As the bars and clubs close and people seep onto the streets, the women come out of the shadows and into plain view. Whether black, white or Latinaβthe cops say most are black or Latinaβtheir dress is similar: skirts or booty shorts, skintight shirts, high heels and thick makeup. Outside an East Salinas bar in the dark hours of a recent Sunday morning, men sporting cowboy hats and big-buckle belts follow the women, first with their eyes and then with their feet, to street corners and alleyways.
One of these cars winds up at a Kern Street motel just blocks away, where the woman pauses briefly to make a phone call, then disappears into a room. But it also means big eventsβand big events mean big spenders. Police, residents and shelter workers all confirm a thriving sex industry in the county. But increased education by a wide range of people, from concerned citizens to federal programs, is bringing a greater understanding of the industry, its workers and their plight, into the public light.
Maria, as she asks to be called, is part a circuit of women who follow seasonal ag workers and the big-money special events to Monterey Countyβsome by choice, and others by force.
Lots of people visit here from out of town all year. He rarely sees the same girls twice, he says, "probably because they're always on the move. They move on to another area, either somewhere in town or somewhere else. After a while, a black woman, wearing a short red dress with plunging neckline, emerges from a second-story room and walks halfway down the stairs. She holds her cell phone to her ear and speaks softly into it.
At the same time, a car turns around and pulls into a parking space. A man gets out and follows the woman upstairs to her room. About 15 minutes later, the door opens and he leaves. Down the hall, another door opens and an overweight white woman wanders out to smoke a cigarette. As she taps its ashes off the balcony, I move from my position behind some bushes and walk upstairs to approach her. She motions to her oversized hoodie and flip-flops.
