's Donuts store on Hastings St. Gina jumped out of Pickton's truck while her friend stayed in the vehicle and went to the underground behind the donut place.
Hearing about Robin's Donut shop brought me back years; it was quite the hotspot for the girls on stroll; it was open 24/7, so you always had a place to dry off or warm up in winter months, or even just use the bathroom. If you needed to find another girl, all you had to do was go there and through the grapevine, she would be found - unless you were looking for a fight, and then sometimes it could be a bit tricky.
Drugs, alcohol and any other form of party favor you wanted were either just a phone call away or in that little donut shop in some dealer's pocket. It was also an oasis - after one pulled a bad date, you could go there for a hot chocolate or a hug from friends who could sympathize and spruce you back up before you were right back out there, doing your thing. They always spruced you back up, because the sex trade stops for nothing. Not even rape.
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Re: Hardest Day Yet: Gina's Testimony
By tdsracer, December 20, 2007 at 01:29I read your article where you spoke of prostitution and giving a stranger a blow job. You told that story so eloquently when you describe the sense of smell. Every woman who performs the act of oral sex on a man knows of that smell that is forever imbedded in your mind. I hope that someday you will not have that sensory memory...those memories are very strong. My sister-in-law died of lung cancer and I will never forget the smell on the third floor of the cancer clinic...I have come to learn that it is the smell of death. I pray that your memory of that act will be taken from your senses. You have done well for yourself, keep on trying! Have faith in God/the Creator and pray to God that he gives you that memory only to remind you of how strong you have become and to prevent relapse. May God/the Creator be with you in all your travels and go safely and carefully. Think about the choices you have made and feel the pride you should, you have overcome what so many others have given their lives for.