Breaking Cardinal Rules

by Katina Powell

  At this rate, by the time I’m done my girls will be basketball wives for sho.

  For all of the ballyhoo and posturing, some things about the parties bothered Katina. She wrote:

  (The ladies) having sex with the recruits had its ups and downs. Some of these guys were babies and didn’t know the first thing about having sex, and for other recruits the girls said some of them knew how to work it off the court.

  The biggest hype at U of L was who would cum first. Andre teased some of the guys about how fast they would cum and how he was wasting money on guys who took no time to cum.

  Katina, Mangok Mathiang and Shay. Mathiang stopped by one of the partiesin the men's dorm but didn't have sex.

  The looks on these kids’ faces was s ometimes heart-breaking, because it was all too much for them. Think about it. You are a senior in high school and you get the opportunity to have sex with these highly experienced females, and you don’t want to say no because it makes you look soft in all areas, so you have to do it. I hand-picked these girls so they had the best of the best.

  There were times when I would look at the recruit’s face and they would look so lost, like this was not something they were expecting on their visit to U of L. A high school kid, some you could tell it was their first time sexually. Sometimes it would be one girl on a guy, sometimes two girls on a guy. It was whatever they wanted at that time to make them sign.

  Andre always supplied the condoms for the guys.

  At times there was the fear of being caught, by a recruit's family—by his mother, at least.

  The scariest thing that I experienced at U of L was when two girls were in a room with a recruit and they had all gotten undressed ready to get started and his mom back-tracked and came back to the dorm for her son. Andre ran into the room and told him to hurry up and get dressed, his mom was out there. He told us to stay in the room and don’t come out or make a sound.

  Katina often serviced parents of recruits.

  I only ever had sex with one recruit because I had enough girls to take care of that for me. I had sex with the parents because that’s just the way it was set up. He (Andre) would call me and tell me that it was a parent of the recruit and I had to make him feel good enough to send his son to U of L.

  All I knew was that it had to be done without questioning, so I never asked. I just did the job. And I was damn good at what I did. Andre would meet me at the hotel where the father was staying, pay me, and take off before he was seen by anyone.

  There were other escort clients to be serviced during this time, and some were even more risky than running into a recruit's mother. In November 2011 Katina did a party for the birthday of a police officer. She wrote:

  I was kind of nervous because he called me before asking for a string of shows. I almost turned them down because I didn’t know exactly how much I could trust them, let alone a cop. There was a pool table downstairs that the girls were dancing on.

  The officer took her upstairs.

  I got my money first though. We had sex on the twin bed. Once he got on top of me and starting changing positions, the bed broke and we both laughed. When he finished he put his head on my chest and started talking. The cop told me his whole life story, as if I cared. He said his wife is controlling, she has his phone tapped, he has to take care of his kids and his mom, on a cop’s salary. Poor thang! Do I care? Hell no! I don’t listen to any excuses that a nigga has, ‘cause the bill collectors ain’t listening to mine at all!!

  Chapter Four

  I'M LIKE THE BANK OF LOUISVILLE.

  -Katina Powell

  While entertaining some of the University of Louisville’s elite basketball players and providing sex to lure potential recruits proved to be a mainstay for Katina and her dancers, money also poured in from Katina's escort activities, some of them with her daughters.

  She was already doing shows and the money was good, if not complicated. One firm for which she'd served as an escort took 60 percent of her earnings; she pocketed 40 percent.

  She quit. But then money she made from bachelor parties and private shows started drying up.

  I struggled for a whole year straight. No shows, no bachelor parties. I begged and pleaded with God for a break. ‘What can I do to make money?’ Now, I’m no stranger to making money, but I was definitely a stranger to the infamous website Backpage.com.

  The turning point came one day while she was sitting at home.

  My youngest daughter called and said, ‘Mama, I’m making all this money. I went to St. Louis and posted on Backpage and made $1,000. I just bought me an iPad, brand new, new clothes, and everything. You should try it.’ So basically everybody was eating off of the Backpage situation. Me, my other two daughters and (friend) TooTall was like, shit, okay, let’s try it.

  So we go to my daughter’s friend Lexi, a white girl who seems to be eating really good off this (Backpage), and she found us a picture to match our faces and different names of girls out of town who had no desire to ever come to Louisville. She posted me and my oldest daughter and 10 minutes later everything changed for real...Now, I was used to escorting, but this was totally different.

  Katina took the name "Crystal, from Austin, Texas." She and her ladies got a room at Extended Stay. In the first day the phone rang 50 times, nonstop.

  The game is that when one person has a call, the other person leaves but don’t go too far. There were three of us, so we stayed moving. The second day we were all by ourselves (no Lexi), but we made it work, scared, and all took calls from guys, watched out for one another.

  I’ll never forget, I had this one big muscle-bound guy who Lindsay didn’t want so she passed him to me. All he kept asking was why are you doing this, I can take you away from all this. I told him you called me, so if you didn’t call I wouldn’t be doing this. It got to the point where I was posting every day. One day alone I made almost $1,000 on everything.

