16. The Paper Chase

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate. Matthew 19:6

Todd and I were married in the Bartow courthouse on January 29, 2007. Instead of rushing off in a shower of rice to a honeymoon suite, we spent our first day as husband and wife running from one public office to the next, gathering documents, paying fines, and filing yet another Interstate Transfer so that he could come to his new home. But the State of Florida had other plans for Todd.
We were married early on a Monday morning. My employer had only allowed me only two of the weekdays off and I had to report back to work the following Wednesday morning. My returning flight was scheduled to leave the Tampa airport around 6:00 on Tuesday evening. We had just 24 hours to accomplish all that was necessary to bring Todd home.

We left the State Attorney's office in Bartow and headed for the Lakeland Probation Department to show Todd's probation officer, Ms. Rameriez, our marriage license. We were previously told that the only reason Todd's Interstate Transfer was not approved was due to the fact he had no family in my state. This marriage certificate should have alleviated that issue.

At the probation office, Ms. Rameriez came out to greet us in the waiting room. Todd introduced me as his wife and gave her the document. After reviewing the license she curtly said, "I hope this isn't one of those jailhouse marriages". We assured her it was not and that we were very much in love. She directed Todd back behind closed doors and I was instructed to wait in the lobby. About 30 minutes later Todd appeared. He said they were working on the transfer but it may take a few days. I was surprised because Todd had met a girl from Delaware in the Bartow probation office who told him it only took 48 hours to have her probation transferred from Delaware to Florida. We'd been working on this for 19 days already. Most of the necessary paperwork had already been completed. Plus a prosecutor from the State Attorney's office had written a letter to them stating that Todd's life was in danger if he stayed in Lakeland. We also forwarded the letter from the New York producer stating what he witnessed when Todd was attacked by Serrano and I had presented them an outline of job possibilities as well as rehabilitation programs for Todd. Because of his alcohol addiction, he needed to be placed into rehab immediately.

Nonetheless, Todd would not be able to fly home with me the following day, therefore, we had to make alternate plans. Todd would need a car. And we had just the one day to find and buy one.

We went to several car lots to look. A couple caught our eye. We left our names and my cell number with the salesmen and went to dinner that evening at Ruby Tuesdays. Over dinner Todd and I discussed what car we should buy. I told him that I felt good vibes from one of the salesman and we should buy his car. Todd agreed, he had felt those same vibes. This salesman's name was Aundrae McGee. Also known as Aundrae the Giant of Bartow Ford. Todd and I made an agreement that no matter what the final offers were, we'd buy Aundrae's car because we just plain liked him. After dinner we went and told Aundrae the good news and picked up our new car, a Silver Blue 2006 Ford Taurus. Earlier in the day we paid all of Todd's fines and had his license reinstated. I threw him the keys and he drove that car all night long showing me around Lakeland.

The next day we shot up to Todd's old lawyer's office and picked up his case file. I can understand why it was so hard convincing them to send it to me. This case file must have been 2 feet thick. I'm sure the girl in the lawyer's office didn't appreciate having to spend all day making those copies. From there we drove to Bay Care Drug Treatment facility. Todd needed copy of their file too. Before I arrived in Lakeland, Todd had already stopped in the Lakeland Police Department and picked up copies of his arrest reports. Now the stuff that was in the box that the Lighthouse Ministries threw away was finally replaced although I wouldn't know exactly what all those papers meant or why they were so important to Todd for several months.

Todd and I spent the rest of that last day together inside room number 13. I was really apprehensive about leaving him but Todd assured me it would only be for a couple days. He'd get his travel permit from Ms. Rameriez on Thursday and drive home.

That last ride together to the Tampa airport was the hardest ride of my life. With me crying and Todd assuring me all the way. We sat in the airport lobby together for just a short while. We talked and took pictures of each other. The time for me to board my plane came all too soon. We said our last goodbye and I walked the short way down to catch the shuttle that would take me to my boarding gate. I turned to look at Todd one last time. I still remember the expression on his face to this day. His eyes had that same haunting sad look to them as they had in that old mug shot that I put on his website. I should have never boarded that plane. I should have stayed. Leaving Todd that night was my third and final mistake. God forgive me.

I made it safely home and Todd and I once again spoke on the phone all night. The next day, Wednesday, I reported in to work as promised. Excitedly, I told everyone of my elopement. My co-workers were all in shock. I had been single for about 15 years so no one thought I'd ever get married again. I told everyone about Todd and that he had to stay in Florida to tie up a few loose ends but would be joining me by the end of the week.

Todd would later tell me that when he put me on that plane that night he was distraught. "I had a sick feeling about you leaving me there in Florida". The following morning he called Ms. Rameriez to ask about the transfer. "Mr. Jones", she said, "I don't care if you got married. It doesn't matter. It could take several months for get that transfer". Todd knew that wasn't true. I did not realize it at the time but all those papers I had run around Lakeland with Todd to retrieve, contained a complaint Todd once filed to former Governor Jeb Bush against Michael Huntley, of the Bartow Probation Department, as well as the chief of police and an IAD officer concerning a false violation of probation against Todd back in 2004. That false VOP is what put Todd in jail in the first place, eventually leading to his homelessness and his being kicked out of Bay Care drug treatment center. This is also what was keeping Ms. Rameriez from approving the transfer.

Realizing that he would never be able to leave Polk County, Todd fell into despair again, heading for the nearest liquor store. Returning to room 13 alone, after staying with me in there for 4 days, must have been so painful for Todd. He found one of my earrings on the floor. That was all he had left of me. Getting loaded was the only way he knew to deal with the pains of reality. That was why I couldn't reach him on the phone that night.

That Thursday morning, while I was at work, my cell phone rang again. It was a Florida number I didn't recognize. I ran outside around the building to take the call. It was Don Webb, who managed the Lake View Inn. He told me that Todd had cleaned out room number 13 and checked out that morning. He said he owed Todd a $50 refund and that when he called Todd to tell him, Todd told him he had just been arrested and to please call his wife and let her know. That was the one moment in my life my world ceased to turn. The heartbreak was incredible. I couldn't function. I couldn't breathe. It was just like getting news of the death of a loved one. And what's worse, I couldn't let anyone know. I couldn't share my pain with anyone. For if someone found out and alerted my employer I would surely lose my job.

A few hours later my phone rang again. This time it was Todd. "Why didn't you just run?" I asked him. "You could have just driven out of Florida. They'd never find you here and probably wouldn't come looking for a probation violator". He answered me saying, "I couldn't do that baby. You know that. Now listen, we're married now. You're not going to cheat on me are you?". Through my tears and heartache Todd had managed to make me laugh. He said he would have a "first appearance" hearing in front of a judge the following week and we'd work everything out but that he wouldn't be able to call me again. The warning recording came on that we just had 60 seconds left of our 15 minute phone call. Remembering the "I Love You" letters, we both started repeating in unison, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you" until the phone became disconnected.

My life as I had always known it to be, was over. Things would never be the same again. Being so far away, it would take a while to understand what went wrong. Like all those loved ones of missing persons, it's the "not knowing what happened" that's the hardest part to deal with.
Later that night, I curled up on my favorite chair. Switched on the light and did the only thing I knew to do. I picked up my notebook and pen and the letters to an inmate in a Florida jail resumed..