The pimps all knew K-bar was in the process of turning this girl though and didnât interfere. It was his business and they allowed him the freedom to conduct it his way. The more experienced players considered Kenny a minor pimp who spent too much time playing his girls and not enough working them.
Roman Neville was one of the more experienced players whose place Stacey visited with Kenny. He was the first pimp Stacey had met so far whose street name seemed to fit him perfectly. He stood five foot three and was almost as wide at the shoulders or at least he looked that wide to Stacey. Tank was short, stout and as strong as an ox. He was a human tank who had chosen not to work girls in Montreal or Toronto. Even the most successful pimps who had left Halifax for the profitable cities respected Tank. At age thirty he had been flirting with the prostitution game for fifteen years. He began in the mid 1970s as the âeyesâ of an older pimp who did not want to drive downtown to check on his girls every night. The older pimp gave his sporty car to Tank who would cruise Hollis street like a player and watch the girls. He even took it on himself to copy down license numbers as girls went on dates. He figured he could use the information if someone tried to rip off or rough up one of the girls.
The pay phone, the link between the girl in the street and her pimp with his cellular phone. [Print from ATV video tape]
That protective instinct stayed with Neville long after he struck out on his own, Tank set his own rules: he stayed away from juveniles, often encouraging then to change their minds and leave The Game. Once he informed the police that a thirteen-year-old who had been playing on the edges spending time with local pimps was in Montreal, where a pimp had taken her against her will. Tank even helped find her and get her back to Halifax, and her familyâall in all, a dangerous move that could have cost him the respect he had earned from other players and even ended his career. Not to mention that he continued to operate his sideline businessârunning a small gang of teenage boys who were pulling B&Es for himâbreaking into peopleâs homes and bringing stolen goods back for him to sell. Avoiding any contact with the police should have been his main priority but Tankâs ego would not allow that. He wanted people in square society to respect him as well. He helped the police in the hope they would look up to him. Tankâs unwavering belief that he would not get caught was shared among the Nova Scotian pimps. The men had been playing The Game for more than a decade with little or no interference from police and they felt immune to the laws that govern prostitution. Whenever there was a crackdown on prostitution the girls took the brunt of it as police charged them and not their pimps. Tank was confident but part of him wanted outâmaybe his natural protective instinct would make him a good prospect to become a crisis counselor for troubled adolescents.
Tank considered trying out his skills on Stacey the first night they metâtaking her aside and advising her to stay away from the crowd she was now moving withâbut he was deterred by her obvious excitement at the prospect of going to Toronto. âYou could tell she wanted to be in The Game; she was in my front room, just bouncing, telling me where she was going,â he recalled years later. âI figured she knew what she wanted, so I ignored her.â Of course a trained counselor might have wondered if Stacey was being manipulated into believing the trip really would be an innocent shopping expedition, but Tank never took the courses. His recollections of meeting Stacey emerged during an interview in a federal prison, where he was sent in the spring of 1993. Tankâs dreams of leaving The Game and becoming a respected citizen were put on hold for three years as he served concurrent sentences for living on the avails of
Roman Neville was one of the more experienced players whose place Stacey visited with Kenny. He was the first pimp Stacey had met so far whose street name seemed to fit him perfectly. He stood five foot three and was almost as wide at the shoulders or at least he looked that wide to Stacey. Tank was short, stout and as strong as an ox. He was a human tank who had chosen not to work girls in Montreal or Toronto. Even the most successful pimps who had left Halifax for the profitable cities respected Tank. At age thirty he had been flirting with the prostitution game for fifteen years. He began in the mid 1970s as the âeyesâ of an older pimp who did not want to drive downtown to check on his girls every night. The older pimp gave his sporty car to Tank who would cruise Hollis street like a player and watch the girls. He even took it on himself to copy down license numbers as girls went on dates. He figured he could use the information if someone tried to rip off or rough up one of the girls.
The pay phone, the link between the girl in the street and her pimp with his cellular phone. [Print from ATV video tape]
That protective instinct stayed with Neville long after he struck out on his own, Tank set his own rules: he stayed away from juveniles, often encouraging then to change their minds and leave The Game. Once he informed the police that a thirteen-year-old who had been playing on the edges spending time with local pimps was in Montreal, where a pimp had taken her against her will. Tank even helped find her and get her back to Halifax, and her familyâall in all, a dangerous move that could have cost him the respect he had earned from other players and even ended his career. Not to mention that he continued to operate his sideline businessârunning a small gang of teenage boys who were pulling B&Es for himâbreaking into peopleâs homes and bringing stolen goods back for him to sell. Avoiding any contact with the police should have been his main priority but Tankâs ego would not allow that. He wanted people in square society to respect him as well. He helped the police in the hope they would look up to him. Tankâs unwavering belief that he would not get caught was shared among the Nova Scotian pimps. The men had been playing The Game for more than a decade with little or no interference from police and they felt immune to the laws that govern prostitution. Whenever there was a crackdown on prostitution the girls took the brunt of it as police charged them and not their pimps. Tank was confident but part of him wanted outâmaybe his natural protective instinct would make him a good prospect to become a crisis counselor for troubled adolescents.
Tank considered trying out his skills on Stacey the first night they metâtaking her aside and advising her to stay away from the crowd she was now moving withâbut he was deterred by her obvious excitement at the prospect of going to Toronto. âYou could tell she wanted to be in The Game; she was in my front room, just bouncing, telling me where she was going,â he recalled years later. âI figured she knew what she wanted, so I ignored her.â Of course a trained counselor might have wondered if Stacey was being manipulated into believing the trip really would be an innocent shopping expedition, but Tank never took the courses. His recollections of meeting Stacey emerged during an interview in a federal prison, where he was sent in the spring of 1993. Tankâs dreams of leaving The Game and becoming a respected citizen were put on hold for three years as he served concurrent sentences for living on the avails of
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