Nadya Suleman was awakened Saturday morning to find her car window smashed and a note saying, "Leave California or you will die." Now the mother of 14 is scared for her own and her children's lives but is unable to afford the security she now needs.
"I'm terrified," Nadya tells me. "When I heard the strange noises outside the house, I went back to sleep and brushed them off. But around 9:00 a.m., my neighbors told me my car window had been broken and a handwritten note left behind. I burst into tears. This is not the first time this has happened. I haven't slept for days. I'm like a neighborhood watch in my own neighborhood."
Nadya believes the incident is the result of her recent decision to go on welfare. She made the move in response to her mounting debts due to the cost of single-handedly supporting her large family.
"I hope to be off welfare in a few months. I will do whatever I have to for my kids," Nadya says. "It doesn't make sense for me to get a job now, as every penny I earn will go to childcare. But now I have the extra worry of safety. I can't afford to hire security and I have no one but myself to look after my kids. I'm very, very frightened."
Where does Nadya go from here? Not even she knows.
"I don't know what to do ... No matter how angry you get, you can't physically threaten someone," Nayda tells me. "I'm frightened about what might happen next. I have hit rock bottom, I'm ready to crack. I'm praying every day for a miracle.”
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