A Salute to BJ Moncrief

[Valerie100]

When I was 15, I was best friends with a girl named "Tia." Her mother was known as BJ -- Betty Jean -- Moncrief.

Her mother was 35-years-old and divorced. Tia was 14 and worked under-the-table at a doughnut shoppe around the corner from where she lived. Tia was gorgeious, by the way, and at the age of 14 looked like she was 17 or 18. She was very tall and carried herself well for a 14-year-old.

Tia and I were best friends. I used to stay over her house on the weekends. Tia's mommy was 35. She used to drink and stay out late with her bar friends.

One night, I was staying over at Tia's house. I was 15. Tia and I were in her mom's apartment at 10:00 p.m., and Tia had just called the bar where her mother hung out to let her know that we were "home." I had always thought Tia's mommy was cool. She smoked, let us smoke,hung out and drank and let us stay together on the weekends. We could stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. Her mother didn't care about the time that we went to sleep, just so that we were in at home for curfew, which she wanted to be at 10:00 PM. Tia had a very "cool" mom.

Tia and I fell asleep in the living room one Saturday night. Sometime during the night, Tia's mommy came home from the bar with two or three of her 30-something friends, who had decided to flop all over her living room. Tia and I were already asleep in the living room.

I was 15 at the time, like I said. In the middle of the night, I felt these hands slipping up and down my thighs. Then I felt fingers sliding into my crotch area. I felt fingers going in and out of my body, and I was scared. Tia was sound asleep, and her mother had all of these other adult friends, who were sound asleep all over the livng room around us. I let this strange man feel me up. I was charged by the fact that an older man was so interested in me -- thinking as a young kid would -- but then again, I was scared half to death and didn't know what to do about it. All of the other adults were asleep, and I felt his hands sliding up and down my thighs and in and out of my body. I was too scared to scream or to even move, really. I just let him do things to me.

Anyway, during the day, I told Tia what had happened to me and what her mom's friend had done to me. I swore Tia to secrecy -- she told her mother, anyhow.

Her mother later on sat me down and asked me about it -- I told her mother what had happened. Her male friend had started touching me in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping. Tia's mother said that I should have screamed and woke her up. Then Tia's mother promised me that he would never be staying at the house again.

A week or so later, Tia and I were walking acrossed the street from the bar that Tia's mother hung out at. Tia's mommy, BJ -- God bless you, lady -- and two other men, plus Mr. Fingers, were outside of the bar. Tia's mommy and the two other men had Mr. Fingers on the ground. They were taking turns passing a baseball bat back and forth and beating the living shi* out of him.

God bless you, BJ Moncrief, wherever you are!!! You are one awesome lady. Now that I'm 35 -- the same age that you were when you beat that pedophile up for me -- I understand you better through adult eyes. I am so glad that I thought of you as a mother-figure and even called you "Mom" because you were my best friend's mother. I realized tonight why God brought you into my life. You would now be 55, and I'm 35. I understand you more clearly and love you more dearly and respect you so much for what you did for me. God bless you, BJ Moncrief, wherever you are!!!!

[lady cop]

i have to ask, would the woman be upset at you using her real name on a public forum, describing her lifestyle? (assuming it is). i wish the woman had called the police and had charges pressed on the pedophile. your privacy would have been protected. SHE's the one who exposed you to harm in the first place.

[weeder]

Val. Your storie is very touching. Like LC says though, the woman put you in that position. She wasnt a cool mom. She was an irresponsible mom. Beating him up with a baseball bat sent a horrible violent message to you and your friend. Both of the memories you have are awful The incident with Mr. fingers and his punishment.

[Valerie100]

Hey, Snooze, I've just been busy with life and haven't been online much. I love your dancing cat, by the way.

Leave it to LC to point out "the legal" way of handling the situation. In the neighborhood that I grewup in, street fights weren't uncommon, so seeing the batters go to town on this guy didn't really strike me as anything so overwhelmingly horrible. I know now that it was, but then in that neighborhood it was par for the course.

You're right, too, that it was because of BJ Moncrief that I was exposed to that in the first place. I never thought about it that way.