I was at work as a cashier at a truck stop in Millbury, Ohio and I was due to work this one particular evening. My friend was having a Labor Day get together with some of her and her husbands friends at her home on Hudson Street. Then after the get together everyone headed downtown Toledo to what the City of Toledo called Party in the Park. That evening "Cheap Trick" was going to be in concert. My friend and I got in her convertible and drove down to the party. Little did I know how the day was going to unfold.
I had to work third shift that night so I decided to not do any drinking. We had a great time and then she took me back to her home. I proceeded to head on to work. I was done with all my tasks that evening and decided to call my friend to have her come over to my work and hang out. Little did I know this would be a very bad decision.
She came out to my work with her husband and his three friends Jason Young, Ron Khoenke, and Rodney Rose all of Findley, Ohio. They were at the days previous events but I did not know them nor did I hang out with them. We were outside the truck stop enjoying the fresh evening air while my co-worker ran the register inside if anyone came in. We hung out for a about a half hour when they all decided they were going to head back to my friends house. My friend and her husband drove separate and the three friends drove in a red pick up truck. My friend and her husband were driving away when the three friends picked me up, after trying to convince me to say yes, and put me in their truck and drove off with me, leaving my co-worker wondering where I went.
I was pleading with them to let me out of the truck but they weren't having that. I thought they were just joking at first but when they got on the expressway I realized that this was no joke. They took me without my consent and now I am headed down the highway not sure of the destination. I could not jump out of the truck because they were on either side of me. I remember them joking and laughing thinking this is a good time. To me it was not. I was very worried about losing my job. At the time I was a single mom and my daughter was very young, I was concerned about not having the money to support her. I continued to beg of them to bring me back. They said nothing to me. The one guy just kept on driving.They got off the Stickney/Lagrange exit in Toledo, Ohio, that's when I figured that they were taking me back to my friends house. I thought to myself good now my friend can give me a ride back to my place of employment as soon as we arrive, but that did not work out as planned.
I frantically tried to get anyone to bring me back to work in fear that I would lose my job. My friend did not want to bring me back like I had hoped. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that I was just taken from my job. Little did I know that their intentions were more than taking me from the truck stop.The three guys went upstairs so I followed them into a spare bedroom where I asked them to bring me back to work. They shut the door behind me and they all three came at me. I wasn't sure what to do or what exactly they were doing. They had me cornered by the bed and I remember that I fell to a fetal position beside the bed, trying to make it so they could not touch me but they had other things in mind. They raped me. There, I said it again. I will leave out the gruesome details. I detached from myself while they were doing what they were doing. Trying to not think about what was going on. They finished what they had set out to do and they all went back downstairs and they left immediately. I went downstairs and my friend asked me what happened and I told her. Her husband didn't believe me. They finally drove me back to my job where my coworker was thankful to see me and that I was alive. She had no idea what had happened to me. she had called my boss and she came in that night. She did not know what to do because they new my car was still there but I was not. They both were scared that something bad had happened. Unfortunately, they were right.
My coworker ended up calling the police from my job to report the abduction and rape. They questioned me, my friend and her husband. My friends husband was reluctant to give the officers the information on his three friends and the truck description until they threatened to take him to jail for withholding evidence. They told me to not wash my hands or anything for evidence. The police called an ambulance to take me to the hospital. At the hospital they did a rape kit. My friend and her husband had to leave because their son was at a babysitters. They had to keep my clothes for the kit. My boss ended up bringing me some clothes when she came in that night to check on me. The clothes were way to big but that is all I had. After she left I was at the hospital all alone.
I was released from the hospital the next day after spending all night there and I went home. I did not tell anyone in my family or my friends what happened. My friend and her husband, my boss and co-worker and the three guys were the only ones that new. I was ashamed and embarrassed. What was wrong with me? Could I have done something different to stop them? It was my fault for calling my friend to hang out with me. Why didn't I yell, bite or scratch? Something. I was detached. Split into two.What they did was horrible and they now lead normal lives with families and their families probably don't even know what they did. They finally received sexual cohersion charges and that was it. They got away with it.It has been very difficult for me, over the years, to even talk about what happened. I have now after therapy and time learned to forgive myself and all that were involved that night for their part in what happened. Early on I wanted to seek vengeance to my attackers but now I know that it is in my Lord's hands.They say time heals all wounds but the fact that I have forgiven them is what sets me free from them. All the glory to God.~Renee
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written,Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Romans 12:19
No comments:
Post a Comment