I wanted to comment on a story I read recently.

It was about a woman who was in a bad situation with a man claiming to be a key member of the Yakuza. She stated that people always say thing's like I wouldn't have been in that situation or I would have done this or that. She's so right when she says you don't know what you would do unless you have been there. I can say this because I was also in a similar situation. When I was thirteen my mother and I had a falling out and she sent me to live with my sister. I ended up living in a dope house in one of the worst areas in Vegas. I could never find my sister and I wasn't speaking to my mother so I was alone and scared. I met a man twenty two years my senior named Mark. Mark and I were friends for a couple of weeks before I moved in with him. His parents were very wealthy so he helped me with a place to stay, clothes, and just about anything I wanted. I felt safe considering where I was staying. We always went out and had fun together and I felt as though he cared for me. I didn't have anyone looking out for me so I wasn't aware of any dangers. About a month into our relationship he started having mood swings and would go off on people for no reason. The alarm was always on in the house so I had to wake him one afternoon to let me out so I could go to a friends house. A girl I met through him. He flat out said no your not going. We got into an argument so I went into the living room and asked his mother (who didn't know I was living there) to turn the alarm off so I could leave. I walked out the front door and heard tires screeching from around the corner. Mark always parked in the lower garage. Thought nothing of it. I turned the corner and there he was speeding toward me almost hitting me. He jumped out of the car punched me in the face and shoved me in the car. He drove me to a park and told me how things were going to be for the rest of my life. I was shocked. I had never even witnessed violence like that and now it was happening to me. I got away a couple of times but the people I knew could be bought and he had money. This went on for almost three years until I finally found my mother through osmosis and told her my life was in danger. She put me on the first bus to Arkansas. I went to stay with my aunt. I don't know how to this day but he found me. He sent police to my aunts house and told them I was being abused. I explained the situation and they kept an eye out. I stayed with her for about a year until I thought he forgot about me and then went back to stay with my mother. A week didn't go by and the phone rang. It was Mark. I still wonder why he was calling my mothers after a year. Anyhow, I avoided him for as long as I could until he saw me one day with a friend. I bought all his apologies and went back. He actually kept his promise to be a better person. He went to prison soon after for a number of reasons. This is where my life got a whole lot worse. I met Hammer shortly thereafter. I knew he`had a reputation for being a bad ass but everyone liked him. Hammer moved in without my having a say because he was friends with the person I lived with. Hammer dealt a lot of drugs so he knew a lot of different kinds of people. He was always asking me to have sex with his friends. He finally got tired of asking and started mentally and physically abusing me. I guess he thought that would change my mind. He would also ask me to lure young girls over so he could rape them. Of course I didn't and he would take the aggression of not having this fantasy fulfilled out on me. If he asked me to have sex and I said no he would do sick thing's to me and accuse me of cheating. Once he threatened to bash my head in with a mag light if I didn't tell him I cheated. I hadn't so I didn't. He also took me to a secluded area in the mountains and had a loaded gun. He said he was going to blow my legs off and leave me there to die if I didn't confess. I knew he would do it anyway so I told him I hadn't, which was the truth. I was lucky because he obviously didn't. He also bought a video camera so when he left me alone I would have to sit in a room in front of it until he got back. I would be so worried that he was out hurting young girls because he would be gone for hours upon hours. That's all he ever talked about was raping girls. I tried one time to leave and he caught me a few blocks away. One of his friends must have seen me because I told no one I was leaving. I had no friends and he threatened to rape and kill my nephews if I tried to leave again. After three years of this I finally got away. I went to stay with a friend of my mothers. Hammer ended up in jail for attempted murder and kidnapping. The one time I had the chance to talk to the police they said they couldn't do anything. He recently got out and went right back for kidnapping and raping a thirteen year old girl. She just happened to be the daughter of one of his friends. One of the friends that watched him abuse me for those three long years. I know he'll get out because he always does. I am lucky to be alive but the next girl he meets might not be. I made a long story short. I believe the thing's this man did would be to graphic for the site. I just hope someone out there is paying attention. If I can save one person from going through what I did then I didn't suffer for nothing.

Kristy**

http://www.womensselfesteem.com