A Gift From God

When people say the scripture says God is closer than your jugular vein, I truly know that to be a true statement and my testimony will speak for itself.

February 11, 2024- Superbowl Sunday. After spending all day at the flea market, I started packing up to leave when it closed for the day. My husband and I decided to pack up our respective vehicles and proceed to go to the thrift store near a new chicken shack. Anyway, it was a weekly ritual. So it was somewhere around 3:20 when we pulled up and went into the thrift store. We walked around, picked out stuff, and checked out. It was about 3:45 when we left. It was a 20 minute drive and I got out of the truck that I was driving and started removing the stuff that I had bought to take it to my house. My husband lived in the same building. He also had my dog, Symba. She was a miniature poodle. He still has her, too.

I went upstairs to my apartment and entered like any other day, put down my new stuff, and went to gather some more of my things. Then, I remembered, when I was cleaning my husbands table off at the flea market- I found a baggie filled with a pink substance which looked like cocaine and crack rocks mixed. So, I looked in my refrigerator and saw that I didn’t have any baking soda. For a fleeting moment, I thought about me giving up my cleaning time because I had just graduated a detox clinic in January and just came home. But, I went to the market anyway across the street from the towers and brought some baking soda. Right before I left the ninth floor, my friend was coming down the hallway toward my house. Then, she saw me and backpedaled toward her door.

I came back from the store about 4:45 and when I came in, I did have full intention on getting high that day. But, they say “what don’t kill you makes you stronger”. I went into the kitchen and opened the door- it was my friend who saw me in the hall. I opened the door wider for her to enter but there were two other people from our apartment with her. I tried to close the door but they were too strong . There was some one behind me. I saw others from our building; there were 6 or 7 people. I fought as best as I could. Then, I was wet and cold… then I was hot. I was so hot that it felt like I was boiling. I just threw my hands up to protect my face and ran through them. As I ran, I remember seeing one more person through the fire- my husband- right before he shot me in the head. He left me to die in the middle of my floor in my doorway. At 5:18, I arrived at the hospital and was placed in the burn trauma unit. I was burnt on 60% of my body, all second and third degree burns; so intense I melted in places. I was shot in the head through my eye socket and through my jugular vein, and branded on my right leg. I spent 64 days in the trauma unit and had 12 major surgeries and a titanium plate placed in my head. And to top it all off, I tested positive for crack cocaine use when I never used. My neighbors friend across the hall called 911. She saved my life that day. She smelled me burning.

There was no police report taken by local police because one of the perpetrators is the police chiefs family member. There is still no police report and its been two years… but I am still alive. I’ve called numerous times to no avail. I need help with justice, I need help with survival. I lost my identity. I lost my housing. I lost my life. I live hell everyday.