She is a 30-year-old single woman who reportedly lives with her adorable 3-year-old daughter. She works as a prostitute. Of course, she works at a brothel, but sometimes she and other prostitutes take a boat to ships anchored in the harbor to pick up clients, and she sometimes stays there for two or three days without returning.
Some ocean-going ships pick up sailors at ports of call along the way, and it seems that among those sailors were some who didn’t even have passports and couldn’t disembark until they reached the port where they’d originally boarded. The prostitutes who approached by boat were probably welcomed by them.
I heard that while she was away, other prostitutes and neighborhood women took care of her 3-year-old daughter.
At that time, I had pretty much made up my mind. I had no intention of interfering in their relationship, and if W said, “I’m not going to Africa with you,” I was planning to go alone. I just wanted him to keep in touch.
On my way back, I stopped by a bar. Perhaps because it was still early, there weren’t many customers yet, and a waiter I knew kept me company while I drank a beer. He asked me about what happened last night at *PASSPORT* with a smirk on his face.
According to him, many of the prostitutes seem to sell their bodies out of poverty. He said they’re around 15 or 16 years old. He also mentioned that while they earn more than waiters, they’re big spenders.
He told me a story he’d heard from an acquaintance about a prostitute who started working at 18, gave birth to her first child at 21, and is now 25 and five months pregnant.
[Whoa, whoa, hold on a second. Is that story for real?] As I listened to him, I gradually lost my appetite for beer.
Next → Visas for North African Countries
彼女は30歳の独身、一緒に暮らす3歳の可愛い女の子がいるそうです。彼女の仕事は娼婦。もちろん店にも出ますが、時として他の娼婦仲間と一緒にボートで港に停泊中の船に乗り付けて客を取り、2-3日そのまま帰らないこともあるそうです。
一部の外洋船は途中の寄港地で船乗りをピックアップすることもあり、そのような船乗りのなかにはパスポートもなく、自分が乗り込んだ港まで下船できない者もいたようです。ボートで乗り付ける娼婦たちは、おそらく彼らに歓迎されたのでしょう。
彼女が戻らないあいだは、他の娼婦や近所のオバさんたちが3才の女の子の面倒を見ると聞きました。
当時、私の気持ちはほぼ決まっていました。男女関係に口を挟む気持ちはないし、Ｗ君が「アフリカに一緒に行かない」というなら、一人で行くつもりでした。ただ、連絡だけは欲しいと思っていました。
帰りにバールに寄ると、時間が早いせいか、まだ客も少なく、顔見知りのウェイターがビールを飲む私の相手をしてくれました。昨夜の〈PASSPORT〉でのことをニヤニヤしながら聞いてくれました。
彼によると、娼婦たちの多くは貧困から体を売るようです。年令は15､6歳だといいます。ウェイターより稼ぐけど、反面金遣いが荒いとも言っていました。
知人から聞いた話として、18歳から娼婦を始め21歳で最初の子を産み、25歳の現在、妊娠5ヵ月の娼婦がいるとも話してくれました。
[オイオイ、ちょっと待ってよ。そんなリアルな話かよ] 話しを聞いているうちに、だんだんビールが進まなくなってしまいました。
