Moment of Truth - Chapter 2

This lifestyle - the fighting, yelling, screaming continued. He got a job working at a car wash. Then one day, his mom called from CA. She told him Gary Morris' manager wanted to talk to him. So he calls his manager and an interview is set up in Nashville. We drove to Nashville. He tells his manager we are married. We go back to NC. A few weeks later, he learns he gets the job. He then came home one day and tells me to close my eyes and hold out my hand. He placed a diamond engagement ring in my hand. He said he "found it" at the car wash. We then discuss moving to Nashville. At the time, we were both attending college. The state was paying me to study computer data management. He was taking engineering. So, anyway, he asked me to marry him. I said yes. My father flipped out. Especially when I told him we were moving to Nashville. My father said, "who's going to help you when he beats you up in Nashville?". I told my father he had changed. Everything would be alright. His mother tried to talk me out of marrying him. His sister tried to talk him out of marrying me. Obviously, we didn't listen.

We drove to Gaffney, SC, about 2 hours away. The judge wasn't there. Should have been a really big "flag" then. We went back the next day and were married by the justice of the peace. Then the road trips began. I put my house up for sale. Gave my notice at work where I had worked for 10 years.

One weekend, he brought his laundry in. I began sorting it out. I found a woman's pair of panties, but of course, that was the night when one of the guys he roomed with had a woman with him and must have got tangled up in his clothes.

Then one weekend, Friday, September 13, 1985, 5 months after getting married, he decided to drive my car to Georgia where the band was playing. He left so I had to get a ride to work and back. After work, the girl who was driving, decided to stop at the Holiday Inn where a band was playing. I danced. I recall thinking to myself, it is ok for men and women to just be friends even though they are married. I danced with this one man. I was telling him all about my wonderful life and my husband. My friend who had driven me there left early so this kind man offered to drive me home. He took me to Shoney's where he fed me but seemed really anxious to leave in a hurry. We left and on the way to my house, he pulled into an empty dairy lot saying he had to pee. He got out to pee and when he got back into the car, he proceeded to rip my clothes and rape me saying I was asking for it and he was going to kill me. I was able to get away from him and ran. A passerbyer stopped and gave me a ride home. I called the rape center. The next day when I got home, my biggest fear was telling my husband. He took me to the emergency room where I was checked out and given the after pill. I gave the policeman all the information I knew about the rapist. They never caught him and that night totally changed my whole life. I took a very long time before I could make love to my husband. He then turned very angry, accusing me of asking for it, stating I enjoyed it. This continued throughout the duration of our 19 year marriage.

Immediately after this incident occurred, my house sold. I used the money I made to pay off my husband's restitution pay so he could leave the state , and paid the down payment on our home, the home I remain in today.