BY:  Linda Law

     He was the cutest guy she'd ever seen, and she made sure he noticed her.  She was sixteen going on seventeen, a Junior in a small country high school, and Rory was a ninth grade drop out.  He was from the wrong side of town, but that didn't matter to her, she liked him anyway...she liked the wild side of him.   She loved the way his eyes dropped in an almost closed, lazy way, and the way he wore those white skin tight T-shirts with a pack of cigarettes rolled up at the sleeve.  He had a James Dean sort of look, or what the kids called a Brad Pitt bad boy look.

     Her mom couldn't hold her back.  When Martina decided she wanted something, she went after it, and no one could tell her different.  She had grown up fast, and being the youngest of five kids, she pretty much got her way since she was a toddler.  Her dad ran off when she was three, and she never saw him again, while her mom tried her best to keep the kids together, working all the time.  Every few years she'd find a guy who would tell her he loved her, and soon her dreams would be shattered, but thankfully she couldn't get pregnant anymore, which was what she called "a blessing."

    Martina slipped out of her house several nights a week, and she didn't care about her school work since she planned on eloping with Rory as soon as they could figure out a way to support themselves.  The chance came right before Halloween.  Rory dared her to pack a bag and empty out her mom's purse of what cash she had.  They drove across the state line and married. No one questioned them, and they spent the night at a friend of Rory's who was married and had an extra room.  It wasn't the dream honeymoon that Martina had hoped for, but she was so in love that simply being with Rory was dream enough.

   She had written a note and left it on the kitchen table so her mom wouldn't worry, knowing that her mom wouldn't try to run after her or send the cops.  Actually, her mom was relieved to see Martina run off, because she was tired and couldn't control her daughter anyway.  Thing is,  mom had a new boyfriend and he wanted to sell the house and move on to Kentucky where his brother had a place for rent, and a job waiting.  Martina knew the routine, and so it worked out for both mom and daughter.

   The first few weeks of being Mrs. Rory Fontenot was like being on a roller coaster of fun and excitement.  The duo drove all over the area, and when they ran out of cash, Rory would get a job for a couple days and Martina would wait tables and then they'd be off again, driving to their next destination.  Around the fifth month of being married, Rory began to get restless, and slapped Martina when she began to cry because she wanted them to stop and settle down.  He told her he didn't plan on settling down, he had no dream of owning a house and he sure didn't want kids!  It was getting to be a little late to decide about kids, because Martina was sure she was already pregnant...and she was afraid to tell Rory. 

    She didn't have to tell Rory anything, because about the fourth time she turned green and ran to the bathroom to upchuck, he knew...and he was mad and grabbed Martina by the hair and knocked her around until she fell against the radiator and didn't get up.  Rory got scared when he slapped Martina a few times and she didn't wake up... He ran out to the car and drove off, leaving her behind to fend for herself.  That should have told Martina something, but she was in love, and she managed to forgive Rory anything.  

   When Martina came to, she knew that she was miscarrying, and spent most of the next few hours in the bathtub, washing herself and letting the blood run all around her as the fetus finally passed.   The wife of Rory's friend came home from work and found Martina almost unconscious and drove her to the hospital, where it was confirmed that she had miscarried.  She refused to tell anyone that Rory had beat her, and caused the miscarriage.

   A few nights later Rory came back, and found out that Martina had survived, but his child had not.  He was relieved.  Relieved that she hadn't died, because he was afraid he would have to go to prison; and he was relieved, because he didn't want kids!  How many times did he have to tell this crazy woman that he'd married?

   The months turned into years, and Martina had two more miscarriages, as Rory had figured out how to get rid of the babies without going to jail...  Martina was in complete denial, and always blamed herself for not being able to carry the babies to full term.  Eventually, she found a doctor who agreed to perform a hysterectomy, and although she wanted her own child, she also knew that she couldn't keep Rory if she had a child.  She believed God had decided.

