This is a true story of a woman whose eccentric and bohemian existence led her down a path of abuse and exploitation, by not only the men in her life whom she loved and adored, but the bureaucratic system that she trusted and depended on for justice. It's about the loss of her life with her children, to the creation of a new life with another and her fight to keep it. Was it fate, destiny or karma that caused all of the events that took place, or was it just a series of bad choices that she made in her life? Perhaps it was a combination of everything from her family to the environment she was exposed to at an early age. Her story is told by her cousin, Randy, whose fascination with Alisha's history has led him to the writing of this provocative biography. Some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Jaded
A True StoryBy Randy A. DeOrioAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 Randy A. DeOrio
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4567-1289-1 Chapter One
On January 28th, 1993 at 3:35 PM,
At the Lexington County Court House of Waldwick, New Jersey,
Before the Honorable Judge Philip P. Edwards, (the hanging Judge to most), and a jury of twelve people considered peers, the verdict was read aloud. Guilty ... Guilty ... Guilty
Deliberations only took seven hours before they reached that verdict. The trial itself took a week. "It has to be karma," she thought to herself as she gazed up at the clock right before the guilty verdict was read.
Eight years prior to that very minute she had given birth to her second child Adam Jr. This was going to be the first birthday in years that she would miss of his and would most likely never get a chance to celebrate another one with him in this life.
Everyone should have a little hope that they will be found NOT guilty, but she knew that a miracle wasn't happening for her that day.
The prosecutor, Darrell Evenston, told the jury during closing statements, "Ms. Durant is a cold, calculating, manipulative, black hearted woman that does not deserve to live in society. That society would be safer without her in it." Wow! What powerful words coming from a man who had never even had a conversation with her. When he said those things to the jury, she immediately tapped her attorney on the back of his hand resting on the table, and whispered in his ear "Does this guy know me? I'd be the one safer from society not vice versa!"
She had never truly imagined herself as evil before, but the thought of being a dark villain appealed to her now. That there was someone in this world who could believe she had the audacity to be so nefarious. It intrigued her. She felt however, deep down inside, that his words were only those of a suit guys perception of a Go-Go Dancer. Talk about stereo typing someone. "Would this be literally judging a book by its cover?" she thought.
As a matter of fact it had been her cover. A false image she portrayed to the public to make money to support her children. It was her job to appeal to men as a fantasy sex object so they would believe that they stood a chance of fulfilling their sexual fantasies with a beautiful, young, sexy stripper. The more she enticed them, the more money she usually received from them. It was a game that she learned to play well.
Once they got a taste of her reality however, it was usually over for them. She had three adorable children, but what most men considered "a lot of baggage."
She never hid how she really felt about those men. She always considered them the baggage, and never her beautiful children. She loved them with all of her heart, just not their fathers any longer.
She had decided after she split from her son's father Adam Sr. that if she couldn't have "true love" with a man, she would have to settle for their money. Not that she considered herself a gold digger, she just felt, that if they wanted something from her, it was only fair that she got something in return. I mean after all, if a man is foolish enough to spend his entire paycheck at a strip club giving all of his money to the hot, sexy strippers, because he's looking for more than what he has at home with his mate, is it the dancers that are screwed up, or the lonely, horny, desperate men who turn to them for comfort or companionship or whatever?
Who knows, maybe it's both, she thought. She found out the hard way just how much her profession, was appreciated, by the "Authority Figures" and the general public.
Hypocrites!
They're usually the first ones in those places stuffing dollar bills into the G-strings of the girls.
Unfortunately for her, that was where she met her attorney who would completely misrepresent her. She was sure he meant no harm though.
She had met him while dancing at a strip club called the "Village" on route 19 in Waldwick. He actually had no defense for her. She would have been better off with a public defender. At least she would have had someone who knew what he was doing in the courtroom.
It might have helped her immensely if he we're a criminal lawyer, but he wasn't. He was a civil attorney that knew very little about criminal defense.
How could that be, when he used to be a municipal judge in not only Waldwick, but in Arlington Township as well?
To a twenty-five year old girl who had never before needed an attorney, when this all began, he was good enough. All attorneys are the same she thought. They all go to law school and carry briefcases and practice law. How bad can he be?
He was very kind. He reminded her of her father because he was a Pisces like her father. And he had very trusting brown eyes. He even smoked a pipe that always smelled so sweet. He had a humble, little office in downtown, Waldwick.
O.k. so he was having an affair with his secretary that eventually ended his marriage, but that wasn't really anyone's business anyway. Was it?
It didn't matter to her that while Larry was married, he had stopped by her condo to visit and actually got on his knees at her door, begging her to be with him. She told him that she couldn't be with him sexually because she liked and respected him. But the actual truth was that she was extremely superstitious about having sex with a married man. She had never done it before and was afraid God would punish her, if she did. As it would happen, it would be thought by the mother of this naive girl that he deliberately sabotaged her defense because she rejected him. Absolutely ridiculous!
It was her own fault that she didn't have a defense. She only paid him four thousand dollars after all. Every other attorney wanted at least seventy-five thousand to represent her. And every time he asked to meet with her to work on her case, she would have an excuse not to. The fact was that she really didn't care what happened to her. She had failed to protect her children who depended on her judgment and deserved everything that would happen from that day forward.
She told her attorney right before entering into the courtroom that she heard Guilty ... Guilty ... Guilty in her head, but he attempted to reassure her, that she was wrong. She had just forgotten to put the NOT in front of guilty. She had NO defense. Only her, saying she didn't do, what they just spent a week saying she did.
Tears welled up in Larry's eyes after the verdict was read. He knew that his client was not the person the media and the prosecution had portrayed her to be to the jury. She might have been a little too trusting, maybe a little eccentric, but she was no criminal. She was a victim just like her daughter.
She was actually the last victim of a pedophile who had spent the last twenty-five years molesting children and was now sitting in jail because she refused to keep his secret at the cost of her own freedom. A pedophile as her co-defendant, and they would take his word over hers. Go figure!
Chapter Two
On the eve of January 3rd, 1991 Alisha Durant, nicknamed Ali, called her friend Fenton Noor and asked him if he would babysit her two children, Amanda, who was seven at that time and Tyler, who was only four. Her other child, Adam Jr. was living with his grandmother in Pleastant, which was not far from her, just the next town over.
He refused to watch Tyler, complaining that he was a brat. His grand daughter, who was the same age as Amanda, would be there at his home to play with her so she...
