Laverne Badger

Overcoming The Darkness Laverne Badger

I'm in the bathroom looking in the mirror at this stranger, wiping the blood from my busted mouth. I can feel my eye tighten as it started to swell up. How did I get here, I asked myself? I moved from a small town in Illinois to a big city in Wisconsin. I met and fell in love with a teenage boy named Darius. We became serious very quickly. I was shy, soft spoken and had no experience with boys at all. We were inseparable. Soon after moving to Milwaukee I witness my mother get shot and killed in the street right next to me. The tragedy brought Darius and I closer together. I felt like he was my knight in shining armor. Little did I know he would become my knightmare. During my 13 year relationship with Darius I lost my mother, gave birth to 4 children before my 21st birthday, endured countless act of physical and mental abuse at the hands of someone who claim to love me. Here I stand as the little girl/women Darius had raised me to be. I lost my confidence, my will to live, and most importantly my Faith in God. Walk with me as I describe my personal journey in the belly of the Darkness and how I Overcame it.