   Martina always found work waiting tables, so she became the main breadwinner.  Rory ran around with anyone who wore a skirt, and he'd be gone for days and weeks at a time, but Martina always waited for him to return.  By now, everyone who knew the couple knew that Rory was bad news and that one day Martina would end up dead and Rory would end up in prison! 

   Rory rarely worked, and when he did he always found a way to get fired, or quit!  It was always someone else's fault; and Martina always paid the price when he got home.  He beat her so many times that she just figured she deserved it.  She learned to cover her bruised face with make up and the once lovely girl, was now becoming an old woman in a 30 year old body.  Martina didn't spend money on herself, she paid rent, bought groceries, and always kept beer in the fridge for Rory.  She cleaned houses for people she'd meet at the Cafe, and earn extra money for extra things that they needed. She loved to buy Rory gifts, and would go to the Thrift stores and find nice shirts and jeans, and take them home, wash and iron them, and present them to Rory as if they were expensive store bought items. 

   Thing is that Rory had bought Martina a fake diamond engagement ring about three years into their marriage, and she wore it as if it were made of solid gold.  One morning she noticed that her ring was gone from the dresser, and she was afraid that Rory would smack her around for losing it.  Funny thing, he never mentioned it.   Well, he didn't mention it for awhile, until he disappeared for about ten days straight, and Martina decided to take on an extra job waiting tables at the local tavern.   Martina could earn twice as much waiting tables at the tavern than she could working all week at the cafe.  She was also pretty and had a good figure and the men flirted with her, but she wouldn't return the flirts.....she loved Rory and nothing could change that.

   Around eleven Martina was waiting on a table of about ten people, when everyone began hollering and yelling and calling our, "Rory, Rory, Rory".... and it was then she turned and saw her missing husband with this tall, skinny, blonde with the tightest jeans she'd ever seen, and breasts that looked to be bigger than most of the girls who worked at those Hooter's places.   Rory and the blonde strolled over to the table, and that was when he noticed that the waitress was his wife, Martina!  He acted like he didn't even know her, and ordered her to bring two beers NOW!  Martina ran off to get the order, doing her best to keep the tears from falling.  She was torn between crying and beating the hell out of the blonde with her husband, so she got the beers and returned to the table.

   That was when Martina noticed that the bleached blonde who was hanging all over Rory was wearing an engagement ring...and it was her very own missing ring!!!  In that moment Martina lost it, and grabbed for the blonde and jerked her hair so tight that she thought it was going to come out right there.  Rory grabbed Martina and cussed her out, as he swung at her with his fists, and soon the whole tavern was in the midst of chaos; bottles flying, chairs crashing, and people tangled up.   The cops arrived and settled the crowd down, but they took Martina, Rory and the blonde bomb to jail.

  Martina forgave Rory and got her fake diamond ring back, and all was lovey-dovey for a few more weeks.  Rory disappeared again, and when he returned, Martina was sound asleep in their bed. He grabbed her and dragged her out of the house, beating her until she was bloody and barely able to stand.  He threw her into his beat up old car, and drove off.  Martina was begging him to let her go, to stop hitting her, but he was out of his mind. She'd seen him mad before, but never acting so crazy like this.  She'd heard through the grapevine that Rory had begun doing drugs, but she'd never seen him do it, so this is what it must be causing him to go nuts this way, she thought to herself.

  Rory would stop the car, and slap her around, yelling obscenities and accusing her of infidelity.  She begged him to stop, and told him she loved him more than life itself, and that was when he said, "Oh...you love me more than life do you!.....so he dragged her from the car and kicked her until she was dragging her body in the ditch trying to get away from him.  He ran back to the car and Martina thought he was going to drive away and leave her here to die, but instead he returned, and he had a gun in his hand.  Rory began cursing and laughing at her, and he shot at her three times.  The bullets hit her in the back, and on her side near her right hip, and on her right leg.  She couldn't move, and he must have figured she was dead.  

