Lola was born into a crowded little slum-like apartment in New Orleans, along with a twin brother and a plethora of other children. Her life, right from the start, was never going to be a normal one.
Her mother was an Iyalorisha, a priestess of Santeria. It was rumored through this collective community of worshippers that Lola's mother could heal people with a touch, and had once even brought a young boy back from the dead. Lola believed it all to be true.
In the meantime, Lola's father was a mid-level professional thief. He was from the same community, and was a follower of Santeria, but he was a bit more lay about it than his girlfriend (who didn't become his wife until Lola was six).
In any event, Lola grew up with two constants: thievery and religion. Each parent was very passionate about their respective niche, and worked very hard to teach it to their children. From a young age, Lola was sure she would become a priestess like her mother - even though she was very handy picking pockets on the streets.
Lola dropped out of school when she was 16, seeing no future there. She waited tables instead, and learned as much as she could about the priestess life of Santeria. This was looking good, particularly when Lola and her father made out with $10,000 each during a heist. Lola quit waitressing for a whole week to concentrate on being a priestess. At the end of that week her father was arrested for a different crime, and the money had to go to a defense. He still ended up in prison, and Lola went back to waitressing.
However, when she was 19, Lola's mother informed her that she would never be a preistess, because the Orisha would never speak to her. Fuming, Lola left. When she returned two days later, she found her father and brother gone. Sitting on the front stoop to talk with her mother, a bearded man ran up the street, shouted 'Witch!' into the womens' faces, and shot Lola's mother.
Lola, in turn, wrestled the gun away from him. Though she had never held one before or shot one before, the shot went right where her eyes and mind wanted it to - between his eyes. Lola was given 10 years for manslaughter on a plea.
At 24, with 5 years left in her sentance, Lola was inexplicably released without parole. She found a man waiting for her, who invited her to join the Linderman group. She accepted, and began work stacking decks at casinos and picking pockets, using her skills to cheat and steal her way through life.
Kain Zarek, with his men Dixon and Manny removed Lola from New Orleans and brought her to New York to work in closer cahoots with the Linderman group.
