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Ruthie Bolton

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28 Oct, 2014

Shape Magazine interview

Interview0 Comments

Bolton speaks to Shape Magazine about living in an abusive marriage.

I felt like I could do whatever I wanted on the basketball court. If I needed to defend someone and keep them from scoring, I could do that. In my personal life, however, living in an abusive marriage, I let the power of fear and guilt take over. We could be watching TV and he might say, ‘Oh, is that how he’d kiss you?, and then start pulling out my braids. I always kept a bag with some clothes and a credit card at a friend’s house just in case. One night, when he was heavily drinking, I knew I was in trouble. He was sitting on the living room floor with a gun in his hand, asking me to come here from the kitchen. I was stalling, hoping he’d fall asleep. But when he didn’t and began calling me names, I decided to go out the backdoor, through the garage and run to my neighbor’s to call my friend. I just took off barefoot.