Taquelia Pendleton

Then there was a sudden behavior change. One day, he came home distraught and frustrated. She asked what the problem was. Out of nowhere he answered her with a strike which dropped her to her knees in utter shock. She had never been hit in a relationship. Taquelia sought solace in her bible. When he saw her in the Word, he came to her saying he loved her, and apologized, stating that he had a lot going on, and he promised to never hurt her again.

Shortly thereafter, he broke that promise and she saw more behavior that did not line up with his commitment of love. He would stay out all night, often gone for days at a time. One time, after he had been gone for 7 days, she came home and saw a young lady outside in the driveway sitting in the car waiting for him. When she asked what was going on, he lied saying this was his cousin with whom he would be staying that week. She questioned him further and again he assaulted her. Taquelia tolerated his lies and abuse because she had become comfortable in the home. After all, the bills were being paid and food put on the table.

Days later, he returned home with the same apologies, adding a traumatic account of his troubled childhood where he witnessed his father abusing his mother. After he told her that story, sounding so sincere, she felt sorry for him and opted to stay thinking she could help him change.

Taquelia had a friend who knew all that was going on and

At 23, Taquelia met a young man who was always nice and polite. He started out as the most caring man a lady could imagine or ask for, always helpful and doing nice things. He gave her everything she wanted. He performed like a knight in shining armor, helping with her four children. He courted her emotions, doing everything he could to win her heart and gain her trust. She fell deeply in love with him and thought he loved her.

wanted to help. She begged her friend not to tell her family. One evening, her friend took her and the children home after a whole day of ignoring his repeated attempts to contact her. She arrived home expecting to be alone. After getting settled in, and putting the kids to bed, he emerged from the closet, beat her, busted her mouth, blacked both eyes and terrorized the kids. That was the worst she had experienced to that point.

She hid from everyone who loved her, making excuses why she couldn’t see them. She felt that she should heal up first to keep this all a secret. She didn’t realize at that time she was enabling him. While trying to avoid this man, he would manipulate her friends and get them to call her to a location. While she was there, he would come out of nowhere and ambush her, going as far as climbing into the window of her vehicle as she attempted to escape.

Taquelia moved onto her aunt’s property in the country. One day while asleep on the couch, she felt an eerie presence. When she awakened, she saw him standing over her head and staring directly into her face. She decided to give it another chance and they got back together again for a very short time.

The last straw was when he stopped her from going to church accusing her of an affair with the pastor. She moved out and into the house with her sister during which time he stalked her and peeked through her windows, saying he

could see her inside her house. She never told her sister, not wanting her to be afraid.

The police were called. And eventually she met Penny Jones, who at that time headed up the domestic violence unit for the Vicksburg Police Department. Despite Jones’ urgings to file charges Taquelia didn’t do it.

A few days later, she felt very uneasy. She visited her mom who kept asking her what was wrong. Her mom sensed Taquelia’s anxiety, pointing out how much she appeared to be shaking. Paranoid, afraid, nervous, and out of sorts, Taquelia just knew something was about to happen.

As she stepped out to go to the car, something told her to get closer to her gun. As she approached the vehicle, he crept up on her, again out of nowhere. He put his hand over her face and a gun to her side, threatening to shoot her if she screamed. He forced her over into the passenger seat of the vehicle, took the keys, and backed out of the driveway.

In her fear, she jumped from the moving vehicle, ran to a nearby car, beat on the windows and pleaded with them to let her in. The driver refused and quickly drove off, leaving her vulnerable and defenseless.

Everything blurred:

I remember awakening in the church parking lot across the street from Mama’s house. There was a man standing over me whom I asked to help me up. He wouldn’t because he knew more than I did about the critical condition I was in.”

She didn’t know her wrist was broken, that her pelvis was split in two, that she had broken ribs, a shattered collar bone, and a torn vaginal area. She didn’t see nor feel the steel rod protruding from the front of her knee that had entered the back of her leg, nor the torn ligaments in the other knee. She had no idea she had been run over by the vehicle at least three times as this man tore down the whole church fence with her body. She couldn’t tell she would later need multiple plastic surgeries in her face.

Witnesses say, when the vehicle would no longer run, he got out, came and stood over her with the gun, and was about to pull the trigger. Another man interrupted him, and he ran from the scene.

She awakened in the hospital three days later where she reconnected with Penny Jones. Teaming with Penny Jones, they worked together on Taquelia’s long road to recovery while preparing for charges and prosecution of the perpetrator. It was later discovered that Taquelia was not his only victim. Because of Taquelia’s testimony, this abuser is now in prison serving 53 years with no parole.

Fast forward: Mrs. Pendleton has a loving husband, Thomas. She has completed her education, and now owns a barber shop and salon. She says with God, Thomas, and her career she has a new beginning, and everything she ever wanted. When asked what she would say to someone who is walking around smiling while living in hidden terror from an abuser, her answer was they should talk to God. Then tell someone what is happening to them.

I had to learn to pray sincerely, to let it go… I had to take my heart back, and my joy, and my love, and my happiness… I had to take my life back.

Taquelia said she also had to tell her abuser that she forgave him, adding that the forgiveness was not just so much for him; but for herself as well. Releasing him also released her.

I had to get myself free!

Taquelia’s Pendleton’s powerful story can be heard on a previous episode of New Beginnings Radio co-hosted by Ministers Kolean W. Sanders and Sheldon Gooch https:// bbsradio.com/podcast/new-beginnings-february-8-2020

Written by: Sheldon Gooch September 2020