    He got back into the car, and began to drive away, leaving Martina to bleed to death, while she whimpered realizing that she was going to die right here in this deserted ditch, near a field of cotton in the middle of nowhere.  She wasn't sure how long she lay there, when she saw headlights, and that was when she knew it wasn't someone who would rescue her, it was Rory.....and he had the car aimed directly at her.  Rory drove the car into the ditch, and ran over Martina going, then he turned the car around, and ran over her leaving!

   No one knew what happened to Rory for months, while Martina laid in the hospital for five months, recovering from two surgeries to save her life, including transfusions and pins in her leg, as well as being partially paralyzed. The farmer who owned the land where Martina was left for dead, found her unconscious that following morning.  She had laid out in that field for several hours, and it was considered a miracle that she had survived, although she came close to not surviving.

   Martina's mom was notified of her daughter's near fatal acident, and the attempted murder, and refused to come get her.  Her mom figured that Rory would come after her again, and posibly take both mom and daughter out next time.  An old high school friend took Martina in after five months of hospitalization, and helped to nurse her back to health.  It was a slow recovery, but she was built of strong stock, and decided that she would help the police find Rory and see that he was sent to prison.  She was no longer in love with Rory, and had realized that he never had loved her.  It was a difficult time for Martina, but this desperation gave her reason to live.

   The following year, Rory was stopped for driving without tags and no drivers license in another state.  He had so many outstanding warrants, that he was sent back to where he and Martina had started out as a married couple.  Soon he was charged with attempted murder, and his trial date was set.   He managed to set bail, although no one understood why the bail was set so low that he could find a bondsman to cover it.  Justice is sometimes very fickle and Martina was afraid every waking moment while Rory was free waiting for the trial.  She remained in the house most of the time, and never went out without someone who would drive her and watch over her.

   A few days before the trial, Martina and several of the neighbors heard sirens and knew something big was happening.  To her amazement, it was discovered that Rory was found dead in the very same field that he had left Martina two years earlier.  He had been shot in the head, and no one knew if it was suicide or murder!

   The sheriff called it a homicide, and for several months there was a huge search for the murderer.  It was determined that Martina could not have killed him, but it was also suspicious that Rory was dead in the same field as he had tried to kill his wife!   Had Martina hired someone to murder Rory?  No one knew, but most people in town and surrounding areas wouldn't have blamed her if she had. 

   It was over a year before the coroner decided that Rory had committed suicide and the case was closed.

  Martina moved away, and is now living in a home where she used to care for Senior Citizens.  Her health was never good after the shooting and  being run over with the car, but her mind was alert and she did her best to support herself even with her disabilities.  As the years passed, she realized that she would soon have to move into the home so that someone could care for her.  Her mind wanders, and she speaks of the love she had for Rory all those years ago, and how much she wanted to have a life with him.  She tells the same story over and over, and replays the events of that horrible night to anyone who will listen.  She is fading away; but her story still has life in her mind.

   When she shared this story with me, I wondered how one could go through such tragedy and still manage to live through what she did.  I realized that she had a miracle occur in her life all those years ago, and that perhaps some would consider it not a miracle, because if there is a God, why did he allow this to happen?   Because I love God and trust Him, I choose to believe that bad things do happen to good people but it is up to us to take the path that will give hope and faith to others.  

   Surely over the years, Martina has shared this tragic life story with many, and it is my hope that her story will have helped another woman to leave her abuser, rather than to stay and continue to be abused, battered and perhaps have the life's breath taken from her.

   No one deserves to be beaten.  No one deserves to be abused verbally, emotionally or physically.  Get out!  Do not hesitate.  Run, do not walk away!  God gave you life, and you must not allow anyone to take it from you!   I pray that one of you will heed the words in this story, and find peace one day, without pain and hardship like the one this lovely girl/woman had to endure.

Linda Law