DURHAM - When Kim Roberts drove off from Kroger in the early hours of March 14, she wrote off the evening as an odd episode in her job as an escort service dancer.

She and another dancer had given an abortive performance at a Duke lacrosse party; players hurled racial slurs at her as she left; her fellow dancer passed out in her car, so impaired that police had to pry the woman out.

"I just thought it was a weird evening," Roberts said. "And it was over."

It wasn't. Just a few hours later, the other dancer told police that three Duke lacrosse players raped her. The case blew up into a national free-for-all.

Since then, Roberts, 31, played hide-and-seek with the media before appearing on national television. She pilloried Duke lacrosse players as drunken brutes; their attorneys have attacked her credibility and called her a gold-digger.

Besides the accuser and the players, Roberts was the only witness inside 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. She did not witness an assault; she was outside when investigators say the players raped the other dancer in a bathroom. She spoke briefly about events in the house before clamming up at the advice of lawyers. She said she will tell all in court, under oath.

"I am so ready for the trial," she said.

Roberts was born on Okinawa. Her mother is Korean. Her father, who was in the Air Force, is black. A 4.0 average got her into UNC-Chapel Hill, where she studied psychology.

"I had vague notions, one day wearing a power suit and carrying a briefcase," she said.

After two unsatisfying years, she got pregnant, married and dropped out. The marriage quickly fell apart.

Roberts took a job as a payroll specialist at Qualex, a photo-processing company. There, she embezzled $25,000.

Roberts said she doesn't know why she did it. Her job paid well and she wasn't under financial stress, nor was she using drugs, drinking or gambling.

"Maybe it was a thrill of having a secret," she said. "That's a little bit of the thrill of being a dancer as well."

She turned to waitressing, a job that doesn't require criminal background checks. She picked up a probation violation by not paying any restitution, missing appointments with her probation officer and visiting her father in California without permission.

Roberts said she began working for an escort service in the fall.

'Nice little dance'

"My main thing is to go in and look as pretty as possible and do a nice little dance for the person who calls," Roberts said. "I don't even know how to make any extra tips from anybody."

Roberts said all her jobs were positive until she was booked to perform for two hours at the Duke lacrosse party.

Roberts showed up on time and collected her $400. The players told her they had requested a white dancer and a Hispanic dancer, and assumed Roberts was Hispanic. The other dancer, who is black, showed up a half-hour later. Defense lawyers have said the accuser showed up impaired, a claim Roberts disputed.

"I didn't think she was drunk at the time," Roberts said.

In an interview with The News & Observer, Roberts would not talk about her time in the house, saying she would leave that for court. But she has given some details to the national media.

Roberts told Newsweek that players gave them mixed drinks. She did not drink hers; the other dancer drank half her glass, spilled it and then drank all of Roberts' drink. "She started stumbling," Roberts said. "When I think back on it, she had a glassy look in her eye."

The two women danced for a few minutes before Roberts stopped after a player held up a broomstick and suggested a sex act. Through lawyers, the players have said they felt cheated after paying $800 for a few minutes of dancing.

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