Vickie Valentine used to be a beautiful woman, but the years of abuse had changed all that. She'd gotten to know Ted when they'd worked at the same, small, bakery shop. They'd dated, casually, at first, and eventually married.
Ted loved her, provided for her, and protected her for a year, which Vickie remembered as nothing but wonderful, but as the years went by, Ted slowly isolated Vickie from her family and friends.
When the psychological abuse began, Ted had accused her of cheating and told her that no one else was going to love her as much as he, that she'd never be good enough for anyone else, and she started to believe she really was worthless. Eventually, she didn't leave the house unless it was to go to work.
The physical abuse started soon after that. Vickie looked for a job in which she wouldn’t have to deal directly with customers and would be able to hide the black eyes and bruises on her face, but she didn't know how to escape.
Vickie tried shelters, but she wasn't strong enough to stay away from Ted on her own. She'd called her brother a couple of times but always hung up the phone when someone answered.
She remembered one Christmas at her brother’s house, and Vickie had screamed at her nephew, Sal, because he'd known things. He wasn't like the other children, either. His eyes had begged her to reach of for help, only she couldn’t.
Asking her brother for help would mean admitting she'd been wrong. Her brother had never liked Ted and had stayed away from their wedding. Also, ending an important relationship was never easy. It was even harder when you'd been isolated from your family and friends, psychologically beaten down, financially controlled, and physically threatened. She'd always hoped Ted would change. Also, statistics show that women who leave their batterers are at a seventy-five percent greater risk of being killed by the batterer than those who stay.