  Business was booming. Besides Katina it now involved several other women including Lindsay, TooTall, Rod-Ni, Lexi, Shay, Loren and Hannah.

  I was probably the only one doing it with her kids. We booked room after room: Galt House, Red Roof, Extended Stay, the Hyatt, the Sheraton. Red Roof was Number 1. Men came from all over, Louisville, Indiana, Fort Knox, Lexington and all the surrounding areas. Our names were Crystal, Ashley, Sammi, Lexi, Desiree and Queen.

  At this rate they almost needed more than one room.

  The crazy thing about it is that our calls would conflict with the other person’s, four people to a room and everybody’s phone is going off. So we’re overbooking people, now the next person wouldn’t get to take an in-call. In-call means you get a spot or a room and they come to you. Out-call means they tell you where they are at and you go to them.

  But as business grew so did Katina's worries. They could have been robbed. Or a man might crave more than what she was offering.

  If you offer more, you take a chance of getting an STD (sexually transmitted disease). You never know when a female has gotten his phone and decided to contact you for your number being in her mate’s phone. Men could stalk you or make a personal scene in public or when you’re with your mate. All sorts of things. But I think the scariest is getting busted by law enforcement or getting sick and not knowing what’s really wrong.

  I got really sick one day. Now I work for Genevieve Cleaning Company that requires me to clean up after college kids on the U of L campus; bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms. Now, mind you these are college kids who don’t give a fuck one way or the other. By not covering up my face and the nails breaking through my latex gloves I’m assuming that some sort of bacteria got into my system.

  At the same time, a few calls gave me a huge scare that continues to scare me to this day. There was a few guys that slipped out of the condom. One guy came and when he did the protection filled up with blood—the scariest thing of my life. But nothing got on or in me. I panicked. I instantly thought, what if I have something? What if it touched me? I had diarrhea f
or four weeks. I got tested for STDs; negative. I had nothing but that wasn’t satisfying to me ‘cause the big test is what matters.

  At one point she tried to design a male condom that couldn’t come off accidentally.

  Katina's business activities weren't exactly secret. She would also become a tireless promoter of her business. There were cards, brochures, advertisements, radio blurbs, word of mouth, always in pursuit of one goal—money and more money.

  Katina dreamed up special shows featuring seductive scenes and role-playing. Her money-making ideas included an office and home-cleaning service featuring sexy women. Here are more:

  NAMES FOR THE NEW SHOW!!

  Sex Toyz and Playboyz

  Dancers Cum To Life

  Platinum’s Secrets

  A Touch of Gold

  Cum take a swirl with the hottest play girls.

  A hypnotic party—when you come, give me some

  A French Lick on the biggest dick

  Baskets for the females. Cages for the girls. Peep shows. A female with tricks behind the curtains. When shows over cover her up.

  Each guy gets 2 minutes behind the Curtains.

  She must be able to perform many (variety) of tricks.

  Ticket to Club T-Nine show which McGee attended

  In late 2011, she wrote:

  People, it’s almost time for my third show, and I am so nervous. I took a chance and bet on this new club called T-9. It’s a very spacious club with a lot of rooms, three big rooms and a small room. U of L is supposed to be there. So the pressure is on. I have to set up V.I.P. for them.

  I have to have two servers, two massagers, six dancers, one headliner, one human buffet, girls on the pool table.

  Girls on the pool table have to play around while they shoot pool naked.

  As it turned out, the show at Club T-Nine proved to be a hit.

  Photo shoot before the show at Club T-Nine

  I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think a whole lot of people was gonna be there. It was almost packed.

  I had 12 beautiful females that were new faces.

  I had a human buffet that was truly gorgeous.

  I had a private room with red-light specials going on. I had chicks on the pool table playing pool nude. And to top it off, I had the most beautiful massage room, with an all-white massage table, see-through curtains, and red lights that really enhanced the room.

  Grateful for success, Katina wrote a kind of poem prayer:

  Dear God, for those who know

  I take tremendous pride when doing a show.

  A lot of people think that I’m a ho

  And these people know exactly where to go.

  I do my best to keep it under wrath

  Will step on anything and anyone who gets in my path.

  Her entrepreneurial mind was always churning with new ideas. She confided in her diary:

  I just sit and think about all kinds of shit. Like a sex play that would be clean, like some kind of skit. Yeah, that would be hot. Anything with more appeal to it. Have a few actors and actresses on board. Props like couches, beds, tables, all kinds of sexual props. Do tricks and pole tricks for other women to see. Put on the play for about 20 or 30 minutes. Special effects and outfits. Toys, massage tables, all kinds of shit.

  You could set it up like a hotel. Let a man walk in the room to two females playing with one another. Soft music, almost everything without straight fucking. 2 percent to the imagination. Get some gay shit to play the female on female skit.

