Till death

Saving myself

Cara Saturday April 27, 2013.
Its been almost 7 weeks since I went to my parents house with Amelia. Tony tries to contact me every single day. I keep ignoring his calls. He sends flowers, they go into the trash. My parents have been so supportive. They watch Amelia when I'm at work. I always ride in with Hilary and she takes me home. I'm not allowed to be out by myself.
Jesus. I'm 27 years old and can't be left alone.
Ever week I have been going into the bank and withdrawing a couple hundred dollars from the joint account we have and transferring it into my own personal account. It's my way of taking child support.
I've been trying to find a way to disappear elsewhere. I know it's going to be difficult. My parents or friends can't know where I am. I'd have to start a new life. Amelia needs a life period. I designed a plan. But I would have to wait a little while. It's too difficult with a car seat. Hopefully next summer, she should be walking pretty good by then.
In the meantime, I have to keep Tony at bay.

Monday April 29, 2013.
Hilary and I arrived at the studio at 8am to open up when we found windows smashed. The inside was a mess. I pulled out my phone and called the police. In the meantime we walked inside where we saw a message in red paint.
Till death under the message was our wedding photo. We didn't touch a thing but got the hell out of there.
The police arrived an took our statements.
"I'm telling you. My husband did this. This message is personal." I told the young officer.
"Why would he do this ma'am?"
I cringed having to relive the ordeals that I suffered. Hilary gave them the same statement of what happened the day I left.
"But you didn't report the abuse?"
"So because I didn't report it you can't help me? Are you serious?" I yelled.
Hilary came over to calm me down.
"Officer." She said looking at his name tag. "Jones. My friend has been through so much trauma in the past 4 years. Can you please just talk to him? She will be filing a restraining order tomorrow."
The officer smiled. "Sure. We'll talk to him."
We gave the address of the home in Bedford.

Later that night I was putting Amelia to bed when my phone rang. I check the caller ID. Tony again. I refused to answer it.
He left me a message.
After Amelia was down I went into my room and check the message he left.
'You called the fucking police on me? They can't help you. I'm the only one who can truly help you. You might as well give up and come home because you know what honey? It's forever or never! Till death do we part.
Chills ran down my spine. I made sure I saved the message along with the other insulting vulgar messages he'd left before. Hopefully this will help my restraining order case.

The next morning Hilary and I walked into Boston PD to file a restraining order on Tony.
I was asked to have a seat while the detective I could speak to was called.
As I was looking around the station I thought to myself, 'I could not work in a place this plain. It's so dreary in here.'
"Mrs. Calvano?" I heard a man say.
Hilary and I both stood. In front of us stood a tall man about 50 years old. Salt and pepper hair and a mustache.
"That's me." I said as he shook my hand. "This is Hilary Whitman. My friend."
"Detective Ryan Davis. Come with me."
We were led down a hallway to a room with a desk and two chairs facing it. Two bookcases were on either side of the desk and an old looking AC unit in the window.
"I was told you want to file a restraining order. I need information."
I took a deep breath.

"My husband, Tony Calvano. I need to file one on him. He's been harassing me. Leaving threatening messages, calling all hours. He abused me for years. I just want him to let me go."
Detective Davis wrote everything I said down.
"Did you file assault charges on him?" He asked.
I shook my head no.
"I know that name. Calvano." Detective Davis recalled. "Ah yes, Anthony Calvano. Business tycoon. Big boss man. Tragic story."
"Yes I know. That was the last time my husband attacked me. Apparently he knew I looked into his parents. It set him off."
He asked me if I could explain the relationship and abuse. I choked back tears until I couldn't hold it any longer. He handed me a tissue.
"It started just after we got married." I looked at Hilary. "I kept secrets from everyone. The first time he hit me I found out I was pregnant. It was in 2009. He punched me twice in the stomach. I miscarried the next morning. He had a drinking problem and drinking made him more volatile." I dabbled my tears.

"He spent two years sober and we were fine. Then little things set him off. He would hit me sometimes when I was pregnant with my daughter we have now." I stopped an sucked in a deep breath then let it out.
"He uh. He raped me a few times."
Hilary squeezed my hand.
"Last Christmas eve, I threw him a surprise party for his birthday. The night ended horrible. He put broken glass to my throat and threatened to slice it open. My last beaten happened last month when I found out about his parents. He kicked me a few times, busted my lip and bruised my face. I want it to stop, now."
The detective let out a breath and sat back. I dried my soaked eyes with the tissue.

"Ms. Whitman, have you seen any of this abuse?"
"Not personally, but she would call me sometime afterwards. Except for the night I came to get her and the baby. Her face was busted up. I did question her about a bruise once, but played it off. I had a feeling, ya know, in your gut that tells you something isn't right. It's how he looks at her or how fast they were engaged and married. He's obsessive. Possessive. Mean. Evil. You name it."
"One more thing." I told detective Davis. I have voice messages from him you may want to hear.
I handed him my phone and he plugged it into a USB cable. I opened the messages for him and he was able to transfer them to his computer.
There were a total of 32 messages. He played them all. I closed my eyes to fight back tears. Just thinking about what he would do if he got a hold of me scared me to death.
"Wow. He sounds like a winner. At least we have something to go on. He did admit to hitting you though. So that's a good thing."
Before leaving the station detective Davis handed me his card. Just in case. He informed me that he will get this to the judge first thing tomorrow to get an approval and Tony will be served sometime this week.