In 2011, I lived in Sumter, South Carolina with my best friend and her husband. February 10th that year I went on my first date with Paul. In March I stated a new job as an Assistant Manager at a convenient store about 0.9 of a mile from Paul’s townhouse. I spent many days and evenings over there with Paul and I felt very safe where he lived.
But in Sumter there was a dividing line. Something I never really experienced coming from the small quite country town of Canton. There was a street that separated to good part of town from the bad part of town. Paul’s townhouse was in the good side of town and my job was in the bad part of town. This was not something that I knew when I took my job. I later found out that I worked in the low income part of the bad part of town. People were desperate, some depressed, some drunk and some just out there.
I worked mostly days and occasionally late nights but never alone. I had never felt scared or frightened by anything there. But that all changed on May 22. My boss had been working 16 hour days, 7 days a week for 6 weeks or so. She was beyond exhausted. I was supposed to be off that day for a doctor’s appointment. I volunteered to work so she could sleep in and get some much needed rest. I was scheduled to be at work at 4:30 a.m. and she would come relieve me at 8 a.m. It was a Monday and I was scheduled to go in early to count the weekend deposit. When I pulled up something felt wrong. The Holy Spirit quickened me not to get out of the car. I even thought about calling Paul or the Police for an escort to the door. It was the first time I had opened the store alone and I dismissed the feelings a nerves. After all the door was less than 10 feet from my car and I had always felt safe. I stepped out of the car, got my keys and headed for the door. Out of the corner of my right eye I seen something move and before I could react there was a man dressed in all black, from head-to-toe, with a facemask, gloves on and a gun to my back. I remember as he ran toward me I scream “OH MY, GOD!” In that moment I needed my protector.
The assailant placed his hand over the door and asked for the alarm passcode, taking from me the few moments I should have had in my mind to remember the distress code. He commanded me to unlock the door, walked me to the alarm key pad and then demanded for me to unlock the safe. The keys to the safe were in the Manager’s office in the back of the store. With the gun still held to me he walked me back there to get the keys. There was another safe in the back room, a 2 door safe. The top door was unused and I didn’t have a code for it and the bottom was used to hold our register drawers. I unlocked the bottom one and emptied what was less than $200 into his bag. When he demanded the top be opened, I told him it was empty and there was not a code. Then he walked me back to the front of the store, where I opened the large safe. Just 2 weeks prior that safe had a 10 minute time delay on it, luckily it had been bypassed and removed. He commanded me to lie on the floor and kept telling me to back up until I was shoved against the back wall with my knees bent behind me. After he emptied the safe he walked me to the men’s restroom where he locked me in and told me to stay for 5 minutes. He never once stood up straight. He slithered around the store purposely hunched over.
As the bathroom door shut I counted to 30 to make sure he wasn’t coming back in, I slowly pulled my cell phone from my pocket, turned it on silent and sent Paul a text saying that I was quitting my job. Though, I didn’t give him a reason nor reply to his text of why. I did not want him coming down there and did not want to alarm him. After what I guess MAY have been a full minute I opened the bathroom door, ran to the front door, locked it and ran back to the office. I called my manager; she was frustrated that I woke her up until I told her why. She freaked out and said she would be right down. I then called the cops. I was still shaking when they showed up. I had to give my full report and sit outside, alone, in the dark, behind the yellow crime tape while they did their investigation. After the police arrived, I finally text Paul and let him know what was going on.
On that day, not only did that many rob my store and several others but he also robbed me. He took a piece of my security and piece of my innocence. I stayed locked in a house or tucked under Paul’s right arm for many months. Scared to step out alone, even in the daylight and sure didn’t want anyone walking behind me.
I learned two valuable lessons that day….
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ALWAYS LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT!
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JESUS ALWAYS HAS MY BACK
I could have easily died in that store. May 22, 2011 could have been my end BUT GOD! I lived John 10:10 that day. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they many have life, and have it to the full.”
I can look back on that day and tell you that even though I was shaken I was never scared. Never alone. Almost peaceful. From the moment I yelled out for GOD, he was there. He comforted me. He assured me that I would be okay.
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| My Facebook post from a year after. |
Psalm 91: 9-13
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
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