  Human buffet

  Katina knew her customers, though with a cynical view of her key demographic.

  I know that 99% of all men cheat. Since I’ve been in this industry it has been proven time and again, married men who claim that they have no interest in their mates at all. Some would call back-to-back claiming that they need a behind the scenes girlfriend that loves to kiss and is always available. The whole damned world is to me corrupt. No morals or values anywhere because people feel that it’s just sex and everybody is doing it. Crazy because the boyfriend and I always argue about morals and values when it comes to struggling. Some people do it for the struggle and some people do it for the sport. Such an addiction when it comes to escorting.

  I guess you can say that escorting is a job ‘cause you make your own prices and hours. I am the CEO. People call you all hours of the night. When you first post and put your pic at the top (well, your ad) the phone rings nonstop. Since doing this, including shows, my name has changed several times. I have been SinAmen, Platinum, Crystal, Roxy Ray, Kream, too many to remember. This industry is no more than acting.

  You’re selling them their fantasy. You can be who you want. I was in character for Crystal. I was 29, from Austin, Texas, thick, curvy, and loved to party and make money. Kream was more outgoing, cared (but I didn’t really care) about your day, your job and your problems. There were times that clients would be talking to me and my mind would be elsewhere thinking about what me and my boyfriend could do.

  Oh, yes, I have a boyfriend, but, see, this is where I’m at with it: I love my boyfriend unconditionally and I never confuse the two at all. I love my man with all my heart. I wanna spoil him, give him the best. I want us to see things that he wouldn’t think of seeing. I want us to explore the world together.

  Yeah, I’ve made pretty good money doing this. Have I sold my soul? I don’t feel as though I have but some people beg to differ. But okay, in one night I made a lot of money.

  The money allowed me to do a lot of what I wanted to do.

  The money generated from Katina's erotic empire had a funny way of soothing uneasiness some family and friends might have had about it.

  Everyone in my family knew and still knows about what’s going on. My father, my sisters, of course my brothers, the kids (my proud supporters), and of course whether he wants to admit it or not, my boyfriend. I think they all support me because they need money at any given time. I’m like the Bank of Louisville. What trips me out is that if anyone has a big problem with what I do, I don’t know it. Would I stop if my family told me to? U answer that question!!

  At times Katina reflected on her profession:

  Sex sells! It’s one of the highest-paying industries. I think it’s more exotic to men when they pay for it. It gives them a sense of power. They can be whoever they wanna be at the moment. You would be amazed at what people will ask you to do, where they ask you to go. The shit gets serious. They pay for threesomes, late nights. I’ve never been with a female doing this. I’ve had plenty of men inquire about their female friends.

  A man asked if he could be 13 and I be his mom and he got into trouble in school. If I would discipline him while I was naked. (Pervert). Shows that he was thinking about his mother.

  Is escorting different from prostitution? My definition of an escort is a very classy professional woman that can turn it on at the drop of a dime. A male or female that can keep him coming to his liking. An escort sets her price up front.

  She’s invited to the suites in some of the most luxurious hotels in or out of town. Travels to do her job and does it very discreetly.

  Prostitute’s an outdated term. Women that really don’t care, that don’t have to turn it up. A woman that walks up and down the street until she’s chosen, not caring who may see ‘cause she wants everybody to see her. A prostitute doesn’t have an amount ‘cause anything will do. But I think it’s the same. Hell, yeah, you’re still selling something. Just a classier, newer title but the same business.

  People come to see me because they know what I can give:

  1. I’m bigger than the club scene. Strip clubs had a few customers, but my shows were packed to capacity.

  2. I’m gonna give you what you can’t get at home. Girlfriends and wives don't give head and don't like to ride.

  3. I give you up to 98% of your imaginations.

  Katina understands the special risks inherent in her business:

  Almost getting robbed, it was the scariest sh
it ever. For real this one nigga (yes, nigga) with his ratchet ass called me and asked me to come and do an outcall at his apartment. His story was that he needed a female to come to his place because he was paralyzed, or had been shot. He said he had been robbed so he needed me to come by myself. He said the last person he trusted robbed and shot him. He said he had $800 for two hours.

  I thought it was too good to be true, but my dumb ass goes anyway. I took Lindsay with me. So we get there and he’s already fidgety, looking around. I’m looking for the quickest way out. Then he goes to the couch and starts looking under it. He goes to the table and pulls out a glove, puts it on, goes back to the couch, lifts it up further, then says, ‘I’m not gonna shoot y’all. I’m just looking for the gun.’

  What the fuck kind of shit is that? Whoever was supposed to leave the gun in a certain spot under the couch must have moved it ‘cause his dumb ass couldn’t find it. We got out of there.

  Katina's dancers at a Louisville Club

  There are other, peculiar perils in Katina's business:

  One morning, I received a phone call from a known number. At first I didn’t recognize it ‘cause it was like 6 a.m. So he’s like, 'yeah, can you do an out-call?' I’m like 'to where?'