A Texas woman who fulfilled her dream of opening a business in her community has been forced to put it on pause for the safety of herself and her family.
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Nia-Tayler Clark, owner of the BLACKLIT bookstore near Dallas, says she’s been harassed by a man who lives in an apartment attached to her store. Clark says the man has purposely intimidated her customers and employees for months, standing outside and pacing in front of the store windows, according to NBC 5 DFW.
“He has trapped me behind my register, chased me through my store,” Clark told NBC 5 DFW. “I shouldn’t have to call police to walk in and out the front door of the bookstore.”
According to CBS Texas, Clark said she could tell the man is often under the influence of alcohol and usually has a cup in his hand when he comes into the store. Although she has reported his actions to local police, they’ve had trouble finding him to serve him with a restraining order, something she said scares her and her young son.
“I started watching him jump. When I started — he started carrying a baseball bat. Like, ‘Ma, is that him? Is that him?’ That’s not a way for a kid,” she said in an interview with NBC 5 DFW.
Now, Clark says she is closing her store and relocating temporarily to protect her family.
“Sitting here in shock because I just realized that in a couple of hours, I’m going to have to explain to my son why the room that he woke up in this morning was just packed up and put into storage so that we can go somewhere safe,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Lord please give me the words to say as I roll him his 2 suitcases and pass him his flight ticket. Let this ugly, new normal not last for long. No....I am not ok.”
Although she has to defer her dream for a while, Clark says she hopes to be able to reopen her store in a new location soon.
“It really felt like a dream come true, an answered prayer, and so for it to just be snatched away because of one man, it’s definitely crushed my heart and a lot of other people’s,” Clark told CBS Texas.
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